David's Astronomy - Hobby Diary

Hyakutake Comet, 1996-Apr-05 Pentax Camera mounted above guided LX200 Telescope, 170mm lens, Closeup ? 300mm 200 ASA Kodacolour. Exposure 5 minutes (Hyakutake Observations) Click on image to view at larger scale.

Normal View	Closeup

Closeup, Image enhanced to show comet coma	Closeup, Image enhanced to show tail, False Colour

Hale Bopp (1)

Hale Bopp Comet, 1997-Mar-27 300mm lens, Pentax Camera fixed mounted above LX200 Telescope, 400 ASA FujiFilm. Exposure 5 minutes (Hale Bopp Observations) Click on image to view at larger scale.

Normal View	Image enhanced to show plasma tail, False Colour

Image enhanced to show striated blue plasma tail	Image enhanced to show coma & main tail

Hale Bopp (2, 3)

Hale Bopp Comet, 1997-Mar-27 50mm lens, Pentax Camera mounted above LX200 Telescope, 400 ASA FujiFilm. Exposure 5 minutes Shows slightly curved tail	Hale Bopp Comet, 1997-Mar-27 200mm lens, Pentax Camera mounted above LX200 Telescope, 400 ASA FujiFilm. Exposure 5 minutes (click on image to view at larger scale, 20 kb)

Hale Bopp (4)

"Hale Bopp Comet Moving through Space"
Camera Illusion. Created by 5 min exposure
of Hale Bopp at 300mm focal length,
followed by a slow zoom out to 120mm
(Click on Image to see larger view, 54 kb)

Copyright David Richards

Orion Star Trails

"Star Trails of Constellation Orion"
50mm F3.5 lens with Pentax Camera mounted on a Tripod
Composite exposure comprising
2.1/2 minutes exposed with stars focussed
6.1/2 minutes with lens covered
3.1/2 minutes exposed with stars defocussed
(defocussed exposure shows star colours to the best)

(Click on Left Image to see it an larger view, 47 kb)

Moon (1)

Half-Moon, 1995-Feb-08
Taken through 8" LX200 and Teleextender
with Pentax Camera at prime focus,
Fujicolor 200 ASA, 1/125 sec exposure

(Click on Image to see it an larger view, 47 kb)

Mars

Mars near Opposition, 1995-Feb-08
Taken through 8" LX200 with Teleextender
and 9.7mm eyepiece projection
Fujicolor 200, 1/125 sec exposure
(probably over exposed)

Solar Eclipse (1999)

Solar Eclipse, 1999-Aug-11 Brixham, Devon 300mm lens, Pentax Camera mounted on Tripod 200 ASA FujiFilm. Click on image to view at larger scale.

Break in Cloud giving momentary view of Sun

Close-Up of Sun	Last View of Sun before total cloud cover

Impact of Poor Setup
Early attempts at astrophotography, 1995

M31 Galaxy uncorrected periodic error (causing star wiggles) Taken using 8" LX200 with teleextender at prime focus, 15 minutes exposure, unguided	M42 Nebula Combination of poor telescope alignment (causing star drift) and uncorrected periodic error (causing the wiggles) produce a pretty, but otherwise useless photo Taken using 8" LX200 with teleextender and 25mm eyepiece projection 10 minute exposure

Comets	Hyakutake Hale Bopp (1) Hale Bopp (2,3) Hale Bopp (4)
Stars	Orion Star Trails M42
Moon	Moon (1)
Planets	Mars
Eclipses	Solar Eclipse (1999)
Learning / Astrophotography	Impact of poor setup

This Web Page:	Comets, Stars, Moon, Planets, General
Last Updated :	2015-05-16

David's Astronomy Pages Comets, Stars, Moon, Planets, General

Impact of Poor Setup Early attempts at astrophotography, 1995

David's Astronomy Pages
Comets, Stars, Moon, Planets, General

Impact of Poor Setup
Early attempts at astrophotography, 1995