steveq

The cost of entry to astrophotography is very cheap these days. Any decent DSLR can do fantastic wide-field deep sky shots, and if you look for "Frame stacking" software, you can add pictures together, and not need a tracking mount.

Pulaski

I agree. I appear to be in a minority on this thread, so far at least, in that my interest is in reading about astronomy and astrophysics, not looking through a telescope.

SultanOfSwing

This is true. So far all I've really photographed is the moon. I spent about an hour on my front porch trying to get a half decent shot of the blood moon eclipse not long ago (I got OK shots of everything except a good representation of the red).

I haven't tried constellations yet, I have yet to find somewhere that is both dark enough, and with enough of an unobstructed view for that to work well. But I will one day.

I'm not much into post processing though, so I might go for the star trails kind of picture, rather than attempting deep sky objects.

I like to do both. I wanted to look through telescopes for my job back when I was 18, but that never worked out. Maybe it's because I get so few opportunities to do it, so it becomes more exotic. Though naked eye and binocular observations are fun anyway.

Though, I could sit on this site for hours:

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Just look at that picture of Pluto for today's entry. I never thought we'd have pictures like that when I used to read my astronomy books growing up. This was before Voyager showed us even what Uranus and Neptune looked like, of course. Deep space observation and cosmology are certainly beyond fascinating, but I think the Solar System is still where my heart lies.

steveq

This is my favourite, and a DSLR shot.

APOD: 2015 October 5 - Orion Over and Under Tibet

SultanOfSwing

Amazing shot. Look at how red Betelgeuse appears there. I always wonder if that star will go pop in my lifetime (or rather if it went pop within the last 600 or so years). It'll be a hell of a supernova if it will/did/will have going to have been.

As for that picture, was that just a DSLR/wide angle lens/timed exposure on a tripod deal? No additional adornments? Obviously some post processing/image stacking might have been needed but it kind of makes me more anxious to have more of a go at astrophotography myself now.

Shard

That's great that your library has a 10" that you can use. I have thought of tagging along at the local astronomy club, and may do someday. I know what you mean about being able to gaze at the moon/planets for hours on end...it's quite special to be able to do that. I get a fantastic view of Jupiter in the summer sky which even with my naked eye never fails to awe me.

You may well have seen it, but there is an excellent You Tube of the moon's surface from the Japanese Kaguya program. Very high definition.

steveq

IIRC, it's stacked. What gets me about the shot is the REFLECTION in the water !

Shard

It does seem stacked. That red band, Bernards Loop, is interesting. Never heard of that before.

SultanOfSwing

Sorry - I was misleading. It was the local astronomical society who had happened to set up in the car park of the local library while I was in it, and they invited us over to have a look when we were leaving.

That club does have regular events where they set up their telescopes and binoculars and let people come along and have a look. Star parties, I think they're called.

I thought at least that. Still, one should be able to get some good shots of constellations (without the lovely nebulous adornments, of course) with a normal setup. I seem to remember seeing a segment on the BBC Learning Zone about doing it with a 35mm SLR.

That reflection is amazing though. The patience required to get something like that is something I am not in ready supply of, unfortunately

I believe it's an extension of the larger nebulous object that the better known Orion Nebula (M42) is part of. Also, the Horsehead Nebula is in that region too. Orion is basically surrounded by nebulae.

Shard

I saw Orion from my back window two nights ago. Very low, feet practically at the horizon, very square (belt horizontal) and very bright. Quite amazing. I've seen it hundreds of times obviously, but never quite so "lined up".

scot47

If you have no telescope how will you see the Mothership when it comes to take you home ?

Shard

The homing beacon in the back of my neck, obviously.

scrubbedexpat099

Anybody else do a Astronomy O Level? I remember observations from the back garden on the outskirts of London were not that successful.

At 10,000 ft nearly and with the nearest light pollution of consequence 60 miles away you can walk out and feel you can pick the stars from the sky above.

Never though of looking at what telescopes are available now, hmmm.

SultanOfSwing

That wasn't offered to me when I did my GCSEs, they just incorporated it into Physics instead. Wasn't much astronomy at A-level either. That close to London you were probably lucky to observe much other than the Moon and the brighter stars. I'm quite jealous of your current dark sky availability though.

scrubbedexpat099

Sadly my books are now long since gone nod oubt to Oxfam, sadly it was also a very long time ago. One of the few O Levels I liked.