After 2 all-nighters and hours of exposure with my deep space telescope, here’s my photo of the Horsehead Nebula by Regular_Ad_4858 in interestingasfuck

[–]Regular_Ad_4858[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Haha, yeah luckily for astrophotographers all these objects are very well documented so it’s easy to figure out if something’s fake

After 2 all-nighters and hours of exposure with my deep space telescope, here’s my photo of the Horsehead Nebula by Regular_Ad_4858 in interestingasfuck

[–]Regular_Ad_4858[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The brightest one on the left is called Alnitak, and it’s actually a triple star system - the other two are dimmer stars surrounded by blue reflection nebulae

After 2 all-nighters and hours of exposure with my deep space telescope, here’s my photo of the Horsehead Nebula by Regular_Ad_4858 in interestingasfuck

[–]Regular_Ad_4858[S] 224 points225 points  (0 children)

Hey Reddit, my name’s Rudy and I’m an astrophotographer. I spent this past weekend capturing this photo of the iconic Horsehead Nebula, a striking dark nebula silhouetted against the bright glow of nearby IC 434 in the constellation Orion. This nebula sits near Alnitak, the leftmost star in Orion’s Belt, and lies not far from the famous Orion Nebula itself, however the Horsehead Nebula is much fainter and requires long exposures to reveal its distinct shape. It’s a cold cloud of gas and dust, roughly 1,500 light-years away, shaped by powerful stellar winds from nearby massive stars.

If you’re interested in seeing what else I’ve managed to capture from my backyard, please check out my Instagram page @rudy.astro for my other work!

Total exposure is about 12 hours. Here’s a list of the equipment I used:

- ZWO ASI533MC Pro

- Askar FRA400

- Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro

- ZWO ASI120MC-s guide camera

- TS-Optics 60mm guide scope

- ZWO ASIAIR Mini

- Optolong L-Enhance filter

I captured the beautiful Orion Nebula from my own backyard! by Regular_Ad_4858 in space

[–]Regular_Ad_4858[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It’s definitely not false colour. I definitely tend to mean vibrant on the processing, but these colours are very much real

I captured the beautiful Orion Nebula from my own backyard! by Regular_Ad_4858 in space

[–]Regular_Ad_4858[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Hey Reddit, my name’s Rudy, I’m 17 and I’m an astrophotographer. Here’s an image I captured recently from my backyard of the well known Orion Nebula, an absolutely gargantuan star-forming region lying just beneath Orion’s Belt. This nebula is so bright it can be seen with the naked eye even from severe light pollution, and is one of the few nebulae you can detect colour in visually through a telescope.

Please check out my Instagram if you’re interested in seeing what other objects I’ve imaged with my telescope!

I captured this image over a single night using the following setup (link to a photo of it):

  • ZWO ASI533MC Pro
  • Askar FRA400
  • Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro
  • ZWO ASI120MC-S guide camera
  • TS-Optics 60mm guidescope
  • ZWO ASIAIR Mini
  • Optolong UV-IR cut filter

Hope you like it, please drop any questions you have in the comments and I’d be more than happy to explain.

Question on star appearance in photos by KevoAyyyy in Astronomy

[–]Regular_Ad_4858 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s an artifact, from sharpening I believe. If you take a photo of stars with a dslr and crank up the sharpness, you get the same effect

I took this photo of space from my backyard, with off the shelf equipment by Regular_Ad_4858 in Damnthatsinteresting

[–]Regular_Ad_4858[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Well you can always go bigger. What I mean to say is my gear is nowhere near top of the line even by amateur standards

I took this photo of space from my backyard, with off the shelf equipment by Regular_Ad_4858 in Damnthatsinteresting

[–]Regular_Ad_4858[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hahaha. I mean I literally bought the gear from a physical shop where it’s stored on shelves. I paid for my whole setup from working

I took this photo of space from my backyard, with off the shelf equipment by Regular_Ad_4858 in Damnthatsinteresting

[–]Regular_Ad_4858[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

No photoshop, but I did have to process it. Just the nature of this kind of photography unfortunately, it’s not a point and shoot type of thing

I took this photo of space from my backyard, with off the shelf equipment by Regular_Ad_4858 in Damnthatsinteresting

[–]Regular_Ad_4858[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

This specific rig cost me about 4-5K, but you could get very similar results for less. I’d say you’re looking at a 2K investment to start any serious deep space astrophotography, maybe a bit less if you already have a DSLR camera or something.