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Astrophotography


Tyler

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*EDIT* There has been some confusion as to which photos are mine and which are not so to help curb that confusion for those of you who don't read lmao.

RED post = These images are not taken by me and are either provided as an example for what is possible with the gear i'm buying or an object i have photographed and wanted to show what a higher quality image looks like. They will also be in Spoilers just to make sure people understand anything in red and in a spoiler IS NOT MY WORK IT IS SOMEONE ELSES!!!!

GREEN post = An image taken, edited, and posted by myself. I am not here to take credit for anyone else's images. I really just want to share the love of Astronomy with you all.

 

Looking to get in to Astrophotography in the near future and was wondering if i should take the time to post any really good pictures here on the forums or not? I personally don't like posting things that are super off-topic too often but maybe i can make a thread for myself and others to share. Also this wouldn't start like tomorrow or anything it would take some time for me to learn the camera and image stacking/post-processing to bring out the light since usually it's much too faint to see normally unless you have an amazingly clear night and perfect exposure times.

Here's an example of some wonderful Astrophotography done by AstroBackyard on Youtube after it's been stacked and processed:

Andromeda taken in Bortle 4 skies: 

Spoiler

9c28f787648cc1f4ddadca043a809e08.jpg

Elephant's Trunk Nebula in Bortle 6 skies: 

Spoiler

9c7979ffb08bf6446331c562c3bfc425.jpg

 

Edited by Tyler
antho, Tony, GravL and 11 others like this
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1 hour ago, Dick Romney said:

I've done some of this last year with some friends photographing the milky way. It is very fucking expensive. 

Yeah it can be, probably going to get a Canon Rebel t3i and a nice Refractor telescope and just get some really nice landscape lenses.

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2 minutes ago, Jake said:

If I wanted to see the sky I will look up or google some real images rather than see your shit tier pictures @Tyler

Being serious now, go for it brother, always happy to see people succeed in life regardless of their path (even if it’s one of my piece of shit best friends ;))

Those aren't mine you dumb fuck "Here's an example of some wonderful Astrophotography done by AstroBackyard on Youtube after it's been stacked and processed:"

And if i started it wouldn't be a job or anything. It would be all hobby level stuff until i get a degree for physics/astronomy.

Edited by Tyler
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10 hours ago, Tyler said:

Looking to get in to Astrophotography in the near future and was wondering if i should take the time to post any really good pictures here on the forums or not? I personally don't like posting things that are super off-topic too often but maybe i can make a thread for myself and others to share. Also this wouldn't start like tomorrow or anything it would take some time for me to learn the camera and image stacking/post-processing to bring out the light since usually it's much too faint to see normally unless you have an amazingly clear night and perfect exposure times.

Here's an example of some wonderful Astrophotography done by AstroBackyard on Youtube after it's been stacked and processed:

Andromeda taken in Bortle 4 skies: 9c28f787648cc1f4ddadca043a809e08.jpg

Elephant's Trunk Nebula in Bortle 6 skies:

 9c7979ffb08bf6446331c562c3bfc425.jpg

 

Forgot to add...

If you want to get into this, you need to actually plan things out. Light pollution is a major issue when it comes to astrophotography, on the east coast, almost everywhere there is light pollution. There are some dark areas, but Astrophotography requires as little light as possible, which is why I A, reccomend this.

https://darksitefinder.com/maps/world.html#9/38.8664/-84.3640

I also recommend this software to actually orient yourself with the sky in regards to your location so you can get an idea of what you want to photograph, and what you can even photograph. 

http://stellarium.org/

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7 hours ago, Dick Romney said:

Forgot to add...

If you want to get into this, you need to actually plan things out. Light pollution is a major issue when it comes to astrophotography, on the east coast, almost everywhere there is light pollution. There are some dark areas, but Astrophotography requires as little light as possible, which is why I A, reccomend this.

https://darksitefinder.com/maps/world.html#9/38.8664/-84.3640

I also recommend this software to actually orient yourself with the sky in regards to your location so you can get an idea of what you want to photograph, and what you can even photograph. 

http://stellarium.org/

So to get nice picture you need an EMP and a good camera? 

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21 hours ago, Dick Romney said:

Forgot to add...

If you want to get into this, you need to actually plan things out. Light pollution is a major issue when it comes to astrophotography, on the east coast, almost everywhere there is light pollution. There are some dark areas, but Astrophotography requires as little light as possible, which is why I A, reccomend this.

https://darksitefinder.com/maps/world.html#9/38.8664/-84.3640

I also recommend this software to actually orient yourself with the sky in regards to your location so you can get an idea of what you want to photograph, and what you can even photograph. 

http://stellarium.org/

Yeah i knew all of this already been studying up on everything that i can before i try and dive right in. I already have some good ideas for Bortle 4 skies which is about as good as it gets in Charleston. And yeah i actually purchased the premium Stellarium phone app.

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3 hours ago, Tyler said:

Yeah i knew all of this already been studying up on everything that i can before i try and dive right in. I already have some good ideas for Bortle 4 skies which is about as good as it gets in Charleston. And yeah i actually purchased the premium Stellarium phone app.

Yeah, it sucks here for us east coasters when it comes to light pollution, my gun addiction trumps astrophotography atm so I dont do that much without friends. 

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@Tyler I don't have a good camera of any sort (my phone) but this is the best I managed to get with my little reflector telescope

I assume you already have a telescope with a decent aperature ( at least 6 inch) if you want to capture deep space objects such as nebulas or clusters and a decent focal length. If you are using a camera you might get some pretty images of the milky way. If you want to capture images such as the one from andromeda you will need at least 150x magnification and a large aperature to be able to get as much light as possible into the photo. Apart from that, enhancing the image is most of the time required if you want it to look extra pretty. I personally have a 4inch mak telescope and unless i am in a completely non light polluted place, i can forget about anything that isn't planets or big star clusters.

Finally, if you take images of deep space objects with high magnification you will need to take into account the earth's rotation. If you manually aim the scope you will probably have a few seconds of image which isn't enough for long exposure images. That is why you will probably also have to look into a mount with computerized tracking to help you stay on the image. 

Hope this helped.

 

b1f39210f6e2020976ebdb8244c400ee.png

Edited by Paco
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25 minutes ago, Paco said:

@Tyler I don't have a good camera of any sort (my phone) but this is the best I managed to get with my little reflector telescope

I assume you already have a telescope with a decent aperature ( at least 6 inch) if you want to capture deep space objects such as nebulas or clusters and a decent focal length. If you are using a camera you might get some pretty images of the milky way. If you want to capture images such as the one from andromeda you will need at least 150x magnification and a large aperature to be able to get as much light as possible into the photo. Apart from that, enhancing the image is most of the time required if you want it to look extra pretty. I personally have a 4inch mak telescope and unless i am in a completely non light polluted place, i can forget about anything that isn't planets or big star clusters.

Finally, if you take images of deep space objects with high magnification you will need to take into account the earth's rotation. If you manually aim the scope you will probably have a few seconds of image which isn't enough for long exposure images. That is why you will probably also have to look into a mount with computerized tracking to help you stay on the image. 

Hope this helped.

 

b1f39210f6e2020976ebdb8244c400ee.png

Thanks Paco! I've been doing quite a lot of research into the topic and i think i'm going to get a Williams Optics RedCat 51 or equivalent telescope and probably just snag a Canon T3i and take out the filter on my own. The only thing i don't really know how to do is stack the images (i know theres a program that does it automatically for you) but the color correction in Photoshop etc are probably going to be the hardest part in my opinion. By the way considering what you had to work with at the time that's a really great photo of Saturn! I tried taking some of Jupiter a long time ago and totally failed since it was much too bright for my cell camera lol.

Edited by Tyler
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@Tyler I don't really know much about astrophotography except that the picture above are 50 frames stacked. I used an app called DeepSkyStacker for that. When it comes to you telescope you mentioned i honestly can't really say much about it as I'm only familiar with dobsonian reflector telescopes and maksutovs. 

Because of this my opinion might be a bit biased. If you wan't to get started into astronomy I would recommend you get a 6inch or even an 8 inch dobsonian telescope (if you have space) as this will not only limit you to photography, but enjoying the pure night sky through an eye piece. The focal length of these telescopes let you see deep sky objects like nebulas or galaxies providede there is little light polution. In addition, these telescopes are also very good for planetary observation. As for the price, a 6 inch dob would be around 250-300$ range compared to other more expensive photographic objectives. Once you have started to get familiar with this telescope you can purchase a mount and simply attatch a DSLR or if u want a digital small camera that hooks to your computer. This is important as when taking images the scope must be perfectly still. 

No matter what device you buy you will need some sort of tracking device if you are taking images with any sort of magnification and long exposure.

These are some images using a 8 and 6inch Dob telescope (some images are stacked):

Basically I would recommend you get a 8inch Dobsonian Reflector to get the most use out of your money.

fWIcEtU.jpgJupiter.jpgPr34qcVaWDJnvsohyTSpmNGjYjXlFdwZTz8Cbv23

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1 hour ago, Paco said:

@Tyler I don't really know much about astrophotography except that the picture above are 50 frames stacked. I used an app called DeepSkyStacker for that. When it comes to you telescope you mentioned i honestly can't really say much about it as I'm only familiar with dobsonian reflector telescopes and maksutovs. 

Because of this my opinion might be a bit biased. If you wan't to get started into astronomy I would recommend you get a 6inch or even an 8 inch dobsonian telescope (if you have space) as this will not only limit you to photography, but enjoying the pure night sky through an eye piece. The focal length of these telescopes let you see deep sky objects like nebulas or galaxies providede there is little light polution. In addition, these telescopes are also very good for planetary observation. As for the price, a 6 inch dob would be around 250-300$ range compared to other more expensive photographic objectives. Once you have started to get familiar with this telescope you can purchase a mount and simply attatch a DSLR or if u want a digital small camera that hooks to your computer. This is important as when taking images the scope must be perfectly still. 

No matter what device you buy you will need some sort of tracking device if you are taking images with any sort of magnification and long exposure.

These are some images using a 8 and 6inch Dob telescope (some images are stacked):

Basically I would recommend you get a 8inch Dobsonian Reflector to get the most use out of your money.

fWIcEtU.jpgJupiter.jpgPr34qcVaWDJnvsohyTSpmNGjYjXlFdwZTz8Cbv23

Yeah i might get a dob eventually just unfortunately it's a bit too large for the space i have to work with and since i live in Bortle 6 skies i'm going to have to be able to pack it up and move it to some nearby class 4 skies often if i want to get good shots without using a light pollution filter.

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  • 2 months later...

For those who care, i was able to finally get a passable beginner astrophotography setup recently and I am now in the process of learning. I doubt i will have anything to share really unless I somehow get lucky and get a great shot in the learning phase which i highly doubt. Nonetheless I am super excited to get started.

My current set up is:

Canon T3i DSLR

Super Takumar 200mm F3.5

Just a tripod and remote shutter control for now until i can put the money down for a star tracking mount and eventually a nice telescope.

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Alright... so here is a more final image after a good amount of time in Photoshop trying to color correct, stack, and eventually major noise reduction. I'm a lot more proud of this one even though I still have a bit of star trailing (just can't be helped until i get a star tracker and better tripod)

 

The Orion Nebula

12 images stacked and processed (taken in class 6 skies on 3/14/2020)

5a604efed00009cee4611b04e49fa575.png

Edited by Tyler
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Just a quick update... after cancelling our vacation due to coronavirus concerns I decided to put some of the money I saved towards my new found astrophotography hobby... I hope to be posting some truly stunning photos here soon for those who care I puchased a William Optics SpaceCat 51 APO Refractor.

Here is an example of the Orion Nebula (the object i have been photographing with just a camera and lense) through the SpaceCat51/RedCat51

Credit goes to Peter Zelinka for his photo of Orion and the Running Man/Horsehead Nebulae:

Spoiler

p3693078467-4.jpg

So excited!!!

f6e869c4beb620cfa8bfb34c0335cab9.png

 

Edited by Tyler
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17 hours ago, sadmane:( said:

that picture is fucking crazy man, i wonder how many planets are in it, or even how many life forms. 

cool stuff dude, cool stuff.

Which one? The most recent wasn't taken by me but by a Youtuber name Peter Zelinka i posted it as a preview for the new telescope i just bought for imaging. But yes they are extremely mind boggling. Galaxies really trigger that sense of being tiny for me. Just imagine every star we can see in the night sky is in our own galaxy EVERY SINGLE ONE, and we can't even see most of the stars in our galaxy they are just too small, too dim, too far away, or obstructed from view by the galactic core. But when we take photos of Andromeda, The Whirlpool, Spindle, Black Eye, etc it's just a whole new perspective of just how small we are in this huge huge universe.

Edited by Tyler
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2 minutes ago, Tyler said:

Which one? The most recent wasn't taken by me but by a Youtuber name Peter Zelinka i posted it as a preview for the new telescope i just bought for imaging. But yes they are extremely mind boggling. Galaxies really trigger that sense of being tiny for me. Just imagine every star we can see in the night sky is in our own galaxy EVERY SINGLE ONE, and we can't even see most of the stars in our galaxy they are just too small, too dim, too far away, or obstructed from view by the galactic core. But when we take photos of Andromeda, The Whirlpool, Spindle, Black Eye, etc it's just a whole new perspective of just how small we are in this huge huge universe.

p3693078467-4.jpg

 

it does make you wonder, what is truely out there.

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On 3/26/2020 at 4:20 PM, sadmane:( said:

p3693078467-4.jpg

 

it does make you wonder, what is truely out there.

This is a mosaic taken by NASAs Hubble Telescope in one of the darkest patches of the night sky... every single thing you see in this photo is another galaxy except for a couple of stars.

Spoiler

STScI-gallery-1427a-2000x960.jpg

 

Edited by Tyler
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  • 2 weeks later...

Wellp, I had kind of a rough two nights trying to get something spectacular with my new telescope and mount. Unfortunately my plans for both nights were kinda fucked over by the fact my dumb ass #1 couldn't figure out why i couldn't see shit through my polar scope and spent 3 hours pissed off and sweating outside taking a part and re-assembling my mount, and #2 i totally forgot we are in that weird transitional period of Nebula season and Galaxy season... so enough of my rambling here is probably the last photo of the Orion nebula for this year.

Images 3 (Because fucking tree got in the way)

Fuck you tree I hope you burn 😡

41bf43fde30fa4441021cdc04561ad9c.png

ISO 800

30 second exposures (1m30s total image time)

William Optics SpaceCat 51 Telescope

iOptron Smart EQ Pro+ mount

Canon Rebel EOS T3i DSLR

Unfortunately not enough time in Photoshop... looking at this photo pisses me off the longer i work on it since i spent about 6 hours on it now if you combine the time it took to get those 3 images and reducing noise, color balancing, and the annoying ass smudge on my telescope i some how got when focusing that i had to fix. BUT I am extremely excited about the stars being so round and pristine and the amount of nebula i was able to capture compared to my first attempts.

1c74b96a58de5955fbdcd8736c373fa8.jpg

Edited by Tyler
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I decided to spend a few more hours of editing and finished with this... still not happy... think i'm going to shelf the Orion Nebula since it's really only in the sky high enough to shoot for about an hour each night and start prepping for Andromeda, Heart and Soul Nebula, and if i end up getting another telescope in time possibly some smaller galaxies.

The Orion Nebula and the Running Man Nebula

ISO 800

3 Images stacked in DSS and processed in Photoshop.

*edit* Reprocessed the image and it looks 100x better now.

f4c68b5ab491cc8e65bc5df7dc85369b.jpg

Edited by Tyler
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6 hours ago, Tyler said:

I decided to spend a few more hours of editing and finished with this... still not happy... think i'm going to shelf the Orion Nebula since it's really only in the sky high enough to shoot for about an hour each night and start prepping for Andromeda, Heart and Soul Nebula, and if i end up getting another telescope in time possibly some smaller galaxies.

The Orion Nebula and the Running Man Nebula

ISO 800

3 Images stacked in DSS and processed in Photoshop.

793539155d95db7162afdbf768293bb5.png

when you see photos like that, i begin to wonder why some of us are so sure theres nothing else out there

when you take this photo, you could of possibly captured millions of civilisations that we are simply unaware of, and thats the coolest part i think

Edited by Carole Baskin
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Well tonight i selected a new target knowing that it was going to be a difficult target to shoot properly without any filters and unfortunately it didn't go quite as well as I hoped. But I guess i'll share since I guess i'm turning this thread into more of a "progress" and "learning" thread since if I only uploaded really good content this thread would be empty except for the first post. Unfortunately in this image i was shooting over a street lamp and it totally fucked me... but oh well heres...

The Rosette Nebula

40 x 1 minute exposures

ISO 1600

Lights, Darks, Flats, and Bias frames all stacked in DeepSkyStacker

57a86f32ba21e4aa5418a747a7eff764.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well, to be totally honest never did i expect for my little beginner Astrophotography set up ever to be able to perform like it just did tonight. The image i'm about to share has plenty of flaws (because my dumb ass didn't realize my telescope was dirty until too late) BUT! This image had me just sitting there staring for i don't know how long counting the sheer mind numbing amount of galaxies... I present my attempt at photographing a part of our Galactic neighbors! Most people don't know this but our galaxy is one of 1,800 other galaxies residing in what we call a cluster. Our little cluster of galaxies is just part of what is called a supercluster which is made up of hundreds of thousands to millions to even BILLIONS of other galaxies ranging hundreds of millions of light years across. But enough of the science lecture... here are our galactic neighbors...

 

 

The Virgo Cluster

Virgo Cluster Edited

(I counted 32 individual galaxies in this photo! Post below how many you can count!!!)

 

By the way i'm thinking about doing a subscription kinda thing. Basically if you want send me a pm and anytime i post a new photo i can @ you at the bottom so you get a notification or you can hit the follow button up at the top of this thread!

Edited by Tyler
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