The Impressive Pegasus Astro Pocket Powerbox (Review)
The Pegasus Astro Pocket Powerbox is an ingenious device that allows you to streamline your deep sky astrophotography setup. The goal of this little blue box is to replace your current mess of power cables running to various devices on your telescope with a single, lightweight power source. The Pocket Powerbox includes (4) 12V outlets that I use to send power to the various devices riding along with my telescope. This includes everything from my dew heater band to my dedicated astronomy camera. The device came with all of the cables I needed in the box, which was a pleasant surprise.…
Upgrading My Computer for Astrophotography
The past 48 hours have been a whirlwind of software downloads, driver updates and even a last minute run to the computer store (for a new USB to RS232 cable) I am happy to report that the journey was one of the best decisions I’ve made in a long time to advance my progress in this incurable addiction we call deep sky astrophotography. As I write this - my camera is recording impressive unguided 2-minute images of the North America Nebula using the new PC. NGC 7000 - 26 Minutes of Exposure Time (13 x 2 minutes) The new computer has inspired me to bring my old equatorial mount out of…
Photograph the Milky Way this Summer
I recently returned from an unforgettable astrophotography trip where I photographed the Milky Way under some of the darkest skies in the Eastern United States. The Cherry Springs Star party is an annual astronomy event where night sky enthusiasts come together to appreciate the true beauty of an unspoiled night sky. In this post, I'll explain how I photographed the Milky Way with my DSLR camera, using a wide-angle lens and a small star tracker mount. I'll also share the deep sky image of the Trifid Nebula I captured through my refractor telescope and a cooled CMOS camera. As far as astroph…
The Explore Scientific ED140 Apo Refractor
I am thrilled to tell you that I recently got my hands on a brand new Explore Scientific ED140 CF APO Triplet Refractor. If you've been following AstroBackyard for some time now, you'll know how I feel about APO refractors in terms of astrophotography performance. The refractor telescope design has many unique advantages when it comes to deep sky astrophotography. Specifically, an air-spaced triplet apochromatic optical design will share many of the same characteristics you'll find on a high-end telephoto camera lens. The biggest difference is - they usually reach much further. (The ED140…
A New Ritchey-Chrétien Telescope for Astrophotography
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 season. I'm looking forward to some large, high-resolution images of galaxies such as M101, the Pinwheel Galaxy. With this added "reach" also comes an increased demand for focus and tracking accuracy. Added challenges include a strong need for an e…
