Astronomy and DSLR Astrophotography Blog

This level is for those who are interested in getting some highly magnified images and for deep sky images, those objects not normally seen with the naked eye. For this type of astrophotography the digital camera is actually connected to the eyepiece of the telescope using an adapter specifically designed for this that will hold the camera firmly to the telescope.

First of all this will enhance the view of the moon and planets. Clear details of the moons’ craters and magnified views unimagined ever before of the planets are now available.

Since only the smallest portion of celestial objects in our universe can be seen with the naked eye, this level of astrophotography opens up the world of astrophotography to new levels with beautiful nebulae, global star clusters that were simply invisible to you before.

equipment Eyepiece Projection Imaging

This level takes you a step further, by adding the use of a telescope. Many night imaging hobbyists never go beyond the first level, they achieve great satisfaction with what they can accomplish. However there are plenty who get hooked at the first level and wish to move to the next step.

It is called piggy back mount because you take your digital camera and mount it on top of a telescope with a special adapter that will create a firm, rigid connection. What this does is let you use the telescope to track the item you want to photograph, Once you found it, then you will see it in the LCD screen on the camera. When you are ready, you take the picture.

What you can do, that can’t be done in Level One, is actually use the internal tracking mechanisms of the telescope to keep the image centered. This lets you take exposures up to 60 seconds ( level one 30 seconds was the limit). In addition, if the camera has a zoom lens, that can be used for magnifying the object before taking the picture without losing the quality of the image.

Become familiar with a monthly star map, as they will tell you when interesting patterns are due to show up and help you find where in the sky to look

Celestial objects to try to photograph

Wide fields of star clusters that do not normally fit into a telescope lens. The camera will be able to see the entire formation of spread out stars, and even magnify them, whereas the telescope eyepiece can see small portions.

Constellations

The Double Cluster

Pleiades (Seen Sisters) star cluster.

Combinations of planets and stars near the Moon

Challenge: the Milky Way – if you find yourself in an area with a very dark sky and no glow on the horizon from a city or town

Moon rising over a lake or mountain

Constellations like Ursa Major (The Big Dipper), Orion the Hunter, Scorpius the Scorpion, and Cassiopeia the Queen.

Look for these objects when they are suspended over a picturesque background

equipment Wide-field Imaging With a Piggyback Mount

This level is simplest and the least expensive. It is not hard to master the techniques, making the rewards come quickly. It also involves the least amount of equipment. It is one of the best ways to experiment with your camera’s settings, not to mention familiarize your self with the parts of the camera’s owners manual you have ignored in the past. It is the perfect way to get used to the concepts of astrophotography before graduating to more difficult levels.

The only equipment needed is a digital camera mounted to a sturdy tripod. The very beginner can even use a bean bag on their car’s roof instead of a tripod!

These photographs will generally be a wide view of a starry sky, constellations or a moon that is framed against a scenic landscape as a back drop. Due to the wide-field, these images will have no blur or star trailing, provided the shutter is open 30 seconds or less. This is due to low magnification and the widest field of view. The limited capabilities actually work for you, making it harder to mess up.

Photography Tip:

Try using your digital camera mounted on a tripod at that special time of night that is right after dusk as the stars are just beginning to appear. Your camera’s light sensors should be sensitive enough to capture the stars , while still having enough natural sky-glow to include scenic foreground images like a line of trees, or a mountain, or a recognizable landmark. This adds some depth to the photograph and the landmark images give it a more interesting visual look.

Recommended Settings for Level One Night Sky Imaging:

• lower sensitivity- reduces or eliminates noise levels

• noise reduction settings- should turned on. Some cameras have them, others do not.

• Experimentation for each type of object, the moon, a planet, a favorite constellation- With ISO setting experimentation, you quickly get the chance to figure out the best “starter” settings for each type of celestial object. Then you can easily make minor adjustments that are based on time of night, light as a result of phase of the moon, and weather conditions.

equipment Wide-field Imaging with a Tripod

Department Store Varieties

Do not be tempted to head out to the closest discount department store and buy a cool looking telescope that looks like it is a great bargain. Despite the advertising claims, these must be considered in the category of “toy” telescopes. They have poor optics which will end up with unclear, out-of- focus views. This is especially true as the magnification is increased. On top of that, these toy scopes come with flimsy, unstable stands. The slightest touch or breeze causes them to shake, making it hard to see any celestial objects, let alone photograph them!

Magnification

There is a very common misconception dealing with the importance of magnification and the quality of a telescope. Believe it or not, the magnification is the least important factor. All that is necessary is magnification power of 100x to see most celestial objects. Anything beyond that and your images will probably be blurry, or out of focus.

Electronic tracking

For telescopes to be used with astrophotography, they must include an electronic tracking mechanism. This is because of the earth’s rotation that as we go through our day, seems to move hardly at all, but in actuality is moving at about a thousand miles per hour. When looking in a telescope, it is the reason why it looks like the stars are moving. This is why once you focus on an object ,and turn to rub your eye, or have someone else look, the object is often not there, it only takes 30 seconds to move through the eyepiece. For those who are avid stargazers, it might not matter, as they can keep adjusting while viewing. For night sky imaging, it is pretty much impossible to get a good photograph of any celestial object while it is moving. An automatic electronic tracking device will keep the star, planet, nebulae or whatever centered in the eyepiece, so all your attention can be on capturing the best image.

GoTo Scopes

This is a telescope with Global Positioning System technology. It will align the stars according to the satellite it communicates with. This system has celestial objects programed into a database and when punched in, will robotically move to the requested night sky object and get it perfectly centered in the eyepiece. It can easily find deep sky objects like star clusters, galaxies, and nebulae, just as easily as Saturn and Neptune. It is a true time saving device.

As mentioned earlier, the telescope you choose will depend on the type of astrophotography you are interested in. It is important to do enough research and look at all the options that are available to you and in your price range. Prioritize your list of important and necessary characteristics so that when you are ready to buy, you know what the top features you want are. Practical issues like portability, and storage space also need to be considered.

When you are ready to purchase, it is important to deal with dealers in telescope or quality optics devices. Take a look at them, pick them up, analyze the ease of use. Once you made your decision, you can compare prices with other reputable dealers online and in your area.

equipment Telescopes for Astrophotography

The Dobsonian telescope is a different kind of reflector scope since it is not mounted on a tripod, but a cradle that can swivel. The cradle is manipulated by hand to best locate the specific celestial objects that you are searching for. They are very easy to use and due to their large diameter, which allows it to really gather the inbound light, you can get awesome views of deep space objects.

Due to the cradle design, it is harder to attach a camera to the eyepiece, and does not have the all important electronic tracking, so is not the best astrophotography tool.

Advantages

ease of use

reasonably priced

excellent light gathering and views

Disadvantages

large and bulky

not easily adapted to camera attachments.

No electronic tracking mechanism

equipment Dobsonian Telescopes

A favorite of astrophotographers due to adaptability to all types of astrophotography and the ease of attaching camera attachments. This is the telescope with a wide, compact tube that is always mounted on a tripod. The eyepiece is found towards the rear of the telescope. A Cassegrains telescope uses a combination of lenses and mirrors to focus the inbound light into the eyepiece. These work well for both within the solar system imaging and with deep sky imaging. The extra width make its light gathering powers so good,and particularly with viewing faint celestial objects.

Advantages

superior light gathering ability

adaptability

faint objects

Disadvantages

cost

not easily moved

equipment Cassegrain Telescopes

Reflectror telescopes are used solely for celestial objects and popular with serious astronomers and astrophotographers. This is the telescope that is long and fat and always mounted on a tripod. The eyepiece is in the front. Focus is done by large mirrors that take the inbound light and focus it to the eyepiece. This allows for a marvelous light-gathering capabilities making them a great choice for deep space imaging of far away nebulaes and galaxies,

Advantages

bright views of the night sky

equally good for withing our solar system and deep sky viewing

Disadvantages

large, bulky

not easily portable

equipment Reflector Telescopes

Refractor telescopes are the most common type that can be used to see distant object on Earth as well as looking into the night sky. It is an excellent beginning telescope for the novice astrophotographer. This is the telescope with a long tube, and an eyepiece in the back. Focus is done by adjusting the lenses. In night time imaging, they would be primarily used for the moon and planets. With quality optics, there will be no problem getting some clear, beautiful images that include intense detail of these particular objects. It is relatively inexpensive.

Advantages

cost

can be used both for distant land/water objects and night sky

good for the beginner

Disadvantages

difficult for deep sky imaging

equipment Refractor Telescopes

There are a wide variety of telescopes available on the market today. that will fit the needs of a beginner. A beginning astrophotographer can easily become overwhelmed when trying to choose a telescope that will fit their budget, ability, available storage space and work best with their digital camera of choice.

You must remember you can get started in this hobby without a telescope. This will give you time to see how you like it, and research the type of telescope you want. When you are ready to buy, go to a telescope specialty store or company that deals exclusively with producing and selling fine optical instruments. Once you have seen what is available and heard the sales pitch, then check online for those models and do a price comparison. For someone buying their first telescope, they can expect to pay two or three hundred dollars, and then own a quality telescope that is capable of superb, sharp views of celestial objects and also works well with astrophotography attachments.

There are four basic designs of telescopes.

The design you choose depends on how you plan to use it.

These designs are : Refractors, Reflectors, Cassegrains, Dobsonians.

equipment Astrophotography Telescopes

For your average astrophotography hobbyist, you will not final digital cameras advertised as a “night time imaging” camera. These are the same digital cameras used for everyday photography. The astrophotographer will have to look for specific features that are known to work well with night sky imaging.

The following is a is a list of desirable camera features to look for that make night sky imaging easier.

There is no one size fits all all, but at least it gives an idea of what to look for when buying a digital camera for night sky imaging. It will be easy to get overwhelmed by all the choices.

A DSLR camera will naturally have most of these features, but it will be wise to check. The beginner who wants to use a point-and-shoot camera will find this very helpful.

1. A threaded camera lens- Cameras that have interchangeable lenses will often have threaded lenses.. This allows the T-adapter to be attached to the camera and then attached to the telescope eyepiece.

2. 5+ megapixel resolution- This resolution will give quality close-up details of the moon, planets, globular star clusters, and bright nebulae.

3. Manual setting control options- Full manual control over the aperture and exposure settings will help give better images for a wider variety of celestial objects.

4. Exposure range of at least 60 seconds- With the point-and-shoot cameras, this is generally the maximum light-gathering power setting available. This increases the ability to photograph deep sky objects lid nebulae and globular clusters.

5. Optical Zoom at 10x to 12x- Useful for imaging close-ups of the moon’s cratered terrain and for enlarging the planets enough to get better results. This will also help reduce “vignetting” somewhat since it enlarges object s enough that t the tube-like” effect is no longer visible.

6. Ability for noise reduction- Noise means the graininess in a photo. In regular photography this can happen when it is enlarged too much. With astrophotography, a noise reduction setting will help to take out the “graininess” that is often found at higher ISO settings. With night sky imaging, noise can be caused by sky glow, light pollution, and internal camera electronics to name a few.

7. ISO maximum sensitivity range of 400 to 800 ISO. This allows for sharper details on some of the fainter celestial objects such as star clusters and nebulae.

8. Large LCD screen- Easier to preview and better focus any celestial object prior to taking the photograph. The closer to 3.0 inches the best.

9. Quick Time movie or video settings up to 32 frames per second – This is pretty much a standard feature these days. It is great for “stacking” images of the moon and planets in order to help bring out incredible detail.

10. Remote shutter cable release or a Self Timer- Reduces the slight movement or vibration that often comes in the camera and also with the telescope when the shutter of the camera is tripped.

11. Camera lens with a small diameter- When using a telescope, it avoids “vignetting.” The smaller the lens diameter, the less “vignetting”will occur. This is when the photograph’s image makes an object look tubelike, or as if it been seen through a straw.

equipment Astrophotography Cameras