I am a retired computer programmer living in North Carolina, and a long-time astronomy buff. I started exploring the night sky as a teenager back in the 1950s after saving up my paper route money to buy a 4-inch reflecting telescope. ($49.95 was a lot of money in those days!) About six years ago I acquired an astro camera to use with my 30 year old 8-inch Meade SCT telescope – this allowed me to dabble around with EAA (Electronically Assisted Astronomy). EAA usually involves computers as well as optical equipment, and being very much a computer person, such a combination is right down my alley. I’m also an amateur radio operator (callsign K7JNX) and became re-enthused about that hobby 18 years ago when it became possible to marry my computer and my radio equipment together.
In January 2020 I got a new 8-inch Celestron RASA scope and a better astro camera. The new RASA is photographically very “fast” (f/2) and I am AMAZED at what I can see and photograph compared to visually observing through my old f/10 SCT telescope.
I decided to set up this blog to let me share some examples of what I see with family and friends.
About the Pictures on this Blog
None of these pictures were taken using a large telescope or from a remote dark sky site. Instead, they are all taken from my light-polluted backyard surrounded by nearby street lights and neighbors’ security lights.
Unless otherwise mentioned, all these images were taken using my Celestron RASA 8-inch astrograph (telescope) and a ZWO ASI183MC one-shot color camera. Originally I used an iOptron AZ Mount Pro alt-azimuth mount, but in 2023 I started using an iOptron HAE29ec equatorial mount. Image acquisition is controlled using software programs Sharpcap or NINA.
I principally process the raw images originally using a program named Startools and later one named Siril. The earliest images I show on this blog are formed from multiple short exposures (typically 3 seconds) stacked together to reach a total exposure of between 3 and 30 minutes. My more recent blog posts show images taken with longer total exposures, typically 30 to 90 minute stacks of 20 second exposures.
A mini computer rides on my telescope to control the telescope and camera and it communicates with my main computer inside the house. I can see a detailed image in real time on my main computer screen (inside the house and away from the mosquitos or cold) and can watch the results improve as multiple exposures are taken and stacked together to produce a better image with less noise. And I can aim and focus the telescope remotely from the comfort of my study.
I should note that processing astronomical images to tease out as much subtle detail as possible is very much an art. Having only been doing this for a few years, I’m very much still in the “neophyte” category.
About Electronically Assisted Astronomy
EAA allows amateur astronomers to observe objects in less than ideal conditions, especially under badly light polluted skies, or even when a bright Moon is present. Deep-sky celestial objects which are unimpressive or all but invisible in an eyepiece from urban or suburban skies easily become visible, with considerable detail, and in full color. By some informal estimates, EAA with a relatively inexpensive camera has the same effect as tripling telescope aperture for a visual observer without the drawbacks of a large bulky telescope. EAA is also ideal for us older observers whose visual acuity is not what it used to be.
About Astrophotography
After I spent a couple of years exploring and sampling what the sky has to offer using EAA, I evolved into spending more and more time doing longer-exposure astrophotography. Most of the images I’ve shared in the past couple of years have involved exposures between 30 and 90 minutes and then more extensive post-processing afterwards. Some really impressive free software has recently come on the scene to facilitate final results, and learning to use it has been an ongoing endeavor. I should mention Siril, Sirilic, Graxpert, Cosmic Clarity, Astrosharp and Affinity Photo in this regard.
I’m truly living in the golden age of amateur astrophotography – and still have a lot to learn!
If you have any questions or would like to share any comments, you can click here to email me: howardgrams@yahoo.com
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