Casual Astrophotography

CCD vs Film? Lots of time vs no patience? Alright, this is your place to discuss all the astrophotography what's and what's not. You can discuss about techniques, accessories, cameras, whatever....just make sure you also post some nice photos here too!
geyes30
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Casual Astrophotography

Post by geyes30 »

Hey guys,

I wanted to share here some of my casual astrophotography. Why casual? Because unlike the experts here, I have no patience for collecting hours of data. I see myself as halfway between visual and imaging - indeed, like at least one other member of Singastro, I was quite interested and involved in using video cameras to perform video astronomy (aka near real-time imaging, electronically assisted astronomy, etc). I've since moved to almost exclusively using ZWO cameras for its ease of use, and because I like Firecapture and Sharpcap. Most of these images were done during short sessions (< 1 hour), where I'd deploy the telescope when a sliver of clear sky shows up. Because of the vagaries of the weather in Singapore, I much prefer quick images than perfect ones. It helps that in the past couple of months I managed to get my Evolution 6 repaired. The mount, with its built-in battery and easy-to-use wifi interface, has been a real boon to my style of quickly in, quickly out astronomy. Here is a collection of my images, with planets mostly shot on a C6, nebulae on the Tak FC-76. Will update this the next time the clouds part.

I Image2017-04-21 State of my Astrophotography by Cyrus Beh, on Flickr
geyes30
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Re: Casual Astrophotography

Post by geyes30 »

Woke up from a nap at 1 am to find the skies relatively clear. Quickly set up my Evolution mount and started imaging with my Macbook. Compared with my old Windows laptop (excellent battery life, great software, but no USB 3.0), the transfer was so fast that the camera was only limited by the exposure time. Aimed at Saturn (Solar System Alignment meant only one target) and I was ready to go. Shot at between 25 to 40 fps. This is a stack of 4000 8-bit images using OACapture. Did another short 500 frame exposure for the moons, and blended the two images into one file in photoshop.

ImageSaturn and its Moons by Cyrus Beh, on Flickr

ImageSaturn and its Moons Annotated and Cropped by Cyrus Beh, on Flickr
geyes30
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Re: Casual Astrophotography

Post by geyes30 »

It had been raining for a bit all day. After the rain, the skies parted for a bit after midnight. Took the opportunity to image using the ASI224MC, on a Evolution 6, with Meade f/3.3 reducer. about 5 minute total integration time, live-stacked and de-rotated in SharpCap. Seing the nebulae appear in near real time after just 30 seconds was quite a treat.

ImageM57b copy by Cyrus Beh, on Flickr

ImageM27 copy2 by Cyrus Beh, on Flickr

I had previously attempted imaging the Ring Nebula several times, but the results were not ideal. This time round, using a f/3.3 reducer, plus the fact that my ASI224MC just received a v1.3 upgrade to reduce amp-glow, the performance is much better!
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Airconvent
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Re: Casual Astrophotography

Post by Airconvent »

wow...thousands of images stacked! We have come a long way since the popular Philips toucam mod years ago!
And the pictures are awesome too. Well done! And of course, the Evolution helps too. You have all the nice toys, ha ha.
Keep on imaging!
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Re: Casual Astrophotography

Post by rcj »

quite a fruitful collection you have there! cheers!
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geyes30
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Re: Casual Astrophotography

Post by geyes30 »

I got pretty frustrated with what seem like beautiful daytime weather giving way to cloudy skies in the evenings. So I decided to get a Daystar Quark for solar imaging. It has been relatively easy to get the images, especially since we have been having a pretty dry spell weather wise.

Initially, I had problems with Newton's rings (NR) showing up badly on my images. Although I ordered a tilt adapter, I was desperate to get some time in. Fortuitously, I found a series of posts on CN that suggested the use of an atmospheric dispersion corrector to effectively tilt the rays going into the camera to get rid of the NR. As it turns out, I bought one from ZWO on a whim two years ago. Imagine my exhilaration when I realized that it actually worked! :D

ImageSolar Hydrogen Alpha with Daystar Quark by Cyrus Beh, on Flickr

The above is a 12-frame stack taken very quickly using the Quark with a Tak FC-76. I imaged through my room window and the whole 'session' took less than 15 mins.
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Airconvent
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Re: Casual Astrophotography

Post by Airconvent »

Great shot! Looks like it worked! :)
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geyes30
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Re: Casual Astrophotography

Post by geyes30 »

Thanks! I should mention that the Daystar Quark was ordered through Sebastian Tai from Optical Universe in Malaysia. It was quite a pain-free experience. Shipped to my door after payment in less than 10 days.
geyes30
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Re: Casual Astrophotography

Post by geyes30 »

Solar imaging of the sun spot, showing movement over one week. Also figured out how to tone the images.

ImageSun, July 8th by Cyrus Beh, on Flickr

ImageSun, July 16th by Cyrus Beh, on Flickr
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ivan
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Re: Casual Astrophotography

Post by ivan »

Awesome imagery, Cyrus! The Quark really does a great job getting in those details :)
Just a casual stargazer
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