Nebula Prime

Astrophotography

Thor's Helmet - NGC2359, photographed with SHO filters (Sulfur-II, Hydrogen-Alpha, and Oxygen-III). It is approximately 12 thousand light years away (70,543,504,478,203,292 miles) and 30 light years in size. Our Solar System is 0.00096 light years across. So this nebula is almost 31,200 times larger than our entire solar system. The bright star in the center of the helmet is a Wolf-Rayet type star, one of the hottest known things in the universe, illuminating surrounding Ionized and non-ionized gasses. The central "bubble" is primarily Oxygen (blue)

Total Solar Eclipse, Bald Knob Cross, IL

21 August 2017

About
Nebula Prime

I’ve always had a passion for anything to do with Space and Physics. My first experience actually trying to photograph anything non-terrestrial was the “Great North American Eclipse” of 2017 with a Nikon camera, a knock-off zoom lens, a cheap tripod, and a wired shutter trigger. I studied techniques beforehand, and was thrilled with my results. I was hooked. What you see on these pages is a continuing evolution of my abilities as an amateur astrophotographer. My goal with this website is to not only share what I’ve been able to capture, but to also help anyone who has a passion for space and stellar beauty, maybe help you avoid the countless mistakes I’ve made, save you hours (or months!) of frustration. I hope to share a little of what I have learned about the complexities of the universe and its utterly incomprehensible size by describing the basics of everything you’ll see. If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me! I’m also working on a store where you can buy my pictures, coming soon!

Andromeda Galaxy, 2.5 Million Light Years from Earth

Why can’t I see these space objects on my own?

If you are lucky enough to live in or visit a very “dark sky” location, where you can clearly see the Milky Way, then you should be able to see this - the Andromeda Galaxy. Andromeda is roughly 5 times larger than the size of the moon as we see it. It is described as a large “smudge” in the sky.

How can you find Andromeda? If you can find the Big Dipper, the front part of the dipper (pot) points to Polaris (the North Star), the “biggest” bright star in that part of the sky. Keep going past Polaris, about the same distance as the Big Dipper was, and you’ll find a W arrangement of stars - that’s Cassiopeia. Keep going in the same direction, not quite as far as Polaris to Cassiopeia, and you’ll hopefully see Andromeda as a smudge of faint light.

Screenshot from SkySafariPro

Do I need a big expensive telescope to get pictures like this?

I spent decades trying to figure out what kind of telescope to get. Anyone who has considered astronomy has quickly been overwhelmed by the sheer numbers and types of different telescopes, and that usually leads to brain freeze.

Bottom line, first determine what you want to see.

If you want to see planets - Mars, Jupiter, Saturn - then the bigger the telescope the better. You want a large aperture - the diameter of the lens - to capture as much light as you can. You’ll also want a long focal length and high magnification, but keep in mind that you need good “seeing” conditions to make out details. Atmospheric turbulence and humidity will prevent good “seeing”.

If you want to view very distant galaxies and nebulae, you’ll also want that large aperture and long focal length.

In my opinion, the sweet spot is “local” Nebulae - glowing gas regions and supernova remnants that are all over our own galaxy. My telescope is a William Optics GT-81 - an 81mm tube diameter and a 384mm focal length - which is essentially a 400mm camera lens. If you’d like a complete rundown of my setup, I’ll list it here

I also wanted everything to work together seamlessly, which led me to ZWO. Yes, they are a Chinese company, but contrary to most of my previous experience with Chinese-made goods, ZWO makes VERY good products at reasonable prices, and I’ve never had any quality control issues with anything from them. From the easy to use software on my iPad and phone, to the micro-computer (ASIAir) that runs everything, to the tracking scope, astro-cameras, auto-focuser, and filter wheel, everything just works, and works together well.