Astronomer

2011-11-15T23:45:00.006+01:00

The first Jupiter animation. Took me a good part of the evening. This animation shows the rotation of Jupiter and its four Galiean moons. I used 13 frames (5 minutes interval). Click on the picture at the left to see the animation)

NGC 2237; Rozette nebula - reprocessed

2011-06-05T15:55:00.003+02:00

Today I'm trying to make some good use of my spare time. Found a copy of the program Nebulosity laying around. Thought it might come in handy so I tried to reproces NGC 2237. This nebula is a stellar nurcery at 5000 lightyears distance and measures about 130 lightyears across. The hot gas within the bright nebula is interlaced with wisps of dark interstellar clouds, making it one of the most beautifull objects in the sky.

Messier 13; Diamants in the sky

2011-05-04T11:51:00.004+02:00

Last night I couldn't get any sleep - lucky for me the sky was so clear - made it also very cold! I was able to add 20 more frames to the image of 2010. This stack is a total of 40 frames. The total exposure time is allmost 4 hours. NGC 6207 is visible at the top right part of the frame. Even a tiny galaxy called IC4617 is visible (lies between both objects).

The tail of the whale (and the Hockeystick)

2011-05-03T11:08:00.007+02:00

All those clear nights are getting pretty exhausting. :-)

Yesterday the telescope was pointed at an interacting group of galaxies; The Whale and the Hockeystick. These galaxies (including the small elliptical galaxy near the Whale) had close encounters in the past. This group lies at a distance of approx. 55 million lightyears. The total exposure time was just over two hours.

Messier 3 - Reloaded

2011-04-25T09:30:00.003+02:00

A couple of weeks ago I did an attempt to image this cluster. Wasn't quite happy with the result. So I had a go at it again last night. This image consists of 25 frames, exposuretime 6 minutes each. The Canon 400D was set to ISO800. I used 15 darkframes to level out the background. No Flats nor Bias frames were used. This cluster has 500.000 stars and is one of the larges and brightests in our galaxy.

Moon on 12-03-2011

2011-04-13T01:22:00.002+02:00

Was planing to go to bed but taking a last look of the sky made me change my mind - it was so clear and there was a beautifull moon. So the scope went out. And so did I :-).
This "overview" image is made with the Canon 400D attached to the Skywatcher 8" telescope. I took 50 frames and stack them with Registax. Did some touch-up with Photoshop.

Messier 63 - Sunflower galaxy

2011-03-28T16:22:00.003+02:00

This should be one of the last images for a while. Getting so tired after all those clear nights :-).
This is M 63 - also known as the Sunflower galaxy. It lies in the constellation Canis Venatici at a distance of 37 million lightyears. Imagine, the light captured here was emmited 37.000.000 years ago. It belongs to the M 51 group -see an earlier post. This image consists of 37 frames with an exposure time 0f 5 minutes each. 8" Skywatcher Newton on an EQ6 Syntrek mount. Camera used; Canon 400D (Baader mod.)

NGC 4565 - The Needle galaxy

2011-03-28T14:40:00.003+02:00

Last night was beautifull again. Clear skies almost all night! This is an object I wanted to image for a long time; NGC 4565. It is also called the Needle galaxy because of its slim shape, seen side on. It lies at a distance of 43 million lightyears in the constellation Coma Berenices. This image consists of 25 frames; exposure time 5 minutes each at ISO1600. 8" Skywatcher Newton telescope on an EQ6 Syntrek mount. Camera; Canon EOS400D (Baader mod.)

Messier 51 - colliding Galaxies

2011-03-24T00:36:00.004+01:00

I seems like every spring somehowe I have to photograph M 51. Probably because it's one of the most beautifull objects in the northern sky. These are two colliding galaxies. This object lies at a distance of 23 million lightyears. Also note several tiny galaxies laying at even greater distances. This image is a stack of 30 frames with an exposure time of 4 minutes each. Canon 400D (Baader mod.) at ISO1600). 8" Skywatcher Newton on an EQ6 Syntrek.

2011-03-22T23:47:00.002+01:00

The conditions weren't super yesterday. Although the sky was clear enough, moonlight was preventing long exposure times. This is Messier 3. It's a globular cluster and contains 500.000 stars. It lies at a distance of 34.000 lightyears. Thats 9.460.800.000.000 kilometers.
8" Skywatcher Newton - EQ6 Syntrek - Canon 400D

NGC 2237; Rozette nebula

2011-03-08T16:01:00.004+01:00

After a couple of days feeling sick, I had to take advantage of some extreme clear skies. This is the Rozette nebula, an object I never tried before. I used 15 frames with an exposure time of 240 seconds each. The Canon 400D was set to ISO 1600. The image was stacked with DeepSkyStacker and the final touch-up was done with Photoshop. I guess it came out pretty well :-).

Comet Hartley 2010; The final animation.

2011-02-23T16:51:00.004+01:00

Ever seen a comet flying? This is Comet Hartley, visible to the naked eye, late 2010. The animation consists of 30 frames with an exposure time of 5 minutes each and shows the movement of the comet in a time span of 2 and a half hours!

Messier 31; My Nemesis :-)

2011-02-22T10:54:00.004+01:00

This is our closest galaxy neigbour; Messier 31. So it should be an easy object. But I find it so hard to get a decent result. There has to be something wrong here :-). This image from 2010, consists of 20 frames of 5 minutes each (Canon 400D - ISO800). I used the 8" newton Skywatcher to catch the light. If anyone has any tips, please let me know :-).

Orion nebula and the trapeziumstars

2011-02-13T13:54:00.003+01:00

After restoring my Celestron C8, it was time to try some deepsky. The C8 is equiped with an ETX70 frome Meade, as guiding scope. The combination is placed on an EQ6 Syntrek mount. This image consists of 7 frames with an exposure time of 5 minutes each, at ISO1600 (Canon 400D - Baader mod.). The image is processed in PhotoShop. I used 5 layers to achieve the high dynamic range. Although some collimation on the telescope has to be done, the scope passed the first test.

Messier 78

2011-01-28T18:51:00.002+01:00

Sometimes you have to make maximum advantage of the moment. Although it was very cold last night, I managed to make another picture. This time Messier 78 in Orion. In total 25 frames where used with an exposure time of 3 minutes. ISO 1600. Skywatcher 8" Newton - Canon 400D (Baader mod.)

Messier 97 and 108

2011-01-28T18:05:00.004+01:00

Finaly clear skies again. Clear but cold. During the imaging session last night I went inside to warm up and put the telescope on remote control (via remote desktop). I used 15 frames of 3 minutes exposure time. Skywatcher 8" Newton on an EQ6 mount - Canon 400D (Baader mod.).

Elephants trunk

2011-01-24T20:41:00.004+01:00

This one of those images that lurked on the harddisk, waiting to be processed. On the single frames there wasn't much to see. Had to pull those levels very hard to get any results. Skywatcher 8" Newton - Canon 400D - Baader mod. Exposure time 2,5 hours at ISO800.

Jupiter and Io oktober 4th, 2010

2011-01-21T15:54:00.004+01:00

I hate those days with snow, rain and clouds. TTo kill of some time I worked on some images that where waiting for processing. This Jupiter ans on of its moons; Io. It's a stack of 815 frames processed with Registax. Telescope; 8" Skywatcher Newton; Philips SPC900 NC webcam.

Cocoon nebula

2011-01-21T09:28:00.003+01:00

A result from last summer; IC5146 or the Cocoon nebula. This image also took over two hour exposure time. It was hard to make the dark nebula visible (notice the absence of stars below the nebula)

Flaming star nebula

2011-01-21T09:17:00.004+01:00

Trying to get the more difficult objects lately.... This is IC405, a.k.a. the Flaming Star nebula. Took me over two hour of exposure time to get a resonable result. Skywatcher 8" Newton telescope - Canon EOS 400D (Baader mod.).

Solar eclips

2011-01-04T12:21:00.006+01:00

Very fortunate to be able to photograph this event. The cloud cover broke open just after the sun rose.
Canon EOS 350D with a Tamron 70-300 lens (at 300mm); 1/500 sec. at f11.

2010-10-11T09:55:00.003+02:00

This weekend I shot a lot of frames to capture Comet Hartley2. Because the stacked picture was a little disappointing, I dicided to make an animation. This is the result! (click on th link below...)

Animation Comet Hartley2

Jupiter and my C8 again

2010-09-22T03:37:00.003+02:00

After some collimation the C8 scope looks just fine. Image taken on september 22nd 2010. This image consits of 830 frames, taken with a Philips SPC900.

Jupiter with C8

2010-09-19T11:56:00.005+02:00

Finally the Celestron C8 is restored. Last night I had to make some test images To see if the telescope was reassemble in a correct way. This image was taken with a Philips SPC900 webcam. 900 frames where stacked in Registax. The C8 was placed on an EQ6 Syntrek mount. At the left hand side of the image is Io visible.

The effect of a Ha filter

2010-09-05T19:54:00.003+02:00

This weekend the new Ha-filter arrieved. This 12nm EOS clip-inn filter had to be put up for the test. The week before I allready had the chance to image NGC281; The Pacman nebula. So I added 12 frames of Ha (360 seconds at ISO1600). After scouting the internet on Ha processing I came up with this result. Left without Ha signal; right with Ha signal.

ngc 6888 2010

2010-07-19T23:10:00.001+02:00

ngc 6888 2010
Originally uploaded by dutchskywatcher

Nice those warm summer nights. Astrophotography is wonderfull during this time of year. Taking pictures at warm temperatures. A setback is the amount of noise the camera picks up. This is the Cressent nebula (NGC 6888). This nebula born due to a Wolf Rayett star that shedded it's outer layer. The picture consists of 20 frames; exposure time is 5 minutes at ISO800.

m65-m66-ngc3628 - 2010

2010-07-06T17:01:00.001+02:00

m65-m66-ngc3628 - 2010
Originally uploaded by dutchskywatcher

This is the latest ateempt on the "leo triplet". This photo is uploaded via Flickr. It also has the new website logo from the website astrodigitaal, wich i use. Let's see how this goes :-).

Messier 101

2010-04-23T20:33:00.002+02:00

To fight the noise in the picture I did two things; Decrease the ISO value and simply take more frames. For this image I used 45(!) frames. By far the most frames I made for just one image. The total exposure time is almost 4 hours. The stacking was done with DeepSkyStacker. The final touch-up was done with Photoshop.

Messier 13 (again)

2010-04-07T16:46:00.005+02:00

With the (already not so new anymore) modified Canon I had to have a go at Messier 13. This massiv globular cluster is one of the brightest in the sky. For this image I used two sets of images; one as general image; and one for the core - to prevent overexposure. In total the image has an eposure time of 90 minutes. I used the ISO1600 setting; a little over the top. The temperature outside is to high for this setting but who an I to complain :-)

Messier 106

2010-03-13T20:11:00.003+01:00

This image has an exposure time of 2h45m. Messier 106 is a spiral galaxy in Canis Venatici. M106 is at a distance of about 22 to 25 million light years away from. It is also a Seyfert Galaxy. It is suspected that part of the galaxy is falling into a supermassive in the center. NGC 4217 in the lower right corner is a possible companion galaxy of Messier 106.

Messier 109 in Ursa Majoris

2010-03-13T16:02:00.004+01:00

This is the longest exposure up till now! 3h45m! In this picture are Phad (the bright star in the upper right corner and one of the stars of "the pan" in the Big Dipper) Messier 109 (the bright barred spiral galaxy in the lower left corner. Furthermore there are several dimmer galaxies visable.

Horsehead nebula

2010-02-18T10:47:00.003+01:00

This image is made on februari 16th. I used 40 frames with an exposure of two and a half minutes at ISO1600. This is a quick processing job. I'm sure that with some more time and effort this could be better :-). The horsehead nebula is in the constellation Orion, at a distance of 900 lightyears.

Messier 42 in HDR

2010-02-05T19:03:00.006+01:00

To make this High Dynamic Range picture I used two series of frames; 20 frames at 30 seconds and 15 frames of 3 minutes exposure. The frames where stacked in Deepskystacker. The HDR image was created in Photoshop. A Highpass filter was also applied.

Mars, 31ste of januari

2010-02-02T20:24:00.003+01:00

This is Mars on the 31ste of januari. For this image I used 1250 frames, stacked with Registax. Photoshop was used to add some more sharpness.

Apparature; 8" Skywatcher Newton; Philips SPC900 webcame; Televue 2x Barlow. The webcam used its internal zoom function (2x).

Messier 1; Crabnebula

2009-11-20T18:35:00.004+01:00

After a long period of cloudy weather finaly clear skies! The cabnebula was my aim. This image consists of 17 frames of 6 minutes On ISO800. The camera used was a Canon400D (Baader Mod.). Scope; 8" Skywatcher Newton, F5.

Messier 33; The Triangulum galaxy

2009-10-24T15:30:00.006+02:00

Next object on my list was Messier 33. This galaxy lies at a distance of approx. 3 million lightyears and makes it a neighbour of our galaxy. Due to the relative small distance, this object appears dim. The surface brightness is low. But beeing able to take long exopsures and using the modified camera, this object should be the ultimate testobject. In total 20 frames are used at ISO 800. The total exposure time is 1 hour and 45 minutes.

The Veilnebula

2009-10-24T15:25:00.006+02:00

Now that the Baader modified Canon is in, I had to make a testshot. Because the Veilnebula NGC 6960 and 6992 climbed high in the sky, the telescope was pointed in that direction. The image of the witchbroom (right) has a total exposure time of 2 hours and 30 minutes. It is a stack of 30 images at ISO800. The image of Pickerings whisp has a total exposure time of 1 hour and 45 minutes.

Albireo with barlowlens

2009-10-10T23:06:00.006+02:00

On a moonlight filled evening I felt like an experiment; Why not use the barlow lens to magnify a deepsky object. So after setting up the telescope I started shooting. This is the result; 20 frames of 2 minutes on ISO 800.

Comet Lulin

2009-03-20T18:58:00.005+01:00

This comet reached higher northern altitudes in februari and march 2009. In that time it move from the constelation Leo, through Cancer to Gemini. During a short period of time it was even visable with the naked eye.These pictures where taken on march 2nd. The exposure time was 30 minuten on ISO1600 (60 frames of 30 seconds). The gas tail of the comet is pointing downward.

Closed rings of saturn

2009-03-06T13:43:00.003+01:00

On februari 13th it was clear enough to use the scope again. Although Saturn was low in the eastern sky and the seeing was resonable, I tried to get a shot.

This image is stacked with 872 frames.

Apparture used: 8" Skywatcher Newton and a Philips SPC900 webcam.

Finally an acceptable M42

2009-01-21T10:22:00.002+01:00

Due to trees in the south I wasn't been able to take a good shot at this nebulae. Yesterday I extended my EQ6-mount so I could peer over those trees. This version came out pretty well...

45 frames of 30 seconds on ISO 1600
Skywatcher 8" Newton
Canon 400 D

Snow, Venus and moonlight

2009-01-11T17:04:00.002+01:00

Under clear skies the temperture dropped like a stone. Some fog gathered on the fields in the distance. Venus was clearly visible in the west. The almost full moon was already rising in the east. A sight too beautifull to resist. Shot taken with a Canon 400D with a 18-55 mm lens. Exposure was 20 seconds on ISO 1600.

Crater Clavius December 7th 2008

2008-12-13T15:57:00.003+01:00

After a period of cloudy weather finnaly clear skies again. So another opportunity to take a shot at the moon. This is crater Clavius. The picture consists of 812 frames. The last touch-up was made in Photoshop.

Jupiter (best picture yet!!!)

2008-07-19T11:35:00.004+02:00

I managed to take my telescope along on vacation. I have been to Southern France. No citylights and on a height of 360 meters de skies are dark and full of stars. On juli 1ste the seeing was awsome. Around 01:30 I was able to make this picture; Jupiter, the great red stop and an occulation by the moon Io.

For this photo I used 845 frames and stacked them with Registax. The final touch was made with Photoshop (sharpening).

Moon mozaic

2008-05-14T09:40:00.006+02:00

These picture's where taken in a period of exeptional clear weather in Holland. To make these pictures I used several frames taken with the Philips SPC900 webcam. In Photoshop these frames where combined to "the bigger picture". Click on the individual pictures to see the full format version.

Spiral galaxy M101

2008-05-04T20:44:00.003+02:00

For this picture I tried to use a longer exposuretime for the individual frames. The majority of the frames have an exposuretime of approx. 1 minute on ISO 1600. The total exposure time is almost one hour!

The frames are stacked in DeepskyStacker and the colours are enhanced in Photoshop.

Another globular cluster; M3

2008-05-04T09:54:00.004+02:00

Last night clear skies again. So a chance for a next globular cluster; M3. I used 50 frames of 30 seconds on ISO 1600. I stacked them with DeepskyStacker (I like the live stacking feature in DeepskyStackerLive). In Photoshop I streched the picture and added some colour.

Globular cluster Messier 13

2008-04-30T19:35:00.003+02:00

Up till now I wasn't able to make a decent picture of a globular cluster. Last night I amed the telescope at The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules. This picture consists of 50 frames. The exposure time is 30 seconds at 1600 ISO. I stacked the frames with DeepSkyStacker and touched it up a little with Photoshop.

Moon April 13th

2008-04-13T22:47:00.002+02:00

This is a picture of the moon taken with the Canon 350D. I used 50 JPEG pictures (frames) and stacked them with Registax. With Photoshop I touched up the photo a little. This one of the finest results yet.

Results with the new Televeu 3X Barlow

2008-03-08T07:34:00.004+01:00

Last month I was able to test my new Barlow. And up till now I'm very pleased with it. In this photo's you see the moon (crater Clavius) and Saturn. The picture of Saturn could be a bit sharper though but on the night the photo was taken the seeing was pretty bad.

Sharp moon image

2008-01-20T23:07:00.001+01:00

This is the latest moon image, taken on januari 16th 2008. I used a Philips SPC900 webcam. From the 1200 frames taken I used 800.
they where stacked with RegiStax. The final touch-up was done with photoshop.

The Orion nebulae

2007-12-13T14:36:00.000+01:00

Last night was very clear. A good moment to capture the M42. This birthplace for stars can be found in the constelation of Orion. From my observatory, the nebulae bearly rises above the tree tops. So its a matter of good timing to get a good shot. In this picture I used 40 frames of 30 seconds each. The camera was set to ISO 1600. I used Deepskystacker to stack the frames, and used Photoshop and Nebulosity to finalse it.

NGC891

2007-12-02T15:22:00.000+01:00

This is the large file of NGC 891. With the site messier45.com I was able to identify 14 objects on this photo. All of them are galaxies.

Expanding comet Holmes

2007-12-02T15:18:00.000+01:00

This is a picture of comet Holmes, made on December 1st 2007. Since my last post the comet has grown in size considerlaby. For this picture I used 40 frames of 30 seconds on ISO 1600.

Erupting comet Holmes

2007-10-30T23:23:00.000+01:00

Comet Holmes, normaly an object unvisible to the nacked eye, erupted this week. These photo's where taken today. The white center of the picture reveals the dust tail of the comet. The green halo is the gas tail. Because the sun is "behind" the observer, dust and gastail are in line. Thats why this comet lookes so odd. The picture with the halo consists of 100 frames 0f 30 seconds each on ISO 1600. The dust tail picture is made of 20 frames of 15 seconds each on ISO 800. It was hard to capture the core of the comet. It was easely overexposed! Eager to find the comet yourself?

Data for 30-10-2007:

Comet '17P' Magnitude= 2.9. Best seen from 17.7h - 6.8h. RA= 3h47m26 Dec=+50°29.0' (J2000) Distance to Sun= 2.46AU Distance to Earth= 1.62AU Elongation=139° hourly motion: dRA=-24.9"/h dDec= 6.5"/h.

Or see the finderchart.

More colour in the pictures

2007-10-28T15:25:00.001+01:00

By using an additional technique I'm able to put more colour into the stars. This picture shows x and h persei, a double cluster in the constelation of Perseus. I took 50 frames of 30 seconds and stacked them in DeepSkyStacker.

Longer exposure

2007-10-05T09:13:00.000+02:00

This is the first attempt to make a picture with longer exposure time. For this picture I used 60 frames of 30 seconds. A total exposure time of 30 minutes! These frames where stacked with deepskystacker. Photoshop was used to enhance the picture of M33. This galaxy is a member of the local group.

New photo enhancement techniques

2007-09-07T19:24:00.000+02:00

After reading the techniques used bij Jerry Lodriguss I reprecessed mij picture of M8 - The Lagoonnebulae. I am happy with the latest results.

The moon is getting sharper

2007-08-13T19:03:00.000+02:00

These two pictures are taken on august the 5th. In the early morning hours the sky was very clear and there wasn't much seeing. And als the collimation of the scope wasn't that bad. So the circumstances were good to make sharp pictures. These photo's of the moon (last quarter) are the sharpest yet. For the photo of the crater Copernicus, I used 3 frames that are combined in photoshop.

Vacation results

2007-07-29T22:15:00.000+02:00

I have been to France for a short holiday. Clear and very dark skies!!! These photo's are my latest results.

New template for photo's

2007-07-02T22:26:00.001+02:00

This is the new template that I will use for future Photographs. Besides the actual photo it will also show all the technical data.

The dark side of the moon

2007-06-23T09:35:00.000+02:00

For this photo of the moon I took 2 images: one with a "normal exposure time (1/60 seconds), and one with a longer exposure time (1 second). These pictures where combined to one with photoshop. This will give a total view of the moon.

Thin moon cresent

2007-06-23T09:31:00.000+02:00

This is a mosaic of 5 pictures that I took with the 8" telescope and the Philips Vesta Pro webcam. I used a shutter speed of 1/30 second and took aprox. 600 images. The resulting photo's where stitched together with Photoshop. Click on the image to see "the big picture"...

M51: Resampled

2007-06-03T15:26:00.000+02:00

While testing my new laptop I resampled my picture of M51 (Canes Venatici). I also detected that two other little galaxy's are visible: IC 4263 (Mvis 15,7) and NGC 5169 (Mvis 14.4). These galaxy's are found at the right hand corner, below the middle. Can you find them? Never before I photographed objects this dimm.
The tests revealed that Microsoft Vista causes a lot of driver problems. I need to solve them before my holiday in Southern France. I take the telescope, the camera an the laptop along. Time is ticking.....

Saturn occulation by the moon

2007-05-26T08:24:00.000+02:00

On 22th of may this year the moon and saturn had a close encounter. Unfortunally I was unable to photograph the point when saturn became visible again. A band of clouds blocked my view. But a couple of minutes later I took this photo. There is a lot of differance in luminosity between the moon and saturn so that had to bee corrected.

M81 and M82 in Ursa Majoris

2007-05-26T08:17:00.001+02:00

On this photo you'll see a galaxy edge on (M82) and a galaxy from above. But then again what is up and down in space? I again used 20 pictures of 30 seconds exposuretime at 800 ASA. Notice the fine structure in M81. The spital arm are visible.

M97 in Ursa Majoris

2007-05-26T08:13:00.001+02:00

This is also a planetary nebulae. Only this one is green! For this photo I took 20 exposures of 30 seconds at 1600 ASA. These where also stacked with DeepSkyStacker and touched-up with Photoshop.

Latest Deepsky result...

2007-05-13T20:07:00.000+02:00

Last night we had very clear skies. I went outside at 12 at night, and went to bed at 3:30. But with some result! This is my photo of M27 "the dumbell nebula". I took 20 frames, 1600 ISO, 30 seconds each (10 minutes in total). These frames where stacked with Deepskystacker. In Photoshop the photo was adjusted with curves and contrast/luminosity. It is totaly amasing to get so much detail!. Als the number of stars is fantastic. This is also due to the proximity of the milky way (our own galaxy). I also made an enlargement to show the finer detail inside the nebula. And I also enhanced the colours. I found out that the canon 350D is a little insensetive to red :-(

M57 in Lyra

2007-05-02T23:12:00.000+02:00

This a photo of M57 in detail. Als this photo is touched-up a little with Photoshop. Also the central star, wich exploded and caused this ring of gas, is visible. Look in the centre of the nebulae. Unfortunaly my Canon doesn't record red so well. Otherwise the red outer rimm of the nebulae would be visible also.

My airplane video..

2007-04-24T21:20:00.000+02:00

See my airplane video:

Moon and airplane

2007-04-24T18:26:00.000+02:00

When you're outside a lot you will encouter the odd chance to take a picture like this. I photographed this on april 22.

M13 - Globular cluster in Hercules

2007-04-24T18:22:00.000+02:00

This week finaly clear skies again. I had a shot at M13. This is a globular cluster that belongs to our own galaxy. In total I took twenty photo's with an exposion of 1 minute on 800 ASA. These photo's where stacked with DeepSkyStacker. In this case you get a photo with a total exposure time of 20 minutes. After that a little touch-up in Photoshop. For those of you who realy pay attention: In the upper left corner NGC 6207 is also visible. This galaxy has an apparent magnitude of 12,1!

Saturn

2007-04-23T12:53:00.000+02:00

This is my latest attempt to photograph Saturn. Yesterday we had clear sky's and de seeing was good. Technical data:

Philips Vesta Pro on a 200 mm F5 Newton

Barlow (3x) and a IR/UV blocking filter

600 images (590 used) stacked witch RegiStax

This is a course result. It still needs some photoshopping ;-)

I'm pleased with the result

M51 - second attempt

2007-04-20T15:38:00.000+02:00

After a few tips from fellow amateur-astronomers I went outside and had another go at M51. Also I mastered some techniques in Photoshop. See the picture below for the latest result...

Deepsky

2007-04-16T13:01:00.000+02:00

A couple of day's ago I started with deepsky photography. I made photo's with the camera piggyback on the telescope (see the post down below). Finaly I managed to connect my Canon 350D on to the telescope. Last night was a very clear night. Ideal to shoot some pictures. It took me almost 4 hours to take the pictures. I needed a lot of time to prepare the telescope. :-)
For all pictures I used a camera sensetivity of 1600 ASA. I shot 10 pictures with a shutterspeed of 30 seconds (total exposure time 5 minutes). The seperate pictures where combined to one with DeepSkyStacker. For the final touch-up I used Photoshop. See my results in the enclosed pictures (click on one of the pictures to see the enlargement):

New Camera

2007-03-23T13:39:00.000+01:00

This week i bought a new camera. The canon 350D. This camera is very suiteable to make astrophoto's. In the next couple of weeks I am going to test it on different objects. This summer a take my telescope with me on holiday. I expect that in southern France the conditions will be exellent. Here is also a photo with the camera "piggyback" on my telescope. With a camera wich has a ISO value of 1600 and long exposures it schould be possible to make magnificent photographs. Check for results later on.

Using the new camera

2007-03-20T18:46:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I bought a new digital camera. The Canon EOS 350D. I made a test photo of the open cluster is the constelation Perseus. On the photo there are stars visible up to mag. 12! I didn't have much time to make more photo's. In the next test session I will try to get better results.

Finally The sun

2007-03-01T19:11:00.000+01:00

It doesn't look like much but this is my first picture of the sun. Right in the middle is sunspot 944. I used a "solar-screen" sun filter. And the webcam was used to take the picture. 266 images stacked. The next couple of years we go to a solar maximum. That means a lot of sunspots. And hopefully also bigger ones ;-).

Focusser "Chris-style........

2007-02-28T20:02:00.000+01:00

Behold! I ordered a radio knob at Conrads. It reduces the adjustment turns on my focusser 6 times. This way it is easy to fine focus on any object. It just costs me € 30,- instead of a "original" finefocusser of € 165,- :-)

Mail me and I will send you the details.

Saturn with filter

2007-02-12T02:23:00.000+01:00

Getting a step closer again!!! This week I bought a Baader UV/IR filter. This filter blocks infra-red and ultra-violet light. This light tends to blur the image. In the enclosed picture you can see the results. The sharpest image up to now! Although the seeing was poor! There is a slight colour abberation. I suspect that this is due to bad collimation. I try to fix that later on.

Click on the image to see it in its original size!

The moons of Saturn

2007-02-08T20:31:00.000+01:00

In this (over)exposed image you can see five of Saturn's moons. From left to right you can see Iapetus, Titan, Tethys, Dione and Rhea. The faintest moon on this picture is mag 10! I'm happy with the result.

Saturn RGB

2007-02-08T20:12:00.000+01:00

After re-programming my webcam, i could use it to make RAW images. Altough they are in black and white, they are a lot sharper. All I need is a technique to proces the RGB greyscale images into a color image. But for the time being I very happy with the results up to now. If anyone has tips and / or tricks, please let me know.

Saturn in greater detail

2007-02-05T21:57:00.000+01:00

Behold.... my finest result until now! It took me a while but i'm very pleased with this result. This photo is taken with a Philips Vesta webcam. I stacked 200 frames into this picture. The exposure time was 1/25 sec. per frame. To take a step further i will need a UV/IR filter. This will give a sharper image. So, another item on my next wish list...... ;-)

The moon (with high magnification)

2007-01-28T20:56:00.000+01:00

This time a photo of the moon with high magnification. By using a 3x Barlow lens in primary focus, the magnification is boosted to approx. 600 times. Getting the picture sharp is very difficult. My focuser is very sensitif. I hope to show better photo's later on.

Saturn with barlowlens

2007-01-27T19:59:00.000+01:00

Well, here it is! Saturn! Fotographed with an 8 inch Newton telescope and a 3x barlow lens. I know I'm not there yet but I'm getting there.
I used 300 frames, stacked with RegiStax 4.0. Furthermore I used Photoshop to sharpen en colour the photo (perhaps I overdone it a little).
The seeing at the time of the photo was poor. Also Saturn stood only 20 degrees above the horizon. I'm sure the photo's will get better under better conditions.

Using Neximage in primary focus

2007-01-13T09:15:00.000+01:00

This is my latest picture of the the moon. I used my Neximage in the primary focus of my telescoop. This week I ordered a Barlow lens. This way it is possible to get even better photo's. I hope to show you the results in a short while.

Regards and clear sky's to everyone...

Deepsky anyone???

2006-11-14T23:17:00.000+01:00

This is my first try on deepsky photography. I used a Konica Minolta Z2 digital camera. This camera was mounted "piggyback". I took 10 frames with an exposure of 30 seconds each. The film sensetivity was 400 ASA. I used AstroStack to stack the pictures into one frame. On the original picture (12 Mb TIFF) the blue reflection nebulae around de stars 0f M45 are a littlebit visable. This photo contains star up to Mvis 11!

First color image

2006-11-11T14:58:00.000+01:00

This week I experimented with my Konica Minolta Z2 digital camera. With PVC pipe I constructed an adaptor that i can use with my telescope. This way I can make color pictures of the moon with a high resolution. This 4 Mb images can be enlarged and printed with high detail. If you want to know how the adaptor was constructed, just let me know.
Click on the image too see the bigger picture.

Saturn

2006-11-02T14:16:00.000+01:00

Last month, early in the morning I managed to take a picture of saturn. Because I didn't use a Barlow lens the image is quite small. The photo was taken by using a Celestron Neximage. This device records a AVI movie file. With Registax these AVI picture frames are combined to one frame. Also, lots of unseen details are enhanced this way.

Using Registax

2006-10-24T16:56:00.000+02:00

Hello world,

This is my latest creation. This is an image of the moon. I combined two photo's that I made with my NexImage. In Registax and did some editing in Photoshop to enhance the details.

Getting there...

2006-10-12T22:39:00.000+02:00

Finally i'm getting somewhere.... The conditions weren't ideal but still good enough for this picture. I'm sure that under perfect conditions, a lot is possible with this telescope.

Latest attempt

2006-10-09T09:08:00.000+02:00

This is my latest attempt to photograph the moon. Although the seeing was bad, the moon was much higher in the sky. I also experimented with Registax and Photoshop to get a sharper image.

Another picture of the moon

2006-10-08T09:50:00.000+02:00

This is an earlier attempt to make a picture of the moon. I used a 6" Newton telescoop, that i build myself. For the photo i used a Philips Vesta Pro webcam. In this attempt I only took a single shot. There is a technique where you take a video file (AVI). I will try this later on.

Testing my new telescope

2006-10-01T11:15:00.000+02:00

I bought a new telescope this week. Last saturday it was clear enough for the first tests. Although the seeing wasn't good, the moon was low and trees blocked my sight, i managed to shoot some foto's. I used a Celestron Neximage digital astrocamera. I use Registax to convert the AVI-file into a single picture. In Photoshop i enhanced the picture some more. See my results!