Hercules Star Cluster Shines in June

Hello, fellow stargazers,

Now that I've figured out how to switch off the floodlight in the courtyard of my apartment, using my Evolution 8 telescope has been far more pleasant. The other night, I finally took a peek at the famed Hercules star cluster, which is something like 11 BILLION years old. It was gorgeous! The pinpoints of light in a glowing ball were a feast for the eyes. I've posted my first attempt at photographing it, with a time exposure of 15 seconds. Not a bad early result! I found it very tough to focus, as you can't really see it clearly on the LCD screen, only after the time exposure. So I just guessed around a bit, turning the focus nob a tad before each shot. See what you think!

I'm headed for darker climes tomorrow night, hoping to see some more  heavenly sights. Hope you all get a weekend of clear nights for viewing!

Teresa

Night sky pictures, various artists

Teresa's photos

Venus and the Pleiades

Hi, star geeks (said most affectionately),

This week, I hope you all got a good view of the lovely Pleiades (the Seven Sisters) star cluster near bright Venus in the western sky, just after sunset. I love the Seven Sisters -- Did you know that the Japanese call the cluster "Subaru"? I think it looks like diamonds suspended. I haven't had much luck viewing them through a telescope, but they are spectacularly beautiful through my astronomy binoculars.

Because Venus is so bright, it was hard to get a good shot of the subtler stars of the Pleiades beside it, but I did my best. Hope you like!

 Planning to take my 8" scope out to a darker part in town on Thursday night, which is "supposed to" be clear. Hope you all have clear skies as well!

Cheers!

AstroPhotoGirl

Sky art for sale, various artists

First Attempt at Prime Focus Astrophotography--Orion Nebula

Greetings, astro photo fans,

Last night I had just gotten my telescope set up when I looked up to find clouds had snuck up and covered the entire sky. But hope springs eternal with me, so I waited... First the moon peeked out, then Jupiter, and finally the constellation of Orion! So I took the opportunity to hook up my modded Canon (with an astrophotography filter) to the back of the scope and took a 20-sec exposure of the Great Nebula in Orion. Amazing!! It was very, very hard to focus, but I'm really happy with my first few shots, which I only tweaked a bit in Lightroom to bring out contrast and enhance the gases, but I did not colorize this at all. I think we're in for a LOT of rain for this next week or two, but as soon as we get a hint of clearing, I'll give it another go. And this time, I'll take a series of them and stack them. Should yield a much more impressive image. Stay tuned!

Click here for my photography website

Star photos at Fine Art America , various artists

After a long hiatus, Astrophotogirl is back!

Sorry for the 5-year, uh, intermission! To catch you up to the moment, I recently acquired a new scope for observing and astro imaging! Who-hoo! It's a Celstron Nexstar Evolution 8, and it's the first-ever Wi-fi-enabled scope. What that means is, it carries its own computer and Wi-fi, which the user hooks up to via a cool app (on a smart phone or tablet) that shows the night sky. Anyhow, I took my first images with it last night, just holding the camera up to the eyepiece--I'll start learning prime focus imaging in the weeks to come, where you attach the camera to the back of the scope using adapters. Hope you like this first attempt!

And don't forget to check out the total lunar eclipse this Saturday morning EARLY! Totality will only be about 4 minutes long, just before 5AM PST! Supposed to be cloudy here, but... miracles do happen! I'll try to post more on the eclipse before Saturday. Tah-tah for now!

Astro Photo Girl

Moon images for sale , various artists

TR Herlinger Photography website