MORNING STAR OBSERVATORY
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Photography was a hobby I got into back in the '70s. And after I purchased my first real telescope, an orange-tube Celestron C-8, I naturally started taking photos through it with my 35mm camera (a Yashica TL-Electro and later a Canon AE-1).

Picture
The beginning of a 1982 total lunar eclipse taken with my old orange tube C-8 and 35mm film caera.
Picture
Mid eclipse from the same series.
Picture
Approaching totality.

Later I added a Celestron 5.5" Schmidt camera. The Schmidt was a bit more hands on than the CCD cameras I use now, and required cutting and processing film in a dark room, and printing images on photographic paper in order to show anyone what I'd captured. But it was a good learning experience.

​I sold my Schmidt many years ago, and have often regretted it, feeling that I never got close to its full potential. Back at the time I didn't have the mount and other equipment I really needed to take the detailed, sharp images it's capable of. Now I do but I already sold the camera. Then one day I stumbled across one for sale at a very reasonable price and nostalgia took hold. So I'm now the proud owner of another 5.5" Schmidt. Like the rest of my astro equipment, it's waiting on the observatory to be built.
Picture
A negative of a portion of Orion taken with my 5.5" Celestron Schmidt camera, circa 1982. The camera was mounted piggyback on my C-8 with a clock motor drive, so the tracking wasn't so good. I wish I could have gotten the framing a little better to have included the third belt star.
Picture
The same frame inverted to a positive. What a great wide field of view through the Schmidt. And this digitized image of the negative is not stretched at all. I probably have the exposure time recorded somewhere, which I will search for, but I'm sure it is only five minutes or less.

CCD cameras have really changed things. Below are a few astrophotos captured with my CCD cameras as time permits, and when I'm not off chasing after some other hobby:

M8 - The Lagoon Nebula

Picture
This image was captured with an SBIG ST-8300C through a Celestron C-11. It was processed in Star Tools and then touched up a bit in Photoshop CS5.

M42 - The Orion Nebula

Picture
This image was captured with my SBIG ST-8300C through an AT6RC astrograph. It was processed in Star Tools and then touched up in Photoshop CS5.

​M31 - The Andromeda Galaxy

Picture
Andromeda is a cosmic next door neighbor, as galaxies go. The final image is eight 5-minute exposures captured in Nebulosity, stacked with Deep Sky Stacker and processed in Photoshop CS5.

Taken with an Orion Starshoot Pro V1 camera. The imaging scope was a Celestron C80ED refractor equipped with a Telescope Systems (TS) field flattener. The mount is an Atlas EQ-G (EQ6).

Guiding was with PHD using a Starshoot DSCI camera thru an Orion ST-80 guide scope.

Horsehead and Flame Nebulas

Picture
Taken with an Orion Starshoot Pro V1 camera through a Celestron C80ED refractor and TS field flattener. The mount was an Atlas EQ-G (EQ6) controlled by EQMOD. 

This is a stack of ten 5-minute exposures captured in Nebulosity, stacked with DeepSkyStacker and tweaked in Photoshop CS4. The Noise Ninja plugin was used to reduce noise.

Guiding was with PHD Guiding using a Starshoot DSCI camera thru an Orion ST-80 guide scope.

M33 - The Triangulum Galaxy

Picture
Taken with an Orion Starshoot Pro V1 camera through a Celestron C80ED refractor and TS field flattener. The mount was an Atlas EQ-G (EQ6) controlled by EQMOD.   

It is a stack of ten 5-minute exposures captured in Nebulosity, stacked with DeepSkyStacker and tweaked in Photoshop CS4. Noise Ninja plugin was used to reduce noise.

Guiding was with PHD Guiding using a Starshoot DSCI camera thru an Orion ST-80 guide scope.

​M27 - Dumbbell Nebula

Picture
Taken with an Orion Starshoot Pro V1 camera through a Zhumell 152mm refractor with a TS field flattener and Baader Semi-APO filter. The scope was mounted on an Atlas EQ-G (EQ6) mount.  It is a stack of nine 5-minute exposures captured in Nebulosity, stacked with DeepSkyStacker and tweaked in Photoshop CS4. Noise Ninja plugin was used to reduce noise and Carboni's Photoshop Actions to reduce violet fringing on the stars and to enhance the picture.

Guiding was with PHD Guiding using a Starshoot DSCI camera thru an Orion ST-80 guide scope.

​Comet P17-Holmes 2007

Picture
This is one of my first digital astrophotos, taken with an Orion Deep Space Color Imager on an Orion short tube 80mm refractor. It is composed of 10 frames at 10 seconds each; dark subtracted, stacked and deBayered in Nebulosity. It was post processed in Star Tools and Photoshop CS5.

About everything that could go wrong did; the refractor was out of collimation, the focus was not perfect and the camera's offset was not set high enough (the background of the light frames was between 0 and 4 ADUs).  But I still got the comet.

Last Updated 12/29/2021
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  • Home
    • About
    • Contact
  • Astrophotography
  • The Observatory
    • The New Observatory
    • - About the ExploraDome
    • - About the Lancaster Dome
    • - Building the Lancaster Dome
  • Equipment
    • CCD Cameras >
      • Orion Starshoot Pro
      • QSI 683WS
      • ZWO ASI-178MM
    • Eyepieces
    • Filters
    • Mounts >
      • Orion HDX-110 (EQ-8) >
        • New HDX-110 Setup
        • Orion HDX110 EQ-8
    • Observatory Computers
    • Telescopes >
      • Astro-Tech AT6RC
      • Celestron C-11 XLT
      • Zhumell 152mm Refractor
  • Projects
    • Arduino Focuser
    • C11 XLT Mods
    • Orion SSPRO Camera >
      • Disassembled Views
      • Noise Reduction Mod
      • Temp Controller Mod
    • Ultima 8 Mods
    • Zhumell Refractor Mods
  • Non-Astronomy
    • Amateur Radio >
      • Boat Anchor Radios >
        • BC-348N Receiver
        • Collins 51J4 HF Receiver
        • R-392 HF Receiver
      • DIY >
        • Station Boom Microphone
      • Ameco >
        • Ameco AC-1
        • Ameco OCM
        • Ameco PT-2
        • Ameco R5A
      • Heathkit >
        • Heathkit SB-102 Station
      • Knight-Kit >
        • Knight Kit Span Master II
      • Yaesu FT-817 >
        • Yaesu FT-817ND
        • LDG Z-817 Autotuner
        • Windcamp LiPo Battery
    • Antique Radios >
      • Building A Radio Workbench
      • Radio Dial Neon Clock
      • Radios >
        • 1938 Zenith 6-S-254
        • Echophone EC-1
        • Eltz Radione 2
        • Panasonic RF-5000A
        • Silvertone Model 4465
    • Geiger Counters >
      • AN/PDR-27G Radiac Set
      • Lionel CD V-700 Geiger Counter
      • RCA WF-12A Geiger Counter
    • Test Equipment >
      • DIY Test Equipment >
        • DIY Curve Tracer
        • DIY Signature Tracer
      • Military Test Equipment >
        • BC-221-AF Frequency Meter
        • LM-21 Frequency Meter
        • TS-323/UR Frequency Meter
        • TS-465 C/U Sweep Generator
        • TS-505D/U VTVM
        • TV-3C/U Tube Tester
      • Tube Testers >
        • Alternating Current Sink
        • Drug Store Tester
        • EMC Model 200 Tube Tester
        • Hickok Model 6000A Tube Tester
        • Hickok OZ-1 (550X)
        • Precise Model 111 Tube Tester
        • Precision Model 10-12
        • Supreme Model 385
        • TV-3C/U Tube Tester
      • VTVMs and Multimeters >
        • B&K Model 290 Hi-Low FET Multimeter
        • Hickok 225K VTVM
        • McMurdo Silver VOMAX 900
        • Micronta 22-220 FET Multimeter
        • Simpson 360-2 Digital FET DMM
        • TS-505D/U VTVM
      • Hickok >
        • Hickok 19X RF Generator
        • Hickok 225K VTVM
        • Hickok 288X RF Generator
        • Hickok OZ-1 (550X)
        • Hickok 6000A Tube Tester
      • Simpson >
        • Simpson 360 DMM
        • Simpson 360-2 DMM
        • Simpson 480 Genescope
      • Supreme Instruments >
        • Supreme 385 Automatic
        • Supreme 560 Vedolyzer
        • Supreme 560A Vedolyzer
        • Supreme Model 561 AF/RF Generator
        • Supreme's Model 562 Audolyzer
        • Supreme Model 562 Audolyzer circa 1941
        • Supreme Model 562 Audolyzer circa 1946
        • Supreme Model 563 Audio Generator
        • Supreme Model 576 RF Generator
      • Other Test Equipment >
        • Heathkit IT-28 Capacitor Tester
        • Rider 162 Chanalyst
        • Tektronix 326 O'scope
        • VU-Data Model 941B Oscilloscope
    • ---------------
    • Fossils
    • Rocks and Minerals
    • Star Trek >
      • Star Trek Rock Mood Lamp
      • Star Trek Communicator