Guidance for an Amazing Hobby
The term magnification or “power” is often used to describe department store telescopes in order to oversimplify the “quality” of the scope. It makes it sound like a telescope with a magnification of 100x is more powerful, and therefore of higher quality, than one with 50x magnification. This is really far from the truth and … Read more
There are other objects to photograph other than galaxies and nebulae, also known as deep sky objects (DSO’s). Solar system objects including the planets, sun and moon are also favorite targets for astrophotographers, especially when you can tease out detail, such as the bands of Jupiter or rings of Saturn. Planetary imaging is not quite … Read more
What is Plate Solving? Plate solving is comparing an astronomical mage with a known database to determine the exact coordinates to which the telescope is pointing. Plate solving is done either with a local database on the users computer or by sending the image to an internet database. As accurate as the pointing is for … Read more
Summer in the Northern Hemisphere (June through September) is a great time for astrophotography since the nighttime sky is pointing directly into the heart of the Milky Way Galaxy. This part of the sky is rich in bright and colorful nebulae. This applies to both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. Many of these objects are … Read more