After several months of being pretty much inactive with the astro-imaging, I am finally getting back into the groove. Here are some images taken over the past month...

M51 - The Whirlpool Galaxy. I like to image this galaxy because of the amazing detail that can be captured in the spiral arms.


NGC4631 - The Whale Galaxy Commonly known as the Whale and Pup.


The ISS, taken on the evening of 5/12/09.. It has been about 18 months since I captured a decent image of the ISS, so I am pleased with how this one came out. Next time I think I will increase the exposure setting a little.


Hopefully I will have a few more to show you all sometime soon.

That's very cool stuff, Paul, as always!

I was just talking with a friend of mine about one of his co-worker's telescope photography, and he showed me a photo he had taken of the Whirlpool galaxy. My friend also said his co-worker was trying to capture the ISS as well. Pretty coincidental since this was just about two hours before finding your post.

wonderful photos

im an amateur but may i ask were these photos takeen from a city location and what specificatiion equipment did u use?

Great shots Paul.

23 million lightyears away, this M51... incredible! Makes you feel very small if you think of the distances involved.

Glad you like the images guys . One of the things I like about imaging vs visual observing is that you have something at the end of the session that you can share with your family and friends.

Arthonon, do you know what kind of equipment your friend's workmate is using?

Panchobel, I live in a rural location. There is some light pollution from the nearest town, and from an Interstate 70 intersection several miles to the South, but there are areas of the sky that remain reasonably dark. The Milky Way is not hard to see from my backyard if that helps. Up to a point, a CCD camera can cut through light pollution with the use of LPR filters. The Galaxy shots were taken through my 10in LX200 SCT, F3.3 Focal Reducer and Meade DSI Pro II USB camera.

Legend... it's a big place out there, that is for sure. It kind of puts things in perspective doesn't it?

Outstanding pics Paul!

Incredible Pics, Paul!

You have to promise us that if you make a discovery of either a new system or a comet hurtling towards the earth that you'll name it after SimHQ

+1!

Absolutely amazing.

I know nothing about this hobby, but it looks incredible. How much do people typically spend on an entry level setup?

Squog, I was kind of playing around with the idea of starting to hunt for comets and supernovae . Amateurs discover new things all the time (kind of surprises me with the resources and technology available to the pro's these days). Hmmm.. Comet SimHQ has a different ring to it .

JS, like with many hobbies, you can sink a little bit of cash into it, or a boatload. It is a slippery slope though as if you get hooked you will find yourself justifying the cost of lots of upgrades and equipment. There is a whole cottage industry out there that caters to the 'gearheads' in this hobby. My gear is almost all second hand, which saved a lot. I started out with a factory refurbished 3in Meade ETX70 scope and a $100 webcam. This setup cost me $250 total (I already had a laptop PC). It was good enough to image the Cassini division in Saturn's rings and Jupiter's Great Red Spot.

My present gear is more expensive but not terribly so when you consider other hobbies. For example, if you decided to learn to fly right now you would be looking at something like $5000 for the PPL. You can get a very nice astro-imaging setup for that kind of money (and without the recurring expenses of aircraft rental, insurance etc etc). Flying was my expensive hobby for a while, so compared to that Astro-imaging is relatively cheap.

A couple of years ago I wrote an article for the 'Cloudy Nights' website that described my first two years in the hobby. My images have improved a lot since I wrote the article, but it does illustrate what you can expect to achieve when just starting out..
Astro-Imaging: Climbing the Learning Curve.

Great pictures Paul, as always. Thanks.