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Posted: 1/6/2017 11:58:23 PM EDT
[#1]
didn't have long to shoot tonight, froze my ass off before the clouds rolled in. Shot Rosette nebula in h alpha, damn it was tough. 6-8 minute exposures
this is the best I could do with the limited data I collected. Couldn't shoot regular rgb because the moon was blowing everything subtle out. 
also a quick moon shot 
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Posted: 1/7/2017 12:18:47 AM EDT
[#2]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
didn't have long to shoot tonight, froze my ass off before the clouds rolled in. Shot Rosette nebula in h alpha, damn it was tough. 6-8 minute exposures
this is the best I could do with the limited data I collected. Couldn't shoot regular rgb because the moon was blowing everything subtle out. http://i.imgur.com/80C3vho.jpg also a quick moon shot http://i.imgur.com/ubkpEvV.jpg 
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Posted: 1/7/2017 1:01:52 AM EDT
[#3]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
didn't have long to shoot tonight, froze my ass off before the clouds rolled in. Shot Rosette nebula in h alpha, damn it was tough. 6-8 minute exposures
this is the best I could do with the limited data I collected. Couldn't shoot regular rgb because the moon was blowing everything subtle out. http://i.imgur.com/80C3vho.jpg also a quick moon shot http://i.imgur.com/ubkpEvV.jpg At least you don't have to drag your ass around any more? 
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Posted: 1/7/2017 8:46:28 AM EDT
[#5]
Quote HistoryI process every shot over and over and over until I'm happy. I swear that most times it's an accident with what I come up with. Seriously though that's a nice shot keep tweaking it, you are picking up nebula and interstellar dust. |
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Posted: 1/7/2017 4:27:28 PM EDT
[#6]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
didn't have long to shoot tonight, froze my ass off before the clouds rolled in. Shot Rosette nebula in h alpha, damn it was tough. 6-8 minute exposures
this is the best I could do with the limited data I collected. Couldn't shoot regular rgb because the moon was blowing everything subtle out. http://i.imgur.com/80C3vho.jpg also a quick moon shot http://i.imgur.com/ubkpEvV.jpg Those are both breathtaking |
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Posted: 1/7/2017 11:59:37 PM EDT
[#7]
Tonight's star trails shot. The moon did a pretty good job of lighting up the landscape, and that one plane decided to do some radical course changes.
403 frames, 100 at 8 seconds and 303 at 15 seconds. 11mm, f/2.8, ISO 100. All piled on top of each other. It's about 12 degrees outside right now, and all my gear had heavy frost on it. Thankfully I put the lens hood on or I'd have about 350 frames of frost-covered glass. First swirlie with the D500.  Edit by FredMan, on Flickr
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Posted: 1/8/2017 6:22:01 PM EDT
[#8]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Tonight's star trails shot. The moon did a pretty good job of lighting up the landscape, and that one plane decided to do some radical course changes. 403 frames, 100 at 8 seconds and 303 at 15 seconds. 11mm, f/2.8, ISO 100. All piled on top of each other. It's about 12 degrees outside right now, and all my gear had heavy frost on it. Thankfully I put the lens hood on or I'd have about 350 frames of frost-covered glass. First swirlie with the D500. Edit by FredMan, on Flickr Awesome! I love star trail shots. I've been keeping my eye out lately for a cool place to shoot some. I miss being up north where I could just shoot 30 minute exposures with no light pollution, no need for stacking. |
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Posted: 1/8/2017 8:26:34 PM EDT
[#9]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
didn't have long to shoot tonight, froze my ass off before the clouds rolled in. Shot Rosette nebula in h alpha, damn it was tough. 6-8 minute exposures
this is the best I could do with the limited data I collected. Couldn't shoot regular rgb because the moon was blowing everything subtle out. http://i.imgur.com/80C3vho.jpg also a quick moon shot http://i.imgur.com/ubkpEvV.jpg Thats tight. |
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Posted: 1/8/2017 9:03:21 PM EDT
[#10]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Awesome! I love star trail shots. I've been keeping my eye out lately for a cool place to shoot some. I miss being up north where I could just shoot 30 minute exposures with no light pollution, no need for stacking. Very long exposures are going to have a lot of non-dark sky. Even with heavy processing, you're just getting too many background photons on the sensor. This is a 244 second (4-minute) single frame exposure. See how washed out the sky is?  ISS Transit 2016-10-17 by FredMan, on Flickr
My previous star trails was 403 frames, 100 at 8 seconds and 303 at 15 seconds. See how nice and dark the sky is? THAT'S the benefit taking multiple short(er) exposures and stacking gets you over one long exposure. The astronomy guys don't take long single frames, they take bunches of shorter exposures and stack. |
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Posted: 1/8/2017 11:01:14 PM EDT
[#11]
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Posted: 1/9/2017 12:23:32 PM EDT
[#12]
I have a non Walmart tripod and a star tracker on its way. Now I just need to find more time and better weather.
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Posted: 1/9/2017 12:25:00 PM EDT
[#13]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I have a non Walmart tripod and a star tracker on its way. Now I just need to find more time and better weather. what did you get? I've been thinking of buying one someday that I can take with me when I travel. |
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Posted: 1/9/2017 12:27:16 PM EDT
[#14]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Very long exposures are going to have a lot of non-dark sky. Even with heavy processing, you're just getting too many background photons on the sensor. This is a 244 second (4-minute) single frame exposure. See how washed out the sky is? ISS Transit 2016-10-17 by FredMan, on Flickr My previous star trails was 403 frames, 100 at 8 seconds and 303 at 15 seconds. See how nice and dark the sky is? THAT'S the benefit taking multiple short(er) exposures and stacking gets you over one long exposure. The astronomy guys don't take long single frames, they take bunches of shorter exposures and stack. I know that stacking is the way to go for the most part, but when I was in northern canada in a truly dark spot I was able to get single long exposures without the sky getting weird. If I tried that in my yard the sky would be filled with light pollution |
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Posted: 1/9/2017 3:17:05 PM EDT
[#15]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
what did you get? I've been thinking of buying one someday that I can take with me when I travel. The ioptron sky tracker pro, I'm feeling lazy and don't want to build my own barn door. |
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Posted: 1/11/2017 10:21:42 PM EDT
[#16]
So far so good. Now this ice storm and shitty weather. |
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Posted: 1/11/2017 10:31:50 PM EDT
[#17]
How sturdy is that thing? Could it handle something like a D500/D7100 and a 4-pound zoom? Say 6-7 pounds of camera?
And what's the exterior made of? Looks like plastic, but might be powder-coated aluminum? |
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Posted: 1/11/2017 10:39:44 PM EDT
[#18]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
How sturdy is that thing? Could it handle something like a D500/D7100 and a 4-pound zoom? Say 6-7 pounds of camera? And what's the exterior made of? Looks like plastic, but might be powder-coated aluminum? The outer case is plastic, it is supposedly aluminum under it. Documentation says 2.6 lbs. But they sell a counterweight kit (for more money of course) that pushes it to 6.6 lbs. |
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Posted: 1/11/2017 10:53:09 PM EDT
[#19]
I'm jealous
Cant wait to see what you get with it |
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Posted: 1/11/2017 10:55:40 PM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I'm jealous
Cant wait to see what you get with it It's going to be a week until I can see through the clouds, and I'm not sure if I want to drive all the way out for test shots, so it could be really washed out.. but I'm not seeing a day thats clear until maybe the 27th... stupid winter. I'm off the week of 2/20, so I might drive far for some shots. But that is way in the distance. This is the old tripod. Gave me at least 14 years. 
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Posted: 1/12/2017 6:09:58 PM EDT
[#21]
Heads up guys. Amazon has a tracker and tripod going on lightning deal tomorrow at 6am my time (10am EST) No idea on quality, etc since that's not my expertise, but I thought I'd mention it. Same goes for the discount. No idea on what % until the sale hits. Might be awesome, might be $5 off.
 
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Posted: 1/13/2017 11:55:44 AM EDT
[#22]
I'm in talks with the wife about building an observatory and maybe trimming a few trees. I'll never have a wide open horizon to horizon view where I live but I can probably get half the sky
I could also pack all my shit and set up literally half a mile down the road where its wide open but I have a shit load of gear |
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Posted: 1/13/2017 2:03:10 PM EDT
[#23]
I have always been fascinated by astronomy,if I wanted to setup to do what you guys are doing what would I need and what would it cost for a good but not necessarily top of the line telescope?
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Posted: 1/13/2017 3:01:14 PM EDT
[#24]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I have always been fascinated by astronomy,if I wanted to setup to do what you guys are doing what would I need and what would it cost for a good but not necessarily top of the line telescope? A lot of it will depend on what you want to spend. I could probably give you an idea of what I have costs but you certainly don't need what I have to get started. If you give me an idea of what you want to spend I can point you in the direction of the best you can get for your buck. There are so many variables but I spend the better part of a year looking into exactly what I wanted. I guess somethings you'll want to think about are 1. Do you want to only do photography 2. Do you want a telescope or just something to mount a camera on 3. What kind of objects do you want to photograph in the sky. Small galaxies or large nebula clouds Telescope mounts vary a lot, the one I bought cost 2k, that is without a telescope but is also just about the end of the line in quality before you make the jump to pro level mounts that cost over 10k. You can get a decent tracking mount for small scopes and camera for about $700, the reason mine cost so much is because it can hold a larger load and is a geared a bit more to astrophotography. Right now I have only 3 small telescopes, I could put all three on this mount and it wouldn't break a sweat, but I knew that I would eventually get aperture fever (which I have really bad right now) and would want to upgrade to a large telescope, some large scopes are 30lbs or more. Celestron, iOptron and Orion all makes good mounts. I've researched the hell out of this so I'm glad to help, astronomy needs to be shared and experienced by as many people as possible. If you are truly interested you'll want to buy the best that you can afford |
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Posted: 1/14/2017 3:57:05 AM EDT
[#25]
Thanks for replying, I could see spending around $1500 for tripod and telescope my real question is if I limit my spending to that will it be powerful enough to see things like posted in this thread.I would like to be able to add the ability to photograph later.
we camp at high elevations far from the light clutter of the city so being portable would be a must. |
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Posted: 1/14/2017 4:00:49 AM EDT
[#26]
So here's a question. Since I don't have a budget for a telescope, would using my 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 wide open for a ~5 second exposure with ISO 2500 or so do anything? Probably not, but I figure it's worth a shot to ask.
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Posted: 1/14/2017 9:59:43 AM EDT
[#27]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
So here's a question. Since I don't have a budget for a telescope, would using my 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 wide open for a ~5 second exposure with ISO 2500 or so do anything? Probably not, but I figure it's worth a shot to ask. The majority of the pictures I have posted in here are 6s exposures at f/2.0 from a 50mm lens on a D7100 at ISO1600. It doesn't hurt to do it cheap, although I have probably wasted a lot of money on software. I do stacking to make up for the short exposure times (to defeat the stars trailing) but now I have a star tracker to try out longer exposures. |
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Posted: 1/14/2017 2:59:35 PM EDT
[#28]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Thanks for replying, I could see spending around $1500 for tripod and telescope my real question is if I limit my spending to that will it be powerful enough to see things like posted in this thread.I would like to be able to add the ability to photograph later. we camp at high elevations far from the light clutter of the city so being portable would be a must. I would buy something like this http://www.highpointscientific.com/telescopes/celestron-advanced-vx-series-6-quot-schmidt-cassegrain-go-to-telescope-12079 a 6" scope is a good all around scope to start with. The mount is decent and will be able to handle you adding a camera later on. Also I would pick yourself up a few decent eyepieces. the celestron xcel series is a good choice I would get a 9mm and a 25mm 
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Posted: 1/14/2017 3:02:05 PM EDT
[#29]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
So here's a question. Since I don't have a budget for a telescope, would using my 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 wide open for a ~5 second exposure with ISO 2500 or so do anything? Probably not, but I figure it's worth a shot to ask. the longer your focal length the more you will notice star trails, but I bet you can get something shooting the brighter objects like orion. I would try it, next time it clear orion is up shortly after sunset, point at orion's "sword" and shoot away. I would shoot as many shots as you can before you get bored and then stack them. Also because you'll likely be shooting at a high iso shoot a bunch of dark frames and stack those as well on the other shots. |
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Posted: 1/14/2017 3:55:44 PM EDT
[#30]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I would buy something like this http://www.highpointscientific.com/telescopes/celestron-advanced-vx-series-6-quot-schmidt-cassegrain-go-to-telescope-12079 a 6" scope is a good all around scope to start with. The mount is decent and will be able to handle you adding a camera later on. Also I would pick yourself up a few decent eyepieces. the celestron xcel series is a good choice I would get a 9mm and a 25mm www.amazon.com/dp/B0048JLLLQ |
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Posted: 1/14/2017 5:48:10 PM EDT
[#31]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
So here's a question. Since I don't have a budget for a telescope, would using my 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 wide open for a ~5 second exposure with ISO 2500 or so do anything? Probably not, but I figure it's worth a shot to ask. It's a crappy picture, but here's Jupiter and 4 moons taken with a D7100. 600mm, f/8, 1/100 sec, ISO200. Now that I think of it, I should make some more attempts at planets. If you're using your 70-300, think hard about stopping it down to f/8 or f/9; you might find it gives a sharper image. f/8 is pretty much the sharp spot on the Tamron 150-600 lens. As for shutter, the there the "500 Rule": 500/focal length is max shutter (in seconds) to avoid star trails. So for a 300mm lens, you should be looking at shutters of 1.5-2 seconds.  DSC_0100-Jupiter by FredMan, on Flickr
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Posted: 1/14/2017 5:53:04 PM EDT
[#32]
Thanks guys
 I'll give it a shot once the weather clears. I get Orion barely over the treetops and perfectly framed in my driveway at 1am. Will see what happens.
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Posted: 1/16/2017 6:25:38 PM EDT
[#33]
Anyone else socked in with clouds for the foreseeable future?
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Posted: 1/16/2017 6:36:29 PM EDT
[#34]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Anyone else socked in with clouds for the foreseeable future?
http://i.imgur.com/3ruC0Cs.gif It's supposed to be clear and -25 right now. Cloudy, snowing, -12 instead. -45 and clear in the forecast for tomorrow, so we'll see. Positive temps next week with snow. This winter has been bipolar as fuck. |
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Posted: 1/16/2017 8:26:42 PM EDT
[#35]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Anyone else socked in with clouds for the foreseeable future?
http://i.imgur.com/3ruC0Cs.gif Still. Wednesday is supposed to be clear, but I don't think driving hours on a work night will happen. ETA :  is the best sky.
 is the closest.
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Posted: 1/16/2017 10:56:09 PM EDT
[#36]
I haven't seen the night sky since last Thursday.
All those ISS transits going to waste. |
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Posted: 1/17/2017 12:23:49 PM EDT
[#37]
Here are shots of my setup
mount with two scopes, one of imaging the other for guiding 
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Posted: 1/18/2017 3:47:38 AM EDT
[#38]
-40f outside, so the focus isn't exactly perfect. Man, you guys make me feel like a noob. (looking at you, Mr. Look I took a photo of a nebula)
I've got a ton to learn apparently.
50mm f/1.8 iso 100 10 second exposure 
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Posted: 1/18/2017 9:01:38 AM EDT
[#39]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
-40f outside, so the focus isn't exactly perfect. Man, you guys make me feel like a noob. (looking at you, Mr. Look I took a photo of a nebula) I've got a ton to learn apparently.
50mm f/1.8 iso 100 10 second exposure http://pre10.deviantart.net/1658/th/pre/f/2017/017/8/b/untitled_by_aknorthpolar-davu46l.jpg We all start somewhere man, its all part of the fun to see how you progress. Don't be afraid to crank that iso, I would go up to 1600. Takes a shit load of shots, then put your lens cap on and take a shit load more, those will be your dark frames. Stack them up and you'll clean up a lot of noise and you'll increase the signal of the deep sky object you are shooting. The more information you can gather on a target the better. There are guys on astronomy websites that literally have over 24 hours worth of exposure time on one thing. |
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Posted: 1/18/2017 6:23:06 PM EDT
[#40]
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Posted: 1/18/2017 6:49:15 PM EDT
[#41]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
We all start somewhere man, its all part of the fun to see how you progress. Don't be afraid to crank that iso, I would go up to 1600. Takes a shit load of shots, then put your lens cap on and take a shit load more, those will be your dark frames. Stack them up and you'll clean up a lot of noise and you'll increase the signal of the deep sky object you are shooting. The more information you can gather on a target the better. There are guys on astronomy websites that literally have over 24 hours worth of exposure time on one thing. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
-40f outside, so the focus isn't exactly perfect. Man, you guys make me feel like a noob. (looking at you, Mr. Look I took a photo of a nebula) I've got a ton to learn apparently.
50mm f/1.8 iso 100 10 second exposure http://pre10.deviantart.net/1658/th/pre/f/2017/017/8/b/untitled_by_aknorthpolar-davu46l.jpg We all start somewhere man, its all part of the fun to see how you progress. Don't be afraid to crank that iso, I would go up to 1600. Takes a shit load of shots, then put your lens cap on and take a shit load more, those will be your dark frames. Stack them up and you'll clean up a lot of noise and you'll increase the signal of the deep sky object you are shooting. The more information you can gather on a target the better. There are guys on astronomy websites that literally have over 24 hours worth of exposure time on one thing. Once the weather clears and I'm off happy pills from losing teeth, I'll try to give that a try. Taking photos in -50f kinda sucks hardcore. Don't get me wrong, I'll do it on occasions like tonight where the aurora is supposed to be epic, but as a whole, fuck that.
I'll have to look up how to do photo stacking though. |
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Posted: 1/21/2017 1:02:49 AM EDT
[#42]
Its been a hell of a day.
Was very clear so I got everything bundled up and headed out. Yeah I couldn't get the stupid thing polar aligned, and then clouds rolled in. Now it is going to be cloudy tomorrow night too? |
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Posted: 1/21/2017 8:44:19 AM EDT
[#43]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Its been a hell of a day. Was very clear so I got everything bundled up and headed out. Yeah I couldn't get the stupid thing polar aligned, and then clouds rolled in. Now it is going to be cloudy tomorrow night too? Why wouldnt it polar align? |
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Posted: 1/21/2017 1:03:04 PM EDT
[#44]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Why wouldnt it polar align? Well, I couldn't see the stars through the clouds and by the time I had it anywhere near where I could see them there were just like waves of clouds coming in. Big mistake being going to the nearest place that's in orange level light pollution seems to make things worse because the clouds get that you know frosty orange glow that you see instead of like just darkness. ETA: looks like i can try again tonight after all, good thing about st louis, the weather is always a variable |
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Posted: 1/23/2017 9:36:36 AM EDT
[#45]
You guys might find this interesting
http://www.randombio.com/astrophotography-without-a-telescope.html |
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Posted: 1/27/2017 1:22:37 PM EDT
[#46]
Forgot that I had a few RGB images of the Rosette Nebula, so I blended them with the H-alpha images that I took. Used the RGB as the base then used the H alpha files for the red channel.
if the skies ever clear again this is going to be a main target. |
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Posted: 1/28/2017 12:05:58 PM EDT
[#47]
 I should have gone out last night, super cold and clear... but I fell asleep in my chair
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Posted: 1/31/2017 9:18:02 PM EDT
[#48]
Not nearly as dramatic as reality. No sense of how close they are.
But still...  Moon-Venus 20170131 by FredMan, on Flickr
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Posted: 1/31/2017 9:31:41 PM EDT
[#49]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Not nearly as dramatic as reality. No sense of how close they are. But still... Moon-Venus 20170131 by FredMan, on Flickr
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Posted: 2/1/2017 10:14:27 AM EDT
[#50]
I had about two hours of clear skies on the 30th but I had to fight my damn telescope the whole time. Guiding just didn't not want to play nice and my focus was off a bit because I was rushing to beat the clouds. Its my own fault, I shouldn't have rushed. I have so much to learn about properly using my guider and mount.
Anyways I did manage to get a few shots of M33 Triangulum Galaxy, its not great, my focus being a bit off and my lack of a field flattener and that fact that I didn't shoot darks or flats really shows. 
I learn something every time I go out, hopefully that all adds up to something good one day
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