Andromeda and Pleiades

Hersey — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 03:42:40 +0000

Clear, dark, and cold. Nice night for stargazing. Got a pretty good image of the Andromeda Galaxy. Five 2 minute exposures at ISO800 and 5 dark frames. I actually took 20 2 minute exposures but only 5 turned out nice enough to stack. I think it looks pretty nice.

The Andromeda Galaxy

Here’s a wide field shot of Pleiades. Six 2 mintue exposures ISO800 piggy backed 50mm f/1.8.

Pleiades

My first piggyback pics – M42, M31, and Pleiades

Hersey — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 18:08:17 +0000

Last night it was cold and a bit cloudy, but I really wanted to get out and try out my new piggy back mount with my Nikon D60. Neat stuff! It is really amazing how much the camera sees that you cannot see with your eye.

The frost got to the scope lens pretty quick – even with the dew shield, so everything was cloudy through the main scope not 45 minutes after I got started. I am working on a dew heater for it which should be finished by the time I am out next weekend.

I just did a few test shots of M42, M31, and Pleiades. Tried 30 second, 1 minute, and 2 minute exposures just to see what I could come up with. Below are a few that I think turned out really well. These are either 30 second or 1 minute single exposures with no stacking or other processing (besides cropping and resizing). I used my 55-200mm f/3.5 lens set at infinite focus, ISO800. Most of the shots were taken at 105mm except for the Orion’s belt one which is at 55mm.

Seeing conditions were not that great. A lot of light pollution and clouds but I did enjoy trying out the new mount and I am looking forward to practicing with it on a good clear night.

M42 - The Orion Nebula

Orion's Belt and M42

Pleiades

M31 - Andromeda Galaxy

The Suffolk Sky » Andromeda

Andromeda and Pleiades

My first piggyback pics – M42, M31, and Pleiades