Astrophotography

I first started doing astrophotography with a  Meade DSI (Deep Sky Imager).  This is a simple one shot color ccd camera. 
It has a small imaging chip and it downloads images via usb to a computer.  I still use this camera today as an autoguider with a
program called  PHD or "Push Here Dummy".  The field of view is very small but it gave me my first taste of astrophotography
and I was hooked!

                                                                                                             This was my very first astrophoto.  It was taken
                                                                                                                                         in 2005 with a 10" Meade LX200 and a
                                                                                                                                        Meade DSI.  I wasn't using a wedge then so
                                                                                                                                        alt-azimuth mode I was limited to 30 second
                                                                                                                                        exposures.  I was thrilled when this showed up
                                                                                                                                        on my laptop screen!







These next two images were taken about the same time.  The one on the left is the Ring Nebula and the one on the right is the
Crab Nebula.  The colors were not processed very well on these images but I was just happy at the time to get something with
color and in focus!  I've gotten better equipment now but there are many challenges to astrophotography but it's very rewarding
to get a really good shot.

 














more astrophotography here.