Messier 15 (NGC 7078) globular cluster.

Messier 15 is 33,600 light years away in the constellation of Pegasus.

Home to over 100,000 stars M15 is the oldest known cluster at 12 billion years old and has a rare type of black hole at its centre. - (Wikipedia).

This image is made from 12x180 second exposures @ISO 800 plus 10 darks, 10 bias and 10 flat frames. I also used a 42 second exposure to bring out some of the detail in the very dense and bright centre of the cluster.
Phd2 guiding was used to guide my field flattened ED80 using a ZWOASI120MC camera (0.2 second exposures) attached to a SW 80T guide scope.
Capture camera was an unmodified canon EOS40D DSLR controlled by my home made camera trigger allowing mirror flip then Stacked using deepSkyStacker.

Because clouds are so unique, so is this image.

Laying back in a garden chair on a warm sunny June afternoon, I opened my eyes and this amazing cloud filled my gaze. After just a few seconds I knew I had to photograph it before it drifted away . I raced indoors and up the stairs, grabbed my old Canon 400D and ran down again. Hoping the cloud was still there and had not changed shape or disintegrated I hurriedly set the camera. I normally shoot RAW manually but I new I only had a few seconds before the cloud would be obscured by a large tree so I set the camera to AV (aperture priority mode) and chose f/10 as my aperture. I checked the auto focus and image stabilisation were on so I framed it and took the shot. At ISO 100 the camera set itself to 1/40 of a second.
So a couple of things came to mind - You never know where you next image may come from so keep a camera ready and if your in a hurry use AV mode. Because clouds are so unique, so is this image.

M10 Globular cluster in Ophiuchus

A cropped view of M10 situated some 14,300 light years away.

 Discovered on the 29th May 1764 by Charles Messier,this faint cluster (magnitude 6.6) cannot be seen by the naked eye even though its 83 million light years in diameter.
Travelling away from us at 69 kilometres per second it it lies only 16,000 light years from the centre of the our galaxy the Milky Way.

Full size image

Taken using 7 x 180 second exposures at iso800 & Canon 40D.
Sky-watcher ED80 DS pro refractor with 0.85 reducer.field flattener.
Focused using a Bahtinov mask
Heq5 pro mount guided by a Sky-watcher 80T refractor , ZWOASI120MC camera and PHD2.
Processed in Deep Sky Stacker and Photoshop CC.

This is the first time I have used the ED80 focal reducer/field flattener which improves the focal ration from f/7.5 to f/6.375. The field flattening is now very good with virtually no signs of coma (smudged stars away from the centre of the image). Nice round stars, even in the corners of the image!!!

Messier 5 Globular Cluster in Serpens

24,500 light years away, M5 contains up to 500,000 stars and is not really visible to the naked eye.

Discovered in 1702 by Gottfried Kirch, this is one of the largest clusters known at 165 light years in diameter. Its 13 billion years old. The large star in the image is called 5 Serpentis (a white giant) and is only 82.8 light years away.
This is the first guided image I have taken using my ST80 guide scope and ZWO ASI120MC guide camera using PHD2. The image contains only 6 x 3 minute subs and 9 x 30 second subs for the core of the cluster.
Darks, Flats, and Bias frames where also used in Deep Sky Stacker.
So I'm really pleased to have been guiding on my first attempt.

Waxing Moon 29th May 2015

Shot through light cloud, I took 35 images with my Canon 40d @ 1/160 sec ISO 100 with Mirror lockup. The scope was my ED80 with no filter. The 35 images were stacked in AutoStakkert and finished in Photoshop CC.

The image below is a single unstacked image processed only in Photoshop. It gives a less detailed image probably due to the extra noise reduction.

M51 Whirlpool Galaxy. My favourite Galaxy!!

M51a (or NGC 5194) was discovered in 1773 by Charles Messier.

It is about 25 million light years away.

M51a is only 35% the size of our galaxy (the Milky Way) and is about 38,000 light years in diameter.

Made up of two Galaxies, the small galaxy called M51b (or NGC 5195) passed though M51a disturbing it around 550 million years ago and is still seen interacting with it today.

The image was captured with just 11 minutes of data using my ED80 DS PRO refractor attached to a prime focused Canon 40d.

21 x 30 second exposures unguided at ISO 1600.
Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker with dark, flat and bias frames.
Finished in Photoshop CC.

Here is a wider field of view

My plan in the future is to introduce guiding using a guide scope to increase the exposure time to get more data.

Messier 13 (M13) The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules

This is my first attempt at a deep sky object using my new Skywatcher 80ED DS Pro refractor attached to a Canon 40D. 15 x 30 second images @ iso 1600 were stacked in DSS.
M13 contains an amazing 300,000 stars and is 22.2 million light years away.
Discovered by Edmond Halley in 1714 it is an enormous 145 light years in diameter.
By the way, 1 light year is about 6 trillion miles.
A faint side on spiral galaxy, named NGC 6207 is far left of the image and is between 30 and 45 million light years away.

My DIY Triggertrap Dongle

The Triggertrap mobile app has some neat features for controlling the camera shutter.

The app is free and all you need to buy is a dongle with a lead specific to your camera.

If you’re not into soldering then just visit the Triggertrap website and buy one.

  The app features:-

   ·         Simple Cable Release. (Tap the button to take a picture).

   ·         Quick Release (Release the button to take a picture).

   ·         Press and Hold (Touch to start, release to stop).

   ·         Press and Lock (Touch to start, touch to stop).

   ·            Self Timer (Photo in 3..2..1..).

   ·         Timelapse (Travel through time).

   ·         TimeWarp (Timelapse with acceleration).

   ·         DistanceLapse (Perfect for road trips).

   ·         Star Trail (Extreme exposure control).

   ·         Bramping (Bulb Ramping timelapse).

   ·         Sound Sensor (Clap, whistle or tap).

   ·         Vibration Sensor (Vibrations and earthquakes).

   ·         Motion Sensor (Detect Movement).

   ·         Peekaboo (Facial recognition).

   ·         LE HDR (Long exposure HDR sets).

   ·         LE HDR timelapse (|Long exposure HDR timelapse).

   ·         Wi-Fi (Trigger remotely).

   ·         ND Calculator (Natural Density Filter Calculator).

   ·         Solar Calculator (Sunrise and Sunset times).

The cable and dongle currently costs £22.99 plus £3.99 postage and £5.39 tax in total is £32.33 for my canon 40D which I think is amazing value.

However I like DIY and saw this post on the internet by Udi Tirosh http://www.diyphotography.net/building-diy-trigger-trap/ showing how to make a dongle and cable with a few parts and some soldering so I thought I would at least work out the cost.

It turns out to be quite a bit cheaper, so I thought I would follow Udi’s post and it works really well with app.

Soldering and assembly took about an hour as there are only 4 components on the board.

My Bill of Materials all from Ebay, including postage :

   ·         2 off 1.5k resistors cost 99p (for 10).

   ·         2 off BC547b Transistors cost £1.30 (for 10).

   ·         1 off 2.5mm stereo Panel mount socket cost £1.97.

   ·         1 off Small project box ABS 46mm x 32mm x 20mm with 4screws cost £2.65.

   ·         1off Old iphone headphones to chop up cost £FREE.

   ·         The cable from dongle to camera comes from an old (and cheap) Ebay cable release            with a 2 metre extension.

            TOTAL COST = £6.91 Saving £25.42

As I already have the soldering equipment and a small piece of Perfboard it was a no brainer.

I think if I can make it myself then I always appreciate it more, and if I can save money at the same time that a great bonus.

So here is my circuit diagram-

I have basically copied Udi Tirosh’s circuit diagram and it worked perfectly 1^st time.

Note:- the centre pin of each transistor(pin2) is soldered to its resistor.

Pin 3 of each transistor are connected together with camera and phone ground.

I used old iphone headpones found the Green wire was the shutter wire and the red wire was the focus wire. I then bundled the other wires together and connected to ground. As far as I know, any similar stereo 3.5mm headphones would work.

You will need to check your own setup with a meter to ensure you know which wire is which as there are so many headphones on the market today.

And this is what it looks like inside the dongle when completed.

And this is how I wired the phone to the dongle.

 Please note that I have recorded this project for my own benefit so I can make another if needed. If you wish to copy it, be my guest.  However please be careful when attaching anything to your camera or phone.

Poole Harbour Sunrise

The Barfleur car ferry slips quietly away to France with its cargo of lorries and cars.
This is a blend of three images enabling me to keep the shadows and sunlight visible

Comet Lovejoy C/2014 Q2 18th Jan 2015

This comet is turning into a gem.
Each night it climbs higher in the sky, first passing Orion then the Pleiades. I snatched this image just before the January clouds rolled in.

Taken using my barndoor tracker with and 70mm skywatcher refractor with a focal length of 500mm gives a reasonable wide field at f7.1 My trusty canon 40D was attached in prime focus.
Deep Sky Stacker was used to stack 11 X 30 second images but it was not easy. I had 31 images but DSS seemed to work better with less. I am really pleased with this image and  am sure I could do better as its the first time I have used the comet stacking feature in DSS and I used a very cheap second hand refractor (£28 from ebay).