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Old 05-30-2009   #1 (permalink)
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Astrophotography anyone?

Is anyone into astrophotography?
I am diving into it myself, and was wondering if I could pick up any pointers from forum members with experience with it.


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Old 05-30-2009   #2 (permalink)
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Thumbs up Re: Astrophotography anyone?

I do some from time to time. So much in the way of pointers "just depends" I guess, on anything from timing, to subject, light pollution, camera type, yada yada. What kind of camera/equipment (telescope?) are you going to use and what do you want to shoot?

Currently I'm doing overnight recordings with a Sony Handycam using their Super NightShot infrared mode in order to record meteors. I put the camera on a tripod in front of an open window, manual focus to infinity (bugs flying up in front of the lens at night have a way of triggering autofocus and sometimes it stays that way after. ), wide view setting, zoomed out & leave it on record. Over the last few years I have captured 4 or 5 meteors this way. I have a couple up in our Video section. Alas, nothing this week but not for a lack of trying.


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Old 05-30-2009   #3 (permalink)
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Re: Astrophotography anyone?

Zythryn I look forward to seeing your photos, keep us up to date!


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Old 05-30-2009   #4 (permalink)
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Re: Astrophotography anyone?

Very cool Turtle, I may have to try that too.
Right now I am using a Celestron Nexstar 5SE telescope and a Nikon D200.
I plan on getting a Cannon and have heard that webcams actually work great for many applications.
I am waiting to get a T-ring and adapter so I can hook up the camera directly to the scope and am getting more familiar in the meantime with the tracking system of the scope.
I am planning to start with some lunar shots and some solar shots (one I get my solar filter).
I would love, eventually, to get some deep sky shots. Those will require much longer exposure times, very very good tracking and most likely a different camera.
And thanks Moontanman, I will be happy to do so


----------------
"Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents; it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.

(Ancient Indian Proverb)"

1874 engraving of Mount Hood and the Columbia River by R. Henshel Wood
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Old 05-31-2009   #5 (permalink)
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Arrow Re: Astrophotography anyone?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zythryn View Post
Very cool Turtle, I may have to try that too.
Right now I am using a Celestron Nexstar 5SE telescope and a Nikon D200.
I plan on getting a Cannon and have heard that webcams actually work great for many applications.
I am waiting to get a T-ring and adapter so I can hook up the camera directly to the scope and am getting more familiar in the meantime with the tracking system of the scope.
I am planning to start with some lunar shots and some solar shots (one I get my solar filter).
I would love, eventually, to get some deep sky shots. Those will require much longer exposure times, very very good tracking and most likely a different camera.
Sweet! Maybe it will be you that can give me pointers on getting a camera to work on a telescope. My roomy has a Meade 5" reflector with a computer drive and I had nothing but grief trying to take photos through it. Never did get any. It came with an adapter ring, but I had to whittle it down with a knife just to get it to fit the camera. Then, once on the telescope, the weight of the camera threw off the whole balance and the drive would literally groan under the added load. Then, I could never get the camera to focus the image.

I see your camera has a time exposure mode; that's cool! Something we took for granted with film SLR's; is it common on the digitals?


Guess that's all I got. Keep those eyes to the skies!!


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Old 05-31-2009   #6 (permalink)
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Re: Astrophotography anyone?

This is all from reading as I am new at this and have NO experience actually doing it.
My understanding with Digital is that you need a T-ring and T-adapter. Typically each camera maker has their own pair of the ring and adapter.
If you can add some weight to keep the center of gravity over the tripod/mount of the telescope that should help. Many telescopes are set up so you can make/buy counterweights.
What I have read indicates that when the camera body (no lenses) is attached directly to the telescope.
Digitial astrophotography has come a long way in the last few years. Film still has some advantages in some methods, but the noise issue has largely disappeared.
Most Digital SLRs have up to a 30 second shutter time. Some people will simply use multiple 30 second shots and then stack them with imaging software. Most cameras with cable or IR remotes also have a bulb setting which will keep the shutter open as long as you keep the button down.

Another method of astrophotography is to set the telescope up normally. Then set up the camera normally on a second tripod, pointed exactly at the eyepeice of the telescope. The camera should be set up (as I recall) the same distance away from the telescope as the focal length (edit- focal lenngth of the camera lens). The camera's focus should be set to infinity ('And Beyondddddd')... (sorry, couldn't help it).
If you are steady enough, you may be able to just hold and point the camera. I have a familial tremor so doing so is beyond my capabilities. (edit- this method is termed 'afocal')
Hope this helps some. I found a book on CD which has tons of information in it at A Guide to Astrophotography with Digital SLR Cameras if you are interested.


----------------
"Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents; it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.

(Ancient Indian Proverb)"

1874 engraving of Mount Hood and the Columbia River by R. Henshel Wood

Last edited by Zythryn; 06-02-2009 at 06:44 AM.. Reason: added a couple of clarifications
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Old 06-03-2009   #7 (permalink)
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Re: Astrophotography anyone?

Well, got my T-Adapter and Ring yesterday and hooked up my camera to the telescope and got a few shots.


The focus is a bit off and the images appear a bit 'squished'. I am hoping that is the resolution of my monitor.
The afocal method where I hold up the camera with lenses to the telescopes eyepeice will work much better for more detailed shots. So next I will be looking for an adapter that will help me with that.


----------------
"Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents; it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.

(Ancient Indian Proverb)"

1874 engraving of Mount Hood and the Columbia River by R. Henshel Wood

Last edited by Zythryn; 06-03-2009 at 08:51 AM.. Reason: image links
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Old 06-03-2009   #8 (permalink)
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Thumbs up Re: Astrophotography anyone?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zythryn View Post
Well, got my T-Adapter and Ring yesterday and hooked up my camera to the telescope and got a few shots.


The focus is a bit off and the images appear a bit 'squished'. I am hoping that is the resolution of my monitor.
The afocal method where I hold up the camera with lenses to the telescopes eyepeice will work much better for more detailed shots. So next I will be looking for an adapter that will help me with that.
Nice! Already way better than my best camera zoom. No removeable lens on my camera and for stills, the best I get is the 20x optical zoom, so to get closer I have to record video (up to 2000x ) and grab stills from individual frames. I have a different camera now than the one I tried putting on the scope, but rather than try carving something to fit it to the scope, if my roomy gets it out this Summer I'm going to try that afocal method of yours .


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Old 06-03-2009   #9 (permalink)
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Re: Astrophotography anyone?

I am very intruiged by using web cams for astrophotography. They have a lot going for them.
You may want to try something like this Universal DigiCam Adapter - Lowest Price & Highest Quality Astro Filters to help steady the camera.

It looks like there are more options for afocal astrophotography that I first thought. It is a huge advantage that it allows you to use the eyepeices and/or lenses of the camera. While prime focus works great for the moon, and likely well for the sun, I will need much more magnification for other planets or deep space objects.


----------------
"Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents; it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.

(Ancient Indian Proverb)"

1874 engraving of Mount Hood and the Columbia River by R. Henshel Wood
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Old 06-11-2009   #10 (permalink)
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Re: Astrophotography anyone?

Well, after many days of clouds, we had a partial break in the clouds for a little bit.
I also have some new software which will allow me to work more directly with RAW camera images.
The first one is the RAW (NEF) image converted to JPG with no other editing other than size and crop.



This is the greyscale version:



----------------
"Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents; it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.

(Ancient Indian Proverb)"

1874 engraving of Mount Hood and the Columbia River by R. Henshel Wood
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