AstroSuburb

I am learning Astrophotography. I mostly image from my driveway in a suburb of a large Southeastern U.S. city under bortle 7-8 skies.  This is the story of my journey  and the images I have captured along the way.  

Now I am also trying to learn how to build and maintain a website.  Thank goodness for YouTube!

Please be tolerant if you see mistakes in the website as I am still learning how this works.  

I have a long way to go on this journey.  The intent of this website is to describe my journey, share my images, and hopefully help others who may be interested in joining this hobby.  My preferred imaging set ups are small refractors using one shot color dedicated astrophotography cameras. 

I began this journey in July of 2018 when my wife gave me a telescope.  She knew I always liked the stars and thought a telescope would make it more interesting.  She had no idea what an all consuming hobby this would become.  I started as a visual astronomer, but soon learned you cannot see much visually under a bortle 7-8 sky.  I switched from visual observation to astrophotography.

 

I experimented with many different mounts and telescopes including refractors, reflectors and even a Schmidt- Cassegrain telescope (SCT).  While the large telescopes and mounts provided great views and excellent images I settled on lighter weight, portable refractors.  These smaller scopes offer flexibility and simplicity.  They are very forgiving with things like polar alignment and guiding.  This is exactly what a novice (like me) in this hobby needs. 

After experimenting with multiple rigs I settled on a William Optics FLT91mm (3.5 inch diameter) refractor telescope with the ASI533MC Pro dedicated astrophotography camera mounted on an AM5 mount.  This is lightweight and portable.  The addition of a ZWO ASIAIR Plus makes the set up and management easy.  Another rig I use is a  Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTI mount with an ASIAIR Mini. I use this with one of several lenses or a William Optics RedCat 51mm  (2 inch diameter) refractor.  Both rigs are light enough to pick up with one hand.  I have other lightweight rigs and will cover them in more detail in later sections of this website.  

Currently, I use free processing software like Deep Sky Stacker, GIMP, and SIRIL to complete my images.  As my imaging skills improve and, should the need arise, I may explore using some of the more powerful, paid tools such as Pixinsight and Photoshop.  For now, given my skill level I believe there are plenty of free tools and applications available to meet my processing needs.

Today I mostly image deep sky objects (as opposed to planets).  My preferred targets are large emission nebulae.  My goals are to: 


This website documents my journey and showcases my images (good and not so good).  This page shows my most recent project.  Images of past projects can be seen on the Gallery page.            f images starting with my latest project, then moving through images of the solar system, the galaxy, and ultimately targets beyond the boundary of the Milky Way.  The second section, Equipment, highlights some of the equipment I use to capture the images.  The third and final section, Things I know now I wish I knew then, contains various things I learned (usually the hard way) to help anyone with this hobby.  This is a trip with a beginning, but without a destination.  I do this to enjoy the journey.

Recent Projects (for more pictures please go to the Gallery page)

Through the use of multiple imaging  rigs, I usually have one or two projects ongoing at any given time.  In this section I display the most recent project or projects before moving the images to the appropriate section of the gallery

M51 Whirlpool Galaxy

April - May 2024

M 51, the Whirlpool Galaxy is a spiral galaxy located about 23.5 million light years distant in the constellation Canes Venatici (Hunting Dogs). This was the first galaxy to be classified as a spiral galaxy.  M 51 is interacting with a smaller galaxy NGC 5195

Due to the gallactic interaction, this is one of my favorite galaxy targets.  Until I imaged this target I had never seen two galaxies being drawn together by the force of gravity.  I used two filters on this target, a narrowband Hydrogen Alpha/Oxygen and a broadband.  The narrowband filter only allows narrow bands of light to hit the sensor.   The use of the Hydrogen Alpha filter was an attempt to isolate the nebulosity (seen in red in the image) as the interacting gravitational waves agitate the gas and send it into star development mode.  The broadband filter captures a broader spectrum to better capture the details of this distant target.  In order to highlight the nebulae and details I combined the images from both filters and then cropped the image.  

This image was taken during the nights of April 21,22,28,30 and May 3,  2024.  The image is the result of stacking 208 x 300 second exposures for a total integration time of 17 hours and 20 minutes.   The equipment used for the capture was the William Optics FLT 91mm refractor with an ASI533MC Pro camera, with the Antlia ALP-T dual Narrowband and Antlia Quad Band filters, mounted on a ZWO AM5 strain wave mount.  A ZWO ASI174MM Mini camera on an Off Axis Guider was used for guiding.  The guidance and capture processes were controlled using a ZWO ASIAIR Plus.  The images were processed using Deep Sky Stacker and SIRIL software 

Sh2-274 Medusa Nebula

February 2024

Sh2-274, the Medusa Nebula, is a planetary nebula located approximately 1,500 light years away in the constellation Gemini (the Twins).  The nebula was first discovered in 1955.

This is usually the last nebula I try to image in the winter sky.  This is a difficult target for me as the target is faint which makes capturing details a challenge.  As winter now begins to give way to spring the night sky, due to the positioning of earth in its rotation,  offers few nebula targets, but becomes rich with galaxy targets for imaging.  

This image was taken during the nights of February 13, 19, & 20,  2024.  The image is the result of stacking 172 x 300 second exposures for a total integration time of 14hours and 20 minutes.   The equipment used for the capture was the William Optics FLT 91mm refractor with an ASI533MC Pro camera, with the Player One Anti Halo dual Narrowband filter, mounted on a ZWO AM5 strain wave mount.  A ZWO ASI174MM Mini camera on an Off Axis Guider was used for guiding.  The guidance and capture processes were controlled using a ZWO ASIAIR Plus.  The images were processed using Deep Sky Stacker and SIRIL software 

NGC 2238  Rosette Nebula

February 2024

NGC 2238 the Rosette Nebula is a hydrogen gas region located in a giant molecular cloud in the constellation Monoceros (the Unicorn).  The stars in the open cluster NGC 2244 located in the center of the nebula, were formed from the nebula's matter .  The nebula is located approximately 5,200 light years away.

This is a (relatively) bright, well defined target in the winter sky.  I have imaged this target multiple times.  This time I used the Rokinon 135mm lens for a wider field of view allowing me to capture the main target and the surrounding nebulosity in the region.  

This image was taken during the nights of February 13, 19, & 20,  2024.  The image is the result of stacking 165 x 300 second exposures for a total integration time of 13 hours and 45 minutes.   The equipment used for the capture was the Rokinon 135mm lens, the ASI533MC Pro camera, an Optolong L-eXtreme filter and the Sky Watcher Star Adventurer GTI Mount.  This capture was controlled using an ASI AIR Mini.  The images were processed using Deep Sky Stacker and SIRIL software .

For additional images please visit the Gallery Page 

Things I know now I wish I knew then (for more topics go to the Lessons Learned page)

Things I have learned along the way that might help other folks interested in this hobby. This is the latest update.  For additional topics please see the Lessons Learned page: https://sites.google.com/d/1Um_FT0c4cQqI9R-gN2_IZYfdpLG4nW80/p/1728aD9sSrudcjg12sBYFGGcxJXzPCyzz/edit


Things I have learned along the way that might help other folks interested in this hobby

Things I have learned along the way that might help other folks interested in this hobby

Light Pollution - Bortle Ratings

Bortle Scale

Light Pollution Map of the Southeast U.S.

One of the greatest challenges astrophotographers face today is light pollution. This is the presence of unwanted, inappropriate, or excessive artificial lighting. Light pollution comes in many forms: streetlights, security lights, advertising signs, landscaping lights, and a variety of other sources. While not an artificial source of light, the moon can also affect imaging with its light on the night sky. Light pollution (natural or man made affects astro images by adding unwanted noise (light). As an astrophotographer the goal is to increase the signal to noise ratio by removing this unwanted light. 

 The Bortle scale, a series of measurements from 1 to 9, is used to measure light pollution. Level 1 is the absence of light pollution with level 9 being light pollution as measured from the middle of a major city. In a Bortle 1 sky you can not only see the Milky Way (at the right time of year), but it will actually shine so brightly that it casts a shadow. Living in a suburban area just outside of Atlanta, my night sky normally measures a 7 on the Bortle scale but can be higher if I am imaging targets to my east or south (the direction of Atlanta). I am fortunate in that when I image my neighbors will turn off their landscaping and outside lights. This eliminates some major local sources of light pollution.

There are several ways to mitigate the impact of light pollution on images. The first is to not image in areas with light pollution.  Often astrophotographers will forego imaging on nights of or near the full moon. 

Removing the source of light pollution is another option. As I mentioned my neighbors are very supportive and turn off their lights outside when I am imaging. Some imagers will erect screens or barriers to block local sources of light. 

A popular way to reduce the impact of light pollution is through the use of filters.  I use dual band (Hydrogen alpha and Oxygen) filters when imaging nebulae and broadband filters when imaging galaxies or star clusters. Filters will filter out all, but certain wavelengths of light which makes them very effective in removing light from sodium vapor (streetlight) lamps. Unfortunately, filters are less effective with blocking light emitted by LED light bulbs which are growing in popularity. 

Another popular way to reduce the impact of light pollution is to image in a less affected location. In my area many astrophotographers will pack up their rigs and set up in the mountains north of the city or the less populated area several hours east of the city. These dark sites are popular gathering places for astrophotographers. 

Regardless of mitigation strategy light pollution is a problem that continues to grow. The ultimate goal is to reduce the noise from light pollution in our images. 

For additional articles please visit the Lessons Learned Page