Another RG Astropicture

[Phil Perry]

 

One from last night - the Pelican Nebula in Cygnus. I had planned for about 3hrs of exposure on this one, but the USB comms crashed whilst I was snoozing on the sofa at 2am. So I only got about an hour and 20mins. The image is a bit noisy as a result. The best of a bad job!

 

[yampy]

Incredible shot Phil. I wish I could take “ best of a bad job “ photos like that . I take it , it wasn’t taken in the midst of the Black Country 😀

[FlyBoy1960]

WOW !   👍

[facthunter]

Get  yourself in the right perspective.  Look at the universe. Nev

[planedriver]

Phil. i'm beginning to worry a little about you posting your long exposures on a cold night.

[Phil Perry]

On 27/04/2021 at 12:41 AM, yampy said:

Incredible shot Phil. I wish I could take “ best of a bad job “ photos like that . I take it , it wasn’t taken in the midst of the Black Country 😀

I would have thought that Black Country Pics would be possible;  but pilot and Photosmith mate Rob  Greaves and his gear is located in Cornwall's Lovely clean Air !

[Phil Perry]

 

Astro-photographer Rob Greaves:  Going for the 'how many gadgets can I fit to the instrument panel' record 

 

 

 

 

[planedriver]

Nah! Phil, when he's got too many, his altimeter will give him a few clues  Stop worrying.

[yampy]

All you need is a length of wool cellotaped to the screen .

[Phil Perry]

One from last night, the Cave Nebula. Had some issues with the computer locking up and having to restart everything and re-cool the camera, so lost a lot of data in the process. This is about 3hrs worth of exposures, not enough for this target really, so a bit noisy. No signs of the hedgehog.

 

Rob Greaves.

[planedriver]

That looks great Phil.

Have thought of having a go myself, but even if camera is on tripod, over a three hour period surely the subjects would have moved over that period of time. Probably more so if hooked up to a telescope which would bring images closer.

Yea, don't laugh, I know I have a lot to learn, but I enjoy seeing what others have achieved. 

[Phil Perry]

Allo Planey.

 

Rob answered the same question on bookface yesterday, it answers all of your obvious questions.  I'll see if I can re-find it.

 

**Found it.**

 

 How do you take the photos? Husband has a telescope and we had a great view of the moon the other night but trying to take a photo with our mobiles was, well, rubbish  I imagine whatever the solution it will be expensive?

 

Emma Louise Hi Emma, a lot is down to the equipment. First, a tracking mount that will follow the stars, and on that, something called an autoguider that watches a single star continuously and monitors its position on a camera in terms of xy coordinates. If the star drifts any, it makes very slight corrections to the mount to keep the stars round and pinpoint.

 

Second, the camera is a proper astro camera for long exposures, and a cooler built in to take the sensor chip down to -25°C to get rid of thermal noise. Thirdly, good quality optics. After that, lots of practice and skill  as far a your scope goes, do you have any sort of digital camera there?

 

You can get devices called eyepiece projection adaptors that hold a camera a specific distance from the eyepiece, and square/ on axis to it, to get reasonable shots. Or alternatively, a nosepiece adaptor that fits on your camera in place of the lens, and allows you to insert that into the focuser in place of an eyepiece. The biggest trick then is getting sharp focus.

 

Rob G.

Edited July 21, 2021 by Phil Perry
Adding info

[planedriver]

OMG! Too techy for an old bugger like me Phil.

Thanks anyway, but I think i'll have to just enjoy the photo's that you post.