Amateur Stargazer Stuns Worlds Astronomers

Thought I should add as i havent seen it mentioned, sorry if i missed the post if it has already, registax is a great proggy for your astro images, noise reduction or trapping noise to enhance true detail.

here is the link its a free download
Registax

themuse

reply to post by grantbeed


Can anyone recommend a good telescope that's not too much $$$ that I can buy? I can only wish to find sights like this myself one day

reply to post by Dallas1611


you should read this post here -

www.abovetopsecret.com...

there are a few different types, and the price range is huge. It's a case of get as good a scope as you can afford.

I'm hoping to buy one myself later this year if I can save enough $$$.

Amazing photos, lucky guy lol

Those are stunning images.

I recently purchased a 12 inch Dobsonian and 13mm Televue Ethos eyepiece. I've looked at the moon and was blown away by the clarity.

I'll be hoping for some clear nights this long weekend so I can do some deep sky viewing.

I recommend those who haven't already to get into astronomy, it's an awe-inspiring hobby.

[edit on 23-1-2010 by StevesResearch]

sorry for not replying sooner but my email hasnt stopped.

Many thanks for the invite, i am really flattered by all the remarks here, the papers seem to have put their own spin on the story(as usual)
There are many astro imagers around the world doing far better pictures than myself, im really not sure why i got picked on. As for comparing my set up to the HST well thats just silly. The scope is a very small but a powerfull instrument which is capable of doing some valuable research, but it is still only an 8" telescope which has limits. Its designed to capture very faint objects and not very good for the moon or planets.

The problem we have here in the UK is the poor weather, we get very little in the way of usable clear skies. The beauty of the techniques i use allows me to take the exposures over several nights(if needed) once i have all the data it then a case of processing it all using software this can take several attempts and many hours, i can spend 12 hours or so processing the data......i quite often get "thats a nice snap" they have no idea!

once again many thanks for all your comments

Peter Shah

[edit on 23-1-2010 by peter shah]

You can't really compare his setup with the Hubble. For crying out loud people, the Hubble was designed and built to take pictures of DEEP space, other galaxies on the edge of the known universe, not close up galaxies like Andromeda or nebula like M31, things that are very easily seen and photographed by amateurs. His photos are VERy beautiful though, love the one posted earlier in the thread of Andromeda. I can only hope to be as good as he is one day. Hopefully soon I can get a camera to start imaging.

reply to post by grantbeed


Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention .... --- fantastic photos -- It is humbling that a regular guy in the garden shed can do something so amazing ---- It would be great to see side-by-side images between the Hubble and Mr. Shah's pix....

reply to post by peter shah


Hi Peter,

thanks so much for getting in touch and contributing to this thread about your fantastic work. It's made me and several others much keener to get into astronomy.

amazing pictures and good on you for getting great exposure with your work (pardon the pun)

Keep up the great work Peter!

Grant

reply to post by peter shah


Welcome to ATS Peter!

That was a good idea to use gold mylar around the pier to improve your sky watching. I didn't realise the concrete pier would be such a problem.

I notice you use a large viewfinder as well.

Just out of curiosity do you have any pictures of Saturn or any other outer planets?

Cheers

Steve

My set up is designed only for deep sky work and not planetary imaging....thats a whole different setup.....and im not about to spend any more on this.....(the wife wont let me)

The scope is very sensitive to temperature change most of the very bad seeing is at ground level, the milar was a cheap option

[edit on 23-1-2010 by peter shah]

reply to post by peter shah


20,000 pounds is a lot of money so I understand where your wife's coming from.

What camera do you use?

the camera is a starlight xpress SXV-H16, its a black and white camera designed for astro imaging. The colour comes from imaging through separate colour filters, the data is put together in photo shop to produce the colour image that you see. A lot of people think they are false colour images, mostly they are not, only the ones taken using sulphur, hyrodgen alpha and oxygen filters, these show a map indicating what elements are where. Here are examples of the same object taken in both true color and narrow band light they can look quite different when compared

www.astropix.co.uk...

www.astropix.co.uk...

the light from these objects are so faint our eyes arent sensitive enough to see them so they often appear as a slight colourless haze or nothing at all when viewed through an eyepiece....that was one reason wyh i took up imaging, i was quite disappointed when i looked through a telescope.

many hours of exposures and many hours of processing each image takes around 12 hours work some much longer....i love it when someone calls them snaps!

a lot of the news papers said my kit cost £20,000 thats not true, ive actually spent £20,000 on the hobby over the years.....i suppose inaccuracies are to be expected when you are dealing with the press

peter shah

reply to post by peter shah


Hi Peter, welcome to ATS, and thanks for your replies, one question I'd like to ask is what type/brand of colour filters are you using for the deep sky images?

i have two sets of filters first set is made by Astronomik, the other set by Orange Bright Optics, but im looking at getting some Astrodons they are about the best, but will cost about 2.5K for a set....silly money so they will have to wait!!

reply to post by peter shah


G'day Peter

I also welcome you to ATS & thank you for your very interesting posts.

Kind regards
Maybe...maybe not

Great photo Just goes to show the universe is a beautiful place. Hope one day we all can travel out there

[begin sarcasm] Just looks like 10,000 dots. It's not like there could possibly be anything out there anyways. Everyone knows the whole Universe revolves around us, because my Bible say so and 90% of people agree with it. The Bible is peer-reviewed proof mankind is the only form of intelligent life. [end sarcasm]