This is a CyberSky chart of the Cygnus  region in the image above left - rotate this map by 45-degrees clockwise to match up with the stars in this image

Imaging Constellations

Cygnus and NGC 7000 - The North America Nebula [top RHS corner of this image].
This image was taken in April 2009 from Kielder Forest at the campsite near Kielder Village.
Camera used - Zenit 312m - 200mm telephoto lens at f4.5.
One single guided 10-minute exposure on Fuji Sensia 400 slide film.
Slide scanned at 3600dpi and lightly processed in Paint Shop Pro

Click on the thumbnail for a bigger image

The Sagittarius Star Cloud.
This image was taken in November 1999 from the Sinai Desert, about 30Km outside Sharm-el-Sheikh.
The image is a 3-minute exposure at ISO 400 on Fuji Sensia 400, using a Zenit 312m manual SLR camera and a 42mm lens at f/2.8.
The slide was scanned at 3600dpi and then lightly processed in Paint Shop Pro

Click on the thumbnail for a bigger image

Even if you have a modest set-up, providing you have a decent equatorial driven camera mount you can take wide-angle shots of constellations quite easily.
However, when using telephoto lenses with your (D)SLR camera, to get the best shots it is vital to use a good quality driven mount that is also sturdy enough to take the weight of your camera and (if used) any telescope used to track objects during the exposure.
Hence these images were taken using a modified EQ6 mount and a camera mounted on a plate with a small refractor used as a guidescope - fitted with an illuminated reticle eyepiece to aide very fine guiding.
In all cases it was necessary to spend some time getting the mount accurately 'Polar Aligned' before starting to take images.
Spain 2011

In September 2011, I went on a vaction to Berdun, near Huesca, in the Aragon region of northern Spain.
I discovered, before I went away, that this area is essentially free of light pollution, so I endeavoured to take with me some useful astro-imaging kit, namely:
1) A sturdy tripod - also useful for taking images of landscapes during the day
2) AstroTrak T320X driven equatorial Camera tracking platform
3) My Canon 350d - which I used almost exclusively during my vacation - as it was an integral part of the equipment for the course in digital photography.
4) A Canon EF 100mm f2.0 imaging lens - which because of the smaller chip of the 350d is effectively operationg at a focal lengh of around 140mm

Below are some of the results I obtained.

I took images with exposures of between 60 seconds and 500 seconds - it is aparent that Berdun is an area free from light pollution

Enjoy

Image 1 - the constellation of Cygnus - please compare it to the image above-left which was taken at a focal length 100% longer [i.e. with 50% less field of view]

This is a thumbnail of the actual original image - which was around 10 mega pixel resolution.
It is a single 150 second exposure at f2.8 and ASA 800.
A little processing ahs been done [curves and levels] to bring out the 'misty detail' of the Milky Way in this region of Cygnus - in the 'body' of the Swan
Image 2 - the constellation of Perseus
Image 3 - part of the constellation of Sagittarius - the Archer [or the 'Teapot' of you prefer] and Scutum - the Shield
This is a thumbnail of the actual original image - which was around 10 mega pixel in size.
It is a single 200 second exposure at f2.8 and ASA 800.
Processing involved curves and levels
Image 4 - Messier 31 and the constellation of Andromeda
This is a thumbnail of the actual original image - which was around 10 mega pixel in size.
It is a single 200 second exposure at f2.8 and ASA 800.
Processing involved curves and levels
This is a thumbnail of the actual original image - which was around 10 mega pixel in size.
It is a single 200 second exposure at f2.8 and ASA 800.
Processing involved curves and levels

Each caption below shows a thumbnail of the actual image taken [on the left] along with a thumbnail of the general view of this group as viewed using CyberSky planetarium software [on the right]

Kielder Forest Winter 2011
This is a view of the constellation of Monoceros - the Unicorn - showing the extensive Milky Way star clouds and dusty areas - which show up as ribbons of almost black with very few stars.
This image is a lightly processed view taken with a Canon 350d and AstroTrak camera platform, showing a field of view of approximately 20 degrees horizontally by 12 degrees vertically and was taken in late November 2011

This is an image of the 'lower half' of Orion - the Hunter - as seen from the UK.
It was taken from Kielder Observatory location, using a Canon 350d and 100mm lens mounted on an AstroTrak platform.
The seeing conditions were not great - much poorer than for the image above hence the less pin-pointed stars.
Here you can see:
1) M42 - the Orion Nebula - just below centre
2) M43 - The Running Man Nebula - just above M42
3) The Flame Nebula - NGC 2024 above left of centre - just to the 10-oclock position from the most left-hand star of Orions' Belt [Alnitak]
4) Just below Alnitak - you can see the faint outline of the Horsehead nebula - Barnard 33 - which shows as a dark outline against a faintly pinkish-red glowing cloud

Watch this space - the Flame and Horsehead Nebulas are on my target list for 2012

Click on image to reveal a full sized version

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