The simple things that make a HUGE difference

This holiday season was very good to me! Although I didn't get a new camera, I did get some rather inexpensive items that are proving to be indispensable!

First up, this Rayovac LED head lamp was purchased as a hands-free night time dog poo picker upper utility, but it's proving invaluable as a light for setting up for nighttime shoots because it features a red LED light mode.

Next, this device is a little gem - a wired shutter release and lock. No more taping a mechanical pencil eraser to the handgrip on my DSLR. No more re-taping a mechanical pencil eraser when the tape freezes and falls off 6 minutes into my shoot! It's simple, and simply the best.

Finally, the must-have item that gets my butt off the frozen winter ground: A full size tripod with ball and socket joint at the top. I used to have to sit down behind my flimsy travel tripod, but now that I have a "real" tripod, I feel less awkward going out in my apartment courtyard to take photos because I look like a legitimate photographer and not some apartment complex creep. It's about the same boost in confidence I felt moving from a point and shoot to a DSLR. Star photography is not the first thing that comes to mind when you see someone sitting on the grass at midnight with a point and shoot. 

That's all for now. Just remember, as you're dreaming of that new telescope or lens, to be grateful for the little things that hold it all together.

Star Walk app 6.1 keeps crashing on iPhone 5 (iOS 6.0.2)

Anyone else out there having this problem? My Star Walk app crashes within about 3 seconds of opening and never makes it past the splash screen.

It's been happening since Monday, and I don't see any comments from the developers about a known problem.

Pleiades in Deep Sky Stacker, 205 subs at 1.3 sec each

Ok, so after my moderate success with the Orion Nebula using short exposures stacked in DSS, I decided to try The Pleiades for my next target. I was hoping for something like this, but ended up with this:

205 subs (f/5.6, ISO 1600, 300mm, 1.3 sec), 30 darks, and 30 flats bias stacked in DSS

So I didn't get much (if any) nebulosity out of the image, but at least my stars are round! I used a shorter-than-necessary exposure time to make sure I didn't get trails, which maybe sabotaged my ability to capture any faint wispy gas couds.

This stack is a total exposure time of 4 minutes and some change. It's possible that with a larger stack I could develop some wispyness in the area, but for now I'm pleased with a neat star cluster.

I tried everything I could to bring out the nebulosity in processing but I think it comes down to longer exposure time.

'Combing' streaks are visible as the image is pushed to the max

Update: I believe my 'flats' were actually 'bias' frames, I'm not sure how that may have affected my DSS session but I might try re-stacking with my bias frames in the appropriate spot.

Practice makes... Orion visible without a tracking mount

Check out my deep sky progress using the same camera (Canon 350D) to photograph the Orion Nebula. It's an easy target in the winter, and I've definitely been improving! It seems like every new technique I try produces the "best one yet!"

My first successful image in Deep Sky Stacker (DSS)

Well, here is my best Orion Nebula yet! It's a stack of 168 subs, 30 darks, and 30 flats bias (I finally figured out what those are). Each was shot in RAW at 1.6 sec, f/5.6, 300mm, ISO 1600. I stumbled through a couple tutorials on Deep Sky Stacker (DSS) and ended up stacking this a few times. The first time it removed all the color for some reason, the second time it wouldn't let me adjust the TIF in Photoshop, and the last couple times I actually got a workable image.

I blew the color and contrast way out because I'm new and I still think that looks impressive - even though it's exaggerated to the point of looking kinda fake.

All taken with the same camera and different amounts of knowledge

Here are a couple tutorials that I found EXTREMELY helpful! I really can't stress that enough - I went from zero to DSS in about 24 hours! I never thought I'd be able to take photos like these without a tracking mount. I'm so pumped!

Update: I believe my 'flats' were actually 'bias' frames, I'm not sure how that may have affected my DSS session but I might try re-stacking with my bias frames in the appropriate spot.

The Hyades Cluster, Jupiter, and the Pleiades

I took these photos on January 3, 2013 at 12:20am (just now getting around to posting). If the beautiful conjunction of Jupiter with two prominent asterisms (Hyades and the Pleiades) weren't enough, I wanted to look up some more information on the Hyades star cluster for my own benefit.

I'm also working on improving my manual noise-reduction technique by stacking. The image below was made with a simple stack of 2 exposures to reduce some of the random noise at high ISO. I also did some color adjustments in Photoshop - for some reason my high ISO exposures come out with a hazy red tint to them. I'm not sure if there is something up with the camera (it's pretty old) or the lights in the parking lot (they naturally have an orange tint to them).

Two stacked images at f/4.5, ISO 1600, 10 sec, 75mm focal length

According to Wikipedia, the Hyades Cluster includes the 4 brightest stars in the "V" shaped head of Taurus. These stars, designated Gamma, Delta, Theta, and Epsilon Tauri, are all very close together (only a few light years apart). Aldebaran, however, is much closer to Earth - although it appears to line up with the other stars in the "V" shaped asterism.

Same image as above, but with labels!

Jupiter has been passing over the Hyades since the summer (although not always visible in the Northern Hemisphere) and will hover in the area before leaving again this early Spring. Looking at the Star Walk app, it looks like Jupiter is in the middle of one of it's backwards loops in the sky (an illusion based on our perspective as we overtake Jupiter in our orbit around the Sun). Jupiter will dip between the Hyades and the Pleiades, and begin turning around by the first part of February - leaving the Hyades in its dust by April.