I’ve been busy this summer going back and taking pictures of objects that I had shot the previous year. On top of some much needed equipment upgrades, I’ve also leaned a great deal since my first attempts. Every failed shot is a learning experience. Here are a few of mine: The Andromeda Galaxy My first attempt only managed to capture… Read more »

As much as I enjoy taking my telescope out to the driveway and shooting some pictures, there are a number of objects that I have recently added to my gallery that are nearly impossible to image from my location with the equipment that I have. The Whirlpool galaxy was one of those objects. I had tried numerous times to get… Read more »

Since the addition of a focal reducer and a guide cam to my arsenal, I’ve been taking lots of images that would have previously been far more difficult. Lately, I’ve been focusing on galaxies. From the pictures, it’s hard to get a feel for how far away these objects actually are. The light from these galaxies has been traveling for… Read more »

M101 or the Pinwheel Galaxy is roughly the size of our own Milky Way and resides about 21,000,000 light years away. This was a little bit more difficult to shoot because even with good viewing conditions, it was hard to confirm that I was actually pointing at the correct object. I was only able to confirm that I had everything… Read more »

Two new images! The Orion Nebula and NGC-1980 – Open star cluster … I’ve been waiting all winter to get this. After weeks of being plagued by cloudy nights and unfavourable viewing conditions, I finally got a chance to photograph the Orion Nebula from my driveway. This is a stacked image of several that I took. The Orion Nebula is… Read more »

Finally, Orion is high enough in the sky again that I don’t look like I’m peeping into the neighbour’s window from my driveway. Autumn is a great season for taking pictures of the sky. The mosquitoes are gone, it’s nice and cool outside, but not oppressively cold yet. It’s the perfect time of year to be out with my telescope…. Read more »

The moon is sometimes a hindrance to astrophotographers as it illuminates the sky and makes it more difficult to image other objects. A moonless night is the ideal setting for most of your telescope imaging sessions. Unless of course, you’ve set out to photograph the moon. If that’s the case, you’re all set. Since the moon is well illuminated, a… Read more »

Located in the constellation of Orion, this enormous star is approaching the end of its life. Betelgeuse is a red supergiant with an estimated radius of as much as 8.9 AU. If we were to placed it in the center of our solar system, it would extend past the orbit of Jupiter. Like all high mass stars of this type,… Read more »

M13 – Hercules Globular Cluster   M92 Globular clusters are one of the most exciting things to look at. My first look at one through my telescope inspired a bit of involuntary drool. Unlike open star clusters, globular clusters are densely packed regions of space with thousands of stars in a more or less spherical formation. It is generally accepted… Read more »