Astrophotography

Primer
Your FREE Guide
to photographing
the planets, stars,
nebulae, & galaxies.
 Astrophotography
Primer
Akira Fujii

Everyone loves to look at pictures of the universe beyond our planet Astronomy Picture of the

Day (apod.nasa.gov) is one of the most popular websites ever. And many people have probably

wondered what it would take to capture photos like that with their own cameras.

The good news is that astrophotography can be incredibly easy and inexpensive. Even point-and-

shoot cameras and cell phones can capture breathtaking skyscapes, as long as you pick appropriate

subjects. On the other hand, astrophotography can also be incredibly demanding. Close-ups of tiny,

faint nebulae, and galaxies require expensive equipment and lots of time, patience, and skill. Between

those extremes, theres a huge amount that you can do with a digital SLR or a simple webcam.

The key to astrophotography is to have realistic expectations, and to pick subjects that are

appropriate to your equipment and vice versa. To help you do that, weve collected four articles

from the 2010 issue of SkyWatch, Sky & Telescopes annual magazine. Every issue of SkyWatch

includes a how-to guide to astrophotography and visual observing as well as a summary of the

years best astronomical events. You can order the latest issue at SkyandTelescope.com/skywatch.

In the last analysis, astrophotography is an art form. It requires the same skills as regular

photography: visualization, planning, framing, experimentation, and a bit of luck. Its fun to buy

equipment and learn how to use it. But ultimately its you the photographer, and not your camera,

thats the most important ingredient of all.

Associate Editor, Sky & Telescope

1 Getting Started is a Piece of Cake

3 Point & Shoot the Sky
8 Capturing the Solar System
14 Deep-Sky Astrophotography Primer

 Astrophotography

Getting
STARTED is a
Theres never been an easier If you think that 47 years of experience photographing
the starry sky makes me a good candidate for introducing
time to try your hand at
beginners to astrophotography, youre wrong. Digital photog-
photographing the heavens. raphy has so revolutionized the way people take pictures, that
my experiences as a teenager in the early 1960s conquering
By Dennis di Cicco film-based astrophotographys formidable hurdles are now
largely irrelevant. Indeed, even the typical challenges facing
beginning digital astrophotographers a decade ago have
fallen by the wayside. And trust me when I say all of that
is good news.
By those earlier standards, today its ridiculously easy to
venture into the fascinating world of astronomical photog-
raphy. Furthermore, you can do it with equipment that you
probably already own. Yup, if you have just about any digital
camera (and an estimated 100 million of them were purchased
worldwide in 2008), you can at least try a little astrophotogra-
phy without investing a cent. Just look at the examples in Sean
Walkers article Point & Shoot the Sky beginning on page 3.
All of those photographs were captured with basic point-and-
shoot cameras.
Nevertheless, as with most hobbies, astrophotography offers
plenty of ways for you to spend your money, especially as you
advance in the field. But that too is good news compared with
how things were years ago. In the 60s there was very little
commercial astrophotography gear, and you pretty much
needed to be a telescope maker, or at least be capable of
customizing equipment, if you wanted to move up the astro-
photography ladder. Today, no matter how specialized your
interests, from high-resolution planetary imaging to wide-field
panoramas made at special wavelengths of light, you can find
commercial equipment to meet your needs. And the cost-to-
performance ratio of this gear gets better by the day.
But for all the changes that have occurred over the years,
one aspect of astrophotography remains the same human
nature. As much as Ive thought about it, I dont know what
makes somebody take up the hobby of astrophotography.

1 Sky Watch 2010

Piece of
CAKE
Mutant genes; a knock on the head as a kid; the lure of a tech-
nical challenge; an overwhelming desire to capture some of
the infinite beauty that a starry sky serves up every clear night;
maybe all of the above. Im not sure. But whatever it is that gets
people to try astrophotography, theres no denying that a little
success provides a powerful incentive to continue. And this is Above: Showing more signs of age than the telescope, the author
where digital photography has made some of the most dra- knew in an instant that hed taken a better picture of the Moon
matic changes from the ways things used to be. And nothing with his cell phones camera than he ever managed to capture
drove that point home to me more vividly than a casual event a with the same scope and a film camera in the 1960s.
few months ago.
In the early 60s, the highlight of my 13th birthday was a More important than the quality of the image is the excite-
60-mm refractor ordered from the Lafayette Radio catalog. I ment that comes from simply seeing it, since this alone fuels
still have the telescope, and every now and then set it up in the an interest in shooting more. Its human nature success
driveway. I tell people Im comparing its performance with breeds success. And in the case of digital astrophotography,
that of modern equipment, but the real quest is a Twilight positive feedback is instantly available. Results that took hours
Zone exit from contemporary life back to my salad days of to see in the 60s (or days if it involved getting color film devel-
exploring the universe as a teenager. A few months ago while oped) took less than a second with the cell phone.
viewing the gibbous Moon during one of those detours from If youve given any thought to trying your hand at astro-
reality, it struck me that I had a camera in my pocket my photography and I presume you have if youve read this far
cell phone. No mystery what happened next. then go ahead. Flip through the pages that follow to get an
It took longer to think about doing it than it did to hold the idea of what you might accomplish with gear you already own
cell phones lens up to the telescopes eyepiece and snap the (or are interested in purchasing), and go outside the next clear
shutter. The result was amazing the picture that flashed on evening. Youll find out right away if youve succeeded, and Im
the phones screen (shown at bottom on the facing page) was willing to bet you will.
an order of magnitude better than anything I ever managed Heres a closing thought; in the days when film ruled, even
to shoot years ago with a film camera and the same telescope. the worlds best amateur astrophotographers couldnt compete
While all levels of astrophotography have improved greatly in with the images made through professional telescopes at moun-
the interim, relatively speaking, the cell-phone picture was a tain-top observatories. But that too has changed in the digital
far better beginners shot than what I managed in the early age. Today the majority of the finest images made of the heavens
60s. That, however, isnt the point of this tale. come from the telescopes and cameras of backyard observers.
Maybe one of your future shots will be among them.
Check out:
SkyWatch senior editor Dennis di Cicco had the good fortune to
SkyandTelescope.com/gallery
get in on the ground floor of digital photography in the late 1980s
TWAN: www.twanight.org after amassing three decades of a now almost useless knowledge of
Beginners guide: www.astropix.com film-based astrophotography.

Sky Watch 2010 2

 astrophotography

Point & Shoot

the SKY
Just because you dont own a high-end
camera doesnt mean you cant take
great astrophotos

By Sean Walker

Its a lovely evening and theres a beautiful sight in the

west. Set into a darkening twilight sky is a thin crescent Moon
next to a bright planet. But the only camera you own is a small
point-and-shoot digital model. To capture scenes like this,
youll need to go out and buy an expensive digital SLR (the
kind with interchangeable lenses), right? Not so fast!
That little camera youve taken to the beach or Disney
World can capture beautiful evening and night-sky vistas
and you dont even need a telescope! Rather than funnel
money into high-end gear that you may not enjoy, try your
pocket digicam on a few easy projects to see if astrophotogra-
phy really appeals to you.
Most readily available digital cameras come with features
that offer you greater control over your picture taking than
the auto setting. Many models include night mode, continu-
ous-fire shutter-release, manual exposure control, and even
manual focusing. These options give you the keys to some
great skyscapes. your cameras autoexposure setting probably wont give good
I should mention right up front that for night-sky shooting, results (even if it has a night mode). If you can manually set your
youll need a tripod to hold your camera steady. Ive seen small, exposure length, try different values to see what works best.
lightweight models at department stores and drug stores for as If you cant set the exposure time yourself, the next-best
little as $10. thing is to see if your camera has an exposure-bracketing fea-
ture. This automatically shoots three frames with slightly dif-
Pretty Pairs ferent exposure times in rapid succession. When photograph-
Among the prettiest astronomical events you can record with ing the sky, its always a good idea to take as many different
your point-and-shoot camera are conjunctions (close pairings) of exposures as you can. That way, at least one of them will likely
the Moon and planets. As with other types of sky photography, capture all the detail and color you want in your image.
When shooting conjunctions, youll often want to zoom in.
Be careful: many point-and-shoot cameras have both optical and
If you can see it, you can shoot it with your pocket digital camera.
digital zoom. Optical zoom magnifies your chosen target, but
The author planned to capture this close conjunction of the Moon,
Jupiter, and Venus with the digital SLR camera that he keeps at
digital zoom just crops in on the scene and blows up the pixels,
home. But he was caught in a traffic jam as sunset approached, which doesnt help at all. See if you can disable the digital-zoom
so he took a short detour to New Hampshires Canobie Lake, and function, or note how much optical zoom your camera has, and
snapped the scene with his handy Canon PowerShot A-85 instead. dont zoom in any further than that.

Sky Watch 2010 4

 Astrophotography: Point & Shoot the Sky

More Simple Shots

If youre lucky enough to be shooting during an aurora, the
same technique capturing a series of the longest exposures
your camera will take will again guarantee that youll get a
great shot.
Daytime atmospheric phenomena such as Sun pillars,
halos, and rainbows can be recorded by simply hand-holding
your camera. Whether shooting in automatic or manual mode,
make sure you bracket your exposures to give yourself a better
chance of capturing that perfect image.

Happy Trails
One of the more interesting forms of night-sky photography
is capturing star trails. The idea is to keep the shutter open
as long as possible to reveal the turning of the heavens over
the course of an evening. Your cameras maximum exposure
time may be only 10 to 15 seconds, but with the addition of one
simple tool and a free computer program, you can make excel-
lent star-trail images.
As well as your tripod, youll need some way to hold down
your shutter button so that you can record consecutive images
without touching the camera repeatedly. A small bar clamp
with rubber grips, sold in the tool aisle of any large hardware
store for about $8, does the job perfectly.
See if your camera can be set not to display the image after
every exposure. Thatll avoid wasting battery power on the
screen and enable you to take lots of images. And make sure
you disable the flash.
Frame your target area using the cameras widest zoom
Top: Auroras are terrific targets for sky-shooters, but theyre unpredict- angle. Try to include something in the foreground to give the
able. This one was captured using a Nikon Coolpix 5000.
composition a sense of scale; trees, hills, or other landscape
SkyWatch Photo: Dennis di Cicco
features add more interest to your final picture.
Middle: Unexpected atmospheric phenomenon like this double rainbow To start your image series, set your camera for its maxi-
can come and go in a matter of minutes a great reason to keep that mum exposure length (or to night mode, if you cant select a
little camera handy! SkyWatch Photo: Robert Naeye particular shutter speed), then change the ISO speed of your
camera to 400. This is the digital equivalent of using faster
Right: Simple shots through your telescopes film in your camera, making it more sensitive to low light
eyepiece can be extremely rewarding, like this
levels than ISO 100, typically used during daylight shots. While
image of Venus near inferior conjunction. A
some cameras can shoot as fast as ISO 1600, the results tend to
method of astrophotography using your cam-
eras video function can be found on page 42.
be too noisy to be very useful. ISO 400 is a good compromise
SkyWatch Photo: Dennis di Cicco between speed and noise.

5 Sky Watch 2010

 Next, set the lens focus at infinity (). Select the continu- Top: You dont need an expensive camera to take
ous-fire shutter-release function, then attach the clamp to your great pictures of constellations, star trails, or special
camera to hold down your shutter button. Shoot for at least 10 sky events. SkyWatch senior editor Dennis Di Cicco
minutes the longer, the better. Once youre done, youll have captured this star-trail image over his house using
a Casio Exilim EX-Z850 and assembled many short
dozens or even hundreds of short exposures with a few recog-
exposures using the software Startrails.
nizable constellations visible in them.
Your next step is to download and install one of the free
Bottom: Panoramas can be stitched together with
computer programs specifically written for the purpose of simple (and sometimes free) software. SkyWatch
combining the individual frames. Startrails (www.startrails.de/ editor Tony Flanders took this 360 panorama of the
html/software.html) and StarMax (http://ggrillot.free.fr) both Amateur Telescope Makers of Bostons observing
work well and can accept files directly downloaded from your site in Westford, Massachusetts, as part of a light
camera. These easy-to-use programs for PCs will automatically pollution survey. He used a Canon PowerShot A-80
stack all your images into a final composition. camera and took eight 15-second exposures.

Sky Watch 2010 6

 Astrophotography: Point & Shoot the Sky
Johannes Hirn

Cloudy sunsets can produce spectacular compositions.

Meteors & More Dont Scrimp

Meteor showers can be shot and processed exactly the same In addition to the techniques described above, dont be afraid
way. Pick an area of the sky thats both dark and photogenic to experiment. And remember: you arent wasting film, so its
perhaps including your favorite constellation of the season. always better to shoot too many images and throw away the
Keep your camera pointed at the same spot all night. Chances bad ones rather than to risk missing a great shot.
are a shooting star will eventually pass through your cam- Chances are good you already have the tools you need to
eras field of view while the shutter is open. Patience is the key! start recording memorable celestial events. Understand the
This same technique can also record passes of the Inter- limits of what you can do with your equipment and work
national Space Station, the Space Shuttle, and flares from within those boundaries, and youll capture many rewarding
Iridium satellites. Check the Heavens Above website (www. mementos of your nights under the stars.
heavens-above.com) or SpaceWeather.com (www.spaceweather.
com) for satellite predictions for your location and plan your SkyWatch imaging editor Sean Walker always keeps his Canon
shots ahead of time. PowerShot A-85 handy for unexpected astrophoto opportunities.

7 Sky Watch 2010

 astrophotography

Capturing
the
Solar
of the Moon and planets is
System
Recording impressive portraits

surprisingly simple.
By Sean Walker Its often said that we live in a golden age of amateur
astronomy. Large, high-quality telescopes are readily available,
and for some purposes, these instruments rival the capabili-
ties of professional observatories. Indeed, its not uncommon
to see amateur photographs of the Moon and planets that are
surpassed only by interplanetary space probes and the Hubble
Space Telescope. The biggest surprise, however, is how easy
and inexpensive it is to take these amazing images. If you can
see the planets from your location, you can shoot them.
The best tool to record the planets through a telescope is
the computer webcam. Shortly after these tiny cameras were
popularized for video conferencing in the late 1990s, amateur
astronomers saw their potential to record digital videos of the
planets. These pioneering astrophotographers hoped that by
capturing thousands of frames in rapid succession to a com-
puter, they would be able to select the moments when the plan-
ets were least affected by atmospheric turbulence. Boy, were
they right! Soon webcam imagers were routinely producing
planetary images better than the finest ground-based photos
from the pre-digital age.
Today, specialized planetary webcams are available for as
little as $100, opening up the possibility that you can join the
ranks of these elite imagers.

Which scope is best?

The best planetary images are captured through telescopes
with at least 10 inches of aperture, but smaller instruments
can take great shots, too. Whether you own a refractor, reflec-
tor, or compound telescope, theres plenty of detail within your
reach. (If youre not familiar with these terms, read What to
Above: All you need to take great shots of our planetary Know Before You Buy at skypub.com/about-scopes.)
neighborhood is a webcam, a computer, and a telescope
Refractors are simple and rugged, but theyre perhaps the
with a tracking mount. Facing page: The Moon, Mars, Jupiter,
least suitable design for planetary imaging. Achromats, the
and Saturn offer tremendous detail for patient observers.
most inexpensive models, produce a bluish-purple halo of
All photographs are by the author unless otherwise noted. unfocused light around bright subjects such as the Moon and

8 Sky Watch 2010

Sky Watch 2010 43
 astrophotography: Capturing the Solar System

Magnification and Moving Targets

Due to the small angular size of the planets, high magnifica-
tions are necessary to record significant detail on them. Even
Jupiter, the largest planet, never appears bigger than 50 arc-
seconds the size of a soccer ball of a mile away. Consider
the purchase of a good Barlow lens or tele-extender to increase
your telescopes magnification.
Another way to amplify your image is to shoot with an
eyepiece in place, a technique known as eyepiece projection
photography. While this technique can take advantage of
eyepieces you may already own, youll need additional adapters
to connect your camera close enough to the eyepiece to come
to focus.
Regardless of how you choose to increase the image scale,
Planetary webcams available today come equipped with a 1-inch youll find that a good tracking mount of some form is neces-
nosepiece and fit directly into your telescopes focuser. To increase the
sary to keep your target on your cameras tiny detector. Fortu-
magnification, Barlow lenses, tele-extenders, or eyepieces are placed
nately, because youll be recording many video frames per sec-
between the telescope and camera. Photo: Alan Dyer
ond, you dont need the same kind of accuracy thats essential
for multiminute deep-sky exposures (see page 48). Most of the
planets. This effect can be minimized with the use of a special- popular planetary image-processing programs automatically
ized minus-violet filter that will block most of the unfocused align your frames, so as long as you can keep your target on
light, resulting in sharper images with less of a noticeable halo. the chip, you can even get away with strong wind gusts wob-
Apochromats are free of the halo issue, but big ones are bling your scope!
extremely expensive. Also, refractors tend to be quite long and A telescope on an equatorial mount is preferable. Altazi-
are not very portable in apertures of 8 inches and more. So if muth mounts, which are aligned with the ground rather than
youre considering serious planetary astrophotography, your Earths rotational axis, introduce rotation in your movie clip,
best choices are reflectors and compound telescopes for the which may lead to problems when stacking the resulting video.
same reason that professional observatories use them they A mount with electronic correction controls for both axes is
gather lots of light, yet theyre short, easy to mount, and rela- highly desirable, because youll want to adjust the position of
tively cheap to make. your target on the camera while youre shooting. And an elec-

Right: The video capabilities in many point-and-shoot digital cameras offer an easy
way to start recording the planets. These two images of Mars were taken with the
same telescope at matching magnifications using a Philips ToUcam 740 webcam
(right) and a Canon PowerShot A-85 digital camera in video mode. Bottom: The major
planets can change appearance day to day, so there can often be a surprise awaiting
you each night. For instance, a dust storm erupted on Mars in 2005. By recording im-
ages each night, the author was able to track the progress of the yellowish clouds as
they moved across the globe.

10 Sky Watch 2010

The Moon offers a great target every month of the year to practice your technique, and because its our nearest neighbor, you often dont need
to magnify the image as much as the planets to capture lots of detail.

tronic focuser is highly desirable; just touching your telescope tem Color Imager III ($189.95). This camera features a larger
at high magnifications will induce vibrations, making it very detector than the LPI, and also includes a custom version of
difficult to see when its truly in focus. the popular astro imaging software MaxIm DL Essentials.
More advanced cameras capable of capturing 60 frames per
Your Digital Eyepiece second and faster are offered by companies such as The Imag-
Choosing your camera can be just as difficult as choosing your ing Source (astronomycameras.com), and Lumenera (lumenera.
scope. Many options are available today, depending on your com), and can cost as much as several thousand dollars each.
level of interest. The original webcam that started the whole Theres also another option that you perhaps already own.
planetary revolution, the Philips ToUcam, has long since been Many point-and-shoot digital cameras have a video mode
discontinued, but it can sometimes be found on the used mar- capability. While the movie format your little camera records
ket for as little as $50. Nowadays, the most inexpensive camera might not be compatible with some planetary image-process-
to start shooting the solar system is Meades Lunar and Plan- ing software, it can be converted to a usable format with free
etary Imager (LPI), for $99. The LPI comes with everything software such as VirtualDub (virtualdub.org). Using a point-
youll need to get started, including its own software, though it and-shoot camera will require an adapter to hold the camera
doesnt record as many frames per second as some other cam- close to the eyepiece.
eras. However, its control software Autostar Suite automatically Regardless of which camera you choose, the fundamental
registers and stacks your image during the recording, rejecting approach to planetary imaging is the same: capture many
blurry frames, making the LPI one of the easiest routes to get frames in a short period of time, and then stack the best
involved with solar system imaging. frames of the video using the software of your choice. Cameras
Another low-cost option is the Orion StarShoot Solar Sys- such as those mentioned earlier from Meade and Orion come

Sky Watch 2010 11

 astrophotography: Capturing the Solar System

Just starting out? with their own proprietary software produce thermal currents, which ruin
We welcome newcomers for camera control and processing. the steadiness of your view. Allow about
Other options include the PC programs an hour before shooting if you take your
to this exciting new hobby!
RegiStax (www.astronomie.be/regi- telescope outside from a temperature-
Let our friendly and knowledgable stax), K3CCDTools (www.pk3.org/Astro/ controlled environment.
staff help you select the ideal k3ccdtools.htm), and AviStack (avistack. If youre using a reflector or com-
telescope from among dozens of de). Mac users should check out Keiths pound telescope such as a Schmidt-
models in stock. Image Stacker (www.keithwiley Cassegrain, check your collimation
.com/software/keithsImageStacker. before shooting. (See No-Tears Col-
shtml). All of these programs are free or limation on the included CD.) Even
very inexpensive. slightly misaligned optics will signifi-
cantly degrade your results. This cant be
Getting the best stressed enough. Telescopes with mov-
out of your equipment able mirrors often slip out of collimation,
So youre ready to start shooting our so taking a few minutes to check will pay
solar system neighbors. Here are a few dividends in your images.
tips to get the most out of your setup. Avoid shooting directly over roof-
First you need to make sure that your tops or asphalt parking lots early in the
telescope has had time to cool to match evening. Rooftops build up heat in the
the outdoor temperature. A warm or cold daylight, and then slowly radiate that heat
telescope coming out of the house will back into the sky. The views you get over
HandsOnOptics.com
866-726-7371

Enjoy Our
Magazine?
Check our online
store for

Books
Atlases
Maps
Globes
and more!

Jupiters new bruise: Recording images of the planets can lead to very big discoveries. While
imaging from his backyard on July 19, 2009, Anthony Wesley noticed a fresh impact scar on Jupi-
Visit www.ShopatSky.com ter (dark spot at bottom), where a large object hit the planet and exploded in its atmosphere. His
discovery prompted the largest telescopes on Earth and in space to focus on the planet.

12 Sky Watch 2010

 Khan Scope Centre Our 23rd Year

Celestron Meade Mallincam Tele Vue

Skywatcher William Optics Denkmeier
Antares Coronado iOptron JMI Kendrick
Lumicon Astrozap Rigel Telrad
& New Used Trade-Ins
Saturn: You dont need a giant telescope
1-800-580-7160 www.khanscope.com
to take great shots of the Moon and planets.
The author captured this image using a 5-inch
Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope and a Philips
ToUCam Pro webcam in the spring of 2005.
Viewing? Imaging?
a hot rooftop will be similar to looking at
something directly behind a fire. This
We have your
may be unavoidable in a large city.
Try not to overexpose the movies
telescope at
recorded with your webcam there
shouldnt be any white, blown-out
astronomics.com.
Whether its for casual stargazing, or very serious
regions in your video, because any astrophotography, it takes more than a camera or toy
sharpening by your post-processing store clerk with a price list and a wild guess to help you
pick the right telescope. It takes someone with hands-
software will increase that area. Theres
on astronomy experience someone who actually uses Astro-Tech AT8RC, $1395
often subtle detail in the bright areas of the telescopes and accessories they sell. 8 Ritchey-Chrtien astrograph

craters on the Moon, or the polar caps We have that experience at astronomics. Weve been
of Mars, that can be revealed if care is selling telescopes since 1979. Some of us have been
using them far longer than that two of us have owned
taken to avoid overexposure. Most of the
multiple scopes since the early 1950s. From nearly
webcam-capture software that came with 300 different telescopes and astrographs (scopes de-
your camera includes a tool to monitor signed just for photography, like the Astro-Tech models
the histogram of your video. shown here), at prices from well under $200 to over
$100,000, we have the experience and knowledge to help
Finally, practice whenever you can. you pick the telescope that best fits your
Just like visual observing, you learn needs . . . and your budget.
more about your equipments capabilities You can choose scopes, CCD cam-
Astro-Tech AT6RC, $795
the more frequently you use them. And 6 Ritchey-Chrtien astrograph eras, mounts and more from famous
brands like Celestron, Meade, TeleVue,
because planetary imaging can often take Astro-Tech, Takahashi, Questar, JMI, Lumicon, Konus,
only a half-hour or so, you can take advan- Losmandy, Bushnell, Orion, TMB, and SBIG, among
tage of those partly cloudy nights. many others. We have all the good stuff.
Perhaps the best aspect of planetary Visit www.astronomics.com for prices and full
information on the nearly 300 different telescope
imaging is that its impervious to light models and more than 2000 different accessories Astro-Tech
pollution. The Moon and major planets we carry. You can chat there live on-line with tele- AT8IN, $449
8 imaging Newtonian
are bright enough to be seen from even scope experts, or call us toll-free at (800) 422-7876,
or email us at questions @ astronomics.com. Our advice is free. Getting the
the most light-polluted cities on Earth.
right telescope or accessory at the right price is priceless.

t i
astronomics
So as long as you have a clear shot, you
TM
have a pretty good chance of getting a
respectable planetary portrait.
Our 31st year of friendly service, good advice, and money-saving prices.
Sky & Telescope imaging editor Sean 680 24th Avenue SW, Norman, OK 73069 (800) 422-7876
Walker has been capturing the planets with Phone hours: 9am to 8pm CST Mon - Fri; and noon to 5pm Sat.
webcams for more than a decade. e-mail: questions@ astronomics.com live on-line chat: www.astronomics.com

Sky Watch 2010 13

 Astrophotography

Deep-Sky
Astrophotography
Primer
Every clear night backyard observers
are turning out images of the cosmos
that let our imaginations soar. Heres
what it takes to join them.
Say the word astrophotography to even casual ama-
By dennis di cicco teur astronomers, and chances are theyll conjure up scenes
of whirling galaxies and colorful nebulae, for its these iconic
deep-sky images that let our imaginations sail across the sea
of cosmic wonder. Not long ago the finest deep-sky photo-
graphs came from professional telescopes at mountaintop
observatories. But digital photography has leveled the playing
field, and now many of the most breathtaking images come
from the telescopes and cameras of backyard observers. And,
as mentioned on page 1, digital photography has also made it
easier than ever for anyone to try shooting their own pictures
of nebulae, star clusters, and galaxies.
Perhaps youve dabbled with simple astrophotography tech-
niques like those described on page 3 and are looking to move
on to the next stage. Or perhaps you want to leap right into
deep-sky photography (plenty of people have). So the question
is how do you get started?

Mounting Issues
Many beginning deep-sky photographers ask what telescope
they need. But thats jumping the gun. The principal piece of
equipment that every advancing astrophotographer needs is a
tracking equatorial mount. Thats because the biggest hurdle
we face is that our targets are constantly moving across the
sky. Whether our interests lie in capturing wide-field vistas of
the Milky Way or close-up portraits of distant galaxies, we need
our cameras and telescopes mounted on a platform that can

One of the brightest deep-sky objects in the sky, the Orion Nebula
is a popular target for beginning deep-sky astrophotographers.
This view was recorded with the 6-inch Ritchey-Chrtien astrograph
shown on the opposite page. Its a stack of a four 30-second expo-
sures taken with a Nikon D300 DSLR at an ISO setting of 1600.

All photos by Dennis di Cicco & Sean Walker.

14 Sky Watch 2010

 Equipment Matters
accurately track the skys east-to-west motion.
Years ago all tracking mounts were some variant of the l The most important piece of
equatorial design pioneered by the German instrument equipment that astrophotographers
maker Joseph Fraunhofer in 1824. These have a shaft, called need to move into the exciting field
of deep-sky imaging is a tracking
the polar axis, aligned parallel to Earths axis of rotation.
equatorial mount that allows their
It turns at the same rate but in the opposite direction of
cameras and telescopes to follow
Earths rotation, thus effectively cancelling the skys appar- the skys apparent motion during
ent motion for any telescope mounted on it. The mechanical long exposures. The German equato-
complexities of the equatorial mount (and there are many) rial style of mount, shown here car-
are weighed against the simplicity of following celestial rying a DSLR camera and telephoto
objects by turning a single polar shaft at a constant rate. But lens, is especially popular with astro-
its not the only way to track objects. photographers.

Thanks to computer technology, many of todays motor-

ized telescope mounts are based on an altazimuth design.
l Many of todays telescopes have
They have mechanical advantages over equatorial designs, motor-driven altazimuth mounts
but they require driving two axes at constantly varying that keep them pointed at celestial
rates (childs play for motors controlled by a computer chip) objects as they move from east to
in order to track the skys motion. While both equatorial west across the sky. The iOptron
and altazimuth mounts will keep a telescope pointed at an MiniTower seen here is a popular
altazimuth mount that can carry a
object as it moves across the sky, the altazimuth design has
wide range of instruments. While
severe limitations for astrophotographers. Thats because an
altazimuth mounts are good for
altazimuth mount makes the sky appear to rotate around the snapshots of the Sun, Moon, and
object it is tracking. There are workarounds for this problem, planets, as explained in the accom-
but the majority of astrophotographers find it far easier to panying text, they are not suitable for
just use an equatorial mount. long-exposure astrophotography.
Equatorial mounts suitable for astrophotography are
priced from a few hundred dollars to well into the five-figure l You can spend a kings ransom
on deep-sky astrophotography equip-
range. In the North American market youll find quality
ment, but a far more modest invest-
mounts made by Astro-Physics, Celestron, iOptron, Los-
ment will allow you to produce excel-
mandy, Meade, Mountain Instruments, Orion Telescopes & lent images. For example, the shot
Binoculars, SkyWatcher, Software Bisque, Takahashi, and of the Orion Nebula on the opposite
Vixen, to name the major players. page was captured with this setup.
Apart from optional features such as computerized Go-To Chinese clones of the venerable Vixen
pointing, more money generally gets you an equatorial mount Great Polaris German equatorial
with a higher load capacity and/or greater mechanical preci- mount pictured here are available for
around $400, and the Astro-Tech 6-
sion. Figuring what you need for load capacity is straightfor-
inch f/9 Ritchey-Chrtien astrograph
ward; you dont want to put a 20-pound telescope on a mount retails for $795.
designed to hold only 10 pounds. And even when you are
within the weight limit, the stability of a mount can be com- l Its a fuzzy line that separates
promised as you get close to its maximum capacity. Theres no telephoto lenses and some small
penalty for having a mount thats bigger than required. telescopes. The authors 4-inch f/4
Figuring what you need for mechanical precision is a bit Pentax refractor is specially designed
for astrophotography, and its seen
more complicated. Even the most accurate gears have imper-
here with a high-performance Apo-
fections that cause small variations in the rotation rate of the
gee CCD camera. But the refractors
mounts polar axis. Called periodic error, this departure from optics are the same as those in
a theoretically perfect drive is typically specified in arcsec- the 400-mm f/4 Pentax telephoto
onds, and it gives the angular amount that a telescope appears lens made for medium-format film
to wobble around the point it is tracking. Good mounts today cameras. The telescope next to the
have periodic errors smaller than 20 arcseconds; and those lens is a guidescope fitted with an
approaching 5 arcseconds or smaller are considered excellent. autoguiding camera.

Sky Watch 2010 49

 Astrophotography: Deep-Sky Astrophotography Primer

can shoot exposures many minutes long that show acceptably

round stars. Longer telephoto lenses and astronomical tele-
scopes, however, magnify the effects of the mounts periodic
error and show star images that appear elongated. To solve this
problem I have to guide the mount.
Traditionally, guiding was done by placing a small tele-
scope (a guidescope) with a crosshair eyepiece alongside the
photographic setup. You would center the crosshairs on your
target or a star close to it, and during the exposure you used
slow-motion controls on the mount to keep the star perfectly
on the crosshair. The process was tedious and mind numbing.
Fortunately, digital technology has come to the rescue.
Today, most astrophotographers have replaced the gui-
When Comet Holmes underwent a spectacular outburst in October descopes eyepiece with a small digital camera that issues
2007 after more than 115 years of relative inactivity, the author re-
commands to the mounts drive to keep the guide star on
corded its unusual spherical appearance with his 4-inch f/4 Pentax
virtual crosshairs. There are several variations on this theme
refractor and a Nikon D200 DSLR. This view was made by combin-
ing twelve 1-minute exposures made at ISO 800. of autoguiding. For example, some of the astronomical CCD
cameras made by Santa Barbara Instrument Group (SBIG,
for short) have a pair of digital sensors one that records the
How much periodic error you can tolerate depends on the image, and another, smaller one that monitors a guide star.
focal length of the lens or telescope youre using, as well as the For astrophotography, an equatorial mount has to be set
length of your exposures. In simple terms, the situation is akin up with its polar axis parallel to Earths axis. The process is
to conventional picture shooting with a telephoto lens; your called polar alignment, and there are a variety of ways to do it
hands shake regardless of the lens on your camera, but the accurately, all of which are too involved to cover in detail here.
motion is more obvious and likely to blur images when youre Many books on astrophotography describe the process, but
shooting with a telephoto and slow shutter speeds. Astronomi- theres also good material suited to beginning astrophotogra-
cal telescopes and time exposures are the ultimate in long phers in the third edition of The Backyard Astronomers Guide
telephotos and slow shutter speeds. by Terence Dickinson and Alan Dyer (2008, Firefly Books). As
For many years Ive used a German equatorial mount that a bonus, this books astrophotography section is one of the best
has a rather mediocre 28 arcseconds of periodic error. Work- and most up to date to appear in a general compendium on
ing with camera lenses up to about 180-mm focal length, I amateur astronomy. I highly recommend it.

Most of todays high-perfor-

mance astronomical CCD
cameras shoot monochrome
(black-and-white) images. To
produce a color photograph, as-
Red trophotographers make separate
exposures through red, green,
and blue filters and then com-
bine them with image-process-
ing software. This view of the
Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888) in
Green Cygnus was made with a Quan-
tum Scientific Imaging 583 CCD
camera and an Astro-Tech 8-
inch f/8 Ritchey-Chrtien astro-
graph. The 1-hour monochrome
exposures were combined with
Adobe Photoshop to create the
Blue
color view.

16 Sky Watch 2010

Optical Issues
Once you have a tracking equatorial mount with slow-motion
controls set up and polar aligned, the astrophotography world is
your oyster. With a suitable camera and lens attached to it, you
can tackle just about every astrophotography project imaginable.
While they may seem like very different things, a telescope
used for astrophotography is merely acting as a lens for your
camera. Indeed, its a somewhat fuzzy line that separates some
small telescopes from traditional camera lenses.
The two most fundamental aspects of a lens or telescope
are its focal length and aperture, which together determine its
focal ratio (called f/number or f/stop by photographers). Math-
ematically, the f/ratio is simply the focal length divided by the
aperture. In the world of conventional photography, lenses are
described in terms of focal length and f/ratio, while in astron-
omy, telescopes are classed by their aperture and f/ratio. For
example, I have a Pentax 4-inch (100-mm) aperture f/4 telescope
designed mainly for astrophotography. It has a focal length of
400 mm. It produces the same images as the companys 400-
mm f/4 telephoto lens made for medium-format film cameras.
Since the focal length of the lens or telescope determines
the field of view recorded by a given camera, this is usually
the parameter of most interest to astrophotographers. Because
many spectacular objects such as the Andromeda Galaxy,
North America Nebula, and Pleiades star cluster are relatively
large, they can be captured with conventional 300- to 500-mm Many prominent diffuse nebulae shine with the light of hydrogen-
telephoto lenses. Its the smaller star clusters, planetary nebu- alpha emission. Unlike cameras designed for astronomical imaging,
lae, and galaxies that are best photographed with the greater conventional DSLR cameras have relatively low sensitivity to this deep-
focal lengths available with telescopes. red wavelength. Compare these views of the Orion Nebula (Messier
Conventional wisdom from the days of film holds that tele- 42) made with a Nikon D300 DSLR and 6-inch reflector (top) and an
scopes for deep-sky astrophotography should be about f/5 or SBIG ST-10XE CCD camera and 5-inch refractor (bottom).

faster. This remains good advice in the digital age, but because
digital chips are more sensitive than film, somewhat longer performance is relative. Even todays run-of-the-mill DSLRs
f/ratios are also viable now. produce images that exceed the best deep-sky photographs
There is no all-purpose telescope for deep-sky photography, from the film age.
but if I had to pick one that can do a lot, Id choose something Internally, the principal difference between an astronomical
with about 6 to 8 inches of aperture and a focal ratio of f/4 to CCD camera and a DSLR is that astronomical cameras are opti-
f/8. In addition to being reasonably priced, scopes this size work mized to reduce noise in long exposures. This is usually done
well with many mid-range (think modestly priced) equatorial by reducing the temperature of the image sensor with a ther-
mounts. They can also be highly portable and easy to set up. moelectric cooler. Noise manifests itself as bright specks and
an overall grainy appearance in images, and it becomes more
Camera Issues noticeable in the longer exposures needed for dim subjects.
In a perfect world, deep-sky astrophotography would be done For purely technical reasons having to do with the color-
with high-performance CCD cameras that are designed spe- filter array incorporated in the sensors of cameras that pro-
cifically for long astronomical exposures. And while its true duce one-shot color pictures, the most sensitive cameras are
that most of todays elite astrophotographers use such cam- monochrome in other words, they shoot only black-and-white
eras, most beginners start out with conventional DSLRs. The images. To create a color image with these cameras, astropho-
tradeoff in performance that comes with a DSLR is balanced tographers shoot several images through different color filters
by its simpler and often more intuitive operation in the field and combine them with image-processing software.
(astronomical cameras require a separate computer). Then too, Straddling the fence between DSLRs and high-performance,

Sky Watch 2010 17

 Astrophotography: Deep-Sky Astrophotography Primer

The famous Whirlpool Galaxy

monochrome astronomical cameras are entry-level astro-
(Messier 51) in Canes Venatici is
nomical cameras. Most of them are cooled like their
another popular target for beginning
more expensive cousins, making them less noisy than deep-sky photographers. This view
DSLRs, but they often have smaller sensors. Some of is a total of 4 hours of exposure
them are based on the same sensors used in DSLRs with an SBIG ST-8 CCD camera and
and thus produce a color image with a single expo- 7-inch reflector.
sure. But its more than just cooling that sets them
apart from DSLRs. These entry-level astronomical cam- Because entry-level astronomi-
eras have been modified to make them far more sensitive cal cameras are often priced com-
to the deep-red wavelength of hydrogen-alpha light, which petitively with higher-end DSLRs, the
is a major component of emission nebulae. Like their high-per- deciding factors when purchasing a camera
formance counterparts, they require a separate computer, and primarily for astrophotography are usually whether youre
their overall operation is much the same. The biggest difference interested in the best performance (astronomical cameras win
is that models with color sensors dont need filters and multiple in this category) or you want to avoid using a computer in the
exposures to create color images. field (DSLRs win here). Orion Telescopes & Binoculars has
recently introduced several entry-level astronomical cameras
that are setting new standards for price and performance.
Youll also find advertisements and product reviews for many
cameras in Sky & Telescope.
If youre interested in flat-out performance, then a quality,
monochrome, cooled astronomical camera is the clear choice.
Prices have come down significantly in the last few years, but
still start at around $2,000 and head into the stratosphere.
Color filters and a manually operated filter wheel start around
$500 for small filters (suitable for cameras with small sensors)
and also can get rather pricy for larger filters and computer-
controlled wheels. The major North American manufacturers
of high-end cameras include Apogee Instruments, Finger
Lakes Instrumentation, Quantum Scientific Imaging, and
Santa Barbara Instrument Group.

Software Issues
Ansel Adams once said that a photographic negative is compa-
rable to a composers score and the print to a performance. The
naturalistic appearance of Adamss famous landscapes was
achieved by hours of careful manipulation in the darkroom.
Here, too, technology has come to the photographers aid, with
image-processing software replacing enlarging lenses, masks,
and smelly chemicals.
The final touches on most of the deep-sky images found
in magazines and on the web were done with conventional
image-processing programs such as Adobe Photoshop. But in
early stages, most were also processed with programs optimized
for the special demands of astronomical imaging. Whole books

Attaching conventional camera lenses to astronomical CCD cameras is

an excellent way to capture deep, wide-field images. This view of the
dramatic hydrogen-alpha emission nebulae permeating the constella-
tion Orion was made with a 55-mm f/2.8 camera lens fitted to an SBIG
ST-8 CCD camera. It is a three-frame mosaic.

18 Sky Watch 2010

Above: Black-and-white images of many deep-sky objects have a special beauty all their own. Furthermore, you can take many from light-polluted
suburban locations by shooting through a narrowband hydrogen-alpha filter. This view of the Rosette Nebula in Monoceros was captured with a
66-mm Astro-Tech refractor, SBIG ST-8 CCD camera, Astrodon hydrogen-alpha filter, and 2 hours of total exposure.
Below: The Trifid Nebula (Messier 20) in Sagittarius shows a striking color combination due to its red emission and blue reflection nebulosities.
It was recorded with an 85-mm refractor, SBIG ST-237 CCD camera, and 2 hours of total exposure through red, green, and blue filters.

exist on this subject, and even the basics are too detailed to cover
here. All of the major astronomical image-processing programs
have websites, including Astroart, CCDSoft, CCDStack, Deep-
SkyStacker, ImagesPlus, MaxIm DL, Nebulosity, and PixInsight.
Any Internet search engine will locate the websites if you type in
the software name. There are also several up-to-date books that
cover image processing in detail. Youll find an excellent selec-
tion ranging from introductory level to advanced published by
Willmann-Bell (www.willbell.com).
Armed with a good equatorial mount, a small telescope,
and a DSLR camera, todays beginning digital astrophotogra-
phers can soon be turning out deep-sky images to rival some
of the best ever made when film ruled the world. Its a great
way to get started in a hobby that can last a lifetime.

SkyWatch senior editor Dennis di Cicco began shooting pictures of

the night sky in the early 1960s as a teenager. His reviews of astro-
nomical equipment, especially astrophotography gear, frequently
appear in Sky & Telescope.

Sky Watch 2010 19