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The Great Andromeda Galaxy
The Great Andromeda Galaxy
jlanoue


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Free Study 2007-10 (Advanced Editing V)
Camera: Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT
Location: Bedford, NH
Date: Oct 13, 2007
Aperture: 160mm
ISO: 800
Shutter: b
Galleries: Sky, Astrophotography
Date Uploaded: Oct 14, 2007

 300 second exposure with my modified Canon 350xt (modified by Hutech corp, internal IR filter replaced with clear glass). Lens is a 30 yr old Takahashi E-160 newtonian telescope (fl = 503mm, f3.3). Telescope and camera guided with a losmandy g11 mount. ISO 800 and internal noise reduction on. Due to excessive light pollution from my backyard, I used a Hutech IDAS LPS filter (light suppresant). Post processing, selective curves, contrast and background, noise ninja to reduce noise. Curves used to color balance.

Andromeda is our sister galaxy and the only naked eye object consistently visible outside of our own milky way galaxy. On October and November evenings, look directly overhead for a "smudged out star", that's Andromeda, 2.3 million light years distant.

Thanks for all the positive feedback and the good showing! For anyone wondering how to make a photo like this, or at least how I do it, I wrote a "how to" on my web site.


Statistics
Place: 24 out of 521
Avg (all users): 6.6250
Avg (commenters): 8.1818
Avg (participants): 6.7500
Avg (non-participants): 6.2143
Views since voting: 2658
Views during voting: 258
Votes: 120
Comments: 25
Favorites: 10 (view)

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AuthorThread
 03/27/2008 01:53:33 PM
Lovely shot. I like that account of how you get dumped by the eggers and sucked into the black hole of astronomy on your profile page. I can feel the attraction already. My daughter and I plan to build an 8" Newtonian telescope this summer and lug it up to the top of the Green Mountains where we often go camping.... Your portfolio is very inspiring.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/21/2008 08:50:30 PM
Simply Amazing!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/21/2008 07:38:40 PM
Jaw dropping, move over Hubble !
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/12/2007 12:58:55 PM
WOW! I was just going thru the free study entries & came across this! I can't believe it didn't score higher, this is absolutely awesome!! Going to go read your "how to" now, great shot!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/08/2007 10:54:01 PM
should have been in the top ten!

Message edited by author 2007-11-08 22:56:29.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/08/2007 12:42:39 PM
Agree with DK, this is an amazing image. If I had the gear to get images like this, I fear I'd never be photographing anything else ever again.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/08/2007 11:56:05 AM
Amazing capture!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/08/2007 11:24:06 AM
I bet you had a blast taking this. Great capture.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/08/2007 01:40:09 AM
24 is far better than I had hoped for this. It deserves more in my view, but I'm very happy your great work was received so well. Congrats on that!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
11/07/2007 12:06:13 PM
DPCer in space? im very very anxious to see who took this, and how. good luck
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/07/2007 12:16:14 AM
stunning and technically beyond my comprehension. I understand you have to track opposite the earth's rotation to shoot these? And look how sharp the stars are. This is so far beyond what most here will even understand (me included) I doubt it's being received well. But I wanted to let you know I appreciate it. Your work makes me want to go there. :-)

Thanks for submitting something different. I'm better for having seen your entry.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/06/2007 07:15:23 PM
Wow. Finally a astrophotography here on DPC. Its such a rare sight. This one is very well exposed and processed to. I feel curious about what kind of equipment you used. I hope other DPCers like it as much as I do. Maybe a little sharpening would make it more crisp?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/06/2007 03:13:47 PM
Nice star shot, can I get this with my 200m? =)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/05/2007 08:00:41 AM
Out of this world! Perfect 10!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/04/2007 02:38:57 PM
See, that's the trouble with putting an image like this in a Free Study where you will get voters who automatically see an image like this and are so stuck in a 'small world' box .... that they think this must be either photoshopped, 'copied from Hubble' or could not be achieved in a single exposure (re the validation (which in this case is a good little 'badge' to have here)). Having said that, I do wish I knew enough about astronomy to comment on this from a scientific point of view (and also photographic, because these images require a developed skill set (and equipment)). However I can comment on the aesthetics and, whilst this is of course a beautiful subject, the colors look slightly washed and the black is not as black as I'd like to see, especially to make the galaxy 'pop' more. I 'guess' it is fairly text book for this galaxy, and it is difficult to make 'creative' suggestions for such an image. The only thing I wonder about is, whether a variation in composition and/or framing might give this an edge over other similar images. I do hope we get an Astronomy Challenge. And, I hope one day to be able to take/create an image like this. Until then I always admire the images of those that do and have some appreciation of the work involved and knowledge required. Hope that all makes sense. Giving this a 7, but one of the most difficult images I've had to score at DPC. Up to 8 from 7 - because of the difficulty involved with this single exposure.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/03/2007 09:18:40 AM
wow is all I can say..
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/03/2007 05:36:18 AM
this looks like a nasa picture... ?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/02/2007 11:34:54 PM
You've got to be kidding. That's awsome!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/02/2007 09:37:05 PM
Uha - where did you go to shoot for this challenge :o) Nice one.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/02/2007 04:19:56 PM
Very cool photo. You must have a nice attachment for your telescope? Did I say very cool photo? Nice, BB
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/02/2007 01:44:47 PM
Most excellent! For a resize it looks really clear. I have never tried celestial photography but would like to. Having read something about it, hopefully this was done without stacking. Really great results for non stacking. Wouldn't want to see this DQed.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/02/2007 05:05:26 AM
is this one of those shots where you hook up the camera to a telescope? I would to do that some day. the problem with these shots though is that they aren't very dynamic. It's cool, but static.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/01/2007 03:15:53 PM
Well now, someone has fancy equipment! Amazing.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/01/2007 07:32:56 AM
excellent in all ways
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/01/2007 03:23:41 AM
Oooh, this is unusual...and spectacular. I hope I can shoot so astro shots like this someday.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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