While I was mostly working with my telescope and full-spectrum camera doing “proper” astronomy earlier in the week, I also left my other camera on a regular tripod pointing at the sky, trying to photography the Milky Way with a fisheye lens. This picture covers pretty much the whole sky, almost horizon to horizon. The MilkyContinue reading “Milky Way”
Category Archives: Astronomy
More deep space
I’m still suffering with triangular stars caused by pinched optics, but last night I decided to head out and enjoy some astronomy anyway. I’m still a relative beginner at astrophotogrpahy and there’s always something to learn even if the telescope is misbehaving. The weather was clear and very cold. Frost formed on the car andContinue reading “More deep space”
Pinched optics
I’ve been having an ongoing problem since buying my telescope a couple of months ago. Stars appear triangular, as you can see in this picture of Pleiades. I’ve done some research and it seems the most common cause of triangular stars is a defect called “pinched optics”. The primary mirror in is held in placeContinue reading “Pinched optics”
Infrared astrophotography – first “light”
It’s been quite cloudy recently so I’ve been clutching at any opportunity to make the most of clear skies. Last Tuesday it wasn’t forecast to be very clear at my dark site in Somerset but it was clear at my suburban address in Bristol. Light pollution round here is pretty bad and the sky oftenContinue reading “Infrared astrophotography – first “light””
Full spectrum camera conversion
This article is about exploring the world of light our eyes cannot see, using a modified digital SLR camera. I have a physics degree but I’m still finding my way with the practical applications of infrared and ultraviolet, so this article is mostly written from a theoretical point of view. Take everything I say withContinue reading “Full spectrum camera conversion”
More deep-sky astrophotography
After a successful first attempt with my new telescope, I decided to book a day off work, spent all night in Somerset and all day sleeping it off. I had lots of fun and I learnt an enormous amount – even if it did get quite chilly by 2am. I was paying more attention toContinue reading “More deep-sky astrophotography”
First light part 2
This morning I published a picture of the Andromeda galaxy, with some notes about my method a vow to improve my technique. I pondered the image processing and decided to have another go this afternoon. This is the same dataset, but different processing. It’s a colour image and unfortunately shows some light pollution, although IContinue reading “First light part 2”
First light: GSO imaging Newtonian telescope
Hot on the heels of my recent post about telescopes for imaging, in this post I’d like to share with you the very first image taken with my new GSO 6″ f/5 imaging Newtonian – which was funded by selling my two previous telescopes and a couple of camera lenses. Tonight was the first clearContinue reading “First light: GSO imaging Newtonian telescope”
Finding the perfect astro imaging setup
Well, “perfect” is a strong word. No matter what you’ve got, there’s always something better. This article is about my hunt for some suitable equipment for deep-space astro-imaging, inspired by the recent purchase of a new telescope for imaging. Ideally I’d be out using it right now, but it’s forecast to be cloudy until furtherContinue reading “Finding the perfect astro imaging setup”
Andromeda Galaxy
Some time ago I got a new telescope – a Celestron 130EQ-MD Newtonian rather than a Celestron NexStar 127 SLT Cassegrain-Maksutov formula. In short, it is more sensitive to light but sacrifices magnification. It’s perfect for deep-space observation like nebulae and galaxies, while the Maksutov is better for observing planets which are much brighter andContinue reading “Andromeda Galaxy”
Jonathan Gazeley 