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Astrophotography

wsbrown said:
Very nice rig(s). No Hyperstar for the Celestron? That is my biggest challenge, trying to get enough time on target while still going to bed at a decent hour for work and life in general.
Recently Im going to all refractors for full frame imaging with a D800, and also for their ease of use versus a Newtonian.
Click to expand...

Thanks!

No, I never got the Hyperstar, but definitely want one!

And Yeah, after I had posted my pics and replied saying that I need to dust my scope off and get it outside...then I remembered the VERY LONG, FREEZING COLD nights that I spent outside getting those shots. And that's why I haven't been out there in quite a while.

Here's my 20 steps of what every astrophotography evening consisted of for me...

1. Getting the 170 pound rig outside, setup, and balanced by sundown.
2. Star align and drift align for about 30-45 minutes.
3. Running back inside to thaw out my hands and warm up.
4. Hooking up and routing all the cables to the laptop and starting up the auto guiding and camera software.
5. Deciding on what to shoot for the evening, then finding it in the scope, and getting the shot aligned.
6. Running back inside to thaw out my hands and warm up.
7. Finding a guide star and getting the auto guider running for a while to make sure it doesn't drift.
8. Running back inside to thaw out my hands and warm up.
9. Taking a couple of manual test shots to figure out the best exposure time, settings, etc.
10. Setting up the camera software for those exposure times and settings.
11. Running back inside to thaw out my hands and warm up.
12. Starting up the exposures and babysitting the scope and auto guider...until apogee.
13. Running back inside to thaw out my hands and warm up.
14. After apogee, turning the scope around, repeating step #7 and re-aligning the shot.
15. Repeating step #12...until the sun starts coming up and the sky it too bright to shoot.
16. Running back inside to thaw out my hands and warm up.
17. Break everything down and carry it all back inside.
18. Eat breakfast!!!
19. Finally go to bed by about 9:30am and sleep the rest of the day.
20. Feeling hung over at work because my sleep schedule is messed up for a few days.

Then all the fun really starts, with photo stacking/photoshop work/etc...
But all that does reward you with some AWESOME shots!!! :)
Andromeda-20121020a.jpg

Dumbell01a.jpg

M51a.jpg

Horsehead01c.jpg
 
GAK9 said:
For me, the issue was always trying to carry around my huge, heavy scope (10”), tripod, and accessories. It just got to be too much. I had too many trees in my yard to make seeing nearly impossible too. I do miss it though
Click to expand...

Yep...I feel ur pain! My rig is about 170 pounds when it's all put together...and I'm sore for a couple days after carrying it all outside, setting it up, and carrying it all back inside the next morning! :)
IMG_1261a.jpg

Sombrero_0449a.jpg

Astrophotography_3791a.jpg
 
I decide days and weeks in advance what I shoot. If you start shooting again this is an invaluable tool for planning:

Imaging Toolbox – Blackwater Skies

www.blackwaterskies.co.uk www.blackwaterskies.co.uk

I can set up in about 15 minutes, I have a small concrete pad that I marked where the mount's feet need to be to be polar aligned, so only a small adjustment is needed everytime. PHD2 guides fine on decent polar alignment and the calibration with the scope Im using and region of the sky. I usually always pack up from 10-11, so Im only getting a couple hours a night. Most of my images are only a single night's worth of exposure. I will probably be using multiple nights more often now that I will be primarily using F/6 - F/7.8 refractors instead of a F/3.3 reflector.
 
wsbrown said:
I decide days and weeks in advance what I shoot. If you start shooting again this is an invaluable tool for planning:

Imaging Toolbox – Blackwater Skies

www.blackwaterskies.co.uk www.blackwaterskies.co.uk

I can set up in about 15 minutes, I have a small concrete pad that I marked where the mount's feet need to be to be polar aligned, so only a small adjustment is needed everytime. PHD2 guides fine on decent polar alignment and the calibration with the scope Im using and region of the sky. I usually always pack up from 10-11, so Im only getting a couple hours a night. Most of my images are only a single night's worth of exposure. I will probably be using multiple nights more often now that I will be primarily using F/6 - F/7.8 refractors instead of a F/3.3 reflector.
Click to expand...
Wow...that's nice. It wouldn't be so bad for me if my setup time was quicker.

They've got a new gadget out for mine now, that supposedly you just plug it into the mount and it automatically does the setup and alignment...so I've been thinking about picking one of those up.

I had done the same thing for my tripod legs...I chiseled little notches in the concrete patio where the legs would sit, so that helped a little. But at 2800mm, I still had to drift align and fine tune a bit to keep from having tracking issues. A few of the shots I posted earlier had pretty long exposure times...a couple had multiple 7 minute exposures, and also a couple with 10 minute exposures...that's when it gets real tricky. LoL

Thanks for the link...I will check that out. LoL...I guess I should have planned ahead too, but I would always end up out there looking at my IPad app, trying to decide on what to shoot. Hahaha!

All of my images so far have been from a single night as well...but during the end of my last outing, I started on the Crab Nebula...only got enough shots to bring out the center of it before the sun started coming up. So I need to get out there and get some more to finish that shot up. This was the best I could do on that one until I get more exposure time...and this was 10 shots at 2min30sec each with the AstroTech 8" F/4 Newtonian at 800mm. I'm going to try to get some shots of it with the Celestron 1100HD and see if I can combine those to really bring out some detail. So not much to see in this one yet...
Crab01a.jpg

Clear Skies Brother!
 
Yeah 2800mm would be insane for tracking. My longest focal length is a 975mm refractor, which Ive took up to 15 minute exposures with no issues.

Beautiful M1, that is still on my to-do list.
 
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