North American nebula

Managed to get a semi decent exposure of the na nebula.
Taken with 40d unmodified, canon ef 100mm f2.8 macro.
This is a stack of 7 exposures at 2min each at iso 800 tracked with an astrotrac

Here is another wide field exposure these have not been stacked taken with my £5 50mm vivitar this is a mosaic of two images
canon 40d, vivitar 50mm f1.7 @ f2.8, 2x 120sec

Very very nice image. Well done

How, I'm confused

Surely 50mm is way too short a focal lenght to get any half decent shots of celestial bodies ? Did you attach it to a telescope ?

50mm gives you great wide field shots of the milky way, I have also used my super wide 17mm f4. You don't need a large focal length to capture some of the more brighter celestial objects.

These are great images arkturas.

The more I see from the Astrotrac the more I want one for a quick set up rig.

It's not about focal length, it's about exposure time and accurate tracking that allows them. Dark skies, proper polar alignment and careful post processing brings a nice return on your efforts.

Yes I agree, I have tried this same method using just a tripod taking 20x 2 second exposures, you don't get near enough data. If you want a budget tracking mount for wide field astrophotography, google "barn door" mount

wow arkturas, cool pics mate love the 50mm one stunning. ive got a 50mm lens as well might try a wide feild of that after looking at yours ace

arkturas wrote in post #8480384
Yes I agree, I have tried this same method using just a tripod taking 20x 2 second exposures, you don't get near enough data. If you want a budget tracking mount for wide field astrophotography, google "barn door" mount

Thanks for the link! Thats a pretty cool mount! Nice shots by the way.

Yes ! Great WF shots !

heladepela wrote in post #8479073
Surely 50mm is way too short a focal lenght to get any half decent shots of celestial bodies ? Did you attach it to a telescope ?

The 50mm is ideal for wide-field imaging, and the only time I've ever managed to capture the NA Nebula is with mine. Nowhere near as good as arkturas's image though...very nice fella!

I guess I live in an area with too much light pollution as I simply NEVER see anything like that with the naked eye...

I don't think anyone sees that much detail with the naked eye. Best I get where I am is a faint greyness which indicates the Milky Way. A long exposure with the camera reveals far more though. Should be clear tonight. Go out at about 11pm and look straight up. Can you see the grey "cloud-like" band running from NNW to SSE?

Ahh OK, that explains it, long exposure. It just looked so much like a deep space type image, I couldn't believe it was only 50mm. Guess I was being "blonde" as I have seen the Milky Way many times, just never like that. Hmm, another reason to buy a good 50mm prime

Going to give my nifty fifty a try tonight I think...this has wetted my appetite.