Astrophotography

The Sun sets by mid afternoon this time of the year in the north of the UK. This is not good news for SAD sufferers, but it’s great for astrophotography! Because of the long nights, the summer constellations sit high in the late afternoon/early evening sky well into January. This...

After being blown away by my first attempt at the Andromeda Galaxy, I couldn’t help having another go with the improved barn door tracker, this time using longer exposures of 80 seconds, and a lower iso of 800. The resulting image has a lot more detail and much less noise...

I managed to grab a few shots of comet Lovejoy (C/2013 R1) as it flew past the Beehive cluster (M44) in the constellation of Cancer. Lovejoy is one of four bright comets currently visible in the early morning sky, including the much anticipated ISON. Unfortunately I don’t...

Orion is one of the most recognisable and celebrated sights in the winter sky. The constellation has been documented, worshipped and woven into fable and legend for thousands of years. The supergiant stars Betelgeuse and Rigel are two of the brightest in the sky, and the vast...

Since testing out the new Nikkor 180mm f2.8 lens on the Andromeda galaxy, we’ve been cursed with almost 3 solid weeks of cloud and moonlit nights. This is pretty typical, as anybody who’s just bought some new equipment will tell you. The stars finally came out for an...

First attempt at imaging the Andromeda galaxy with the new Nikkor 180mm f2.8 ED Ai-s lens. I was able to grab just 2.5 minutes of exposure time before the clouds rolled in, but the resulting image stacked in Deep Sky Stacker blew me away! The lens is incredible. It can be shot...

A recent trip to the Spanish island of Menorca gave me a chance to see Sagittarius at the heart of the Milky Way. This rich region of sky is barely seen from the UK. Despite a full moon, and Sagittarius hanging low above the Mediterranean, on the final day I couldn’t resist...

This is easily the best astro shot I’ve managed to date. Taken using a combination of the cross filter and the new didymium / red enhancing filter which really draws out the nebulosity in Cygnus. The North America nebula, Pelican nebula and Butterfly nebula can all be seen...

Rummaging through some old camera gear, I found a neglected looking cross filter from back in my old film camera days. I guess it’s more of a novelty effect filter, but I was intrigued as to what it might do to my star shots. It polished up nicely with a microfibre cloth,...