We finally had some semi decent clear skies last night so I set up the Telescope in the backyard and tried some Astro Photography.
This is my first attempt at deep space astro photography through the telescope and I'm lacking a lot of equipment that I'll need but I wanted to try it anyway to see how the telescope mount tracks the moving stars.
I very pleased with the results. This image is a comp of 6 images taken from 1.6 seconds to 6 seconds. I mounted the 5D directly to the telescope for a 925mm focal length at f7. I did crop the image down quite a bit though (roughly 30%)
The target is the Orion Nebulae (M42) in the constellation of Orion. From my vantage point in Vancouver, this target was directly over the glow of Portland so it's kind of washed out. I'm excited to take the telescope to a dark sky site and try some more.
Geoff, yes, you can clearly see the 4 center stars on the larger file. I just used a 2" photo adapter from William Optics and a Celstron brand T-Ring for the EOS camera. I'm gonna have to buy an extension to get some more magnification though.
Thanks for the heads up about Scoptronix. Do you have a telescope?
Posted by Ned Fenimore on March 6, 2007 at 10:09 PM
It looks great Eric - both the tools and the photo...
You know, Eric, I've been cloning out that kind of thing in all of my night photos. I thought it was dust?!?!!?
Posted by Geoff Shapiro on March 7, 2007 at 12:35 AM
I've had a number of scopes over my lifetime, Eric, but right now I only have a small (very small) 4" wide field reflector - it's called a Starblaster from Orion Telescopes. It's not up to having a camera mounted on it. One of these days I intend to get another, more serious, scope again.
Meanwhile, do check out Scopetronix as they have quite an array of accessories for astrophotography. We should get together this summer for some astronomy!
Stop it. Stop it right now! I can't afford a telescope right now and this shot really makes me want to try this stuff.
I wonder what a really cheap 900mm lens would do for me with my 1.5 crop factor. If I just had a star tracker...hmmm.
That's cool! Oh, you're going to have lots of fun, Eric, and a deep, vast hole as big as outer space in your wallet! Please make sure we get to see more as you delve into this new adventure.
Rick: LOL. I had the exact same reaction you did. Now I want to shoot stuff like this, too.Thankfully my wallet is small enough that I am not tempted.
Discussion
11 repliesThis is my first attempt at deep space astro photography through the telescope and I'm lacking a lot of equipment that I'll need but I wanted to try it anyway to see how the telescope mount tracks the moving stars.
I very pleased with the results. This image is a comp of 6 images taken from 1.6 seconds to 6 seconds. I mounted the 5D directly to the telescope for a 925mm focal length at f7. I did crop the image down quite a bit though (roughly 30%)
The target is the Orion Nebulae (M42) in the constellation of Orion. From my vantage point in Vancouver, this target was directly over the glow of Portland so it's kind of washed out. I'm excited to take the telescope to a dark sky site and try some more.
What adapters did you use to mount the 5D to the scope? (scopetronix sells quite a few)
Thanks for the heads up about Scoptronix. Do you have a telescope?
Meanwhile, do check out Scopetronix as they have quite an array of accessories for astrophotography. We should get together this summer for some astronomy!
I wonder what a really cheap 900mm lens would do for me with my 1.5 crop factor. If I just had a star tracker...hmmm.
Nice image Eric!
Geoff, for sure, we'll have to hook up and check out the cosmos.
Sorry Rick, I'm just gettin started bud
Rick: LOL. I had the exact same reaction you did. Now I want to shoot stuff like this, too.Thankfully my wallet is small enough that I am not tempted.