Andromeda Galaxy

This is beautiful, and you did it with a 80ED with only 12 exposures. Keep up the good work. I can't wait till my 14" Meade LX400R comes in.

Magnificent.Greats details,nice color,composition and tack sharp...Bravo

Howard, these are so incredibly good for such a small scope. All that I can say is that you must have an incredibly good mount and clock drive.

 

--Lannie

Mr.Howard , this is a outrageous photo, looks like StarTrek

Keep up the good work is fantastic :)

This image has been selected for discussion. It is not necessarily the "best" picture the Elves have seen this week, nor is it a contest. It is simply an image that the Elves found interesting and worthy of discussion. Discussion of photo.net policy, including the choice of Photograph of the Week should not take place here, but in the Site Feedback forum.

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Nice shot. What are the specifics...camera, lens, and size of telescope!

 

Dave

He has obtained a better photograph of the Andromeda Galaxy than the large obervatories used to get with much larger instruments, longer exposures, tedious guiding, and less sensitive media (slow films).

I would also like a little more room around the edges, but that's nitpicky. If you pause and think how far away this stuff is, it's kind of mind blowing. The photographer mentioned a desire for more contrast, but it looks OK to me. Perhaps in a larger photo it would need more contrast to get black blacks and white whites. For those who would like the details of Howard's technique, click the DETAILS tab under the photo. Howard has filled this in nicely, and I greatly appreciate the teaching I get from this info.

 

Astrophotography is underrepresented on PN. If you've ever tried it, you'll know why. I restrict my astrophotography to including the moon in a photo, or something relatively simple like that.

It's a beautiful job.

 

But I'm ashamed to admit that I'm jaded and spoiled - NASA and Hubble have done that to me. I love space, and images from there... and I know I couldn't do better, or even as well as this shooter.

 

So, I'm conflicted. Yes, good job, very good job - even though it leaves me could because I've been exposed to too many similar good jobs.

 

But F2F, I'd love to listen for an hour or two as the photographer explained how it was done.

Shot with a $500 scope! This boggles my mind. Nice work, Howard. The resolution is great.

 

--Lannie

I definitely agree with the others in terms of "outstanding!" The "$500" telescope comment that another viewer made brought a smile to me when I saw that you used a G11 mount! you make a great argument for "consistency" and "steady!" when you stack the images and come up with the final print that's awesome! It gives me some hope as I save $$$ for my G11! :-) Big WOW! on your patience too! Were you able to do this in one evening of exposures?

Jeff, I saw the reference to the Losmandy G11, too, but the fact is that, even with the world's perfect mount, this would still be a striking image with an 80mm apochromatic refractor (the Orion ED80). Most of us know, however, that, without a good mount, all else is for naught. No, I don't expect to get this with my Celestron CG-5 mount. . . .

 

--Lannie

"He has obtained a better photograph of the Andromeda Galaxy than the large obervatories used to get with much larger instruments, longer exposures, tedious guiding, and less sensitive media (slow films)."

 

.. you base this on a 1 megapixel capture shown through a web browser. Sure, the process is tedious, and Howard shows that it is rewarding.. but Andromeda has been photographed a thousand times already; where is the originality in that?

".... but Andromeda has been photographed a thousand times already; where is the originality in that? "

 

by that logic I guess no more point taking any pics of the Eiffel Tower or Mount Rushmore or a sunset.

 

I'm sure Howard took the picture because HE found it interesting and he finds pleasure in capturing an image himself.

 

In any case, it is an image of the Andromeda galaxy at a SPECIFIC moment in time which no one else has captured.

I guess to satisfy everyone, he should shoot from a different angle, possibly closer in would be good too, and add a little more lighting from the left.

 

I used to try shooting pictures with my old 8 inch Meade and have esperienced more dissatisfaction with the problems of steadiness and focus and just getting the scope aligned with North that I just gave it up.

 

This is an outstanding photograph, and I would be proud to display it in my home. In looking at your other photographs, I see you are a well kept secret. I'll check you over again now and then.

 

This is a welcome change to the pictures in POW, and I appreciate the elves selecting you. Congratulations.

 

Willie the Cropper

I've never seen Andromeda, so me, it's both original and beautiful. And of course I will continue to take pictures of the Eifel Tower(if I ever get to Paris, that is), Golden Gate Bridge, susnets, flowers, and anything else that is worthy of capturing to me-whether I put it up for voting on or not.

 

This is a global website, and believe it or not, there will be people who have never seen the Golden Gate Bridge before. And while you may not make picture of the week, or be among the top photographers, it has to boggle your mind and encourage you to continue to shoot and improve when you think that some 30,000. or more people took the time to look at some your pictures!

Cheers to you, Howard!

-Allenda

Yes, of course, this shot has been made many times before. I went looking for other images and found these spectacular true color images made by the .9 m refractor at Kit Peak:

 

http://www.noao.edu/image_gallery/images/d6/m31y.jpg

 

I am still surprised, however, by Howard's (1) color accuracy and (2) resolution, especially of the dust lanes.

 

The kind of image displayed here on Photo.net simply was not possible with a small telescope not so very many years ago, and the nice thing about shooting M31 is that you don't need a GoTo computerized mount to find it. In fact, it is visible through binoculars in the early evening hours at this time of the year, although beginning to be affected by the lingering light in the western skies.

 

--Lannie

Correction (above): the 0.9 m REFLECTOR, not refractor, at Kitt Peak.

 

--Lannie

I echo Daniel's comments. This is good, and I never tire of seeing photos of galaxies, clusters, dust lanes and nebulae, especially the latter as they lean more towards the abstract. Nowadays, I find astrophotography more an exercise in technique (quite rigorous technique, but technique nonetheless). So, it either takes perfect execution: http://www.astrocruise.com/m31.htm, or a really unique subject (e.g. some of the things the oft mentioned Hubble hunts down) to make a lasting shot, for me.

 

I'm tickled the Elves actually chose this shot. It would be nice to see Howard depart from the more "mainstream" celestial objects. He certainly has the ability to capture them.

Howard, Very, very nicely done. I'm not viewing on a calibrated monitor, but wonder what the pic would look like just slightly darker with a wee bit more contrast. Congrats on POW! Your folder has some fantastic deep space images... thanks for sharing! Cheers, -Greg-

can anyone take this kind of shots with normal photography systems? please tell me. congratulations for so many comments and rewards.

A great photograph should both teach you something about the subject and make you want to know more. I think this image does both. I want to know how many photographers in Andromeda are trying to get good shots of the Milky Way.

Hey, Lannie! Dittoes on the C5 rig. The G11 is a rock-solid platform that would be helpful in almost any time-lapse project and my envy leaked out! The 80ED scope is a quality lens, and Howard's patience & technique appear to be a winner! it gives me something to strive for. Unfortunately, finding a different perspective or vantage point to shoot any galaxy is difficult for me, corporeally! :-) Again, kudos to Howard for nailing this one!

I have seen this sister galaxy with own naked eyes one wintery cold dry night in northern Germany. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. At first, I thought it was a cloud, but I could distinctly see the purplish spiral and I realized I was seeing our sister galaxy that is further away than most of the stars we see at night, as well as the neighboring arm of our own galaxy we see on a good dark night. This thing was even further away and it was a really emotional experience. Great photo!

Nice shot,,,,,dot,,,nothing more to say 7/7 or the suggested 100/100,

isnt enough. Maybe more, bright, clear, sharp, but how to make stars sharp !

It is one of Goods countless "MonaLisa" , and plus one more, each second ,we can only watch it, no manip no setup, maybe waiting for next supernova, gammaflash, coming. It`s an "absolute", no more no less, it`s a little boring to be reporter here, Mr. Jones ! ; and the creative one`s, can`t go further, can`t challenge, can`t surpass this border, we must give up, here, have not enough cognetive hand`s breadth, to understand it, or even see what we see.

It`s a statement. Making us so small.

We can go back to our duck-pond, and say, well, what can I actually

do, we are not so conformative, we can change, something, everything, here, even myself, tell stories in a new way, create diversity and enjoy the new fairytales, coming up. Dare to open up a new window to the world, and say WOW, be astonished.

The things, we don`t know of, increase, each time

we suddenly know something, new, each time, we dare to open a new window.

And then everything(s) have changed, from one day to another,,,

new optics.

nichroe