Deep Space Photography

 

IC5070, aka "Pelican Nebula, captured 12/01/2024, our first deep space image using the Seestar S50.  10-seconds x 366 (61-minutes)

2024 was a very odd year for us in that Don was diagnosed with colon cancer Nov 2023 which meant surgery to remove the right side of his colon. Don began chemo treatments January ending July 2024 with recovery still on going.  We basically went 12-months not photographing like we normally would.  During this time, we reevaluated what “turned us on” in the photography world and ended up selling all our medium format gear, returning to a simpler system.  Sandy is now back to shooting a Sony A7r IV while Don returned to using a Leica M11.  All this does not address the title. Yet…

IC405, aka "Flaming Star Nebula", captured 12/02/2024. Seestar S50 10-seconds x 720 (120-minutes)

 

Late last year was the first that Don could actually go out and visit folks we hadn’t seen in over a year (monthly doctors’ visits don’t count).  One of the first people we dropped in to visit is Dean Koenig, the owner of Starizona in Tucson as they had recently moved to a much larger store.  We had bought our first telescope from Dean in 2017.  We learned that technology had changed drastically in 7-years.  A “smart telescope” in 2017 while it may have been available wasn’t affordable. 

12/01/2024 M42 "Orian Nubla" this is a very quick 10-seconds x 18 (3-minutes) using the Seestar S50

 

What began as simple visit turned us back on to astrophotography when Dean showed us the ZWO S50 “smart telescope” that retails for less than $500.  Don can’t buy a lens for his Leica for that money.  Needless to say, we walked out the store with a S50.  To make matters even better the S50 weights right around 8-pounds!

NGC281, aka "Packman Nebula, captured in December 2024 using the Seestar S50

We’ve used the S50 every night that we’ve had clear skies and marvel at the images this small but mighty telescope offers. There is a flaw to this.  We found the S50 to be a gate-way telescope to wanting something “better”, “bigger”, “and more-powerful”.   Notice we said “wanting” vs “needing”.

This is our second attempt at Orian Nebule, on 12/28/2024, this time 10-seconds x 113 (18-minutes) using the Seestar S50

We decided to go bigger and ended up with a 26-megapixel astro camera from ZWO; the ASI 2600MC Air wireless smart camera. This camera combines a guide-scope and Wi-Fi connection and camera in one package.  We are now using an Askar SQA55 telescope along with a ZWO EAF (electronic auto focuser).  The telescope, camera and EAF weighs around 8-pounds and sits on top of a ZWO AM3 Harmonic Equatorial Mount riding on a ZWO TC40 carbon fiber tripod along with a pier extension. The mount and tripod weights around 17-pounds and the total weight is in the neighborhood of 25-pounds. Yes, this weighs around 17-pounds more than the S50 however it is considerably less than the original telescope we used in 2017 which weighed close to 75-pounds.

IC1795 aka "Fish Head Nebula" captured 12/9/2024, 10-seconds x 403 (68-minutes). Seestar S50

The advancement in camera design as well as software mean we can program a night of shooting from a tablet or cellphone (we prefer the tablet as the screen is much larger).  Setup is easy and fast with us being polar aligned in under 5-minutes and shooting our target within 10.  We have been achieving excellent results shooting 5-minute exposures for 4-hours or more. The S50 is not polar aligned thus the capture time is 10-seconds with a lot of rejections in the software from star trails.   A typical 4-hour shooting experience with the S50 will normally result in close to 90-minutes for actual capture rate.

01/31/2025, IC 434, aka "Horsehead Nebula", one of the first images we captured using the ZWO ASI 2600MC Air. 300-seconds x 15 (75-minutes)

01/30/2025 NGC 2335, aka "Seagull Nebula" 300-seconds x 40 (3.5 hours) ZWO ASI 2600MC Air

02/04/2025 NGC 2359, aka "Thor's Helmet Nebula" 300-seconds x28 (140-minutes) ZWO ASI 2600MC Air.

02/06/2025 IC 2118 aka, "Witch Head Nebula" this was a test as the moon was at 61% and this target is best suited for dark skies.  300-seconds x 48 (4-hours) ZWO ASI 2600 MC Air

 

All of the ASI 2600 camera images were stacked and processed using Pixinsight with minor post processing using a combination of Capture One, Photoshop and Topaz Labs. 

Looking back at what we just wrote, and we see that there’s a lot of information overload.  We hope to continue this conversation in future blogs so please bear with us. 

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