Astrophotography Comments

This page is still a work in progress. Many guests have attempted to take pictures using film during their evening on the mountain, but since the results are developed and printed after the guests leave, we have few guest images in this gallery. However, this selection of images can be used to sample the various aspects of astrophotography including exposure times, film used, field of view and different modes of image acquisition (piggback vs prime focus).

Here are a few additional comments:

1. Astrophotography is inherently more "risky" than the CCD imagery since the results are not known until the guest goes home. Some factors which affect the quality of the images include guiding, focus, and exposure time. Piggyback exposures can be hand-guided or autoguided by the CCD camera. Prime focus exposures are all hand-guided (at this time). Piggyback exposures require a lens a little longer than 50mm so that the telescope and slit in the Dome is not seen. There is no singular focussing technique (prime focus) since guests come with different cameras. However, from the selection of images shown, the average "focus" seems acceptable. And finally, astrophotography using film is generally a slow process, be prepared to spend alot of time if you choose to undertake it!

2. Disregard the lines running through the images. These are a product of scanning the prints. We hope to minimize these in the future.

3. Keep in mind that most of these images are machine prints and are not adjusted and tweaked to yeild the best contrast and color saturation. Further processing is often required to obtain these optimal characteristics.

BACK to Astrophotography

If you want to do film astrophotography during your Advanced Observing Program, don't miss THIS.

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Updated: 2/12/2000