Iain Petrie | Suboptimal Astrophotography: imaging M42 (Orion Nebula) with 1991 telescope & 2006 Nikon D80 camera @IKP1000 | Uploaded January 2022 | Updated October 2024, 15 hours ago.
I can't afford to buy new equipment to try astrophotography, so I'm experimenting with my 30 year old Meade LX6 telescope, and a 2006 modified Nikon D80 tethered to an old laptop. Image capture is done with the wonderful (and free) software DIYphotobits, and processing with Deep Sky Stacker, which is also wonderful and free.
Around 2 and a half hours of subs were collected but only around 1 hour 15 minutes were usable; all shot at 3200ASA to keep exposure times to a minimum. I collected 2 and 4 second subs for the core of the Orion Nebula, and 8 seconds and 20 seconds for the outer parts of the nebula.
The results are 'suboptimal' but quite encouraging, hopefully I'll improve as I go along. Hope you enjoy the video. Thanks for watching!
I can't afford to buy new equipment to try astrophotography, so I'm experimenting with my 30 year old Meade LX6 telescope, and a 2006 modified Nikon D80 tethered to an old laptop. Image capture is done with the wonderful (and free) software DIYphotobits, and processing with Deep Sky Stacker, which is also wonderful and free.
Around 2 and a half hours of subs were collected but only around 1 hour 15 minutes were usable; all shot at 3200ASA to keep exposure times to a minimum. I collected 2 and 4 second subs for the core of the Orion Nebula, and 8 seconds and 20 seconds for the outer parts of the nebula.
The results are 'suboptimal' but quite encouraging, hopefully I'll improve as I go along. Hope you enjoy the video. Thanks for watching!
