Saturday 3 November 2012

First photo of the Andromeda Galaxy

Last night had a clear sky, although the moon was up, which kind of spoiled it a bit for what I was trying to do... get my first photo of a galaxy!

Anyway, this was still good practice, mainly to show that I could actually point the camera at the right bit of the sky, even though the object I was trying to capture wasn't visible to the naked eye! Here's the photo I got... the object in the centre is the Andromeda Galaxy, or M31 as it is also known (click for a larger image):

andromeda galaxy

Nothing overly impressive, mainly due to the effects of the moon, but I was pleased to capture it nonetheless. Next time I need to try it zoomed in a bit, and on a moonless night, and see what I can get...

I also got another picture of some stars, though again the moonlight spoiled it a bit (click for a larger image):
Stars at iso1600

As usual, my setup was pretty simple:
- Nikon D60 SLR, used at ISO1600
- Sigma lens at 18mm and f2.8
- EQ1 telescope mount with basic motor drive

Mike

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