Back from the Oregon Star Party

I just got back today from the Oregon Star Party at Indian Trail Springs in the Ochoco mountains of Central Oregon. I spent two nights there and imaged with my 80mm APO refractor on both nights using both my Nikon D40 and my new SBIG ST-402 camera. I didn't not use my Celestron 8" SCT at all (at the recommendation of an experienced imager who said I'd be wasting the dark skies due to it's long focal length). Unfortunately, I was unable to use auto-guiding again, but I think I know what I have to do now to make it work. Still, with the SBIG, I was able to make some progress towards better images even using exposure times up to only 45 seconds. For some objects, I took twenty to thirty 30" exposures and am now using software (DeepSkyStacker) to stack them up.

So... the pictures above represent some of my better results and my first attempt at image processing on them. At the top is the best picture I took with the Nikon D40, of the Orion Nebula. I don't think the focus is perfect in this shot and it is only a single 55.1" exposure using ISO1600 (noise reduction 'on'). I'm amazed at how much I can see in this and am anxious to go back to it with a color wheel on my ST-402 (still need to buy one) and take very long exposures. This has always been one of my favorite deep sky objects.

The rest of the photos were taken on my ST-402 for which monochrome is currently the only option. The first (below Orion) is Bode's galaxy (M81), one that I have never seen through one of my telescopes before (not for lack of trying). This is a stack of six exposures of one minute each. Below that is the Helix nebula, again one that I have never observed through my scopes (though probably could have in this case). This is a very large (or close) planetary nebula. It's a 10x30" exposure. Below the Helix is a 23x30" shot of the Andromeda galaxy (M31). Below Andromeda is the Pinwheel galaxy in Triangulum... a 20x30" exposure. This is one of only three spiral galaxies in our local group (the others being our Milky Way and Andromeda). Finally, the last photo is of M3, the globular cluster that I had previously posted a picture of from my Nikon, along with a reference photo from the web. As you can see, this new photo is much more comparable to the reference photo!

These images, though a huge improvement for me, are still not very good when compared to what experienced imagers generate. What I need to improve on is 1) Use auto-guiding for longer exposures, 2) Optimize focus (always tough), and 3)become a better image processor.

I'm still a struggling beginner, but I think I've finally come far enough to feel a little satisfaction and a lot of motivation to continue. The cost of the equipment I used for the photos above (not including my Nikon, which I previously owned) was about $4600. All of this equipment is considered 'entry level'... the $1200 Orion Sirius mount (though it wins high praise for it's capability), the $1600 SBIG ST-402 (used only as a guide camera by many imagers), and the $700 Orion 80mm EON refractor. Besides these items, the other equipment was an assortment of adapters and the power station for remote sites. More serious amateurs use cameras costing closer to $5000 and some use more expensive mounts and telescopes. Finer equipment can probably buy the ability to do location, centering and guiding with higher precision and probably makes the use of longer focal length (more magnification and therefore level of detail) easier. At this point I think I'm going to be like many amateurs and just use my inexpensive equipment and embrace the challenge of getting the most out of it through refined technique and tweaks to the equipment. There are amateurs (some local ones!) who are even going beyond imaging and using photometry to gather data on variable stars and known planets orbiting other suns (easy targets like "hot Jupiters" with two day orbital periods). This is a good hobby!