Constellation Orion Rising - Busselton - 18/12/2011 (Processed still images into video)
Having travelled to Busselton for a few days with the family I took my DSLR and Tripod to do some wide field shots. This one taken from a grassed area near the beach and ~50m away from buidlings. Sequence of 22 x 20sec ISO-1600 at F=18mm and f/4.0. Images every 180 sec using Canon 400D DSLR with with EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens and RAW images with in-camera Dark enabled. Sequence generated in Microsoft Windows Live Movie Maker. Music background "Generique" from the movie soundtrack to the film "Bilitis" by Francis Lai. Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient ~20C, No filter, Canon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 18mm f/4.0 on fixed tripod, In camera Dark ON
Constellation Sagittarius 30th June 1978
Having an equatorially mounted telescope provides a great platform for doing guided longer duration photographs usng a camera and its len(s) mounted on the optical tube assembly. This was my first attempt to do this style of wide-field photo. 8" f/6 Newtonian Reflector on a German equatorial mount (no motor drives) used to mount Zenit-E 35mm SLR camera with f/2 58mm lens at f/2 for this 10 minute hand guided shot. Film ASA-125 Ilford HP-4 scanned using Canon MP980 MFP 9/10/2011.
Constellation Carina 20/11/1979
Exposure 4 Mins at 03:05 AM 20/11/1979, Kodak Ektachrome 400 Tranparencies, 35mm SLR, 50mm Lens at f/1.8. Scanned using Canon MP980 MFP 19/04/2009. Olympus OM10 35mm SLR with f/1.4 50mm lens piggbacked on Telescope - Self made f/6 8" Newtonian on German EQ mount from parts from Astro Optical Supplies (NSW). Ambient ??C not recorded. Guided by hand.
Constellation Orion - Busselton - 17/12/2011 (Processed and cropped image)
Having travelled to Busselton for a few days with the family I took my DSLR and Tripod to do some wide field shots. This one taken from the courtyard of the units we were staying at with the lights on for foreground effect. In camera Dark OFF DeepSkyStacker 3.3.2 Stacked 100% of 1 Images ISO 800 30 Sec, 32 DARK, 0 BIAS, 0 FLATS, Post-processed by Photoshop CS5 Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient ~22C, Skylight 1B filter, Canon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 18mm f/4.0 on fixed tripod
Having travelled to Busselton for a few days with the family I took my DSLR and Tripod to do some wide field shots. This one taken from a grassed area near the beach and ~50m away from buidlings. Sequence of 22 x 20sec ISO-1600 at F=18mm and f/4.0. Images every 180 sec using Canon 400D DSLR with with EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens and CR2 Raw images with in-camera Dark enabled. Sequence generated in StarTrailed v1.1 from JPG (not CR2) files, 0 dark frames, 0 flats, 0 bias. Not further post processed. I processed this sequence with three different software tools - DeepSkyStacker, StartStax and Startrails to see how well they worked. All worked but only DSS can handle raw CR2 files directly. StarTrails can only use JPEGs and so can lose detail and it can process darks. StarStax can use lossless TIFF files and darks but you need to convert the raw files to TIFF as a first step. StarStax has the easiest user interface. Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient ~20C, No filter, Canon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 18mm f/4.0 on fixed tripod, In camera Dark ON
Milky Way and Southern Cross Rising- Busselton - 19/12/2011 (Processed still images into video
Having travelled to Busselton for a few days with the family I took my DSLR and Tripod to do some wide field shots. This one taken from a grassed area near the beach and ~50m away from buidlings. Sequence of 45 x 20sec ISO-1600 at F=18mm and f/3.5. Images every 180 sec using Canon 400DDSLR with with EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens and RAW images with in-camera Dark enabled. Sequence generated in Microsoft Windows Live Movie Maker. Music background "Generique" from the movie soundtrack to the film "Bilitis" by Francis Lai. Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient ~20C, Skylight 1B filter, Canon 18-55mm f/2.5-5.6 lens at 18mm f/4.0 on fixed tripod,In camera Dark ON
Constellation Orion - late 1978?
This was my first use of Kodak Tri-X 400ASA film to try some brighter deep-sky objects. This was done by piggy-backing an SLR on my then new 8" Newtonian and using the equatiral mount to manually track for a short (but now unknown) period. Either shutter-shock or wind-shake is evident in the image. The film had been stored poorly over the years and contains many scratches and dust spots. Scanned using Canon MP980 MFP 20/09/2012. Post processed by Adobe Photoshop CS5. Camera Zenit-E 35mm SLR on 8" f/6 Newtonian prime focus, exposure unkown with Kodak Tri-X 400ASA film.
Constellation Sagittarius 18/05/1980
Olympus OM-10 35mm SLR camera with 50mm f/1.4 lens mounted on 8" f/6 Newtonian Reflector on a German equatorial mount (no motor drives) . Exposure 5 Mins at f/1.4, Kodak Ektachrome 400 ASA film, Hand guided. 10 month delay in film processing caused the green overtones. Lens aberation evident away from centre of field. Scanned using Canon MP980 MFP 9/10/2011. Post processed by Adobe Photoshop CS5
Constellation Orion - Busselton - 17/12/2011 (Processed and cropped image)
Having travelled to Busselton for a few days with the family I took my DSLR and Tripod to do some wide field shots. This one taken from the courtyard of the units we were staying at with the lights off. In camera Dark OFF DeepSkyStacker 3.3.2 Stacked 100% of 1 Images ISO 800 30 Sec, 32 DARK, 0 BIAS, 0 FLATS, Post-processed by Photoshop CS5 Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient ~22C, Skylight 1B filter, Canon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 27mm f/4.0 on fixed tripod
Messier 45 Pleiades, Taurus and Hyades, Orion Constallations - 19/12/2011 (Processed single image) Having travelled to Busselton for a few days with the family I took my DSLR and Tripod to do some wide field shots. This one taken from a grassed area near the beach and ~50m away from buidlings. Single 20 second exposure at ISO 1600 with In-camera Dark ON. Post processed with Adobe Photoshop CS5 Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient ~20C, Skylight 1B filter, Canon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 18mm f/4.0 on fixed tripod,In camera Dark ON
Southern Cross descending - 20/5/2012 (Still time-lapse sequence)
Captured using Canon S3 IS Compact digital camera at ISO 800, f/2.7, F=6mm with 15 Sec images at 180 second intervals. Quite noisy in comparison to my 400D DSLR, which was in use for Deep Sky Objects concurrently. Post processed with Windows Movie Maker to time-lapse sequence.
Constellation Orion 20/11/1979
Exposure 10 Mins at 00:20 AM 20/11/1979, Kodak Ektachrome 400 Transparencies, 35mm SLR, 50mm Lens at f/4. Scanned using Canon MP980 MFP 19/04/2009. Olympus OM10 35mm SLR with f/1.4 50mm lens piggbacked on Telescope - Self made f/6 8" Newtonian on German EQ mount from parts from Astro Optical Supplies (NSW). Ambient ??C not recorded. Guided by hand.
Constellation Scorpio 18/05/1980
Olympus OM-10 35mm SLR camera with 50mm f/1.4 lens mounted on 8" f/6 Newtonian Reflector on a German equatorial mount (no motor drives) . Exposure 5 Mins at f/1.4, Kodak Ektachrome 400 ASA film, Hand guided. 10 month delay in film processing caused the green overtones. Lens aberation evident away from centre of field. Scanned using Canon MP980 MFP 9/10/2011. Post processed by Adobe Photoshop CS5
Constellation Orion - Busselton - 17/12/2011 (Processed and cropped image)
Having travelled to Busselton for a few days with the family I took my DSLR and Tripod to do some wide field shots. This one taken from the courtyard of the units we were staying at with the lights off. I dropped the ISO to 100 and extended the exposure time. I didn't have any matched Darks, however used what I had which is better than none to get rid of hot pixels in particular. In camera Dark OFF DeepSkyStacker 3.3.2 Stacked 100% of 1 Images ISO 100 300 Sec, 32 DARK at ISO 800 30Sec, 0 BIAS, 0 FLATS, Post-processed by Photoshop CS5 Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient ~22C, Skylight 1B filter, Canon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 27mm f/4.0 on fixed tripod
Constellation Orion - 25/12/2011 (Processed stack)
DeepSkyStacker 3.3.2 Stacked 80% of 10 Images ISO 800 30 Sec, 32 DARK, 0 BIAS, 0 FLATS, Post-processed by Photoshop CS5 Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient ~22C, No filter, Canon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 55mm f5.6 on Skywatcher NEQ6 mount with sidereal tracking, no guiding.
The Scorpion Rises - 21/2/2015 (Processed stills into Video)
Imaged at Perth Observatory location Video sequence from 296 stills (19sec @ f/3.5 @ ISO 3200) created in Microsoft Movie Maker Poorly focused (by eye with unfamiliar camera). Noticable coma distortion at edges even at f/3.5 Borrowed Canon EOS 5D Mark II and Canon EF16-35mm f/2.8L USM from brother Steve Temperature 17-15C
Star Trails - around the Constallation Crucis (The Southern Cross) 20/11/1979
Exposure 60 mins at 01:45 AM 20/11/1979, Kodak Ektachrome 400 Tranparencies, 35mm SLR, 50mm Lens at f/4. Scanned using Canon MP980 MFP 19/04/2009. Olympus OM10 35mm SLR with 50mm f/1.4 lens piggbacked on Telescope - Self made f/6 8" Newtonian on German EQ mount from parts from Astro Optical Supplies (NSW). Ambient ??C not recorded. Not guided in order to produce star trails.
Scorpio Rising in the East with 8 Day moonlit foreground - 12/4/1981
Exposure 5mins unguided on 12/4/1981 at 20:50 AWST. Kodak Ektachrome 400 Transparencies, Olympus OM10 35mm SLR with f/1.4 50mm lens at f/4. Scanned using Canon MP980 MFP 10/10/2011.
Having travelled to Busselton for a few days with the family I took my DSLR and Tripod to do some wide field shots. This one taken from a grassed area near the beach and ~50m away from buidlings. Sequence of 22 x 20sec ISO-1600 at F=18mm and f/4.0. Images every 180 sec using Canon 400D DSLR with with EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens and CR2 Raw images with in-camera Dark enabled. Sequence generated in DeepSkyStacker 3.3.2 from the CR2 files, 0 dark frames, 0 flats, 0 bias. DSS No-align mode and 'maximum' setting.Post processed with Adobe Photoshop CS5. I processed this sequence with three different software tools - DeepSkyStacker, StartStax and Startrails to see how well they worked. All worked but only DSS can handle raw CR2 files directly. StarTrails can only use JPEGs and so can lose detail and it can process darks. StarStax can use lossless TIFF files and darks but you need to convert the raw files to TIFF as a first step. StarStax has the easiest user interface. Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient ~20C, No filter, Canon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 18mm f/4.0 on fixed tripod, In camera Dark ON
Scorpio over Dusty Miller's Shed - 18/5/2012
Taken with my compact camera - Canon S3IS, 15sec ISO 800 f/5.6 with in camera dark processing. Very grainy in comparison to the DSLR.
South Polar Star Trails - 1/3/2014 (Processed stack and stills into Video)
Rather than have my old Canon 400D idle whilst telescope imaging with the new 70D, I turned it to the south polar region to capture a star trail sequence. DeepSkyStacker 3.3.3b51 Stacked 100% of 34 Images ISO 800 120 Sec, 32 DARK @ 120 Sec, 32 BIAS, 0 FLATS, Post-processed with Adobe Photoshop CC for trails. Video sequence created in Microsoft Movie Maker. Canon 400D on stationary Inca camera tripod. Canon 18-200mm lens at 18mm stopped to f/5.6 to reduce lens flare at edges, ISO 800, 120 Second exposure. Ambient ~26C.
Constellation Orion 20/11/1979
Exposure 3 Mins at 02:50 AM 20/11/1979, Kodak Ektachrome 400 Tranparencies, 35mm SLR, 50mm Lens at f/2.8. Scanned using Canon MP980 MFP 19/04/2009. Olympus OM10 35mm SLR with 50mm f/1.4 lens piggbacked on Telescope - Self made f/6 8" Newtonian on German EQ mount from parts from Astro Optical Supplies (NSW). Ambient ??C not recorded. Guided by hand.
Constellation Orion 1st December 2008.
Canon S3IS 6-72mm (36-432 35mm Equivalent) Compact Digital Camera.15 sec at f/3.5 at 14mm (84mm equiv) fixed tripod (trails visible)
Having travelled to Busselton for a few days with the family I took my DSLR and Tripod to do some wide field shots. This one taken from a grassed area near the beach and ~50m away from buidlings. Sequence of 22 x 20sec ISO-1600 at F=18mm and f/4.0. Images every 180 sec using Canon 400D DSLR with with EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens and CR2 Raw images with in-camera Dark enabled. Sequence generated in StarStax 0.41 from JPG (not CR2) files, 0 dark frames, 0 flats, 0 bias. Not further post processed. I processed this sequence with three different software tools - DeepSkyStacker, StartStax and Startrails to see how well they worked. All worked but only DSS can handle raw CR2 files directly. StarTrails can only use JPEGs and so can lose detail and it can process darks. StarStax can use lossless TIFF files and darks but you need to convert the raw files to TIFF as a first step. StarStax has the easiest user interface. Canon 400D DSLR, Ambient ~20C, No filter, Canon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 18mm f/4.0 on fixed tripod, In camera Dark ON
Gallery Comments