This site is dedicated to seeing and appreciating the magnificence of the deep sky, especially when accessed from difficult environments like the northeast USA. I hope to show that the challenges to astronomy posed by outdoor light pollution, skyglow, and a dense wet atmosphere can be overcome. Of course the right equipment and techniques are needed, as are patience and motivation. If here, then anywhere!
Most of the astronomical images here are originals acquired from my NJ backyard observatory, described below. For comparison some were acquired remotely from a telescope at Cerro Tololo in the Chilean Andes -- one of the world's best astronomy locations; the telescope there is a 16" R-C with FLI 16803 CCD. A few images were acquired from Mt Lemmon AZ with the 32" Schulman reflector and FLI 16803 CCD.
The NJ observatory telescope is designed for imaging rather than eyepieces -- a 12.5" f/6.7 AG Optical Systems iDK (imaging Dall-Kirkham Cassegrain) on a Paramount MX, running under TheSkyX software. This type of telescope greatly reduces optical aberrations seen with many scopes using larger imaging sensors. The NJ camera is a ZWO ASI-071 color CMOS (APS-C size sensor, 23.6X15.6 mm), and in some cases an SBIG ST-10 CCD with LRGB filters. The Gallery images are the results of many hours of photon exposure, typically 6-12 hours with 15-20 minute subframes. Final images were produced using CCD-Stack and Photoshop. The colors are true.
Nebulae
interstellar clouds of glowing gas & dust...
Galaxies
island universes of billions of stars......
Star Clusters
vast "cities of stars" within our galaxy....
Supernova Remnants
after massive stars explode...
Solar System
planets, moons, comets, transits...
My Backyard Observatory
where the data come from...
How-to Videos by Rex Parker
down to earth talk about stellar subjects...
Mt Lemmon Astroimaging Workshop
slide show from Tucson field trip...
Measuring Algol's Light Curve with CCD Camera
famed variable star
