Astro photography

I have looked and can not see any threads for astro photography, so thought id open one and see if there are any other people that are space geeks like me lol

here are a few of my own fave pics i have taken this year, would love to see yours if there are any others here

M31 - Finished by Martin Young, on Flickr


M81 & M82 by Martin Young, on Flickr


Comet Lovejoy Q2 by Martin Young, on Flickr
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if any one is interested in more details about the shots, the info is on my flickr if you click the images it takes you straight there

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Martin they are fantastic! I've always been envious of people who can take proper, high quality astro photos such as those.

Pretty feeble in comparison to yours but here are my attempts. These where mostly multiple 2 second shots (unguided), stacked then tweaks in photo shop.

Saturn


Jupiter


Ring Nebula


Orion Nebula


Comet Holmes

 

Wow these photos are brilliant,don't think I could ever get photos like this with my little point and shoot so I admire anyone that can get really good images especially of comets.We saw comet Lovejoy a few months ago but for us it was just a fuzzy ball in the sky but your image Martin is fantastic

Coolsox,love your photos as well especially Saturn with its rings

We enjoy looking up at the stars,mainly in the winter months when we go for our evening walks round the village and we find a dark spot and just stop for a minute or so,so that we can have a look into the night sky so we appreciate anyone that can take such photos of both of yours

Thanks to you both for sharing them with us

 

Not at all coolsox! they are great! don't put your self down, astro imaging is no easy task by any means, you have picked up some great banding on Jupiter, and also some great detail on Orion for only 2 second subs! very nice,, also for comet holmes, lovely capture, I did not get the chance to see that comet

Thanks mate, it is indeed amazing just thinking and looking what is actually up there! the possibilities are endless, since ive moved ive not had the chance to even un pack my scope, I might have a go this weekend if its not cloudy, but I tend not to image in these summer months as astro darkness is gone now any way :(

it is a lot of man hours to get nice results, in the winter im out at the forest (my dark spot) from about 5pm to 5am, the most important chain to the link is the mount, id say spend as much as u can on a mount as you could have the best scope and camera but that does not mean anything with a wobbly unstable mount, I know its horrible (when I use to have the EQ3 mount)

Thanks also, mate trust me if I can do it anyone can lol, ok it took me a couple of years to get my head around things, but im finally getting results im happy with

look forward to seeing more of your astro images right better get back to work lol

 

Wow.....just Wow.
Can't even begin to think how you did that first shot but it was worth it. Would love to try some thing like this one day! But I don't think my pockets could take it any time soon.

Will have to follow you on flickr.

 

Thanks buddy, the details of how i got my shots are in the flickr descriptions, if you click the image it will take you to more detailed info on the images, if i can do it anyone can trust me lol, im not the sharpest tool in the box mate viewing is not too pricey but imaging can add up especially when you get the astro bug lol

thanks mate please add me, i will add you also

not had a chance to get any more images due to weather/work etc, my next target is M33 galaxy, ideally id like to get around 30 hours on it, but were see, i might be lucky to get 30 hours all year with this weather :(

 

Great images Martin, I think I recognise the user name from another astro forum.

Also great shots too Coolsox!

Personally I tend to do more solar system imaging like the Sun(see avatar), Moon and planets. I have been a bit busy lately though to get much done but no doubt will be back at it shortly.

 

Thank you kindly HaSolar

i bet you do, that other forum is my 2nd home lol

lovely avatar mate!!! thats stunning, have you got a dedicated solar scope? ive only imaged through white light, id love to be able to afford a Ha solar scope you got any pics lately? (love to see them), ive been so lame, not had the scope out in ages, im going to forget how to image soon, i did go out for the lunar eclipse tho but only with my DSLR, how was the eclipse for you, it was just amazing for me to view it, so happy i took the night of work for it

its harder then people think dedicating astro imaging time isnt it due to work/kids/cloud/rain/energy to hall everything out to the darkest parts of the forest lol....

speak soon mate

all the best

 

thought id chuck a couple more of my pics in here for people interested

The magic art of processing...

finally got a decent mask in Pixinsight...jobs a goodun by Martin Young, on Flickr

M39

M39 - Re process with PixInsight by Martin Young, on Flickr

Solar system montage (earth not obviously taken by me) i won AAPOD for this

Solar System montage with a couple added DSO's by Martin Young, on Flickr

milky way/ISS

Milky Way & ISS - re process by Martin Young, on Flickr

ISS close up

International Space Station (ISS) - 07-06-14 - re-process by Martin Young, on Flickr

Whirlpool galaxy

M51 re process #2 - 04-07-14 by Martin Young, on Flickr

my local forest dark sky spot

my dark spot, sunrise_2 - 01-03-14 by Martin Young, on Flickr

our local star

Sun Stack (false color) - 22-2-14 by Martin Young, on Flickr

hmm really have to get round to processing my data from the super moon total eclipse...

LOL

my 31'st birthday cake lol #1 by Martin Young, on Flickr​

 

hehe, thanks buddy! :D

cant wait to start getting more users images in here, to add to the all ready nice pics all ready posted by people ....

 

Martin...fantastic

Would love to see some of your photos too @HaSolar

 

Hah, yeah I spend quite a bit of time on it too.

I have a modded PST solar scope which is great and as you probably know it allows you to see so much more detail on the Sun. I also have a white light filter on my 6" newtonian but thinking of getting a refractor and wedge when I can. I'll see what pics I can dig up, most of mine are on flickr but I can't post a link until tomorrow I think so I will try and upload a couple from the PC.

I have been a bit slack lately too what with the house move and here in summer it gets too hot to image very early so looking to get back into it proper now it's cooling down a bit. The eclipse was a no go for me, at 1am it was cloudy and I was planning to have a peek later but I kind of slept through it. I was a bit disappointed but as you say life/kids/energy won out on the day.

That is an awesome ISS shot too, I tried it once and didn't get that type of definition.

Here are a few, I can add more when I can add my flickr pics too.

The first is a close up of a sunspot, then the Moon, Jupiter and another pic of the sun with my solar scope.

 

Fantastic! Love the Jupiter photo. Can't wait to see the ones on flickr