A galaxy is a collection of stars, gas, dust, and dark matter held together by gravity. There are four main types of galaxies; spiral galaxies, elliptical galaxies, irregular galaxies, and lenticular galaxies, which are often classified based on their appearance.
There are many bright galaxies you can photograph from your backyard using a camera and telescope. If you are new to astrophotography and/or have a modest telescope (in terms of size and aperture), start with the brightest galaxies in the night sky and take long-exposure images using a camera on an equatorial telescope mount.
In the astrophotography community, the early spring is referred to as galaxy season, thanks to a large number of galaxies being available to observe and photograph in the night sky at that time.
In the astrophotography realm, Galaxy Season refers to the period in Spring when the night sky offers up a buffet of incredible galaxies to observe and photograph. From early March until mid-May, the window of opportunity for night-sky enthusiasts to photograph a wide variety of galaxies is at its best. I don’t know about you,…
Astrophotographer Yannick Akar has stunned the amateur astrophotography community with one of the most detailed photos of the Andromeda Galaxy you will ever see. The image was created by capturing a staggering amount of data, spanning the course of two seasons. The final image includes a whopping 146 hours of total integration. Since posting the…
I recently photographed a galaxy in the night sky with my telescope, using a new approach I have never tried before. The technique is not new, but it is something I’ve never actually tried on a galaxy before. Not only did it produce one of my favorite images I have ever captured, it revealed a…
My latest photo of the Andromeda Galaxy is my best effort yet. I have been taking deep-sky astrophotography images for over 10 years now, and this might be my favorite photo of space I’ve ever taken. This detailed image was captured using a small refractor telescope, with a mirrorless camera attached. The image reveals the…
In this post, I will share the techniques and equipment I used to take a picture of the stunning Sunflower Galaxy. With the world largely shut down for me, deep-space astrophotography in the backyard has been a welcome escape. Cataloged as Messier 63, this stunning galaxy is about 25 million light-years away from Earth in…
In this post, I’ll walk you through the image processing steps I used to create the image of the Andromeda Galaxy shown below. This astrophotography tutorial uses Adobe Photoshop to bring out the intense colors and detail of a galaxy that was photographed using a DSLR camera and a small telescope. You can follow along…
I’ve been given the unique opportunity to review a new Ritchey-Chrétien Telescope, the iOptron Photron RC6. This telescope has a longer focal length than any of my refractors, which I plan on putting to good use. The impressive 1370mm focal length means that this stocky red Ritchey-Chrétien is a perfect choice for astrophotography during galaxy…
With summer coming to a close, I had one last chance for some deep sky astrophotography under dark skies. Choosing an astrophotography target at a dark sky site requires some serious thought. The key is to focus on an object that will benefit from broadband color data without the need for harsh light pollution filters….
Markarian’s Chain is an impressive photography subject for those with a camera and telescope to capture it. This string of 7 distinct galaxies is a member of the Virgo Cluster and epitomizes the types of astrophotography subjects available during galaxy season. On Friday night (Good Friday), I was spoiled with a second consecutive clear night sky. The…
The Leo Triplet is an interesting group of 3 galaxies that are often observed and photographed within a single field of view. The Leo Triplet includes spiral galaxies M65, M66, and NGC 3628. This group of galaxies is also known as the M66 group, and is found in the constellation Leo. Each one of the…
Saturday Night Under the Stars Astrophotography in the City Last weekend I posted a new video to my YouTube channel titled DSLR Astrophotography – A Night in the Backyard with my Camera. It is now Early-April, and we are in what amateur astrophotographers call “Galaxy Season”, as we transition from the Winter Constellations like Orion…
Astrophotography in Galaxy Season This past weekend, the clouds conveniently parted for me on a nearly moonless Friday night. The “seeing” and “transparency” were by no means perfect, but I was not about to complain. Late winter and early spring are what’s known as “galaxy season” among amateur astronomers and photographers alike. The milder temperatures…