Astrophotography

So you see how incredible the pictures look from the Hubble space telescope and you want to try and take some pictures yourself.  Where do you get started?  There are many options available.  This is not an easy hobby to get started in.  It requires patience and trial and error.  If you think you are going to just hook up a camera and take Hubble quality photographs, think again.  Like anything else, it takes practice, and depending on what equipment you purchase, a lot of money.  When you get it right, however, you will be amazed at how good your pictures can look.  Your eyes are not good at detecting faint light.  Your camera however will collect photos and "stack" them so that a beautiful, color-rich photograph will be produced.

It is suggested that you get rather proficient with your telescope and its GOTO system, if it is GOTO capable.  Your telescope must have an equatorial mount if you plan on doing long exposure photography.  It is the best for tracking and is the most stable, resulting in less vibrations.  If you have an altazimuth mount, do not despair, go get yourself a wedge and, presto, you have a functioning equatorial mount. 

There are many ways to do astrophotography.  You can use a 35mm film camera, a digital camera, a webcam, or a charged couple device (CCD).  A CCD device is the most preferable type of device because it is the most sensitive to light. 

If you are going to use a regular camera, or a digital camera, you must purchase a t-ring and a t-adapter to fit the camera.  The camera is attached to the back of the telescope.  The telescope actually becomes the camera's lens.  In order to do this, your camera must have the ability to hold the shutter open for a long length of time.  The longer the shutter is open, the more light that can be collected, thus the nicer your photographs will look.  You do not need a camera with all of the bells and whistles.  In fact, if you are going to use film, an older camera is probably more preferable when cameras actually came with manual shutters.

CCD devices are the way of the future and are revolutionizing astrophotography.  These are digital devices with a chip that gathers light photons.  There is no processing of film, everything is digital.  CCD devices can cost many thousands of dollars.  You can pick up a simple CCD to image the planets and moon, and these are probably a good way to start.  I have used Celestron's Neximage, which costs around $100.00, and have had great success imaging the planets.  It does not work for long exposure photography.  There is a guide on the internet on how to modify it, but it seems like more work than its worth.  Meade makes an inexpensive deep space imager, called the DSI.  I have not personally used it, so I can not personally vouch for it, but I understand that it is a great device that costs less than $1,000.00.