tonights images

M31 Andromeda Galaxy 300mm F7.1 63 seconds ISO 3200



M33 Triangulum Galaxy 300mm F5.6 315s ISO 1000




Orion Molecular Cloud Complex flame nebula next to the bottom star in belt, Great Nebula lower right corner the reddish smudge is where the horsehead nebula is.

Very cool images!

WOW. I know what I will be trying to do tomorrow night!!! I live in a pretty light poluted city though, so I will see what I can do.

This is using a regular zoom lens on a dslr? no scope needed?

Very nice, Mark. I am a big fan of the Horsehead Nebula.

Nikon D600, Nikon 70-300 zoom, and an Ioptron SmartEq goto mount. if I can figure out the dang alignments, then I'll be able to get better images

MarkM10431 said:

Nikon D600, Nikon 70-300 zoom, and an Ioptron SmartEq goto mount. if I can figure out the dang alignments, then I'll be able to get better images

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You're already light years ahead of me.

great stuff. looks like you're getting the mount settings perfect.

Wow, great images!

Holy crap. Those are beautiful.

Thanks, I have a similar lens for my d7000! No eq mount but I will give this a try. Tonight!

With a 315s exposure you don't notice blurred sky from the rotation of the earth? Also are you using a light meter to determine exposure?

I know they make mounts for telescopes that automatically move to compensate for that. I would guess they do for cameras, too

Are those meteors in the bottom photo or an airplane blinking?

Great shots.

That's cool!

oc_in_fw said:

I know they make mounts for telescopes that automatically move to compensate for that. I would guess they do for cameras, too

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same type mount. mine is just not as beefy as the ones for larger scopes

Mike H said:

Are those meteors in the bottom photo or an airplane blinking?

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meteors. if it were an airplane it would go across the entire image

MarkM10431 said:

same type mount. mine is just not as beefy as the ones for larger scopes

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I thought so, but wasn't sure. I enjoy your pictures immensely, by the way