The Modern Astrophotographer

The Modern
Astrophotographer
In One Year’s Time
Walt Davis
OMSI Astrophotography Workshop
May 14, 2009
Overview
About Me
Why Astrophotography
Location
First Year
Current State
What Next
About Me
As a kid – wanted to know more but did not feel
smart enough to be an astronomer
Growing up – became interested in computers
and received a B.S. in Software Engineering
from OIT
Now – married to Renee, have three girls aged
3, 5, & 23 and am a Software Architect for the
state of Oregon
Website – http://www.waltdavis.net/astronomy/
Why Astrophotography
Family & Friends – something to teach, share,
and would be interesting to others
Therapeutic – distraction from chronic pain
Rewarding – love to learn, need to be challenged,
like to explore, and a desire to achieve
Computerization – being a Software Engineer &
Systems Architect; I could use these skills in
becoming an amateur astronomer
Location
Residential backyard in Aumsville, Oregon
Latitude 44.841N by Longitude -122.869W
Elevation 90 meters
Class 4.5 on the Bortle scale (Rural/ suburban
transition)
NE Sky can not be imaged (Salem)
South Blocked by Trees
Meade ETX 80AT (1st Scope)
First Time Alignments
First DSO Discovery
First Planetary Discovery
First Picture of M45 Nikon D70
Nikkor 80-400mm f4.5 ED Lens
First image of Saturn Orion
NextStar 4SE Meade LPI
Orion NextStar 4SE (2ND Scope)
Automation
The Sky 6
ASCOM NexStar Driver
JMI MotorFocus & USB Controller
Imaging
Planetary Pictures With Meade LPI
Philips Webcam and RegiStax
K3CCD
Orion NextStar 4SE & Meade LPI
Wide Field Imaging
Meade ETX80 and Nikon D70 DSLR
Webcam guiding with PHDGuiding
Nikon 70-120mm ED f3.5 & 80-400mm f4.5 ED
Shoestring Astronomy Nikon Shutter Control
DeepSkyStacker & PhotoShop CS3
DSLRFocus
Wide Field Imaging
Nikon Camera Control Pro 2
New Astro Zone System by Ron Wodaski, ISBN
0-9711237-5-6
M51 Nikon D70 & Meade ETX 80
Orion Nebula Nikon D70 & ETX 80
Rich Field View of Cygnus
Cygnus Rich Field annotated by astrometry.com, Nikon D70 & 50mm f1.8 lens with
Dydium Filter. http://live.astrometry.net/status.php?job=alpha-200903-54347337.
Polar Alignment
Started with tripod.
Then DIY Wedge/Pier.
LXD75
Needed a mount that could handle the Nikkor
lenses
Wanted a mount more appropriate for
astrophotography
Send mount to LXD55.com for Hypertune
service
SN10 Mods – flocked, baffles, moonlight
focuser
Orion Atlas EQ-G
Trade in LXD75 and keep SN10
Hypertuned Orion Atlas from TSS
Ceramic Bearings
Grease, Debur, & Polished Gears
1” Counter Weight Shaft
Mounting Base Mod
Altitude Adjustment Mod
New Encoders Screw Mod
Mount Mate Adapter Base
Dual Saddle Vixen Dovetail
Initial Atlas Configuration
Nikkor 600mm f4 ED
Lens & NextStar 4SE
EQMod
ShoeString
EQ Direct Interface Module
Guide Port interface
GPS Link.
Tracking & Guiding Improvements
Polar Alignment Scope
Orion Starshoot DSCI
Mogg Nikon
- FAdapter
for Starshoot & Webcam
Drift Alignment
PEC with PERecorder
and or PECPrep
CCD Polar Alignment http://www.ucihs.uci.edu/pandb/hall/polar.htm
Dual Nikkor Imaging System
Nikkor 300mm and 600mm lens mounted together on an Atlas EQ-G. Attached to each lens is an
Orion Deep Space II CCD Imager. One does the guiding while the other does the imaging.
Nikkor FOV Matrix
Improving Image Quality
Reaching Background Limit
of Light Pollution
Aberration
Baader Moon & Sky Glow Filter
Orion Broadband Filter
Stop Down Aperture 2 Steps
Dust and Vingnetting
Light Box
Flat Field Frames
Narrowing the Field of View
The Dumbell Nebula
The Crab Nebula
68 x 45 arcminutes
19 x 14 arcminutes
Both pictures where taken with a Nikon TC-301 Teleconverter and 600mm f4 ED lens. The
larger field was taken with a Nikon D70 while the smaller an Orion Starshoot II CCD Imager.
Custom Filters
2” Astronmik CLS Light Pollution
2” Baader Semi-APO
Cut Down to 39mm
Mounted In Nikon Filter Holder
S.I. Howard Glass Co., Inc
www.howardglass.com
Fixing Nikkor 600mm Aberration
Make A Mask
Cardboard
Protostar
Compass
Exacto Knife
600mm Images With Mask
Single 3 minute image of M45 with the Nikkor 600mm f4 ED lens and Mask to reduce
aberration. A custom made 39mm Astronomiks CLS filter was used to reduce light pollution.
Prototype DSLR Focuser
Remote Operation
Critical Focus
Interoperable
Adjustable
Nikkor 600mm Factory Restoration
Grind and Polish Lens Elements
Nano Particle Coatings
Optical Alignment
TC301
Concrete Pier
Zero Star
Alignment
< 5 Arcseconds of
Drift in 10 minutes
3040 Lbs of Dry
Cement Mix
10” Column
Rosetta Nebula
Orion 120mm f5 Achromat
No Darks, Flats, or Bias
Nikon D300
14 Bit No Compression
4288 x 2848 Cropped
Noise Reduction Off
5 x 10 Minute Exposures
Celestron Broadband Filter
DeepSky Stacker
Photoshop CS3
Comet Lulin
Orion 120mm f5 Achromat
No Darks, Flats, or Bias
Nikon D300
14 Bit No Compression
4288 x 2848 Cropped
Noise Reduction Off
12 x 120 Second Exposures
Baader Moon & Sky Glow
Filter
DeepSkyStacker
Photoshop CS3
What's Next
To be up and running again by end of April
Tri-Color Narrow Band Imaging
LRGB Imaging
Continue using Nikkor Lenses for WF work
Tri-Color NBI with Orion 120mm f5
Achromat
LRGB with SN10
Updates
Updates are available from the internet in
several forms:
Power Point
HTML
http://www.waltdavis.net/astronomy/March09_OMSI_Presentation.ppt
http://www.waltdavis.net/astronomy/March09_OMSI_Presentation.htm
PDF
http://www.waltdavis.net/astronomy/March09_OMSI_Presentation.pdf
WebSite’s
LXD55.com – for Hypertune of GEM mounts
Astrometry.com – online service for analysis of images
TelescopeStabilitySystems.com – StableMax Tripods,
MountMateAdapterBase, dovetail systems, and more
WaltDavis.net – my personal website
ShoeStringAstronomy.com – several great products that will
help you automate your astrophotography
ADMaccessories.com – great place to get dovetail systems and
other parts
K3CCD (pk3.org) – good for capturing webcam imagesM
DSLRFocus.com – does other things but I only use it to focus
images that get dropped into a directory
WebSite’s
MoggAdapters.com –
PERecorder.wikidot.com –
ASCOM-Standards.org –
EQ-Mod.SourceForge.net –
Bisque.com –
howardglass.com –