Equipment
July - August 2009: First light with my AstroTrac in Egypt & NL
NGC 7000, North American Nebula & IC 5067, 5068 & 5070, Pelican Nebula, taken with Canon EOS 20Da & 70-300mm zoom lens @ 200mm, f/5.6, Lumicon light pollution filter. Individual exposures 2 - 3 minutes, total ca. 30 minutes. Click here for larger version.
Butterfly Nebula IC 1318 & cluster NGC 6910 near the star Sadr in Cygnus. taken with Canon EOS 20Da & 70-300mm zoom lens @ 200mm, f/5.6, Lumicon light pollution filter. Individual exposures 2 - 3 minutes, total ca. 30 minutes. Click here for larger version.
Overzicht van NGC 7000 & Sadr gebied in Cygnus. taken with Canon EOS 20Da & 50mm lens, f/2.8, Lumicon light pollution filter. Individual exposures 2 - 3 minutes, total ca. 30 minutes. Click here for larger version.
M8 & M20, Lagoon & Trifid nebulae in Sagittarius, taken in Egypte with Canon EOS 20Da & 70-300mm zoom lens @ 200mm, f/5.6. Because of light pollution, only 10 minutes of exposures were usable. Click here for larger version.
Sagittarius ultra-wide-field. Taken in Egypt (light pollution!) with Canon 20Da & 50mm lens @ f2.8, 2280s total. M8, M17, M18, M20, M21, M22, M23, M24, M25 & M28 all visible, as well as several NGC objects. Click here for larger version.
First light with my AstroTrac. Actually first & second light, as I had first taken it with me to Egypt, where it performed admirably, but the light pollution was horrible. Against all odds, I did get some wide fields of Sagittarius, which I cannot even see here at 52N, but the gradient and wash-out were difficult to cope with and results less than optimal.
The top three photos were from the backyard (again...) and much better than similar exposures made in Egypt. Not the same results as when taken through my telescope, but for a set-up that you can throw over your shoulder or fit in a carry-on, and set up in 10 minutes, I think it's wonderful.
March 20 - 27 in France & April 20 - 27, 2009, back in the Nedtherlands
Markarian's Chain with elliptical galaxies M84 & M86, 22 exposures, total 4050s @ f2. Taken with 11" Celestron Nexstar GPS with HyperStar 3, Starlight Xpress SXV-M25C. Stacked with Maxim, finished with Photoshop. Click here for larger version.
M81 & M82, 27 exposures. Taken with 11" Celestron Nexstar GPS with HyperStar 3, Starlight Xpress SXV-M25C. Stacked with Maxim, finished with Photoshop. Click here for larger version.
M65, M66 & NGC 3628, the Leo Triplet, 1440s. Taken with 11" Celestron Nexstar GPS with HyperStar 3, Starlight Xpress SXV-M25C. Stacked with Maxim, finished with Photoshop. Click here for larger version.
M51, 6 exposures, 720s total. Taken with 11" Celestron Nexstar GPS with HyperStar 3, for larger version.. Stacked with Maxim, finished with Photoshop. Click here for larger version.
M104, Sombrero Gallaxy, 1500s @ f10, taken with the Meade 8" LX200-ACF and Canon 20Da. Stacked with Maxim, finished with Photoshop. Click here for larger version.
M101, the Pinwheel Galaxy, 13 exposures, 1920s total. Taken with 11" Celestron Nexstar GPS with HyperStar 3, Starlight Xpress SXV-M25C. Stacked with Maxim, finished with Photoshop. Click here for larger version.
From March 20th - 27th, I had the luxury of sharing some beautiful dark skies with a group of other, equally crazy amateur astronomers. To make the most of my time, I had taken along both my 11" Celestron Nexstar GPS with Hyperstar, and my 8" Meade LX200-ACF. The location had the advantage of being 10 degrees more southerly, so objects such as M104, difficult if not impossible to view from my home-base at 52N, were beautiful.
The first couple of nights were spent enjoying the visual view through the telescopes and fighting with equipment. The last few days were spent on more serious astrophotography. Unfortunately, these days were also more troubled by clouds and humidity, as well as the occasional equipment glitch, so the "production" was less than optimal. It was also well below 0 C a few nights and difficult to keep warm despite snow boots and 5 layers of clothes. But all with all, it was a great week.
Just a month after the astrovacation in France, we were treated to an unusual week of clear weather during the new moon. Having worked out the kinks in my equipment, I am somewhat embarrassed to say that these pictures from the back yard are probably better than those from France. I was able to get more time in per object, thanks in part to having a warm house in which to take a break when it got too cold.
January 2009, taken in the Netherlands with Canon 20Da & HyperStar 3
Horsehead & Flame nebulae with Alnitak, the left star in Orion's belt. Left of the Horsehead (Barnard 33) & the red emmission nebula IC 432 is NGC 2023, a reflection nebula. Taken with Celestron 11" & HyperStar3 & Canon20Da @ f2, ISO 1600. Lumicon Deep Sky filter, 39 exposures @ 60, 90 and 120 seconds, total 62 minutes. Click here for larger version.
M45, the Pleiades. 2460s. Taken with Celestron 11" & HyperStar3 & Canon20Da @ f2, ISO 1600. Lumicon Deep Sky filter. Stacked with Maxim, finished with Photoshop. Click here for larger version.
M31, Andromeda. 2640s. Taken with Celestron 11" & HyperStar3 & Canon20Da @ f2, ISO 1600. Lumicon Deep Sky filter. Stacked with Maxim, finished with Photoshop. Click here for larger version.
NGC 2237, Rosette Nebula. 3300s Taken with Celestron 11" & HyperStar3 & Canon20Da @ f2, ISO 1600. Lumicon Deep Sky filter. Stacked with Maxim, finished with Photoshop. Click here for larger version.
Christmas present 2008: a beautiful, cold, dark week after Christmas and again at the end of January. Photos taken in the backyard at the beginning & end of the month with 11" Celestron Nexstar GPS, HyperStar3 & Canon 20Da, Lumicon Deep Sky filter. These were the last Canon photos with the Hyperstar before I started using the Starlight Xpress SXV-M25C. Since then, the Canon is used primarily on the Meade 8" at Cassegrain focus.
