Imaging the Milky Way with the EOS6D camera and a Samyang 2.8/14mm lens on an EQ6 mount

Date2019/02/01
LocationLa Palma / Spain
ObjectMilky Way
CameraEOS6D + Samyang 2.8/14mm
Guidingno
Telescope-
Barlow lensnone
MountEQ6Syntrek
Cooling-
Luminance6x
Red-
Green-
Blue-
Dark3x
Flat-
Total exposure~15min.

Once more back on La Palma / Spain. I imaged the Milky Way a few times before from this beautiful location. However, up to now I was always bound to a maximum exposure time of about 20 seconds due to the earth rotation. This time I decided to put the camera – an EOS6D with a Samyang 2.8/14mm lens – on top of an EQ6 mount. This way much longer exposure times with a lower ISO value (i.e. less noise in the image) were possible without getting any star trails. I took 6 frames with ISO 1600 á 148 seconds each. The total exposure time is therefore about 15 minutes.

The frames were then post-processed with rawtherapee and averaged using the ImageMagick “convert” tool. In addition 4 frames of the foreground (the house) were taken and also averaged (of course with disabled EQ6 mount). Finally the two pictures were overlaid and merged with the help of a mask using gimp.

To me it is amazing to see the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), the California Nebula (NGC1499), the Orion Nebula (M42), the Pleiades (M45) and the Horsehead Nebula (B33) clearly on this photo. This overview picture gives a good idea of the brightness, size and exact location of the objects compared to each other.

A full resolution image of the result can be found here. Another image without object descriptions can be found here. I am curious to repeat this procedure in summer when the bright part of the Milky Way will be visible again 🙂

Last updated: May 18, 2022 at 8:37 am

Andromeda Galaxy (M31) – The first time from La Palma

Date2018/12/31
LocationLa Palma / Spain
ObjectAndromeda Galaxy (M31)
CameraAtik383L+
Guidingyes, QHY5-II Mono via OAG
Telescope8" GSO Newtonian
Barlow lensnone
MountEQ6Syntrek
Cooling-10°C
Luminance6x 600s, bin: 1x1
Red5x 150s, bin: 2x2
Green5x 150s, bin: 2x2
Blue5x 150s, bin: 2x2
Dark2x
Flat10x
Total exposure~1h38m

Tonight I again decided to image the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) – the first time from La Palma. The seeing tonight was very good – around 1.5~2″ which was extraordinary! Also the weather conditions as shown by La Palma HDMeteo were excellent. Back in 2013 I already imaged the Andromeda Galaxy with the same equipment but from Boeblingen.

It is interesting to see the difference here. For post-processing I used the free software DeepSkyStacker and GIMP. The full resolution images is available here.

Clear skies!

Last updated: June 16, 2022 at 11:57 am

Astrophotography – Imaging the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), again

My target tonight again was our neighbour galaxy Andromeda (M31). I like this object because even after a short exposure time and even with light polluted sky amazing structures become visible. In September 2012 I already took a first shot of M31. This time the result was even better (even without using any flat-field images) and I decided to put it into “My top Astro-Pics” section. It is also available in full resolution. For stacking I used DeepSkyStacker 3.3.2 with Kappa-Sigma Clipping.

Date2013/09/03
LocationBöblingen / Germany
ObjectAndromeda Galaxy (M31)
CameraAtik383L+
Guidingyes, DMK31AU03.AS via OAG
Telescope8" GSO Newtonian
Barlow lensnone
MountEQ6Syntrek
Cooling-15°C
Luminance2x 800s, 1x 600s, 3x 400s, 1x 100s, 1x 20s, bin: 1x1
Red2x 400s, 1x 200s, 2x 100s, 1x 25s, bin: 2x2
Green2x 400s, 1x 200s, 2x 100s, 1x 25s, bin: 2x2
Blue2x 400s, 1x 200s, 2x 100s, 1x 25s, bin: 2x2
Dark2x
Flatnone
Total exposure~1h19min.

Clear skies!

Last updated: June 20, 2022 at 10:34 am

Imaging our neighbour galaxy – Andromeda galaxy (M31)

Date2012/09/13
LocationBöblingen / Germany
ObjectM31 (Andromeda Galaxy)
CameraAtik383L+
Guidingyes, DMK31AU03.AS via OAG
Telescope8" GSO Newtonian
Barlow lensnone
MountEQ6Syntrek
Cooling-10°C
Luminance5x, 300s, bin: 2x2
Red3x, 300s, bin: 2x2
Green3x, 300s, bin: 2x2
Blue3x, 300s, bin: 2x2
Dark4x
Flatnone
Total exposure~1h10min.

Clear skies!

Last updated: June 22, 2022 at 8:34 am