First image with a new 60 MegaPixel camera with Andromeda as the target.
Ballard
Loc: Grass Valley, California
The smoke finally cleared off enough to give me a chance to try out my new mono-astro camera. This image of the Andromeda galaxy was made by stacking groups of shots taken with a Luminance, Red, Green and Blue filter. These groups where then combined to produce a full color image. Due to the large size of Andromeda I used a 500mm Canon lens rather than a standard telescope. I also used a homemade adapter to attach the filter wheel and astro-camera to the Canon lens. Many of the subframes had satellites go through while the exposures were being taken, fortunately it is fairly easy to filter out most of the satellite trails (I did end up doing a small amount of cleaning with a clone tool).
The first image is the end result, in download and double download you can see the darker dust lanes in the galaxy and several of its bright blue star clusters. This image required ~6 hours of total exposure.
The next image is same except I went though and circled a number of dim galaxies in background (probably most of these are many 100's of millions of light years away). The red circle shows where I believe I found 1 dim galaxy and the yellow circle is where two or more distant galaxies showed up. This was just a cursory examination and there are certainly many more that could be found. A few of the circles also have PGC numbers of the galaxies in the circles (only a few of them showed up in my charts). You will probably need to use a the double down load to pick out these dim galaxies.
The last images is one of the subframes that shows one of the pesky satellite trails.
All questions, comments and suggestions are welcome.
Andromeda and it two satellite galaxies, M110 below M31 and M32 the bright circle glow on above and too the left of center of M31
(
Download)
You will need double download to see these galaxies, look for elongated and or very fuzzy patches of light.
(
Download)
Here is one of the subframes using the red filter that caught a satellite.
(
Download)
Truly amazing, thanks for sharing these pictures.
Ballard your work is dedicated and the results fascinating. These photos are of things restricted to mere mortals, only the priests in ancient civilizations were so privileged to see them.
However, I could spot you not being a mere mortal when I saw that your dog wore UV sunglasses at the beach... well that was a questionable first impression. "Closeup of Pilot with her goggles on. (The goggles also have UV protection)."
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-710613-1.htmlWhen I was young the Palomar Observatory Hale Telescope in 1949 became a reality, I was fascinated. During WW2 and my living in the country, the sky was not polluted with city or street lights the sky was crystal clear on some nights and one could only stare skyward and imagine. For our camera/lens/software technology to have advanced so far as to provide you with the ability to take these images is miraculous. Photo #2 shows your dedication, taking the time to show us the dim galaxies.
Photo #3 with the "pesky satellite trails" reminds me of the worldwide fascination with Echo, a huge [100'] Mylar/Aluminum coated balloon put in orbit in 1960. The schedule was in every newspaper so you knew when to look skyward. Perhaps we need such a second moon to make the space program connect with the people. I am glued to the SpaceX rapid advance copying the shining ships of 1960's SiFi space movies. Echo was actually suggested by Arthur C. Clarke the famous futurist SiFi writer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Echo
Awesome photography! What is the prominent galaxy at 5 o’clock from Andromeda? What do you mean by double download?
Amazing photos! I don't mind the "pesky" satellite trail in #3; it could always be the capture of the Enterprise jumping to hyperspace...
Once again, you have managed to raise the bar. Which camera did you use?
you didnt say but are these shots tracked and what kind of exposure time did you have. nice end result thanks for sharing
Thanks for sharing what is possible for people who do not have "NASA size budgets" to do wonderful pictures like these. I have a lot of learning and work to do!
If you want to reply, then
register here. Registration is free and your account is created instantly, so you can post right away.