2022
Hello all,
One of my sub-hobbies in photography is the challenging field of Astrophotography. In the past [or now, if you want to do dim deep space objects], you needed tons of money
and tons of equipment....such as 100lb Telescope with a tracking mount!
Fortunately for me, I lucked upon buying a Pentax K-5 a number of years ago & sort of knew that you could attach a so-called Astrotracker on the hot-shoe. The newer
top of the line Pentax's that I have already integrate this into the body [e.g. the Pentax K-1 Full-format]. Anyway, they came up with the idea of using the input of the GPS,
plus some fancy calculations to enable to counter-rotate the mirror to compensate for the distorting earths rotation.....thus the mirror and sensor array becomes almost stationary
with respect to the sky within certain limits, for intervals up to many minutes. This allows one to keep the shutter open for many seconds or minutes as it stays pointed at
lets say the almost over-head Andromeda Galaxy.
While it is a challenge to see it even with wide field binoculars with the ample town light pollution & other factors, once you
get it in focus on a Pentax with a 300mm lens on a tripod, and the conditions are great, you can see the most amazing things...that were once invisible to the naked eye!
The learning curve to do this requires many dozens of hours of practice, learning, patience, and lucky sky conditions.
Even on a clear moonless night, if you see stars going
twinkle twinkle...little star....you are so out of luck. Any significant wind at any altitude, will bend the light and frustrate your best attempts. There are lots of other variables
to consider....so it is no wonder that few have success with this method. Fortunately for me, the conditions on my Porch in town, right near the Ocean are sometimes OK.
One of these days, I will again try to go to a remote light free area to try again....but it will be brief since there would be no bathroom, nor snacks, and my body cannot take
the rigors of serious camping....and I am lazy 🙂
Anyway, I going to repost some of my pics. Most are taken with up to a 300mm lens, are digitally zoomed in, & have some post processing done to enhance visibility/ beauty.
The moon technique is yet another ballgame & since it moves too, Astrotrack is not used. It is also so bright that even 1/125 of a second is adequate.
I would love your feedback, as well as, your attempts at this challenging hobby.
I often do not know where to post these pics, but since I live one block from a small beach park,
I do post some there. It is funny that with Andromeda being millions of light years away, it is our closest galactic neighbor.....and one day it will collide with our Milky Way Galaxy.
Andromeda also has the distinction of occupy a field of view that is as wide as a few moons, so it is a great candidate to see..but with most binoculars & with light pollution, it only
looks like a smear of light.
