Topic: Night Sky Photography

[GillE]

I want to learn how to photograph the night sky.  Hubby has a telescope with a camera adapter.  Has anyone ever tried this and, if so, please could they advise me how to go about it?  I'd really love to capture features such as the moon, Mars and the Milky Way.

[Simon]

Too much light pollution around here for that sort of thing.   

[Clive]

I'm not an astrophotographer but  I think Sam has a lot of experience in this field.  Taking photos of celestial objects is made difficult because of the Earth's rotation which is magnified through the lens of a telescope.  It means that the image at best will blur and at worst will trail.  The Moon is definitely your best bet as it's so bright but catch it before first quarter otherwise the craters will be washed out by the light. 

[sam]

I'm not an astrophotographer but  I think Sam has a lot of experience in this field.  Taking photos of celestial objects is made difficult because of the Earth's rotation which is magnified through the lens of a telescope.  It means that the image at best will blur and at worst will trail.  The Moon is definitely your best bet as it's so bright but catch it before first quarter otherwise the craters will be washed out by the light.

I do :-)  what camera are you thinking? What telescope, aperture etc?

For the moon you will need some form of filter BG20 might help but neutral density.....

Earth rotation is a pain.. .but lots of short exposures work well...

[sam]

Too much light pollution around here for that sort of thing.   

Not true. The right filters help, less so now we don't illuminate our street with sodium lamps... but you can do pretty amazing things inside big cities...

[sam]

Good starting point for all things stellar: https://in-the-sky.org/

[GillE]

It's a Celestron Astro-master 130 telescope.  I have a T adapter which means any Nikon DSLR can be connected directly.  I'd prefer to use my full-frame D850 but I fear it may be too heavy, in which case I'd resort to my cropped sensor D3300.  Insofar as aperture is concerned, the camera connects to the telescope via the lens mount which means I cannot use a camera lens.  Therefore, there's no aperture.  If I were to photograph the night sky without the telescope I could mount the D850 onto a tripod and use a Sigma 150-600mm sports lens with a F5.6 aperture or possibly a lens with a shorter focal length and a faster aperture.  I have a variety of ND filters, for 1 stop up to 10 stops.

Thanks for the link to in-the-sky which looks very informative  .

[sam]

It's a Celestron Astro-master 130 telescope.  I have a T adapter which means any Nikon DSLR can be connected directly.  I'd prefer to use my full-frame D850 but I fear it may be too heavy, in which case I'd resort to my cropped sensor D3300.  Insofar as aperture is concerned, the camera connects to the telescope via the lens mount which means I cannot use a camera lens.  Therefore, there's no aperture.  If I were to photograph the night sky without the telescope I could mount the D850 onto a tripod and use a Sigma 150-600mm sports lens with a F5.6 aperture or possibly a lens with a shorter focal length and a faster aperture.  I have a variety of ND filters, for 1 stop up to 10 stops.

Thanks for the link to in-the-sky which looks very informative  .

I had meant the aperture of the telescope.

Looks likely that the counterweight on that telescope wouldn't cope with the full-frame TBH. You will likely get similar magnification with your  typical lenses. I'd do that for the moon, with some form of ND filter.

The benefit of a correctly setup telescope is that you should be able to use the RA wheel to track the object.

Oh I meant to post before:

https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a25697/beginners-guide-to-astrophotography/

http://www.astropix.com/html/i_astrop/toc_ap.html

https://astrobackyard.com/beginner-astrophotography/

[GillE]

Thanks Sam  .

[GillE]

Well, I had a go at tonight's 'Wolf Moon'.



F2.8, ISO 800, 1/3200 sec, focal length 200mm.

I'd like to get more detail but perhaps my gear isn't sufficiently sophisticated.

[Simon]

That's brilliant, Gill!   

[sam]

Well, I had a go at tonight's 'Wolf Moon'.



F2.8, ISO 800, 1/3200 sec, focal length 200mm.

I'd like to get more detail but perhaps my gear isn't sufficiently sophisticated.

Nice shot... yeah bit more contrast if you have a few filters

[GillE]

What filters do you suggest, Sam?

I just compared my photo against those on the BBC website and I’m pleased with how favourable the comparison is 😀.  I still want a better shot though.

[Simon]

I know it's cheating to some extent, but you can achieve quite a good contrast enhancement simply by using Photoshop.

[GillE]

I did use editing software with that photo and it looks ok to me - perhaps the contrast is a matter of individual monitor calibration?