[Tsuken]

I got the Astrotracer unit for Christmas - and we've been clouded-over since, pretty much. This evening it's fairly clear, so I popped out into the backyard. A bit of playing around, stopped down my 'Takette' 28mm to f/4, focused on infinity, set a 2-minute exposure at ISO400, 2 second shutter delay, clicked the shutter release, stepped away.

...

My God! It's full of stars! by -Occasionally Focused-

So. Many. Stars.

Also, no trails, and no coma, as best I can see. So I'm rather happy. 8)

[Stone G.]

So. Many. Stars.
Also, no trails, and no coma, as best I can see. So I'm rather happy. 8)

WHAT?!? No trails and no coma - must be sensor dust and impulse noise then.......

......Well, warm congratulations with your wonderful Christmas present. I hope you will become as happy with yours' as I have become with mine. It is just so great that one can be up and running in no time. Especially for me, living where I do under eternal cloudy skies with just a few, precious moments of clear views in between.

(Such as these taken under drifting but fairly thin clouds/haze):



FA 50mm f/1.4 lens @ f/2.8. 10 images of 20s at ISO 1600 stacked in DSS

And a couple of hours later (hence the change in orientation):


DA* 200mm f/2.8 lens @ f/3.5. 10 images of 20s at ISO 3200 stacked in DSS.

[Tsuken]

WHAT?!? No trails and no coma - must be sensor dust and impulse noise then.......

......Well, warm congratulations with your wonderful Christmas present. I hope you will become as happy with yours' as I have become with mine. It is just so great that one can be up and running in no time. Especially for me, living where I do under eternal cloudy skies with just a few, precious moments of clear views in between.

(Such as these taken under drifting but fairly thin clouds/haze):



FA 50mm f/1.4 lens @ f/2.8. 10 images of 20s at ISO 1600 stacked in DSS

And a couple of hours later (hence the change in orientation):


DA* 200mm f/2.8 lens @ f/3.5. 10 images of 20s at ISO 3200 stacked in DSS.

Well, "no" coma is probably over-excitedly overstating things

I hadn't heard of impulse nose before O_õ and got really worried about my photo - but zooming up the stars vary in size and hue, so I'm happy again.

Very cool pics you've posted - and I'm impressed with your identification of astronomical objects. I'll have to get myself up to speed, I think.

Thanks for looking and the comment

[lister6520]

Yes, I know it is the most photographed celestial object after the moon, but this is my very own Orion nebula

Shot with K-3, Sigma 150-500 and O-GPS1. 61 exposures of 10 seconds each at F9 and ISO 800.
I adjusted the tripod head after every two or three exposures to keep the nebula near the middle of the FOV.
Due to the light pollution the dimmer parts of the nebula and dimmer stars are not visible


(the picture posted here is reduced in resolution from a crop of 3000x2000)


The O-GPS one didn't track perfectly so the stars are a little smeared. That is a problem I always have when I shoot from home. It is caused by the steel in the concrete roof bending the earth's magnetic field so any magnetic compass used there is off by several degrees.

[Stone G.]

......but this is my very own Orion nebula

PRECISELY! That's how I feel about my astro pictures too. And, ayway, you got some fine structure in the nebulousity that you did capture.

.....so any magnetic compass used there is off by several degrees.

Yeah, I know it is whishful thinking, but it would be nice if one could dial-in manual corrections to the readings of the electronic compass.

[Tsuken]

Magic! That's a great shot - and as you say: it's yours.

[Stone G.]

For us at high northern latitudes, Cygnus, The Swan, flying down the Milky Way is intimately associated with summer time. However, it can still be captured in the west a couple of hours after sunset.


Pentax K-5; smc Pentax-FA f/1.4 lens @ f/2.8 and Pentax O-GPS1/Astrotracer.
Stack in Deep Sky Stacker of 10 images of 20 seconds at ISO 1600.

For those who are not so familiar with this part of the stary sky: The very bright star above and to the right of image centre is Deneb, the main star in Cygnus. To the left of Deneb we have first the Pelican Nebula and then the famous North America Nebula.

[Ex Finn.]

Yes, I know it is the most photographed celestial object after the moon, but this is my very own Orion nebula

Shot with K-3, Sigma 150-500 and O-GPS1. 61 exposures of 10 seconds each at F9 and ISO 800.
I adjusted the tripod head after every two or three exposures to keep the nebula near the middle of the FOV.
Due to the light pollution the dimmer parts of the nebula and dimmer stars are not visible


(the picture posted here is reduced in resolution from a crop of 3000x2000)


The O-GPS one didn't track perfectly so the stars are a little smeared. That is a problem I always have when I shoot from home. It is caused by the steel in the concrete roof bending the earth's magnetic field so any magnetic compass used there is off by several degrees.

Looking good!

[Stone G.]

Chasing the very faint with modest lenses under light polluted skies may not be very sane; still, I find it exciting and rewarding to hunt down these lttle patches that I could otherwise find captured and displayed much better elsewhere - also here at PF. So, here are a couple of modest "first-time-ever" for me. All images made with Pentax K-5, O-GPS1/Astrotracer and smc Pentax DA* 200mm lens:

The Horsehead Nebula in Orion:


Stack in Deep Sky Stacker of 20 images: 20 s; f/3.5; ISO 2000

It may not be the most convincing or prettiest Horsehead ever seen, but it is a beginning - and as lister6520 says: It's my own!

Reflection Nebulae in Pleiades:


Stack in Deep Sky Stacker of 10 images: 20s; f/3.5; ISO 3200

I regularly capture patches of the nebulae, in particular around Merope, but I believe this is one of the first times that I have actually captured som of the pretty 'fine-structure' in that.

Yes, only small victories, but I don't mind. This is great fun!

[oneeyedhawk]

nice capture of the Horsehead and the. Flame nebula with a. pentax 200mm and the o-gps Usually much more expensive equipment is usually required to make that capture.
Good job
Hank

[Sagitta]

As a heads up, tonight and/or tomorrow should be a decent aurora night. The sun just belched out a heck of a solar flare in our direction.

[Tsuken]

Chasing the very faint with modest lenses under light polluted skies may not be very sane; still, I find it exciting and rewarding to hunt down these lttle patches that I could otherwise find captured and displayed much better elsewhere - also here at PF. So, here are a couple of modest "first-time-ever" for me. All images made with Pentax K-5, O-GPS1/Astrotracer and smc Pentax DA* 200mm lens:

The Horsehead Nebula in Orion:


Stack in Deep Sky Stacker of 20 images: 20 s; f/3.5; ISO 2000

It may not be the most convincing or prettiest Horsehead ever seen, but it is a beginning - and as lister6520 says: It's my own!

Reflection Nebulae in Pleiades:


Stack in Deep Sky Stacker of 10 images: 20s; f/3.5; ISO 3200

I regularly capture patches of the nebulae, in particular around Merope, but I believe this is one of the first times that I have actually captured som of the pretty 'fine-structure' in that.

Yes, only small victories, but I don't mind. This is great fun!

Great!

I really do wonder how well the astrotracer will stand up to me attaching my camera to my telescope... 750mm focal length, it says. Hmmm.... Well, I'll find out once I get a T-mount adaptor, I suppose.

Any Mac users here know of any (non star trail-oriented) Astro stacking software for Mac??? I've not had any luck finding anything.

[Stone G.]

nice capture of the Horsehead and the. Flame nebula with a. pentax 200mm and the o-gps Usually much more expensive equipment is usually required to make that capture.
Good job
Hank

Than you Hank! I can tell you that I have tried and tried several times over since 2012.

Now, I know it can be done; I know what kind of sky it takes as a minumum and I know that once in a rare while my skies will be (significantly) better than it was here. So, this will certainly not be my last attack on this challenge.

[Stone G.]

Great!

Well, thank you too Tsuken!

Any Mac users here know of any (non star trail-oriented) Astro stacking software for Mac??? I've not had any luck finding anything.

I am not a Mac user, but I think you may find some inspiration in this thread:

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3137233

[Ravvie]

Great!

I really do wonder how well the astrotracer will stand up to me attaching my camera to my telescope... 750mm focal length, it says. Hmmm.... Well, I'll find out once I get a T-mount adaptor, I suppose.

Any Mac users here know of any (non star trail-oriented) Astro stacking software for Mac??? I've not had any luck finding anything.

I'd love to try out the astrotracer on a telescope but I thought it was impossible. On my scope the image is inverted and the eyepiece is at 90 degrees to the tube. Doesn't the astrotracer work by knowing which way the camera is pointing, then correcting for the earth's rotation relative to its orientation?