Another Andromeda. 13 exposures...

[Edsport]

I was doing some testing with my camera yesterday and i set it to small/normal for the size pics and i forgot to put it back to raw for andromeda which i'm sure would have been better for post processing. It was nice clear skies but again the clouds rolled in once i had my scope set up. I did manage to get 13 exposures. I stacked them in DeepSpaceStacker and PP was in photoshop. Taken with my Canon 350D and 75mm-300mm kit lens @ 220mm piggybacked on a Meade LX 200 classic for tracking. Unguided...
Exposure 4 mins x 13 stacked
ISO 800.
F 5.0.
220.mm.

[derekspacelewis]

Great lookin space shot! Its amazing to me that you can capture an image like this with just a normal SLR.

[bearly]

wow that's really an incredible image!! great job

[Edsport]

Thanks guys. Appreciate the comments...

[RecurrentNerve]

Amazing. NGC 205 captured as well I see. I'm also amazed that you can get this kind of shot with relatively simple kit.

[Devinmonas]

Can you post some more details about how you took this shot? Perhaps post a photo of your set up. How did you get this shot without any blur or star trails? And what is Deepspacestacker?

Thanks!!!

[RecurrentNerve]

I can field that partly, Devin. You'll notice Edsport mentioned 'piggybacking' his camera on to a Meade LX 200; this is a (rather advanced) telescope that has a sophisticated built-in motor that allows you to lock in on a celestial object and track it automatically; as the camera is moving in sync with the rotation of the planet it eliminates the trailing effect.

As for the other thing, in order to avoid having bright skies by having one long exposure, you can instead take a number of shorter exposures and put them together in the computer. DeepSpaceStacker is a program that does this for you automatically; it can be done in Photoshop but can be a bit long-winded.

[Edsport]

Originally Posted by Devinmonas

Can you post some more details about how you took this shot? Perhaps post a photo of your set up. How did you get this shot without any blur or star trails? And what is Deepspacestacker?

Thanks!!!

Recurrentnerve is right. A camera attached to the outside of my scope and using the scope's motor to track the night sky so there is no star trailing.

Unless you have a telelscope that can track the night sky then you may be out of luck if you want to get a photo like this. Tracking is necessary in order to be able to keep the shutter open for 4 mins without having star trails. You can make one fairly cheap called a barn door tracker (google it). Here is a couple photos of my setup. Also a photo of the Orion nebula that i also took using my 350D and the kit lens. If you have any more questions just ask...

I said i stacked them using deepspacestacker, sorry it's deepskystacker. It's a free program for stacking a bunch of exposures...

[RecurrentNerve]

Wow, that Orion Nebula shot was taken at 55mm? Fantastic.

[Edsport]

Originally Posted by RecurrentNerve

Wow, that Orion Nebula shot was taken at 55mm? Fantastic.

How come you say it's 55mm? Orion was shot with these settings.
Exposre 180 secs x 5 stacked
Focal length 280mm
ISO 800
F 5.6

Orion is easier to capture than andromeda...