Finally getting through some old photos to clear out the backlog

These were taken on Fathers Day, September 2009. They’re happy snaps rather than any attempt at photographic art They were taken with my wife’s Canon Ixus compact.

At Crackneck Lookout

Continue reading to see the rest of the photos.

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Hi all

This image shows the Orion Constellation in its natural environment. It’s a widefield vista showing all the major components, including Betelgeuse, Rigel, the belt stars, M42, the Running Man, the Horsehead and the flame, parts of Barnards Loop and a faint display of IC 2118.

It’s only 35 minutes exposure, with no flats calibration, so it’s not as smooth as I’d hoped, but like all of my IISAC2009 images, it’s given me a glimmer of hope and something to aim for next time.

The Orion Constellation. Click image to see larger version.

The image was taken at IISAC2009, on the Friday night when my USB hub was playing up and I couldn’t control the camera from the laptop. I mounted my Canon 20D and my new 24-105mm L IS f/4.0 lens on top of my ED80 and pointed it at the Orion Constellation.

The exposures were guided through my 80mm refractor and the DMK21AU04, using PHD Guiding. The camera was controlled using the timer remote. The lens was at 47mm f/5.6, and each exposure was 5 minutes. Dark frame subtraction was done in-camera. 7 exposures @ ISO800, 35 minutes total data. No flats.

I’m really pleased with how the 24-105mm lens is performing – it’s a definite keeper and will definitely make a return to this part of the sky in the future.

Thanks for looking.

I really wanted to capture a great image of the beautiful Andromeda Galaxy (M31) from IISAC2009, but everything conspired against me and it just didn’t work out the way I’d hoped.

With a host of problems, I only captured 15 minutes of data and no flats calibration. Despite all that, it’s my first image of M31 and even though it was only at 10deg altitude, it gives me some hope that I can capture a better image in future.

Click the image for a larger version and read more below.

M31 - The Andromeda Galaxy. Click image for a larger version.

On the first night, I started capturing data but wasn’t happy with my framing so I started to change the composition, and then I had problems with guiding and clouds. On the second night the guiding problems continued to plague me, and once they were sorted out, I had issues with my USB hub which took quite a fall during the day when a big gust of wind blew my laptop hutch off the table. On the third night, clouds low in the North prevented any imaging of M31, so I turned the scope to something else.

So all I ended up with was 3 usable frames from the first night, with no flats calibration and an awkward composition.

The image was captured with my normal Deep Space Imaging equipment –  the unmodded Canon 350D with the ED80, riding on the EQ6 and guided with an 80mm refractor using my DMK21AU04 and PHD guiding.

Exposures were 5 minutes each, with dark frame subtraction in camera. 3 exposures @ ISO800, FL ~ 480mm, F/6.

Thanks for looking.

Hi all

The Open Cluster M7 (or Ptolemy’s Cluster) is situated in the constellation Scorpius, near the centre of the Milky Way.

This image was taken at IISAC2009, early on the Saturday night before it clouded over. The Milky Way was setting in the West, and I captured 50 minutes of data on this object before it set behind the mountain.

Click the image to download the 1200px wide less compressed version.

The M7 Open Star Cluster in Scorpius. Click image for larger version.

This image is my first real deep space (prime focus) image in some time (since January this year!!), so while it’s not in the league of Louie’s beautiful version of M7 that appeared on APOD last week (congrats Louie!), I’m reasonably happy with the image given the lack of data, no flats calibration and the guiding problems I was having at IISAC2009. It really needs to be much deeper and longer to get the golden star field of the Milky Way.

The image was captured with my normal Deep Space Imaging equipment –  the unmodded Canon 350D with the ED80, riding on the EQ6 and guided with an 80mm refractor using my DMK21AU04 and PHD guiding.

Exposures were 5 minutes each, with dark frame subtraction in camera. 10 exposures @ ISO800, FL ~ 480mm, F/6.

Thanks for looking.

Hi all

On Thursday night when the sky was clear, the Milky Way looked lovely setting over the mountain in the West. So on Friday night, 16th October at IISAC2009, I setup my Canon 20D and 24-105mm L lens on a tripod, and programmed it to take 30 seconds exposures on repeat.

I combined the result into a timelapse movie. There’s also a single star trails image with all of the frames combined.

Click the video to watch it in higher resolution at YouTube.

The single star trails image is below. Click the image for a larger resolution (1200px) version.

Star Trails of the Milky Way Setting. Click the image to download a large version.

Continue reading for more information about how the movie and the image was put together.

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This image was taken up near the dam at the top of “imagers hill” at IISAC2009.

It’s a 5-image panorama, taken with my Canon 20D and 24-105mm lens.

IISAC2009 Panorama. Click image for larger version.

The panorama was created using Auto Pano Pro, and simply resized in Photoshop. No other processing.

It really is a lovely spot for a star party.

Thanks for looking.