Let’s Go Image Mars: How to take a Picture of Mars Close to Earth at Opposition

As Mars nears opposition, I’ll show you a step by step guide to take incredible images of the red planet using your telescope and free software. Please let me know about your questions and experiences observing or imaging Mars in the comment section below. Free Software: PIPP: https://sites.google.com/site/astropipp/ AutoStakkert!3: https://www.autostakkert.com RegiStax: 6 https://www.astronomie.be/registax “The heavens […]

Imaging the Orion Nebula with a DSLR and the SkyGuider Pro

On a cold but crystal clear 28 degree night, I balanced and aligned the SkyGuider Pro, attached my DSLR and focused in on the Orion Nebula, a target I had been waiting to image since first getting into astrophotography. Located roughly 1,300 light years away, the Orion Nebula is one of the closest stellar nurseries […]

Imaging the Pleiades Star Cluster with the Skyguider Pro

With one hour and twenty minutes of exposure and several hours of processing, I have finished my work on the Pleiades Star Cluster. Also known as the seven sisters, its stars are surrounded by blue nebulae, which are difficult to see in a telescope but easily visible through long exposure photography. As the blue stars […]

Imaging The Andromeda Galaxy with the SkyGuider Pro

The Andromeda Galaxy is one of the most impressive spiral galaxies in the night sky. Even at a distance of 2.5 million light years its massive central core takes up about as much sky as a full Moon. This image captured over 1 hour worth of light from Andromeda’s 1 trillion stars and took about […]

A Trip to Jupiter

Io casting an impressive shadow as it moves between Jupiter and the Sun. Tracking these transits across the surface of Jupiter is a really interesting observing opportunity and shows the ever evolving dance between Jupiter and it’s many moons.

The Summer Portrait is Complete

Tonight, I completed my imaging goal for the summer. Mars, Jupiter and Saturn have all been filmed, stacked and processed using a DSLR camera. All three of these images were captured at f/11.8 which means the images above are at accurate scale to each other as viewed through the Orion Xt8i. Mars was the last […]

A Late Night Out

June 7/8, 2018: Those Summer Nights Summer is not a favorable season for amateur astronomy. The nights are short, dew sneaks up on you and the insects are annoying. On this night, the skies were clear, the dew point was reasonable and the insects were not biting, at least not that bad. With the moon […]

Getting Started in Astrophotography

Astrophotography can seem like an overwhelming addition to amateur astronomy. Over the past several weeks I have attempted to photograph the night sky and will show you what has worked best for me using some entry level equipment and a little bit of research. Step 1: Buying a Camera and Lens While I didn’t buy […]

Astrophotography Coming to Late Night Astronomy

With my wife and I purchasing our first DSLR camera from Canon, I am taking my first steps into DSLR astrophotography. A new page has been added to the website where I will post my attempts at tripod long exposure astrophotography and eventually imaging through my telescope of the Moon and Planets.

Bringing Detail to Jupiter and the Moon

In 2015, I detailed my “Small Steps into Astrophotography”. Since then, I have done little with imaging and processing. That is, until this week. I’ve returned to the complicated, yet rewarding, world of astrophotography. To start, I focused on two great targets for beginners, Jupiter and the Moon. Jupiter, which is near opposition, is as big as it will get […]