Beginner astrophotography

Last night I decided to try something a bit different.
I used my old, standard cheapo Nikon D3300 along with a late 1980's Nikon 180mm f/2.8 ED AF lens to image the old favourite M45 The Pleiades.

Skywatcher Star Adventurer 2i Pro
Nikon D3300 ISO 800
Nikon 180mm f/2.8 ED AF (set at f/4)
333 x 30 second lights
50 flats
50 biases
50 darks
I used Siril 1.2.0 along with Starnet++

I'm very pleased with the result given the combination of an older (albeit highly thought of) lens, and an entry-level DSLR which first came to the market 10 years ago.

NikonM45.jpg
 
The first decent night for ages...
I wanted to try out the Redcat 51 I bought several months ago!
The target was M13 the Hercules Globular Cluster. The only trouble - M13 is fairly low in the sky until the Summer. I started at 11pm (it was then at about 30 degrees up) and was finished 1 o'clock this morning!
I'm impressed with the colour rendering on the various classes of stars. I added precisely zero colour saturation. If you look carefully, there are also a few surprises in the image.

M13 Hercules Globular Cluster
Skywatcher Star Adventurer 2i Pro
Nikon D5300 (Astro modified) ISO 200
Redcat 51 F/4.9
183 x 45 second lights
50 flats
50 biases
50 darks
I used Siril 1.2.1 along with Starnet++

M13.jpg
 
Well not great conditions at all last night, but I managed to get 1 3/4 hrs of imaging done. Along with intermittent clouds, the light pollution from the Moon didn't do me any favours.

Anyway, here's M101 The Pinwheel Galaxy in Ursa Major

Skywatcher Star Adventurer 2i Pro
Nikon D5300 (Astro modified) ISO 200
Redcat 51 F/4.9
141 x 45 second lights
50 flats
50 biases
50 darks
I used Siril 1.2.1 along with Starnet++
M101.jpg
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom