Astrophotography

Astrophotography is a type of photography that focuses on celestial objects like Nebulae, galaxies, planets, and other objects in Space.

Astrophotography in amateur astronomy is more for getting pictures that look visually pleasing rather than scientific data.

History

Henry draper with their 11 inch refractor telescope

Astrophotography was first seen being done in the 19th century. One of the earliest known attempts of astrophotography was from Louis Dagurre. It was deemed a failure since a long exposure along with tracking error led to a fuzzy spot. A year later, John William Draper successfully imaged the moon. Draper was a pioneer for astrophotography. He was able to image the Orion Nebula (M42) in 1880. In the early 20th century, astrophotography became more accessible and many large telescopes were built worldwide. Amatuer observatories became common too. In the 1970s, the CCD camera was invented, which was much more sensitive than photographic film and plates. Several centuries later, NASA launched the Hubble Space Telescope. Which is still in use to this day. In 2022, NASA launched the historic James-Webb Space Telescope.

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  a very famous hubble image of "The Pillars Of Creation."
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  The Pillars of Creation imaged by James Webb over 25 years later.

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Amateur Astrophotography and Methods:

It is a very popular hobby globally. Methods range from using basic DSLRs and lenses on a tripod to very large telescopes with specialized cooled mono cameras. A common way that amateurs bring out more detail in images is by stacking multiple pictures together with specific software.

Methods:

Monochrome:

A common technique is Mono imaging where a camera that only shoots in black and white is used. Multiple filters that only let a few wavelengths pass through are used. Each filter corresponds to a red, green, or blue channel. There are also sometimes a "luminance channel" too.

Lucky Imaging:

A popular method for planetary imaging is known as "Lucky imaging" where a video of an object (usually a planet or The Moon) is taken and then stacked. It is used to correct atmospheric distortions of the object.

Stacking:

Stacking is where you stack a lot of pictures on top of each other of the same object to get more detail from fainter parts of the image.

Tracking:

Tracking is required in astrophotography to be able to do a long exposure without having the stars trail.

Recent Advancements:

Smart Telescopes:

A recent and popular product is a " Smart Telescope, " which is an all-in-one astrophotography telescope usually controlled by a smartphone app.

Remote Astrophotography:

Another recent advancement is the use of remote observatories. A remote observatory is an observatory usually with multiple telescopes that can be controlled from very far away via the internet. The data the telescope collects is then sent to the person who sent the request.