Hello, Interesting. I thought you meant the fantastic Rainbow old song; Stargazer 
thanks Mike - sure i guess many of us have degrees of light pollution in Western Europe but those of us in the countryside its probably more in certain directions and lower in the sky⌠i think the photographic aspects really appeals to me - just like bouncing 60MHz signals off the moon - perhaps i am one that likes to mix art with science, i donât knowâŚ
This was taken from the beach near me - although its not one of mine. But cameras have got far more sensitive recently, and telescope more affordable - so I was curious
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What is that structure on the beach?
Giant clamshells!?
Nice photo.
Hi - its not my photo by the way - its one I found on the web locallyâŚ
The structure is a statue - its a giant shell in memory of Benjamin Britten who lived at Aldeburgh.
It has had its controversies - but its part of the landscape now
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Simon, the astrophotography set-ups needed vary greatly depending on the subject. Planets are relatively bright and small, whereas deep sky nebulae are faint and large.
I have dabbled in astrophotography. My efforts are still at the experimental stage - results vary from meh to pleasing, but fall well short of those produced by those with more skill and patience.
I have low budget equipment, just a beginner scope and DSLR.
Did you have any specific astrophotography targets in mind?
A Persied Meteor as seen from a local village kirkâŚnot bad considering the light pollution from Aberdeen nearby.
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I have lusted after many Telescopes of all shapes sizes and types but have yet to buy a proper one, yetâŚ
Did get a wee meade table top to see if that would interest the kids:
They spent most of that cold night sliding around on the ice and snow! lol
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Looks to be a nice capture of the Double Cluster ( I think. Itâs been awhileâŚ) and the Andromeda Galaxy if Iâm not mistaken (Iâd have to look at my star charts, itâs been that cloudy here for monrhs).
Sweet pic.
Can you share⌠I like real world contributions rather than polished professional images, as I can look at those anytime on the web.
Nice picture⌠what was the iso and exposure?
There are a few nice budget astrophotography channels on Youtube, Astrobiscuit is one, here is a video they made about shooting Jupiter, Saturn and Mars with a ÂŁ100 budget:
And their budget telescope recommendations video from last summer:
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Yesterday, I was privileged to be invited to join a Zoom meeting organised by my BiLâs local photographic society, with a presentation given by Peter Williamson, who is a BBC astronomy correspondent, does astronomy related radio broadcasts for, I think, Radio Shropshire, and a one time bass guitarist for Hawkwind!
The subject was an intro to astro-photography, and what could be produced by amateurs with modest equipment - he uses a Canon 70D - and free/donation-ware âastro-photo softwareâ plus Photoshop.
Beautiful photos, of the sort I wished I could do. Got me wanting to break out my 6" Mass-Cass scope & try it out.
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Thanks Simon - Nikon D810, 24mm f/1.4G ED prime lens (which I donât own any more and miss) wide open at f/1.4 (if I had sopped it down a bit I may have gotten less âeffectsâ on the outer stars edge of frame) ISO 3200 and 10 second exposure on a rock solid tripod.
I like trying star trails too - but loathe sitting at a computer processing images - would rather be out there looking up!
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Yes, definitely Andromeda, one of my favourites. It forms the top of a kite shape with three stars, plus there is the bright red Mirach from Pegasus below.
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On the topic of Perseids meteors, hereâs one I took in August 2015 from the hills above the Algarve in Portugal. Itâs a moderately dark site (Bortle 4). I use it as the backdrop for my avatar.
I combined two shots a few minutes apart. I used Photoshop Elements with minimal enhancements. I had set up my Pentax K5 DSLR on my Manfrotto tripod to take 30 second wide field exposures, with automatic noise reduction and left it running all night. From memory, I used my 18-55mm lens at 18mm at its widest F setting. To minimise star trailing I used the âRule of 500â which means the exposure time for a camera on a fixed tripod should be limited to 500 divided by the focal length.
The trails start as green and end as pink and appear to radiate from Perseus. The Plaiedes (aka Seven Sisters) are top right and Andromeda galaxy is half way up towards the left.
This is a cropped view:
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Apart from the odd shot with a mobile camera, at the moment I am focusing (sorry) on live analogue star gazing rather than digital astrophotography.
I am reminded of holidays spent looking through my camera rather than the actual view.
That is the source of frustration for many beginners and why so many quickly give up.
They see wonderful, sharp images of the Red Spot of Jupiter, the Cassini division of Saturn and a colourful, expansive oval of the Andromeda galaxy and ask why all they see is a blurry shape, few or little features and a small fuzzy blob.
E.G "But I bought an expensive telescope with an equatorial mount and have lots of magnification so why has this hobby failed to deliver? "
It is why I am fighting the digital vamp and aiming for a more sustainable and cheaper (DIY where possible) analogue approach. The benefits of analogue bring live viewing, minimal interference (apart from 7 miles of atmosphere, two mirrors and a bit of glass) and a better bank balance.
I can see the appeal of playing with tech but my real admiration is reserved for those whoâve been making and tweaking telescopes in sheds since the 1950âs.
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Dam, just watched the Astrobiscuit budget scope video, I need to buy a telescope.
Just as well he doesnât sell stereo kit!
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I was fortunate in learning the point you make, it was by accident and just in time.
It was August 1999 and we had travelled to a remote field in Northern France to see the full solar eclipse. I had set up my video camera which was running fine by itself and had planned to also capture the event with lots of photos from my film SLR. On the video recording one can hear one click from the camera shutter then gasps from what was a truly magnificent view with the naked eye. I was so distracted that I only took the one shot. Now I have an âokayâ print, a âgoodâ video and an âexceptionalâ memory of the event.
I still take astrophotography pictures, but never at the expense of the live view.
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I have a Meade ETX105PE; it too lives in the loft! The automated level and find North module (LNT) no longer works correctly so it doesnât find the alignment stars accurately, which means it doesnât align properly, which makes it more or less impossible to find anything automatically.
Manual alignment is a nightmare due to the rubbish curved lens/red dot system used and Meade no longer use the same type of LNT module or have legacy spares. Iâve spoken to a couple of dealers who say the only option left to me is fitting a manual finder scope and that would involve drilling the tube to fit it - not something I want to attempt. So, in the loft it remains!
Cheers,
Ian
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