[Anduril]

Hats off to you Sir for your passion and tenacity in pursuing this hobby Thats a treasure trove of information you've given in the thread. Astronomy and star watching has always fascinated me. I remember in childhood we had a small astronomy club where the instructor had a telescope and we kids use to watch the stars and compare with a printed star chart. That wish is still there but telescope and equipment prices have kept the hobby at bay. It felt nice to witness you pursue your hobby.

Nowadays I use an app in my phone called "Skyview" to get the overlay of all stars, planets and constellations in the night sky and me and my daughter enjoy that very much.
Always wanted to view the galactic center of our milky way and by chance stumbled on that chance during a weekend in Coorg. While taking a star trail image, noticed a cloud like fuzz in the sky but didn't realize it was the Milky Way since I had no idea how it really looked. Only when I fired up the app did it show what it was.
My milky way and star trail images -

[graaja]

Originally Posted by deepfreak15

Simply Superb Ganesh! There are no half measures with you, it's either all or nothing. Admire your attention to detail and the results speak for themselves.

Thank you for the kind words Deepak

Originally Posted by Anduril

Hats off to you Sir for your passion and tenacity in pursuing this hobby
My milky way and star trail images...

Thank you for the kind words! The pictures of star trail and Milky Way are just AWESOME!

It is mesmerizing indeed to look at Milky Way from a dark site. What equipment did you use to capture the Milky Way and star trails? Please share exposure details.

[ant_vas]

What an awesome thread graaja! you passion and dedication to astrophotography is really amazing!

The amount of hardware and software and the effort to setup them up and capture those sensational photos really deserves a big kudos to you.

I too was bitten by the bug of star gazing and i purchased a MEADE Polaris 130/650 EQ-3 Reflector Telescope couple of weeks back. While it claims to have a EQ3 mount, in reality it is EQ2 and i am still getting the hand of the whole setup from the mount to the eye pieces to use.

I also purchased a mobile phone mount to capture photos and so far all my efforts have been only towards watching moon and clicking few photos.

While the telescope comes with a red dot finder, i am still unable to get the eye piece to use to look at the planets. I see mars is visible around 8 - 9 PM some where near western sky but just couldn't get to see it with enough magnification.

Jupiter is pretty bright in the early morning hours and can see saturn also with naked eye in the eastern sky. Tried to look at Jupiter through the telescope but by the time i could get it in the field of view it already started to become bright due sunrise.

I was able to see a whole lot of stars with telescope where none are visible with naked eye, that's my only achievement till now

So far i have tried to see the night sky only from terrace of my home and there are a lot of tall buildings near by blocking view of the horizon plus there is a lot of light pollution as well. planning to take the telescope outside bangalore to a place where the sky is visible without any obstructions and light pollution.

I have a long learning curve just for visual astronomy and posts like yours really is an inspiration for me to keep at it and be amazed at the planets. stars and everything else available in the night sky

Few photos from my efforts with the telescope and mobile phone
Here's my Telescope


My very first capture of moon

[debuda]

What a fantastic thread. Actually, I should call it a treatise! I had no idea about the nuances of astrophotography. Learnt many new things through your treatise. Thanks a ton. And hats off to your passion.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by debuda

What a fantastic thread. Actually, I should call it a treatise! I had no idea about the nuances of astrophotography. Learnt many new things through your treatise. Thanks a ton. And hats off to your passion.

Thank you so much for the kind words

Originally Posted by ant_vas

What an awesome thread...

I too was bitten by the bug of star gazing and i purchased a MEADE Polaris 130/650 EQ-3 Reflector Telescope couple of weeks back. While it claims to have a EQ3 mount, in reality it is EQ2 and i am still getting the hand of the whole setup from the mount to the eye pieces to use.

While the telescope comes with a red dot finder, i am still unable to get the eye piece to use to look at the planets. I see mars is visible around 8 - 9 PM some where near western sky but just couldn't get to see it with enough magnification.

Few photos from my efforts with the telescope and mobile phone

Here's my Telescope

This is cool. Great to know you have started your astronomy journey with the Mead reflector. Congratulations. You have started very well with the cell phone adapter and the pictures of moon are very good. Jupiter and Saturn are visible in the early morning sky now. By July and August, you will be able to see them in the night sky.

A couple of tips.

1. Make sure that your red dot finder is perfectly aligned with the main telescope. Focus on some known big object like a distant building or the moon. Look at the exact location that is visible in the main eyepiece. Verify that the red dot is in the exact location. If not, there should be a couple of adjustments in the red dot finder to move it in both the axes. Using these adjustments place the red dot in the exact location visible in the eyepiece. This will help in bringing small objects like planets quickly inside the field of view in the eyepiece.

2. For photographs of the moon and planet, instead of using single exposures, try using the method of shooting video and then aligning individual frames to get more details. There are lots of YouTube videos that explain this workflow of using PIPP, Autostakkert and Registax software to do this.

[ant_vas]

1. Make sure that your red dot finder is perfectly aligned with the main telescope. Focus on some known big object like a distant building or the moon. Look at the exact location that is visible in the main eyepiece. Verify that the red dot is in the exact location. If not, there should be a couple of adjustments in the red dot finder to move it in both the axes. Using these adjustments place the red dot in the exact location visible in the eyepiece. This will help in bringing small objects like planets quickly inside the field of view in the eyepiece.

2. For photographs of the moon and planet, instead of using single exposures, try using the method of shooting video and then aligning individual frames to get more details. There are lots of YouTube videos that explain this workflow of using PIPP, Autostakkert and Registax software to do this.

Thank you for the tips sir, will certainly follow your advice!

[R2D2]

Thanks @graaja for sharing this with us. What a fascinating thread!! As a kid I grew up on a high doses of Star Trek and Star Wars which kick started my love for sci-fi and astronomy. But I never really got around to this doing something about astrophotography as a hobby.

The photos you have shared are simply out of this world, pun intended. Thanks once again!

[digi0ps]

This was an AMAZING read, Graaja!

I used to do some basic 30 second captures of the sky on my EOS 1200D whenever I visited hillstations. They are nothing when compared to the images in this thread.

However, I learnt a great deal from this article, thanks to you!

[Anduril]

Originally Posted by graaja

Thank you for the kind words! The pictures of star trail and Milky Way are just AWESOME!

It is mesmerizing indeed to look at Milky Way from a dark site. What equipment did you use to capture the Milky Way and star trails? Please share exposure details.

Thank you Sir, glad you liked the photos. Its indeed mesmerizing to see a starry night sky in a dark place and milky way sighting is like cherry on top

Gear used: Nikon D5500 + Tokina 11-20mm f2.8 lens with Amazonbasics Carbon-fiber tripod and remote cable shutter release. Both pics were processed with Adobe Lightroom.

Exif for Milky way pic - f2.8, ISO 800, 30 sec exposure (had to keep it <30 else star points will start trailing into lines due to earth's rotation)
Exif for Star trail pic - f5, ISO 100, 33 minutes single exposure

During star trail pic, camera started heating up so had to release the shutter. Need to learn how to take multiple exposures over an hour and stack them in post.

[Scarlet_Rider]

Amazing skills Ganesh! Hats off to you. The preparation and attention to detail is great!

I shared the link to this thread with my brother who is a PhD in Astrophysics from IUCAA, Pune. He was also very much impressed by your passion and appreciated the attention to detail.

By the way he has also been doing IF since last year.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by Scarlet_Rider

Amazing skills Ganesh! Hats off to you. The preparation and attention to detail is great!

I shared the link to this thread with my brother who is a PhD in Astrophysics from IUCAA, Pune. He was also very much impressed by your passion and appreciated the attention to detail.

By the way he has also been doing IF since last year.

Thank you for the kind words. Pass on my thanks to your brother as well

It is great to know that your brother is doing IF as well. I am sure you will also get into IF some day soon.

[graaja]

Installation of Pier and Enclosure

One of the problems I have been facing in the astrophotography hobby is the setup time. Every time I have to do an imaging session, I have to carry the 60 kilo heavy equipment (dismantled into 4 parts) two stories, and then do polar alignment before I can start imaging. This takes about an hour. After completing the imaging, it is the reverse process dismantling everything and carrying them inside.

Wanted to permanently setup things on the terrace so that I can save all the hassles of setting up the equipment. Took the help of a local fabricator to make a pier and a rolling shelter. For the mount base, took measurements of the base in the EQ6-R Pro's tripod and fabricated the base in a lathe.

Have painted the shelter white to reduce ambient temperature build up inside. Will make temperature measurements to verify. If temperature build up is high, will add a layer of thermal insulation inside the shelter. The rollers have brakes to prevent the shelter from moving in wind. Planning to add hooks and fasten the shelter to anchors on the wall using straps to provide extra stability in winds.

Now I can leave the equatorial mount permanently on the pier so that I don't have to polar align before every imaging session. During long breaks (like near full moon phase, or monsoons) from imaging, I will carry the telescope and camera setup inside the house. During successive days of imaging, will leave everything fixed and covered.

Now waiting for the clouds to clear up and clear skies!

A few pictures of the installation.

The pier with the base.


The base.


Pier and base anchored to the floor. Holes were drilled on the floor and the bolts were fit to the holes using anchor grout.


The four bolts with check nuts are used to level the base.



The mount fixed to the pier and telescope/camera assembly fixed to the mount.


The setup covered with a car cover to protect from any water that manages to leak into the enclosure.


The enclosure closed.

[harditthind]

Looks nice a great setup. The telescope covered with the canvas reminded me of magnetic compass we have on our ships on the top desk (monkey island as it’s called)

Originally Posted by graaja

The enclosure closed.
Attachment 2150469

Quick observation. Maybe I can’t see it from the pic angles but there is nothing holding down the steel enclosure. Even with wheels locked will the enclosed not drift/move in strong wind. Or worst topple given the bottom is not flush with the floor? Just thinking.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by harditthind

Looks nice a great setup. The telescope covered with the canvas reminded me of magnetic compass we have on our ships on the top desk (monkey island as it’s called)

Thank you for the kind words!

Originally Posted by harditthind

Quick observation. Maybe I can’t see it from the pic angles but there is nothing holding down the steel enclosure. Even with wheels locked will the enclosed not drift/move in strong wind. Or worst topple given the bottom is not flush with the floor? Just thinking.

At the moment, except the brakes in the wheels, nothing is holding down the enclosure. I am getting four hooks which I will bolt on to the enclosure on the four corners and will anchor these to 4 hooks on the walls using straps or cord. I will do this within a week or two before windy season starts.

The enclosure weighs about 100 kilos. So, except for a very high speed hurricane, it may not topple.

[SS80]

Originally Posted by ant_vas

What an awesome thread [url="https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/m2137290[/ATTACH]


Attachment 2137291

One of the best places to do this would be Markandeya Hills, about 11kms from Kolar.
You will find it absolutely dark on the hill top, there is a temple that is closed by afternoon and the whole hill is at a good height.

Just make sure you don't go alone or as a couple, as the place is sort of isolated in the evenings. There is ample place to park car and zero noise and light disturbances.