These albums track my progress since 2018 using cameras for stargazing. My aim is not perfect pictures but rather to see things and put them in context while learning to capture useful images. Most sessions are in my driveway under heavily light-polluted urban skies. In my opinion digital imaging technology has enabled a viewing experience superior to visual observing in urban settings, since light pollution prevents my eyes from becoming fully dark adapted . The GOTO mount points the telescope to targets my streetlight-blinded eyes cannot see, and the camera not only intensifies the image for real time viewing on screen but saves it as a digital file for further processing and analysis.

 

My astro activity decreased during the second half of 2024 due to relocation from South Florida to Virginia. In the interim while my SCTs were in storage I started using a more portable wide-field system. It handles like a dream and gives excellent results, but I look forward to seeing DSO's with the long focal length systems again.

 

A top goal is documenting observations of 400 NGC objects to earn the Astronomical League Herschel 400 certification. I am gaining appreciation for the variety of targets in the sky -- in addition to showpiece objects. Initially I used the shortest exposure times possible to document positive ID which enabled observation of dozens of targets in a single night, however, this produced unsatisfying mediocre galaxy images. Thirty minutes of exposures yields much better images, although the resulting images are not as appealing as a good long exposure color image. Goal is to complete these observations in 2024. In October 2023 I began using PixInsight as the foundation for DSO image processing.

 

By necessity I do strive for perfect pictures of the planets. There is less useful info in a mediocre planet image. In 2022 I began observations of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn in our solar system (in conjunction with the ALPO) and more distant variable stars (in conjunction with the AAVSO) in support of scientific research. This required mastering different methods for image capture and processing, than for making beautiful deep sky object pictures.

 

The images and observations are my own, except the few noted images. Information from Wikipedia and other sources provide context as noted.

 

All the Best! Dave Stokes

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  • JoinedDecember 2019
  • Current citySpotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia
  • CountryUSA

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