My astrophotography 2022

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!
Post Reply
hhzhang
Posts: 730
Joined: Sun May 10, 2020 4:11 pm
Favourite scope: 115mm APO

Re: My astrophotography 2022

Post by hhzhang »

Warp7 wrote: Wed Aug 31, 2022 11:57 am
hhzhang wrote: Tue Aug 30, 2022 5:28 pm Just back from a trip to Sumba, Indonesia. Bortle 1 skies OMG!
Any location in Sumba you would recommend for star gazing?
Any hilltop location will do the best to provide 360 degree unblocked view. We went up to the few locations for sunrise and sunset shooting.

Lendongara Hill

Wairinding Hill

Tenau hill

On this large island of 11,000+ km2, You will actually find it super easy to find a nice place for 360degree open view. Thanks to the terrain and the vegatation (think about savanna).
Last edited by hhzhang on Wed Aug 31, 2022 2:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
hhzhang
Posts: 730
Joined: Sun May 10, 2020 4:11 pm
Favourite scope: 115mm APO

Re: My astrophotography 2022

Post by hhzhang »

NIL
hhzhang
Posts: 730
Joined: Sun May 10, 2020 4:11 pm
Favourite scope: 115mm APO

Re: My astrophotography 2022

Post by hhzhang »

Another set of 20mm frames stacked. Better visual of the milkyway section and the two Magellanic clouds.

Image
hhzhang
Posts: 730
Joined: Sun May 10, 2020 4:11 pm
Favourite scope: 115mm APO

Re: My astrophotography 2022

Post by hhzhang »

Another single exposure. 61s, F2.8, ISO400.

Image
hhzhang
Posts: 730
Joined: Sun May 10, 2020 4:11 pm
Favourite scope: 115mm APO

Re: My astrophotography 2022

Post by hhzhang »

LookingForScope wrote: Tue Aug 30, 2022 10:36 pm woow those shots are so nice!!!
Thanks for the compliment.

At the time, I need to resolve the problem with the lens abberations. The 14mm and the 20mm lenses are both suffering from poor star images in the corners or near the edges -- quite annoying when put up on my 4K display (small 1920p display is ok).

So I am left with two choices: spend a couple thousand on new lenses (almost settled on the new Sigma 20mmF1.4 E mount, but undecided on the 14mm choice); or simply go stitching (bye-bye to EZPZ single exposures) with the existing 35mm or 20mm lens. Hmm, maybe the latter, as we are after superior image quality.
hhzhang
Posts: 730
Joined: Sun May 10, 2020 4:11 pm
Favourite scope: 115mm APO

Re: My astrophotography 2022

Post by hhzhang »

Milky Way goes vertical over the dancing tree. From the same trip to Sumba.

Image

The sky was a tracked shot with Rokinon 14mmF2.8 @ ISO400 and 60s. With a soft focus filter.
hhzhang
Posts: 730
Joined: Sun May 10, 2020 4:11 pm
Favourite scope: 115mm APO

Re: My astrophotography 2022

Post by hhzhang »

The Harvest Moon is a familiar and beautiful sight to enjoy despite the presence of clouds.

Image
hhzhang
Posts: 730
Joined: Sun May 10, 2020 4:11 pm
Favourite scope: 115mm APO

Re: My astrophotography 2022

Post by hhzhang »

Mobilephone astrophotography

On my trip to northern Thailand, I experimented mobilephone astrophotography using my new mobile phone. Thanks to the 1/1.22" sensor size and F1.7 fast lens, it is a handy tool for non deep sky wide field pictures of the night sky.

Image

Image

Image
hhzhang
Posts: 730
Joined: Sun May 10, 2020 4:11 pm
Favourite scope: 115mm APO

Re: My astrophotography 2022

Post by hhzhang »

In northern Thai, the M31 galaxy is super high in the night sky. Adding to that is the advantage of low light pollution. For the first time I used the polar scope to do the polar alignment. Super easy.

I let my mirrorless cam shoot M31 using the 200mm F2.8 lens (stepdown to 58mm). But this cropped close-up picture shows that the star sizes are quite bloated. Astrograph scopes are out of the question -- and I do hope Sony or third party can produce new-generation telephoto optics like Nikon's 400mmF4.5 Z.

Image
Post Reply