Fuzzy blobs and beautiful swirls - its galaxy season!
Fuzzy blobs and beautiful swirls - its galaxy season!
I know this hobby can throw a number of curve balls your way from time to time, usually when you least expect it and have to react to a situation to save an imaging session from cloud rolling in or a sudden downpour from a seemingly clear sky. But the challenges of capturing distant galaxies in itself has proved a real test for me and several times I've had to re-think my setup and strategy just to gather the data I want. It's also made me re-consider my equipment needs - but I'll come to that later.... So what have I learnt so far?
Space is big...... really big!
OK, so I stole this phrase (and obvious statement) from the excellent work of Douglas Adams but when it comes to galaxy season I can relate. I mean, galaxies are massive structures, several million light years across and packed with billions of stars. But, all things being relative, they are relatively tiny in my scope's field of view. Even through my 1800mm 150 Mak, the Needle Galaxy still looks just like a splinter in the sky. When it comes to some of the more iconic images such as Markarian's chain or the Leo Triplet, actually, a small refractor is just the job. So I've really had to reflect and plan my imaging sessions and equipment depending on the target I'm after.
Data..... you can't get enough of it
Faint detail in some galaxies is really faint and can only be resolved with lots of imaging time and quality seeing conditions. We've struggled in the UK during the first part of galaxy season as winter's grip is seemingly unrelenting. Even now (28th April) it's as cold as it was last November. On the few occasions the weather did clear up I took advantage. One night I imaged from dusk'til dawn, falling asleep as the mount and scope did it's job. This is my first galaxy season in the Astroshed@Sawley. It's made a real difference having access to a permenant setup as I can get up and running, sometime grabbing 45 mins of data on a given target. So I guess the watchword is patience. Taking my time to gather data over several nights has forced me to learn more about stacking and file management.
Get planning
You really are up against it for time in galaxy season. As the effective length of the night is squeezed from both ends of the day, your imaging sessions start to take a hit. So planning is essential. Planetarium software such as Stellarium comes into it's own here and I'm finding myself using it more to work out what's up there and when is it best to image. You don't have the luxury of dark from 4pm onwards and I cherish my beauty sleep so being super-organised is essential.
Is it worth it in the end? ......of course it is!
......and finally
I said at the start of the blog that I am re-thinking my equipment and I guess my thoughts have turned to my big scope, my Skywatcher 150 Mak. At f12 focal ratio she's too slow for the pictures I'm after. Everything is a compromise in this hobby but I'm willing to sacrifice the 1800m focal length (that is absolutely killer for planets) for a wider field of view and better focal ratio. I have been tempted to go as far as Celestron's hyperstar on a C8 SCT but my pockets aren't that deep and I know I'll have to upgrade my camera this year too, so I'm now looking at a Mak-Newtonian from Explore Scientific. At f4.8 and a focal length of c760m I'm going mid-range for focal length, field of view but a massive improvement in focal ratio. I've got all summer to think about it. No rush.
I know this hobby can throw a number of curve balls your way from time to time, usually when you least expect it and have to react to a situation to save an imaging session from cloud rolling in or a sudden downpour from a seemingly clear sky. But the challenges of capturing distant galaxies in itself has proved a real test for me and several times I've had to re-think my setup and strategy just to gather the data I want. It's also made me re-consider my equipment needs - but I'll come to that later.... So what have I learnt so far?
Space is big...... really big!
OK, so I stole this phrase (and obvious statement) from the excellent work of Douglas Adams but when it comes to galaxy season I can relate. I mean, galaxies are massive structures, several million light years across and packed with billions of stars. But, all things being relative, they are relatively tiny in my scope's field of view. Even through my 1800mm 150 Mak, the Needle Galaxy still looks just like a splinter in the sky. When it comes to some of the more iconic images such as Markarian's chain or the Leo Triplet, actually, a small refractor is just the job. So I've really had to reflect and plan my imaging sessions and equipment depending on the target I'm after.
Data..... you can't get enough of it
Faint detail in some galaxies is really faint and can only be resolved with lots of imaging time and quality seeing conditions. We've struggled in the UK during the first part of galaxy season as winter's grip is seemingly unrelenting. Even now (28th April) it's as cold as it was last November. On the few occasions the weather did clear up I took advantage. One night I imaged from dusk'til dawn, falling asleep as the mount and scope did it's job. This is my first galaxy season in the Astroshed@Sawley. It's made a real difference having access to a permenant setup as I can get up and running, sometime grabbing 45 mins of data on a given target. So I guess the watchword is patience. Taking my time to gather data over several nights has forced me to learn more about stacking and file management.
Get planning
You really are up against it for time in galaxy season. As the effective length of the night is squeezed from both ends of the day, your imaging sessions start to take a hit. So planning is essential. Planetarium software such as Stellarium comes into it's own here and I'm finding myself using it more to work out what's up there and when is it best to image. You don't have the luxury of dark from 4pm onwards and I cherish my beauty sleep so being super-organised is essential.
Is it worth it in the end? ......of course it is!
......and finally
I said at the start of the blog that I am re-thinking my equipment and I guess my thoughts have turned to my big scope, my Skywatcher 150 Mak. At f12 focal ratio she's too slow for the pictures I'm after. Everything is a compromise in this hobby but I'm willing to sacrifice the 1800m focal length (that is absolutely killer for planets) for a wider field of view and better focal ratio. I have been tempted to go as far as Celestron's hyperstar on a C8 SCT but my pockets aren't that deep and I know I'll have to upgrade my camera this year too, so I'm now looking at a Mak-Newtonian from Explore Scientific. At f4.8 and a focal length of c760m I'm going mid-range for focal length, field of view but a massive improvement in focal ratio. I've got all summer to think about it. No rush.
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