Sky & Telescope - August 2021 - 56

AUGUST 2021 OBSERVING
First Exposure
The Flame Nebula (NGC 2024) is located just
east of 2nd-magnitude Zeta Orionis, the bright
star in this photo. The author captured the pair
with the same equipment used for the M27
image on page 55. The spikes around Zeta are
a diffraction effect caused by the telescope's
secondary mirror support vanes. In this case
they add to the overall appeal of the image.
lyze each shot to understand what went
right and what went wrong. This is how
you learn the ropes of astrophotography
and gradually improve.
In addition to the various technical
seeing, cloud cover, transparency, and a
host of other factors. The information
presented is truly indispensable.
Sky conditions play a key role in what
kind of imaging you'll be able to do on
a given night. If the seeing is unsteady
but the transparency is good, you can
still take camera-and-lens shots, provided
the Moon isn't too bright. Nights
like these are great for photographing
constellations, star trails, and the Milky
Way (if visible). Often these nights also
work well for imaging large deep-sky
objects with a wide-fi eld telescope.
However, reverse the conditions (steady
seeing and so-so transparency) and you
have a fi ne night for high-resolution
imaging of the Moon, planets, or even
bright planetary nebulae.
When the seeing is poor, the shimmering
image in your telescope makes
it more diffi cult to get good focus. How
much shimmering depends on the
seeing conditions and the image scale
you're working with. If your camera or
computer software allows you to zoom
in, that'll help you get accurate focus
while you work the telescope's focuser
back and forth.
To get reasonably sharp images when
the seeing is unsteady, try using a high
ISO setting, which allows faster shutter
speed to hopefully mitigate atmospheric
blurring effects. Similarly, if you shoot
video sequences, you have the ability to
acquire lots of frames and use computer
software to sort the fuzzy ones from the
56 AUGUST 2021 * SKY & TELESCOPE
This fi rst attempt at shooting with camera
and telescope together is a 15-minute exposure
of Comet C/1987 P1 (Bradfi eld) made with
gas-hypered TP 2145 black-and-white fi lm.
Although the photo isn't technically remarkable,
it is packed with nostalgia and provides
a starting point for the author to gauge his
progress in the decades since.
sharp ones and assemble them into a
surprisingly good end result.
And if it's cloudy on a night when
you want to image, all is not lost. Use
that time to process the backlog of
astrophotos that you haven't gotten
to yet. We all lead busy lives, so make
the most of that time you set aside
for astrophotography - even if you're
forced to stay indoors.
4: Learn from Each Astropic
Reviewing your images will help you
develop your " astrophotographer's eye "
- and that's key to refi ning your sense
of which images are keepers and which
can be safely deleted. Take time to anaaspects
of astrophotograpy I've focussed
on in this article, I'd urge you to consider
your images in the " big picture "
sense too. When you've fi nish working
on an astrophoto, take a few moments
to appreciate what it is you've captured.
Read up on the objects in your photos
and learn how they came to exist and
how they fi t into the overall structure
of the universe. The more you know,
the more interesting and meaningful
your images will become.
Even if your images aren't perfect,
they're still records of unique moments
in space and time. Consider the photons
of light that had to travel unimaginable
distances to reach your camera's
sensor. Whether your photos capture
objects in the solar system, targets
within the Milky Way, or distant galaxies,
every picture has a story to tell.
After over a half century I still have
my fi rst ever photo of the Moon that
I developed and printed myself. I also
have the pictures I took of the Moon
through my 6-inch f/8 Newtonian
telescope when Apollo 8 and 11 were
in lunar orbit. They preserve a special
moment in history that I was able to
capture for myself. They also remind
me of how far we astrophotographers
have come in our pursuit of photons.
So, I'd encourage you to keep your fi rst
astropics. Trust me - years from now,
you'll be glad you did.
 GREG REDFERN is a regular contributor
to this magazine and the author of
two books, Astrophotography Is Easy!
Basics for Beginners and Cruise Ship
Astronomy and Astrophotography. Both
titles are published by Springer.
Sky & Telescope - August 2021

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