The ultimate astrophotography target for your DSLR and telescope
It's very exciting to know that the night sky is full of galaxies, nebulae and star clusters to observe and photograph. The great Andromeda Galaxy, the glimmering Pleiades, and the vibrant red California Nebula are all jaw-dropping astrophotography subjects. But what is the best way to capture these amazing deep-sky objects? The followers of this blog know that I am all about astrophotography with a DSLR and telescope. This is a popular deep-sky imaging setup and is capable of some incredible results using affordable equipment that can often be purchased used. A DSLR camera is…
Finding Darker Skies
Astrophotography in late August and early Septemeber feature ideal conditions for spending a full night photographing the stars. The nights are longer, the temperature is warm, yet cool at night, and the breathtaking Milky Way core continues to stretch upwards into the night, as nightfall sets in. Right now, some of the first stars to "pop" after the sun has receded behind the Earth are Vega, Altair, Deneb, and Arcturus. Even more noticeably present are the intense glowing "wanderers" known as Mars and Saturn in our Solar System. As the end of summer approaches, so does our nightly showin…
Forgotten Light Frames
While digging though some old folders on Adobe Bridge, I stumbled across some unprocessed, 300 second light frames of the Flaming Star Nebula from November 2013! When you are desperate to get out and image a new target, this is like hitting gold. I was originally looking for my raw files of the Pacman Nebula, which I feel is in desperate need a new process. (Those stars look pretty rough) I found a folder labelled "Flaming Star - 5 Min Lights". I never processed this image! The Flaming Star Nebula is a colorful collection of glowing gas and dust lit up by the bright star AE Aurigae…
