On February 29, 2012 I had my first go at prime focus astrophotography. I only had a short amount of time to try it out. Using a Canon 350D is a bit difficult because there is no Live View mode (viewing on the screen) so I had to focus the telescope while looking through the tiny view finder. Focusing this way is very difficult due to the stars being hard to see, and the few stars I could see were hard to tell if they were actually in focus. After fiddling around for a little bit trying to get the focus just right, I settled where I was and took a few shots.
The image is still out of focus, but I figured I'd still share my first attempt with this type of astrophotography here. I either need to find a serial cable that is compatible with the Canon 350D so I can use Backyard EOS to focus, or I need to invest in a 90° finder that clips onto the view finder and allows a 1.5x-2x zoom to help focus on dim objects.
M38 is an open cluster in the constellation Auriga. The stars are about 4200 light-years away from Earth, and is about 220 million years old. The diameter of this open cluster is roughly 25 light-years. NGC 1907 is a dimmer open cluster that is about 4500 light-years away from Earth that contains about 50 stars and is over 500 million years old.
Tonight before the clouds rolled in, right around sunset, I got out and got a few pictures of Jupiter and Venus close by in the sky. They will be closer tomorrow night (March 11) and we are predicted to have clear skies all night. So I leave you with one image from them tonight. Have a great weekend everyone, keep looking up, and clear skies!
The image is still out of focus, but I figured I'd still share my first attempt with this type of astrophotography here. I either need to find a serial cable that is compatible with the Canon 350D so I can use Backyard EOS to focus, or I need to invest in a 90° finder that clips onto the view finder and allows a 1.5x-2x zoom to help focus on dim objects.
M38 is an open cluster in the constellation Auriga. The stars are about 4200 light-years away from Earth, and is about 220 million years old. The diameter of this open cluster is roughly 25 light-years. NGC 1907 is a dimmer open cluster that is about 4500 light-years away from Earth that contains about 50 stars and is over 500 million years old.
M38 and NGC 1907. 4 images at 15sec. 1 dark frame, 1 flat frame. Click to enlarge.
Tonight before the clouds rolled in, right around sunset, I got out and got a few pictures of Jupiter and Venus close by in the sky. They will be closer tomorrow night (March 11) and we are predicted to have clear skies all night. So I leave you with one image from them tonight. Have a great weekend everyone, keep looking up, and clear skies!
Jupiter is the dimmer object on the left, and Venus is to it's right shining bright. Click to enlarge.
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