Blackie's Newest Images

These are a few of my newest Images

This is my latest effort at the Orion Nebula, taken 11/25/11. Like Andromeda, I have taken many shots of M42 over the past few years. It is big, bright, and easy. But I am always trying to get a better image. This shot represents a combination of the increased detail of a black and white shot taken in Tempe with my new mono Atik 314L+ camera along with the color data from a shot taken with a Canon digital camera. The Atik camera was mounted on my N11GPS telescope with the Hyperstar 3 lens system installed. The color data was from a shot taken with a Canon EON 1000xs using my Orion 102 APO telescope, and was taken up in Dewey on 10/21/11. I must say that I am very pleased and impressed with the increased detail I can achieve using the Atik camera. I really didn't know what I was missing.

This shot, also taken in Tempe on 11/25/11 with the new Atik camera, is a decent image of Barnard 33, the Horsehead Nebula. The Horsehead is a huge cloud of gas that partially obscures IC434, the nebula behind the Horsehead. Once again, I had the Atik camera riding the N11GPS telescope and I was using the Hyperstar 3 lens system to allow me to shoot at f/2.0. In essence, the Hyperstar system turns my 11inch, f/10.0 telescope into an 11inch, f/2.0 camera lens. All of the images taken were 20 seconds long, but at f/2.0, you can get away with very short exposures...

We had a beautiful weekend of clear skies up in Dewey, Arizona in late October. I managed to get out under the stars for two evenings in a row. This first image is of Caldwell member number 63, the Helix Nebula. It is always fun shooting the Helix, the object is so beautiful that any image of it looks pretty good...

This shot is of Caldwell object number 28, is also known as NGC 891. This was taken with my modified Canon 1000D through my Orion Premium 104mm APO telescope, riding on my new CGEM mount. The shot was unguided.

This next shot is of Caldwell object number 65, the Sculptor Galaxy. I really like this object, but unfortunately, it moved behind a group of pine trees before I managed to get a full run of exposures of it. Still, it is not a bad image, just not as clear as I had hoped...

On our latest "road trip" vacation, we spent several wonderful days up in Nutrioso, Arizona, under the darkest skies I have ever seen. I didn't have a complete telescope mount (oops!!!), but I did have a camera tripod and my Canon 1000D with the Canon EF 50mm, f/1.8 lens. I had never tried to take a photo of star trails before, but I just could not waste that beautiful black sky, so on 9/28/11, I gave it a try. Star trail astrophotos are made by simply pointing the camera at the star, Polaris, and holding the shutter open for a very long period of time. Either that, or stacking a collection of photos taken one after another. The stars "appear" to move in a circular motion. This is a stack of nine ten-minute exposures. Hope you like it...

On September 3, 2011, I tried for my very first comet astrophoto. We were under the semi-dark skies of Dewey, AZ. I found and took a series of shots at Comet C\2009 P1 (Comet Garradd) using my Canon 1000D and my Nexstar GPS 11 with the Hyperstar lens installed. For a first time, I think it came out pretty well. At least I like it!!! Rain was expected later in the evening, so I rolled the N11 out of the garage for some fun rather than setting up the CGEM in the back yard. The CGEM is a beast of a mount and I did not want to try to take it down in a hurry if the rain showed up.

NGC 7380 is an open star cluster that is embedded in a complex of emission, reflection and dark nebulae. I took this shot on 9/3/11 using my Nexstar 11 GPS with the Hyperstar lens system installed. The brightest part of the nebula is Sh2-142...

I have wanted a decent photo of the Rho Ophiuchi nebula complex for a number of years. Well, I finally got one. The star in the yellow section of the complex is Antares (Alpha Scorpii), and the star in the blue region (IC 4604) is Rho Ophiuchi. The star in the bright red section of the complex is Sigma Scorpii, and the globular cluster near the complex is M4. This shot of the Rho Ophiuchi nebula complex was taken on 5/28/11 under the relatively dark skies of Dewey, Arizona. It was taken with a modified Canon 1000D riding piggyback on my Orion 102mm premium APO refractor, sitting on my new CGEM mount. The lens used was a Canon EF 50mm, f/1.8 lens. This lens is pretty inexpensive, but seems to work well. No guiding was necessary. I must mention that the night was VERY windy, and that CGEM mount didn't wiggle a bit in any the strong gusts of wind. Now, that is one beefy mount!!!