Massapoag
Pond Observatory
Telescopes
and DSLR cameras available today allow amateur
astrophotographers to take very detailed images of
the night sky. Combine this technology with
advances in acquisition / tracking and processing
software allow us to obtain images of nebulae,
galaxies and star clusters of similar quality as
those taken by professional observatories only a
decade ago.
Often
the targets are very faint, even with extremely
sensitive cameras, long exposures ranging from a
few minutes to several hours are needed to capture
the pleasing detail. Extreme precision is required
of the mechanics of telescope, focuser and mount to
track these objects as they move along their path
across the night sky.
A dark site, a bit of experience, and some image
processing skills help to achieve pleasing
results.
