NEXT STEPS in astrophotography
Some of the advanced equipment and techniques used by experienced astro imagers to capture stunning images
The Moon and planets
While imaging the Moon using a DSLR camera at a scope’s prime focus gives good images, slotting a high frame-rate (HFR) camera in at prime focus on a similar setup will deliver WKH EHVW UHVXOWV 7KH OHV FDPHUDV OLNH ZWO’s ASI120MC-S (£151) or the Celestron NexImage Burst Imager d FDSWXUH DUHQ W WKH QLVKHG picture, though: they need to be processed with specialist software.
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The Sun
Our star is so bright it poses a real danger to eyesight and equipment, VR FDUH PXVW EH WDNHQ WR NHHS WKH ends of any telescope pointed at the Sun covered with either end caps or a specialist VRODU OWHU
There are different W\SHV RI OWHU WKDW FXW out most of the energy of the Sun’s light. White OLJKW OWHUV XQGHU d allow a tiny portion the Sun’s spectrum through and show detail on the Sun’s visible surface. Hydrogen-alpha DQG &DOFLXP . OWHUV RQO\ VKRZ light from those respective parts of the Sun’s full spectrum, but these are expensive (around £2,000). They do, however, enable solar imagers to use large aperture telescopes to capture stunning detail at different levels on the Sun’s chromosphere.
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Galaxies and nebulae
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