Hi from light-polluted The Netherlands - Forums

Topic starter

Nov 14, 2020

Hi everybody

I'm a visual observer and telescope builder branching out into astrophotography. As is common nowadays, the lockdown gave me the extra time to start this addition to the hobby. Been dabbling in it for a couple of years, and took the plunge last spring.

I am based in Leiden, which is right in the middle of a very light-polluted part of Holland. My plan for now is to do astrophotography from home only. My view of the sky there is quite good for a city view, about 160 degrees not quite centered on south. Started with a Vixen GP and a WO Zenitstar 61, upgraded to a HEQ5 with a 15 cm Sky-Watcher Newton. I also have a C8 and the plan is to start using that later on. I also have access to the telescopes in Leiden Observatory. The camera is a Canon 1100D, the plan is to upgrade to a monochrome camera with filters at some point in time. I also have a ZWO asi120mc-s for guiding and planetary work.

I'm not fond of processing, as I am behind a computer quite enough already. I am interested in processing techniques that can run unattended. I realize that that won't work for a lot of objects, but with my skies I don't believe I will be shooting these anyway.

Regards

Sander

Helpful Engaging

Fritz

Nov 14, 2020

Sander,

welcome to the Astrobin community. I live in Austria, in Vienna, the area is heavily light polluted too.

I have two ways of dealing with light pollution: First and foremost I travel. I do not mind to drive a few kilometers for a darker spot. In many cases I am able to avoid bad weather this way too.

When I am to lazy to drive long at night, I use narrow band filters on a monochrome camera. This is a proven way to deal with light pollution and many people here make amazing pictures out of suburbs, towns or even cities. Then there are light pollution filters. I never used one, but there is tons of information in the net and many useres here use this type of filters.

Best

Fritz

Helpful Supportive

John

Nov 14, 2020

hey sander ,Welcome.

Well..try to get as fast as possible to get a mono cam,even second hand is better then that canon.

i live in a dark place,but the randstad is to bright for that. with mono cam you can do always narrowband,ha o3 and S2 will give great results.

Here some great shops,wich will have second hand also.

greetings and good luck..John.

http://www.te-les-koop.nl/
https://www.robtics.nl/nl/8279-occasions
https://www.ganymedes.nl/
https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/index.php/language/en

Douwe79

Nov 14, 2020

Welcome Sander,

It's not a bad thing to start out with a DSLR, since there are already enough things to learn as a beginner. Whenever you feel you're getting the hang of it, you should consider switching to mono indeed. I recently switched and have ordered the ZWO 1600 mm pro + 8x1.25 inch filter wheel + lrgb filters from ZWO. Will probably buy the narrowband filters as well when budget allows it.
Clear skies!

Douwe

Well Written Respectful Concise Supportive

lucian_nicu

Nov 15, 2020 · Edited: Nov 15, 2020

Hello.
I live in a Bortle 5-6 location (according to the light pollution map) but I am surrounded by street lights (the "best" kind, LED, of course). To give you an idea, the best place for astrophotography that I have is the one located exactly in the shadow of an LED pole, 4 meters away from it.
Like you, for now I use DSLR cameras (a modded Canon and a stock Nikon). The solution I found reasonable at this time was to buy 2 filters: one for light pollution (IDAS LPS D2 - which removes much of the LED light) and one for contrast, a dual / tri narrowband filter (Optolong L-enhance). So far the results are satisfactory for me.
As colleagues said, a mono camera and narrowband filters would be a much better solution, but I proposed a less expensive option that you can apply quickly.
The decision is yours, of course.
Good luck and clear sky!

Well Written Helpful Engaging