Why I don't have an Argon Ion laser this month...

[COMMANDR]

Fantastic pics!!!! You should be proud of your efforts, I think they are outstanding.
Was your shooting location a dark sky one????

 

[KapHn8d]

I live in a very large light pollution area. The 4th largest city in the US doesn't really lend itself to super friendly photographic conditions.

I have a couple of local astronomy clubs to save me however... they have dark sites that are effectively 90 to 120 mins from home. I can drive to access much darker skies than I'd find at home.

M101 was shot at a different "dark site" than the others, but basically, I drove to get to a darker spot for all of them...

 

[IsaacT]

I think there needs to be some sort of activist group or something that works to preserve the dark sky areas. Or atleast a few big ones. I want to some day travel to a place where the sky is the only source of light. I want to see what man saw before he figured out fire.

 

[busman2]

I think there needs to be some sort of activist group or something that works to preserve the dark sky areas. Or atleast a few big ones. I want to some day travel to a place where the sky is the only source of light. I want to see what man saw before he figured out fire.

They are there Isaac, all over the world there are groups and organisations doing this. Some are working to set aside areas to stop more light pollution, some are working to stop light pollution from even reaching certain areas and I do remember over 25years ago Astronomers and star gazers in many Staes in America banded together to stop light pollution in many of the large cities there. I remember seeing before and after shots and it may be hard to believe but it made a huge difference. They changed the wattage of streetlights and put hoods on them to stop the light from going upwards. In some of the regional towns out here they have streetlights that burn very dim until the built in detector picks up movement or infrared heat.
I am Lucky as I live in a remote area where even in town the sky is dark and one can see thousands of stars. I did take part in a program once where we hosted 5 students from Ohio, one girl from Columbus told me that her best star count from her house was 11 stars, needless to say she was blown away when she got to see them ALL. Different Hemisphere but some are the same!
At least places are being set aside there for dark sky albeit you may have to travel a bit, but that would also make it an adventure!
I hope that sometime soon that you get to travel to such a place Isaac and any others who have not been to such a place, it is AWESOME!

Just on a side note that in such a place there are about 7000 stars visible to the naked eye! Go on, count them!

 

[KapHn8d]

Messier 13 from last night. M13 was discovered by Edmond Halley in 1714, and cataloged by Charles Messier on June 1, 1764. M13 is about 145 light-years in diameter, and it is composed of several hundred thousand stars, the brightest of which is the variable star V11 with an apparent magnitude of 11.95. M13 is located 25,100 light-years from Earth.

 

[vortish]

If any one wants access to a really nice place to shoot stars Eastern Washington is wide open has some really good places that are high enough to get some really fantastic shots.. and little light pollution.. I have many sites i like for looking at the stars at night and have access to some really cool areas as well if any one is interested please pm me for details

by the way nice job on the pictures sorry for kind of hijacking the thread

 

[KapHn8d]

The Lagoon Nebula

 

[Sigurthr]

Are those colors artificial or real? That's an awesome photo!

 

[IsaacT]

Second that! Amazing work. If it is lightroom, fine, still cool. If it is just RAW data or WB tweaked RAW pics even cooler!

 

[hakzaw1]

First time I went to a central part of Canada where its very dark at night-I was awestruck by both the brightness and the sheer number i had never been able to just see.

Clayton - I can sell you a complete SL argon real cheap- lets do lunch (again).

 

[IsaacT]

Hey guys I just bought my new camera and I am planning to just drive to a dark site and take some long exposure shots of the sky.

Any advice for me?

My setup:
Pentax K-5 II
Sears Branded Pentax-M 50mm f/1.7
Tamron AF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 Macro(1:3.9) for Pentax
Wireless Remote(to reduce vibrations)
Tripod

Anything else I need? Got any tips? I would love them!

EDIT: Planning to drive 1hr 20 min tonight. Lol.

 

[KapHn8d]

Yeah... there is some good basic info over at the /r/astrophotography FAQ

You have my number in your PM's I think from when I bought that HeNe from ya, but let me know if you need it. You can call me if you have any questions and we can chat about it. I'll be around all weekend...

/c

 

[IsaacT]

Yeah... there is some good basic info over at the /r/astrophotography FAQ

You have my number in your PM's I think from when I bought that HeNe from ya, but let me know if you need it. You can call me if you have any questions and we can chat about it. I'll be around all weekend...

/c

Hey man I actually did end up going out that night and taking some shots. Let me know what I should try next time for better results. I am looking at picking up an ultrawide angle 10-20mm lens to get more of the sky.

http://laserpointerforums.com/f48/first-attempt-astrophotography-critique-me-p-90410.html