Astrophotography using cameras provides many benefits such as observing fainter details, making scientific measurements and producing stunning images that are shared with others. This OMSI Astrophotography Conference covered the various aspects of astrophotography including deep sky imaging, wide field images, webcam imaging of planets, using G2V stars to color balance images, how to maximize imaging sessions, image tips, using Images Plus software, how to frame and compose an astrophoto, polar alignment and using narrowband/light pollution filters.

This OMSI Astrophotography workshop was sponsored and hosted by Jim Todd.

The conference was organized by Neil Heacock and David Haworth.

Presentations and papers are available for down load.

Schedule

• 8:00 to 8:15 am Sign-in  
   
• 8:15 am Quasars: Imaging the Visible Edge of the Universe ,
  David Haworth
  • Introduction to Quasars & QSOs
  • Redshift
  • QSOs near NGC253
  • Gravitational Lens Twin Quasar
  • QS0 SDSS J161705.70+443522.5
  • 3C 273 redshift

• Wide Field Lenses: Big Sky Pictures,
  Neil Heacock
  • Tracking systems
  • Types of lenses
  • F stops
  • Targets to shoot and techniques
  • and more...

• Webcam Imaging of the Moon and Planets,
  Barry Brence
  • Imaging equipment
  • Sky Conditions
  • Acquisition Software
  • Stacking Software
  • Processing
  • Software Demo

• Star Color and G2V Calibration,
  Ken Hose
  • Star Colors
  • Finding G2V Stars
  • Air Mass and Extinction
  • Finding Extinction Coefficients
  • Determining RGB ratio
  
   
   
   
   
• 12:00 am Lunch on your own at the OMSI cafeteria

• 1:00 am Preparation: Maximizing Your Imaging Sessions,
  Neil Heacock
  • Ensuring an appropriate target
  • Knowing your FOV
  • Estimating exposure time
  • The Meridian flip
  • Software to aid your session planning
  • and more...

• Tom's Tips - What 20 years of imaging has taught me,
  Tom Carrico
  • Start with my comet Lulin movie and the story behind it ( http://www.ccdargo.com/lulin.gif) It is 29 MB, I will have it on my computer
  • Brief intro of my imaging flow
  • Using computers remotely, or how to image with the lights on
  • Staying on top of focus -automatically or manually
  • Tracking, or not (this may be already covered earlier in the day, but I have some slides for this)
  • No such thing as too much exposure, or is there?
  • Staying powered up
  • Critical evaluation of your images, what to keep, what to toss, and why
  • Brief overview of power and cable management

• ImagesPlus Camera Control and Image Processing Software,
  Sean Curry
  • Overview of the ImagesPlus 3.80 Workflow
  • Camera Control for DSLR and CCD Cameras
  • Automatic Image Set Processing
  • Digital Development and other Image Processing Tools
  • Demo Processing of a Canon DSLR Image Set

• The Art of Composing in Astro-Photography,
  Greg Marshall
  • Understanding visual balance
  • The power of lines, real and implied
  • Directing the viewer's eye
  • The rule of thirds
  • What to do when your subject won't obey posing instructions

• Narrowband Imaging and Methods for Accurate Polar Alignment,
  Duncan Kitchin
  • Sources of noise in astroimages
  • The role of color in imaging and image sensors
  • How and when to use narrowband filters
  • Understanding drift and frame rotation
  • Polar scope alignment
  • Drift alignment
  • Iterative & automated alignment

Neil Heacock

Neil Heacock is an IT professional who moved out of the city for the first time in 2003. After living in LA, Seattle and Portland, he moved to somewhat more rural area of Clark County and really saw the stars. This birthed a strong interest in astronomy which has continued to grow and develop over the past 6 years. In 2006 Neil began to dabble in astrophotography and after attending the 2007 Northwest Astrophotography Conference his imaging stared to mature. Neil primarily considers himself a visual observer but with such amazing and easy to use imaging systems available he now images with one setup while observing with another. Neil uses a modified Canon 1000D DSLR camera and the images he produces are excellent.

Barry Brence

Barry is a retired finance manager and stockbroker who has had a lifelong interest in space and astronomy. Although he didn't begin regular imaging until 2006, he, along with a friend, took his first astrophoto in high school.......Comet Arend-Roland in 1957, using a 35mm film camera. The boys developed the B&W photos in their dad's darkrooms. Almost 40 years later, he took his second photo......this time in color, of the comet Hale-Bopp. Barry says he gets the greatest satisfaction from producing pleasing images with a minimum of inexpensive equipment. He has done Afocal, Webcam, CCD and DSLR imaging through various types of telescopes.

Tom Carrico

Tom has been involved in astronomy for over 25 years, first visually, and shortly thereafter succumbing to imaging when Halley's comet showed up. Tom has used many CCD cameras over the last 20, starting with the tiny SBIG ST-4. Currently, he images from his backyard in Corvallis, his observatory in central Oregon that is shared with 4 other astronomers, or remotely using his 10" RC in New Mexico. Tom has been published in Sky and Telescope, the Astronomy Magazine web site, Astrophoto Insight, and numerous books and articles pertaining to astronomy. An EE by training, Tom is currently a program manager in R&D at Hewlett Packard.
 

Sean Curry

Sean Curry lives in the beautiful Wagner Valley in Southern Oregon. He got his first telescope upon moving there in 2002, and began imaging with a modified DSLR in 2006. Sean has recently upgraded his equipment to include an AP900 Mount, a Tak FSQ106, and a QSI 583wsg camera. Once the skies clear from the Oregon Winter, he hope to take his imaging to a new level. Sean supports his astronomy hobby as a Lecturer in GIS at Southern Oregon University, and as a researcher at the University of the Pacific.

Ken Hose

Ken Hose has been active in visual astronomy for the last 10 years or so. He now has an observatory and taken up astro-imaging. As an engineer, he has an interest in the scientific aspects of the hobby and has a special interest in detecting exoplanet transits.
 

Duncan Kitchin

Duncan Kitchin has been taking astro images since 2003, starting with a point and shoot digital camera. Since 2005, he has been capturing deep sky images with a modified DSLR and various telescopes, switching more recently to a dedicated CCD camera. His current interests include capturing narrowband images from his back yard in heavily light polluted Beaverton.

Greg Marshall

Greg Marshall is a relative newcomer to astronomy and went directly into astro-photography beginning in 2005. But he has many years of experience in conventional photography and much of his professional career as an electronics engineer has been involved with image capture, processing and printing. Currently, he is employed by Xerox Corporation, where he designs specialized computers for image processing in printers and copiers.

David Haworth

David Haworth enjoys astronomy imaging and processing those images to bring out details that cannot be seen easily by visual observing with the same size optics. David Haworth started astroimaging with a Cookbook CCD camera he built in 1996 and since then has used many types of cameras to image the sky. David wrote Chapter 2: "Afocal Photography with Digital Cameras" in the second edition of "The Art and Science of CCD Astronomy" which was published in December 2005. David's images have appeared in magazine front covers, articles, books, catalogs, videos, music CD covers, T-shirts, other web sites, etc.