Andromeda galaxy using 75-300 lens...

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Edsport

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This is M31 also known as the Andromeda galaxy which is approximately 2,500,000 light years away from us which means if you travelled at the speed of light, it would take you 2 and a half million years to get there. Even though it is quite a distance from us it's the closest galaxy to us. This was taken using my 350D and 75-300mm lens attached to my scope so i could track the night sky. The scope was not used for the pic only just so i could tape my camera to it and have tracking. This is about 20 exposures of about 5 mins each then stacked using stacking software. This pic was pic of the day at astronomy.com

M31650-1.jpg
 
Pictures of galaxies never cease to amaze me, every single white dot and smudge in the galaxy (save for the stars in our own which are likely several pixels) is a star. Damn things looks like whisps of smoke they are so dense. I can stare at the pics from hubble for hours.
 
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Impressive, what mount are you using to track for five mins ?
 
What else can you say apart from may be, that is frellin impresive!!!
 
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Nikon Man said:
Impressive, what mount are you using to track for five mins ?
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My scope is a Meade LX 200 10 inch and it comes with it's own mount. I didn't use a tripod though, i used a permanent pier and i spent 5 nights of tracking a star and making adjustments to get that pier as close to perfect alignment as possible.

Andromeda galaxy can be seen with a normal pair of binoculars. It can be seen naked eye in non light polluted areas.

Thanks everyone for the comments...
 
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Edsport said:
Andromeda galaxy can be seen with a normal pair of binoculars. It can be seen naked eye in non light polluted areas.
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Excellent. I got some reasonable wide angle shots of the sky in New Zealand, well away from civilisation. I've got a good feeling I was looking at it then
 
Impressive. I wouldn't have believed you could get that from any SLR lens! Surely you need the massive magnification of a good scope to get anywhere near it? All I get from a 300mm lens is a dot in the sky which could be a galaxy or not!

Do you have more detail on how you achieved this? Obviously the tracking is one part, but I'm still stunned how you can get so close an image with just a 300mm focal length.
 
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deadkenny said:
Impressive. I wouldn't have believed you could get that from any SLR lens! Surely you need the massive magnification of a good scope to get anywhere near it? All I get from a 300mm lens is a dot in the sky which could be a galaxy or not!

Do you have more detail on how you achieved this? Obviously the tracking is one part, but I'm still stunned how you can get so close an image with just a 300mm focal length.
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:plus1:
actually, i wouldnt mind any info, settings etc, as to capture this kind of stuff, this is what im into, really.
great capture, btw.
already have my copy of turn left at orion lol!
 
That is awesome - Was it much of a crop? Also, I thought that with exposures of about 5 mins you'd end up with star trails, but yours are all nice and round.
 
That's great, really well executed... and a little mind blowing!

I wonder how many weird looking creatures are sitting somewhere in that galaxy looking at the Milky Way in awe! :thinking:
 
Fantastic picture, I was always amazed by the stars and galaxies and seeing such pictures increase my admiration in this field. Well done:clap::clap:.
 
swag72 said:
That is awesome - Was it much of a crop? Also, I thought that with exposures of about 5 mins you'd end up with star trails, but yours are all nice and round.
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I assume that's because of the tracking scope. The trails are just simple because the earth is rotating, but if you move the camera to counteract the rotation it should be stationary.

What I don't get though is how you get a picture that looks like it's come off the Hubble from a humble 75-300mm lens!
 
deadkenny said:
Impressive. I wouldn't have believed you could get that from any SLR lens! Surely you need the massive magnification of a good scope to get anywhere near it? All I get from a 300mm lens is a dot in the sky which could be a galaxy or not!

Do you have more detail on how you achieved this? Obviously the tracking is one part, but I'm still stunned how you can get so close an image with just a 300mm focal length.
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You don't need much magnification. The 300mm lens was enough. I'ts because the galaxy is so huge. When looking at the galaxy through a pair of binouclars it will look like a fuzzy white patch. The galaxy can be seen in the constellation casseopia also known as the W or M which is very distinct in the sky. Download a program called Stellarium. It will show you where things are in the sky. You can also zoom in on the planets etc. The program is free.

swag72 said:
That is awesome - Was it much of a crop? Also, I thought that with exposures of about 5 mins you'd end up with star trails, but yours are all nice and round.
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You'll get star trails if you have no tracking. My scope is motorized and tracks the sky.

There was very little cropping. I only cropped it to center the galaxy but it's still not really centered.
You guys that want to get a pic like this and want more info. I'm not sure what else i can tell you. I'ts 5 min exposures and stacked. That's about it. Anything in particular you want to know? Joining astronomy forums is a good place to get info and look at lots of peoples pictures. www.astronomy.com...

Here is one i posted earlier. It's easier to capture this nebula than it is the galaxy. It's M42 also known as the orion nebula. It is also taken using my 75-300mm lens. It's one exposure.

120 sec
F/5.6
Iso 800
300mm
no flash

OrionWidefield-1.jpg
 
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I'd love to try it, but I need to move out into the country. Far too much light pollution here :(.

Though if you get a scope for tracking, you'd surely be getting better images from the scope itself (is it true even a compact attached to one is good for this?), and doing the above is purely a curiosity. Or is there some benefit from doing it?

Or could you get a cheap tracking device with no scope? Can't really justify spending thousands on a scope, especially where I live :D
 
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deadkenny said:
I'd love to try it, but I need to move out into the country. Far too much light pollution here :(.

Though if you get a scope for tracking, you'd surely be getting better images from the scope itself (is it true even a compact attached to one is good for this?), and doing the above is purely a curiosity. Or is there some benefit from doing it?

Or could you get a cheap tracking device with no scope? Can't really justify spending thousands on a scope, especially where I live :D
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I first tried to get the galaxy using my scope but my scope has such a long focal length that i couldnt fit all the galaxy in the frame. It was just too big. As for orion, i have a pic that i took through my scope, it filled the frame. A bit too big also for my scope and when i used the scope i had to take lots of exposures and longer ones. For those big things in the sky like orion and andromeda, a scope with less focal length is better than the one i have.

You can get a motorized tripod for your camera to track the sky without having to invest in a scope...
 
Mental note, don't ever dis the 75-300 ever again! Those photos are brilliant, expecially the second one. Congrats on getting some great photos.
 
Blimey!!!!

stunning pics :)

something for us newbies to aspire to (but it might take me a few light-years!:LOL:)

thank you very much for sharing (y)
 
Hmm, I think I need to look into this astronomy lark a bit more. I've always been interested but never got into it as I thought I'd not really be able to see much detail without needing 10s of £thousands of equipment or access to one of those big telescope places on a big hill :D.

Still the problem of light pollution here though. A 5 minute exposure just leaves me with an orange picture! :(
 
deadkenny said:
Hmm, I think I need to look into this astronomy lark a bit more. I've always been interested but never got into it as I thought I'd not really be able to see much detail without needing 10s of £thousands of equipment or access to one of those big telescope places on a big hill :D.

Still the problem of light pollution here though. A 5 minute exposure just leaves me with an orange picture! :(
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I live in a small town and not too much light pollution here. Population of about 800 people. I didn't use any filter but you can buy filters to block the light pollution and also you can post process alot of it out as well...
 
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