View Full Version : Pinwheel Galaxy (m33)
Jon Ruyle
09-16-2009, 01:31 AM
I finally got my telescope and 5DII to a dark site. Saturday I went camping with my 7-year-old daughter at Observatory Campground near Palomar Observatory. She fell asleep around 10pm, leaving me a couple of hours till moonrise, and the large galaxy m33 was well placed. I think it turned out better than what I was getting from my back yard.
The mach 1 mount was tracking so well no guiding was needed. It was pretty much just point and shoot :)
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m33, 5DII with AP130EDFGT (819mm f/6.3)
iso 1600, 8 exposures of 8 min each stacked with deep sky stacker
A higher resolution version is here ("http://picasaweb.google.com/jonruyle/Astro#5381350374057222274). Click the magnifying class in the upper right to see full resolution.
Rodger
09-16-2009, 01:33 AM
Very cool!
Kind of makes you realize just how small we really are in the big scheme of things..
Maleko
09-16-2009, 04:24 AM
Now that is awesome!
Triple Black 88
09-16-2009, 08:36 AM
Wow... amazing!
alexniedra
09-16-2009, 08:48 AM
That is awesome!
Well done, Jon.
Mark Elberson
09-16-2009, 09:53 AM
Wow!
Super shot! You've got to show us more when you get a chance to take some more.
Jon Ruyle
09-16-2009, 02:45 PM
Thanks for the comments. I'm really happy with the performance of the 5DII in this context. Most people use cooled ccds to reduce thermal noise, but the 5DII long exposure noise reduction (which I used) seems to work pretty well.
Dallasphotog
09-16-2009, 02:51 PM
Really amazing image...
Jon Ruyle
09-17-2009, 02:34 AM
Thanks! :)
ShutterbugJohan
09-17-2009, 06:37 PM
Nice shot! I need to try to get a shot like that sometime... :-)
mattsartin
09-17-2009, 07:41 PM
if you don't mind me asking, roughly how much did all the equipment required to take this shot cost? i have access to a high-powered telescope with a computer tracking system on it through school, are there converters to mount your camera to telescopes? excellent picture by the way!
Jon Ruyle
09-21-2009, 05:01 PM
I don't mind you asking :)
The equipment is expensive. The mount is an astro physics mach 1 GTO, about $7000 with tripod. The telescope, also astro-physics, is a 130 Gran Turismo, and cost about $6000. And you know how much the 5DII cost.
To attach the camera to the telescope requires an adapter. Here ("http://picasaweb.google.com/jonruyle/Mach1#5365924301025416482)is a picture, though it is a different telescope. The adapter is not expensive, and makes your camera think the telescope is a manual focus lens :)
Just curious, what kind of telescope is the "high powered" one?
mattsartin
09-21-2009, 05:20 PM
to be honest i'm not sure. i know its $5k worth of glass then another $5k in the computer that operates it, made by M eade if that means anything. it's a permanent set up, definitely not portable.
Very cool!
Kind of makes you realize just how small we really are in the big scheme of things..
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Especially considering that the light from that particular galaxy had to travel several million years just to get here. Awesome!