Digital astrophotography results 2008 by Mark Hellweg

[capoia]

Fantastic Work !!! Thanks for sharing !!! Pardon my question but how much costs a setup to take pictures like this ?

[MarkHellweg]

@capoia something between 3.000-10.000 Euro....;-)

[capoia]

@MarkHellweg Wow !! Thanks for the info.

[bymacorg]

And for long exposures and Astro photography with any camera, you can use ASTRUS wireless remote, check it out here! : astrus.bymac.org

[bymacorg]

Cool project! and if you want to trigger shutter wirelessly, you can use this device to remotly shoot long exposures with any camera: ASTRUS : astrus.bymac.org

[sugarseas]

I, too, am a photographer...but, wow! These photos are amazing! I would love to get a telescope and start exploring. Great work!

[Khepramancer]

Excellent photos and setup!  Are all these photos in true color, or have they been processed?

[MarkHellweg]

@Khepramancer

Both methods are shown. So called mapped color and RGB "real" color filter were used. Colorful universe right ?!

[nikanj]

These photos are absolutely remarkable. I'm sure your spent a fortune on your setup but if you told me these photos were take by the Hubble Space Telescope I would have believed you and NASA spent quite a bit on that :P.

[MarkHellweg]

@nikanj Thanks so much !

[TakeitEasystudios]

amazing video!

would you mind sharing what music you used?

[MarkHellweg]

@TakeitEasystudios

The music in this video is arranged with licenced loop sounds.

[TakeitEasystudios]

@MarkHellweg darn :(

[ImmersionImagery]

Would love to see a little tut on your process from setting up to image stacking. Not many good tuts out there on astrophotography

[MarkHellweg]

@ImmersionImagery

there are many good books for beginners and semi profs at the market. Look arround there... I've also studied the books

[TheTechnician090]

Hi, Mark! Awesome video. How much do your telescopes cost each? And why do you have a few of them? Do you use them for different things?

Thanks so much, I'd like to get some good telescopes for myself!

[MarkHellweg]

@TheTechnician090

Thanks! The telescopes are about 2.000 Euro each. And you're right: The telescopes are for different object sizes. Planets are small and they need a high focal length like 2.000 mm for good results. For capturing large nebulae a small and middle sized focal length about 400-800 mm makes sense.

[problembehaviour]

Fantastic and thanks. Please share some more!

[fordpwrXR8]

Excellent work indeed...worth every min of your time and it shows! Btw what movie making software did you using to make the clip? cheers

[MarkHellweg]

@fordpwrXR8

Thanks! The videos are made with Windows Movie maker.

[LennyRhys]

Fantastic work - thanks for sharing. :)

[sgifford1000]

Hey, we love the same thing! I do lots of astrophotography in Arizona. See my videos at youtube - sgifford1000. I got some of the best comet movies in the world! Dam! I hate to brag, but you know, "when you're good, you're good!'. You know what I'm talking about.

Come visit me in Arizona!

Steve Gifford (stevegifford@cox.net)

[ei8gib]

Excellent work, inspiring video.

[Panzer4mk]

Wow these are fantastic !!!!How clear are these through your view finder? Do you have to edit these for clarity?

[MarkHellweg]

@Panzer4mk

Thanks and - oh yes you have to do a lot of image processing. It's nearlty the half of the job ;-)

[srinivassiddarth]

i think these are the best astro pics i ever saw after hubble telescope's. great job..thanks for sharing.i wish you had a more powerful telescope in hands...smile......

[carmilache]

pretty amazing photos:D

[Solidus1Syndicate]

I take you need multi-hours exposure to get such images, how do you tackle the problem of the earth rotating? 1 picture a day then overlay them?

greetings from belgium

[orion118]

Good vid - thanks for the upload

[supranomicon]

Excellent images, I am very envious of your equipment. great video as well. thanks.

[TheVVolverine]

outstanding!nice job!never get em so sharp...

[checkmeck]

Hey Mark

habe da eine frage mit welchem Fotoprogramm bearbeitest du die images?

MFG Sascha

[MarkHellweg]

@checkmeck

ImagesPlus von Mike Unsold. Photoshop und Neat image.

Grüße Mark

[denguexxx]

hey u rock..haha serious the telescope can zoom to the moon till so close? erm also if you take photo of the sun will it damage the camera?

[MarkHellweg]

@denguexxx Hi and thanks. The moon images are made with focal lenghts up to 6 m whcih you'll get with a 8" telescope and a 3x barlow lense in front of the webcam. This is not so a big thing and mostly is good for beginners...

NEVER hold the camera diectly in the sun. You're right the CMOS or/and the electric can be damaged after seconds. I use a special filter foil from Baader Planetarium and so called solar scopes like my CORONADO SM40 is ! These special scopes are build for sun observations!

[xrynxedgex]

so cool. this guy needs to make more videos

[Majik1911]

Yes.  Amazing photos. Great work!

[RomeFell]

Your video goes down like a fine wine. Great work!

[1974brazza]

Hi Mark, nice photos. What exposure times have used to capture the nebulae images, have you taken many short exposures and combined them into one image using a computer program?Do you have an auto guiding system to prevent field rotation for long exposures with your telescopes?

[MarkHellweg]

I take appr. 10-20 shots with 600s @ 800ASA. Than I stack them together with a software called ImagesPlus. I use autoguiding and it is absolutely recommended... A field rotation I don't have because I'm using a Losmandy G11 equatorial mount.

[2plus2is9]

Simply amazing. I have never seen colors like this before (except in pics taken by the Hubble).

Of all the Telescopes you have used, which is your favorite? Is it technically very challenging to use? How much did it cost?

I would like to be able to afford a nice telescope someday. For now my 10x50 binoculars will have to do lol

[MarkHellweg]

Many thanks for your comment. My favorite telescope is my Takahashi FS102. It is a 4" fluorite glass telescope made in Japan. It is a perfect optic for amateur astronomers. The price was about 2300 Euro. But you can only buy it used. Takahashi stopped the production of these special fluorite lenses...

[2plus2is9]

Wow thats a lot of money for a 4 inch scope. Is it a Refractor or Newtonian or some other kind?

I had no clue a 4" could produce images like these! Do the images really look like this in your telescope?

[MarkHellweg]

It is a japanese fluorite refractor and you can't see the object by your eyes. For that the telescope is too small. It is only possible to make images of these objects. Most of the people are thinking in big telescopes but these deep sky objects are often 4-6 times bigger then the moon in the night sky and not only small points!

[grabedigger]

@MarkHellweg Mark, i've got a Canon EOS 500D and a Celestron Astromaster 130EQ with motordrives from my Konus Motor 114EQ. Have you removed the IR filter from your camera? Many Thanks

[MarkHellweg]

Well it is useful to change this filter to an astro optimized one. Not only removing... Companies like Hutech or Baader Planetarium are dealing with these updates. I would not do it myself.

My original Canon 20Da already was astro optimized by Canon. It is worth it ;-)

[grabedigger]

@MarkHellweg Well, by having the filter, it means that i've got to expose the pictures a few more seconds.

[MarkHellweg]

sorry for my late answer...No - you don't need longer exposure times. The filter get's you more and brighter red informormation/sensible.

[grabedigger]

@MarkHellweg Thank you for the answer.

[jamieball]

m51 looks amazing.. great work!

[WiggyVideos10]

Brilliant

[vebbto]

I am such a fan of your photos :) They are absolutely stunning! I especially like The Leo Triplet. Wonderful, absolutely wonderful! Keep it up! I just ordered a HEQ5 mount, and a t-ring / adapter which will help me to get started. I have a 6" dobsonian from Orion. Orion SkyQuest XT6 to be more precise :) I'm a beginner though, so i need some practice!

[Daddyporky]

Awesome stuff m8. I just got started two months ago with a NexStar 4SE. Saving up for a better mount atm. (EQ 6 Pro) and build from there.

But I got some okay photos of M42 and the moon, but nothing compared to your pics.

Cheers :D

[atomicFlyer]

Very nice! When I start working again, gonna save up for some of this equipment!

[OlympicMarseille]

Lovely pictures. How much did you pay for that telescope of yours?

[MarkHellweg]

Thx ! The Takahashi FS102 is about 2400 Euro in Gemrnay. Not cheap but it is worth it !

[drcortex1]

excellent work, it takes a lot of time and effort to get even one good DSO

[MarkHellweg]

You're soo right!

[hickeydp]

These are stunning photos. Trying this myself at the moment. How are you managing the dynamic range in these photos? You seem to be getting a lot of detail at most brightness levels.

[MarkHellweg]

Thanks and you're right. Brighter areas can be treated more hard because of more field information! Have always an eye on the tone and gradient curves. So - DO never sharpen the darker areas.

Clear skies and greetings

Mark

[ruckelz74]

How do you combat the streaking of stars from the rotaion of the earth?

Thanks

[MarkHellweg]

You have to use a so called tracking mount for telescopes to track the stars and let them round ;-)

[ruckelz74]

Thanks man..

[marcanthonystorm]

Do yo know of another good camera to use other than the one you are using

[marcanthonystorm]

hello, I noticed in your video that you are using a canon eos 20da. Would you be able to recommend a comparable camera to use. The 20da is no longer being manugactured. Thank you

[marcanthonystorm]

hello, great pictures you have here. Could you please tell me what canon eos I should get now since the 20da in not available. Would a 50d be useful for astrophotography. Thank you

[F2DGraphics]

The andromeda and rosette nebula pictures are amazing...speechless

[MarkHellweg]

Wish you clear skies and send some results !

Thanks and best wishes

[wafflegirl506]

Wow! Very nice work! Especially solar and planetary. Great M57 shot too, central white dwarf easily visible - beautiful.

I'm taking the AP plunge soon and investing in a Canon T1i - hope I do as well :)

[littlejohn17]

Man.. that was awesome!!!

I am starting at this hobby... havent take any photo yet... but my starchoot camera is comming soon!!

That was awesome.. really loved it...

congratss

ahhh and also.. one question

How did you get that sun photo?

with a filter?

I love that one..

[MarkHellweg]

Many thanks for your comments. The sun photo is made with a webcam at a special h-alpha filter telescope called Coronado SM40 from USA.

best wishes

Mark

[nitramwin]

Wunderbar! Das ist echt ein phantastisches hobby - wenn ich dafuer nur genug geld haette... Auserdem ist es hier in NYC viel zu hell dafuer

Ich kann kaum glauben das solche aufnahmen von der erde aus moeglich sind - die atmoshphaere ist doch ein riesiges hinderniss oder?

Viel weiteren erfolg wuensche ich ihnen!

[MarkHellweg]

Danke vielmals. Ja das Hobby ist mit der Digitaltechnik in ungeahnte Möglichkeiten vorgestoßen! NYC ist in der Tat denkbar ungünstig. Atmosphärische Ruhe und eine niedriges air glow / light pollution ist mit hauptverantwortlich für gute Bilder.... Zu den Kosten: Ab 3.000 Euro geht es schon los mit der Astrofotografie.

[calypsocoffee]

now if my boyfrind could get images like that in his 10 inch Dob,, if only,,

[ionbelmanu]

Eres un hacha

[calaelcala]

Thanks

[uk123a]

Hi,

Great Gx images - do you use DeepSkyStacker?

Cheers.

[MarkHellweg]

Thanks! I use ImagesPlus for all stacking and stretching works.

[bridobrido]

Many thanks for sharing, unbelievable beauty!!

[wysiwygmol]

your pictures are excellent very professional.

[back2thefutre]

great

[mungbean34]

Excellent!

[maryccc1959]

OMG these are beautiful. Could you do the same with a canon xsi?

[MarkHellweg]

Many thanks. The original Canon XSI can be modified (HUTECH for example)to get nearly same images. My Canon EOS 20Da (a) stands for astronomy is only made for astrophotography

[mpeniak]

Crisp images. Well done, great work! Just sold my Celestron C8-N on HEQ5.lol

[JFRY420]

what kind of scope, accessories and photo equipment do you have

[MarkHellweg]

It is a japanese 4" refractor of Takahashi in combination with a Canon eos 20Da. The rest is made with ImagesPlus and Photoshop

[Falcor119]

This is amazing, I wasn't aware you could see this far into space with consumer telescopes. I always assumed only the hubble, or spitzer could view space like that. Is there anything else that goes into making these photographs, other than focusing on them, and taking snapshots? They're so clear!

[Pingletons]

Yes, you have to track the object, and take several hour exposures.

[explorerSG1]

Excellent pictures! 5 stars for sure!

[MJsVertical]

Wish I had the money to get into astrophotgraphy!

[Ekseon]

Beautiful :)

[Ekseon]

Beautiful :)

[mcfc1012008]

gutentaag!

my skys are always so dull and cloudy that i can never get a good nights astronomy in!

[MarkHellweg]

So where are you located ?

[mcfc1012008]

united kingdom

[MarkHellweg]

I also only have 8-12 nights with acceptable conditions here in western Germany near Belgium. That's a big part of the hobby: patience, patience, patience... not only with the processing...

[kitoomoto]

Brilliant where did you get your equipment ?

[Sautippo]

Das sind tolle Aufnahmen. Die Deep-Sky Bilder sind auch bis zum Rand scharf (keinerlei Strichspuren, super !) Ausserdem ein kurzweiliger Schnitt. Wurde der Vixen Refraktor zum Autoguiden benutzt?

[MarkHellweg]

Ja, korrekt. Der Vixen ED-APO in Verbindung mit einer 2x Barlow, damit die Nachführ-brennweite etwas über der Aufnahmenbrennweite liegt. Das Takahashi ist wirklich eine (Rand-)scharfe Optik ;-)