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Massachusetts Astro

Introductions M16 M45 Messier Objects
Alicia RossiterJoe ZajacMark C. Helton
•30 replies•1.3k views
Alicia Rossiter avatar
Alicia Rossiter avatar
Hello everyone.  Greetings from Plymouth Mass.! 
Please feel free to join this totally constructive and friendly group. I am relatively new to astrophotography and would like to learn from others in the area. The four seasons provide opportunities and challenges in terms of weather and targets.  I am very much looking forward to the beautiful skies of the fall (early dark skies are certainly most welcome after the long and humid summer!)
I created this group in the wrong place before and did not get any feedback....Thanks to additional guidance I hope the group has visibility now.

I would like to ask others about what is your experience with short integration times?.  A lot of us have limitations of view (such as trees ) and it is not always possible to get long integration times.. I am certainly in that group since I have very tall pines surrounding me. I have managed to come up with some not too bad short integration time pictures  taking advantage of some settings (long exposures and gain) . 

What is your shortest best ?
Here are some of my examples of integration times of 2 hours or less. 

Please join Massachusetts Astro. Clear skies!. Alicia



The Pleiades (Messier 45)


Wizard nebula (NGC 7380)


Orion Nebula (Messier 42)



Eagle Nebula (Messier 16)
Respectful Engaging Supportive
Alicia Rossiter avatar
Alicia Rossiter avatar
Hello Massachusetts..Nobody out there....really??
Well, here is another short integration (wide field ) of beautiful Orion...already visible at dawn in my home. 
11 min of integration with the Samyang 135 mm. 8 sec' subs 

Salvatore Iovene avatar
Salvatore Iovene avatar
Come one people of Massachusetts!

I know from AstroBin's web analytics that 333 of you visited AstroBin during the past 7 days.

Don't be shy!

Alicia Rossiter avatar
Alicia Rossiter avatar
Here are more short integration time pics just to boost the motivation a little bit....


Ghost of the moon nebula (NGC 6781)


Cigar Galaxy (Messier 82)

Come on Massachusetts!!!. Come onboard. This will be nice and fun!.
Alicia Rossiter avatar
Alicia Rossiter avatar
Hello Massachusetts!. Happy Sunday....It's cloudy and windy.  A good time to relax in Astrobin.
Here is another one for the short integration time (hopefully this one will make you join the group...)



Antares region, Rho Ophiuchi
Mark C. Helton avatar
Mark C. Helton avatar
Hello Massachusetts,
I am Great Neck Observatory up in Ipswich MA.  Welcome.  Love your Rho Ophiuchi.  That is a tough target that I have tried, but not done too well on.  Need a better wide field scope.  Now we just need some clear skies!
Mark
Alicia Rossiter avatar
Alicia Rossiter avatar
Hello Massachusetts,
I am Great Neck Observatory up in Ipswich MA.  Welcome.  Love your Rho Ophiuchi.  That is a tough target that I have tried, but not done too well on.  Need a better wide field scope.  Now we just need some clear skies!
Mark

Welcome to Massachusetts Astro!. I suspected the beautiful Antares picture would make it happen for people to join
Please know that you don't need a wide field scope to photograph Antares region. 
I took this picture with my Canon DSLR and the Samyang 135 mm f/2. 
I wanted to have a picture of the whole Rho Ophiuchus area but for me it gets to close to the horizon and is already late in the season. It is in my to do list for next year. 
Best,
Alicia
Mark C. Helton avatar
Mark C. Helton avatar
I am currently using a 180mm Askar scope for wide field as I use designated astrophotography cameras.  I plan on getting an Askar FRA300 which is a 60mm scope…should be perfect for this region.  Good for you for using the 135mm.  Rokinon has the equivalent lens, which I almost got before I started using astro cameras.  Clear Skies
Mark
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SBodin avatar
SBodin avatar
Hi Alicia,

Joining in from Central Massachusetts. Hope the Group grows! I image with my homemade 6" f/5.35 Newtonian and my full-spectrum modified Nikon D5500 DSLR. I'm a member of the Aldrich Astronomical Society based in Paxton, MA. Since short exposure photos is the theme of 'Massachusetts Astro' I've included a photo of M13 I took a few nights ago while waiting for my primary target to pass the meridian.  This is a stack of 20X3 min exposures...so 1 hour. I used an Optolong L'eNhance filter only because my main target was a nebula. 

Steve B.
(SBodin on astrobin)
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Alicia Rossiter avatar
Alicia Rossiter avatar
Hi Alicia,

Joining in from Central Massachusetts. Hope the Group grows! I image with my homemade 6" f/5.35 Newtonian and my full-spectrum modified Nikon D5500 DSLR. I'm a member of the Aldrich Astronomical Society based in Paxton, MA. Since short exposure photos is the theme of 'Massachusetts Astro' I've included a photo of M13 I took a few nights ago while waiting for my primary target to pass the meridian.  This is a stack of 20X3 min exposures...so 1 hour. I used an Optolong L'eNhance filter only because my main target was a nebula. 

Steve B.
(SBodin on astrobin)

M13 is a beautiful target and the picture is very nice and crispy clean, I have no tried filters with globular clusters. I think it works.....
Alicia Rossiter avatar
Alicia Rossiter avatar
Here is the link to join the group
https://www.astrobin.com/groups/4102/
Joe Zajac avatar
Joe Zajac avatar
Hi

Just joined the group.  Unitron_man in Harvard, MA

https://www.astrobin.com/users/unitron_man/

Joe
Alicia Rossiter avatar
Alicia Rossiter avatar
Joe Zajac:
Hi

Just joined the group.  Unitron_man in Harvard, MA

https://www.astrobin.com/users/unitron_man/

Joe

Welcome Joe!. Very nice pics. What is your shortest best?.
Alicia Rossiter avatar
Alicia Rossiter avatar
Hello everybody! happy 2023
I am hoping that this second attempt may get people willing to join Massachusetts Astro!
Come on!, what is your shortest best?. This could be actually fun and rewarding. why not?
Clear skies and best wishes for the year!
Alicia
Mark C. Helton avatar
Mark C. Helton avatar
How do I join?
Mark
Alicia Rossiter avatar
Alicia Rossiter avatar
Hello Mark, you are already in!. 
It would be nice to hear from others in Massachusetts!. Weather over the last weeks has been so bad!.
Time to organize pictures, re-processing, and update the dark library….what else?. 

Clear skies 
Alicia
Chase Newtson avatar
Chase Newtson avatar
I'm not from Massachusetts, but Plymouth Minnesota!  But I have had nights where only short integrations were possible.

After a decent stint of clouds, I went out for what ended up being less than an hour of clear sky, and got 35 minutes of integration in my bortle 7 backyard.

Now I hope this current almost non stop cloud cover since December will clear up soon.. So you're not alone on the weather front
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Alicia Rossiter avatar
Alicia Rossiter avatar
This is impressive given the conditions described!. Thanks for sharing!
Alicia Rossiter avatar
Alicia Rossiter avatar
Here is my try of comet 2022 E3 ZTF.  The only day of this year the sky was clear at 5 am in my location.
24 minutes of integration with 3 min subs...


Comet 2022 E3 ZTF
Jay Hovnanian avatar
Jay Hovnanian avatar
Jay from Methuen here.  Perhaps you would consider renaming the group, Masstrophotography ....

I typically don't shoot short shots by design ... but then again, it can get cloudy here in short order.

The image below is from my Bortle-6 driveway.  It exists only as a first attempt at Mosaics with the ASIAIR Plus ~ 2-panels, each being six minutes integration.


rhedden avatar
rhedden avatar
I'll summon my friend from Springfield to join.  I'm disqualified by about 10 miles, being on the other side of the Berkshires in NY where it's even cloudier!
Well Written Engaging
Joe Zajac avatar
Joe Zajac avatar
Smoke from Canada ruining rare clear skies in MA smile
Jay Hovnanian avatar
Jay Hovnanian avatar
Hello All, 

It's nice to see more folks interacting within the group.  In keeping with Alicia's initial intent regarding short exposures, below is a 60-minute test shot from last Thursday night with a new scope (APM 140/980 ED) in my Bortle 6 driveway with no filter and no flattener:



Go away, SMOKE,

Jay
Alicia Rossiter avatar
Alicia Rossiter avatar
Such a great picture Jay!. I know Massachusetts Astro has very limited activity, but it is good to keep it open and see what happens over time
Congrats on the new rig!
Bubblehead_Mike avatar
Bubblehead_Mike avatar
SE Connecticut, just dropping in to say hello.