Noob 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!
perchloratepenguin
Posts: 28
Joined: Tue Sep 28, 2021 11:00 am
Favourite scope: Celestron 127slt

Noob astrophotography

Post by perchloratepenguin »

Astrophotography by @perchloratepenguin and @xorinet, noobs to astrophotography. As we are students, our budget is low so we do astrophotography without tracking mounts.

Tips and advice are appreciated. Thanks!
perchloratepenguin
Posts: 28
Joined: Tue Sep 28, 2021 11:00 am
Favourite scope: Celestron 127slt

Re: Noob astrophotography

Post by perchloratepenguin »

IMG_3832.jpg
The Milky Way

Shot on 23/4/2022 from 4-6am

Shot with Olympus OMD EM5 with M.Zuiko ED 12-50mm f3.5-6.3 EZ
12mm, ISO 640, Shutter speed 8s, f3.5, Custom white balance
200 pictures stacked on Siril and touched up with GIMP
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Last edited by perchloratepenguin on Sun Apr 24, 2022 2:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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xorinet
Posts: 15
Joined: Sun Feb 20, 2022 3:09 pm
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Re: Noob astrophotography

Post by xorinet »

On the topic of the Milky Way, here's an image also taken near to the galactic core:
compressjpgr_pp_seqlgn_stacked.jpg
M8, M20

Shot on 24/4/2022 from 4:30-5:30am

Shot with Nikon D5500 (full spec mod) with AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f4.5-5.6G
200mm (cropped in postproc), ISO 1250, shutter speed 4s, f5.3, custom white balance
550 pictures stacked with Siril, touched up with GIMP

Star trailing was inevitable, I needed long exposures to cut down on the noise (and save some disk space) and my slow, coma-riddled lens only made it worse. Nevertheless, I don't think it's too bad.
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hhzhang
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Re: Noob astrophotography

Post by hhzhang »

Not bad results for the setup.

A star tracker isn't really expensive -- and I guess -- way below what your astro-mod cam cost.
perchloratepenguin
Posts: 28
Joined: Tue Sep 28, 2021 11:00 am
Favourite scope: Celestron 127slt

Re: Noob astrophotography

Post by perchloratepenguin »

The astromod cam was $165 on carousell. A bit old, but still works fine.
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xorinet
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Joined: Sun Feb 20, 2022 3:09 pm
Favourite scope: [no telescope]

Re: Noob astrophotography

Post by xorinet »

Yep, it was second-hand. Carousell is a magic place ;)

We're also planning to make a DIY star tracker similar in functionality to the Star Adventurer, but much less expensive (under $100), so we'll see how that goes haha
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xorinet
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Re: Noob astrophotography

Post by xorinet »

We're starting the design from scratch, without reference - we already have a basic design planned out, albeit with many failure points, but I'm sure they'll iron themselves out as we go :mryellow:
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joachim.ong
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Re: Noob astrophotography

Post by joachim.ong »

Way to go! Heartening to the see the next generation of students still loving the hobby :D . When I was about your age I tried building a barn door tracker without much success but I'm sure you'll do better. Feel free to post on the diy thread if you need help, I'm sure there are others here with some experience. And actually I didn't expect the camera to still be useful for astrophotography after I botched the pc control port so good job guys.
[smilie=good-job.gif]
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xorinet
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Joined: Sun Feb 20, 2022 3:09 pm
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Re: Noob astrophotography

Post by xorinet »

Thanks for the words of encouragement! (I really like your pictures, by the way, very nice work :D I hope I can be as good as you one day)
joachim.ong wrote: Wed Apr 27, 2022 9:13 pm I didn't expect the camera to still be useful for astrophotography after I botched the pc control port
Ah, about that; I tested it and it still works

feel kinda bad now ;( probably would have cost much more had it been fine
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xorinet
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Re: Noob astrophotography

Post by xorinet »

Last picture before exam season. Till after then, see you! We'll be working hard fighting numbers and (hopefully) raising our GPAs.
r_pp_seqorion4_stacked.jpg
M42, Alnitak etc.

Shot on 30/4/2022 from 8:00-8:45pm

Shot with Nikon D5500 (full spec mod) with AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f4.5-5.6G
135mm (cropped in postproc), ISO 1000, shutter speed 3s, f6.7, custom white balance
600 pictures stacked with Siril, touched up with GIMP

Wanted to make the best out of this classic target before it disappears into the horizon and we won't get to see it for another half a year. Quite noisy; I had to take the images by a light-polluted roadside bustling with people, and the camera was pointed straight above someone's house (the session was very intense). Clouds were also a problem. Had to stop down and increase ISO because of coma. Oof.
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