There are a lot of nebulae out there, some of which are large enough to be photographed with a tele lens (up to 300mm) on 4/3.
Other smaller ones require a telescope, or perhaps just a longer lens.
Whatever you have, lens or telescope, because of the time exposures you will require some form of tracking mount.
I have only photographed nebulae with a tele lens on 4/3, so that's all I know.
If you are interested I can give you a list of lens-accessible nebulae/dust clouds of photographic interest. Probably others could add to my list.
What do you think ?
If you are interested I can give you a list of lens-accessible nebulae/dust clouds of photographic interest. Probably others could add to my list.
What do you think ?
How do you guys know where to look into deep space for these kind of images? I installed Stellarium and Sky Map, but they only tell me what I should be able to see with my eyes only. When it comes to those gas clouds etc I am lost. Can anyone throw some light on how you know where to look for and what to look for.
First question, are you northern or southern hemisphere?
If you are northern hemisphere then the Orion nebula is the easiest to start off with, mainly because it's really easy to find in the sky and the nebula is visible to the naked eye under very dark skies. This one was taken using the Oly 12-40 f/2.8 @34mm so big lenses aren't need to see something
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I have posted this one before, but it gives an example of what can be done with a modest 416mm refractor and an unguided tracker
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I was doing a Google search for nebulae, and came across this e-book by Jerry Lodriguss, http://www.astropix.com/agds/index.html
It looks very interesting and comprehensive, and well worth the money. Note he does say it's for the Northern Hemisphere.
In the meantime here is a short list from my own imaging, Nebulae.
Carina Nebula .........visible now...... 300mm lens
Orion Nebula ....................................... 300mm lens
Rho Ophiuchi ....................................... 300mm lens
Rosette Nebula .................................... 300mm lens
Barnards Loop .......................................100mm lens (maybe)
Angel Fish Nebula ................................100mm lens (maybe) Nebulocity
Pleiades (blue nebulocity) ................ 300mm lens (?) Dust Cloud
Corona Australis ................................... 300mm lens
Dark Doodad ......................................... 300mm lens
Coal Sack .................................................100mm lens (Maybe even 90mm) Dust/Star Clouds
Kiwi Nebula ............................................ 50mm lens Galaxies
Andromeda Galaxy ............................. 300mm lens
Large Magellanic Cloud ....................100mm lens
Note, at the time I had only 3 lenses for imaging, and quite often I found 300mm was a bit tight.
As for actually finding them in the night sky, well that's another story.
But for starters, here's an image showing how to find the Dark Doodad, (circled),
The red splodge centre left is the Carina Nebula, the dark splodge below the circle is the Coal Sack, and the two bright stars centre right are the pointers to the Southern Cross.
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Thanks for all the info. I am gearing up for some quality time at home in view of COVID-19. I just need a good reason to spend time in the back garden after dark...
I read once that for urban light situations a filter of some sort is needed. Any recommendations? I am in the North by the way.
Thanks for all the info. I am gearing up for some quality time at home in view of COVID-19. I just need a good reason to spend time in the back garden after dark...
I read once that for urban light situations a filter of some sort is needed. Any recommendations? I am in the North by the way.
Most Light Pollution Filters for Astrophotography (google that) are meant for telescopes, not lenses, or clip-ins just above the sensor in the camera. For a start, I think you could do without. Also, I think they were more efficient before when street lights were of HPS type (high pressure sodium) with orange lighting, easier to filter away than the LED type lights most frequently used today (at least here).
From above, personally I use Stellarium to find objects, using both the computer indoors and the mobile held to the sky showing what's in that direction. Enabling markups of deep sky objects helps a lot, then I try to find something interesting which is close to a star I know. For example, the Whirlpool Galaxy is close to the right of the first star (from left) in the handle of the Dipper (easy to find for anyone Alkaid). Then I do some trial and error with very high ISO (to save time) until I have the target in the sensor image, then finally I can do the longer, lower ISO shots.That's procedure I use with tele lenses and iOptron Skytracker, larger mounts can be calibrated and automatically point to whatever object you like.
However, it's easiest to start with a fast (~f2) wideangle lens without any tracker or filter, just use a tripod and long exposures at ~ISO 1600. 10, 20 or 30 seconds can be done without trailing stars depending on focal length and image resolution.
And from the land of mere mortals, a pic of the Carina Nebula, taken with the humble 75-300mm m.zuiko kit lens.
A stack of 6 images, 300mm @ f/6.7, 60 sec, ISO3200, E-M5 II.
Frankly I am amazed at the result,
I have an EQ6 Pro, very good, but very heavy, expensive. Not the most convenient if you have to set it up each night for imaging, and then take it down again at the end. And I never use the Go To function for nebulae either.
Something like the Skytracker Pro would probably be more than enough for me, but wasn't available when I bought the EQ6.
Others on this forum have the Skytracker and should have more info on them.
Cheers,
My first attempt at using my equatorial mount for the milky way and since it was 180 degrees out from my polar alignment (Polaris) I had to spin the declination around to photograph it. I'll bring a ball head with me next time.
Jupiter and Saturn are visible in the left of the image.
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Alkaid). Then I do some trial and error with very high ISO (to save time) until I have the target in the sensor image, then finally I can do the longer, lower ISO shots.That's procedure I use with tele lenses and iOptron Skytracker, larger mounts can be calibrated and automatically point to whatever object you like.
