Astrophotography Archives

Sub-Exposures in DSLRs

How short can we go with sub-exposures in DSLRs?

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Astro-Imaging: Climbing the Learning Curve

The purpose of this article is to illustrate the climb up the learning curve that everyone has to face when they start out in this immensely satisfying, challenging, enjoyable and yet, often rather frustrating pursuit

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Manual Guiding

Guiding is the act of ensuring that your telescope is tracking accurately during a long astrophotographic exposure

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Why Astrophotography

I've been into astronomy for over 30 years which is most of my life

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Budget CCD Imaging Part IV - Deep Sky

CCD Imaging for the Budget Minded Novice Part IV - Deep Sky Object Imaging">

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Finding the Optimal Sub-frame Exposure

Finding the Optimal Sub-frame Exposure Length for Astrophotography

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Rent-a-Scope Astrophotography Service

My Adventures in Deep-Sky Photography & Rent-a-Scope

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Autoguiding

In olden times astrophotographers shot using 35mm film, frequently taking exposures of an hour or more

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First Year of Serious Astrophotography

It was one year ago that I received my SBIG ST-10XE + CFW-8a + AO-7 after finding a good deal on a used one

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CCD Imaging for the Budget Minded (Part III)

CCD Astro Imaging for the Budget Minded Novice - Part Three

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Filters Battling Light Pollution

My home base is plagued by light pollution and after some "bench testing" for filter factors

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Astrophotography with a digital camera

Hi, my name is Jenny and I've been an astronomer for the past 6 months. Three months ago I spent £1500 on a 6" Newtonian telescope with motorised equatorial mount, a couple of eyepieces and a Barlow lens and now I want to try

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Afocal Astrophotography with Film

As an old-timer in the Astronomy hobby, I would recommend that you enter Astrophotography with a film camera. My point is that you might not like it, so there is no reason to buy a digital camera, a web camera, or a specialized ccd camera. I bet that you already own a film camera. You can start with a simple or sophisticated camera, or buy one of those “use and throw” cardboard or plastic cameras.

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Jenny’s Astrophotography Experience...a 5 part adventure

Three months ago Jenny decided that she would finally take the financial plunge and get seriously involved in astronomy, a topic that had fascinated her since she was in the 3rd grade. She had already spent many evenings outside using only her eyes and a monthly sky chart (downloaded off the internet and printed surreptitiously at work), illuminated with her tiny red LED key chain dongle. She became familiar with the major constellations this way, and now understood the basic motions of the night sky. Sidereal time, declination and right ascension had all become familiar concepts to her by now, and she was eager to see more. She tried using binoculars for a while, but found them tiresome and (literally) a pain in the neck. Jenny was never one to spend money without doing her homework, so she spent many hours reading on-line equipment reviews and perusing discussion threads before making her equipment choice.

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The Frugal Astrophotographer

There's no such thing as cheap astrophotography" is a phrase often repeated.  I beg to differ.  There is a continuum of cost in astrophotography (AP), from a tripod mounted camera shooting star

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DMK Firewire Camera for Planetary Imaging

My first ventures into astroimaging involved film and the dismal results and cost of film and developing soon shut me down

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SBIG All Sky and Meteor Camera

The SBIG All Sky camera is not item you will likely to find in your average astronomer's tool box

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Video Binoviewing

Many amateur astronomers are now using video cameras to observe both solar system and deep sky objects.

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Diffusion Filter Overlay with Photoshop

You may have seen constellation photos where the major stars are highlighted and show up as beautifully colored orbs. Some of these are created in-camera by taking a double exposure: once with no filter and then once with a diffusion filter on to create those glows around bright stars. The same effect can be done in Photoshop with one normally exposed astrophotograph.

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Digital Astrophotography Beginner's Guide

Twenty-five years ago I abandoned astronomy to pursue other interests. Today, I return to the hobby and discover a booming field ripe with technological innovation. The bad news is that everything I knew has to be learned again, the good news is that the sky is full of rewards that were unthinkable a quarter of century ago. This beginner's guide is not intended as a dazzling demonstration of good astrophotography but rather as a mundane account of my new adventures in astro-photography, complete with mistakes and growing pains. Amateur astronomy is one of the few areas where the internet has lived up to its hype: a staggering amount of free information is available on-line, shared by an enthusiastic and talented community: this article is my way to thank all those who have contributed knowledge, hardware tips and great software.. Clear skies to you! Analog or Digital? Decision Time

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35mm Astrophotography Basics

Hi, my name is Jenny and I've been an astronomer for the past 6 months. Three months ago I spent $1500 on a Celestron C8S-GT 8” go-to Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope and now I want to try some Astrophotography. I have a budget of $600 to do this. What should I buy and how do I do it?

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Getting Started with a SAC CCD Camera

The SAC imaging camera represents an easy way to break into astrophotography. The cameras are easy to use but its more advanced capabilities will provide you with years of enjoyment. This article is not meant to replace the instructions that come with the camera but instead to give you an overview of the basic setup, testing and operation of the camera. This article covers the operations of all the SAC cameras including the SACIV, SAC7, SAC7b, and for the most part, the new SAC8. The SAC8 is a highly sensitive monochrome CCD camera and it's operation differs slightly. Refer to the SAC8 instructions for the differences but mainly the shutter control as adjusted on the scre

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Lunar Astrophotography With Small Refractor

Lunar Photography with a small refractor and a DSLR

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Cloudy Nighter Anthony Wesley "Bird" Discovers Dark Impact Mark on Jupiter

One of our own has discovered a dark impact mark on Jupiter. JPL and NASA have confirmed that it's an impact.

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Live 3D Stereoscopic Electronic Viewing

3D Stereoscopic Electronic Viewing

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