But then again, there are a hand full of images that for one reason or another are simply, well,... terrible.
But since you are already here, why not sit back and let me tell you how I got started taking pictures of the stars.
Most of the time it has been trial and error, and some cold but beautiful nights. Let me finish this up by saying that there is a beautiful sky up there, and if you can pull out a pair of old binoculars and take a look around.
This is not a trophy room. It's more of an online storage space for all of these images.
If you have been directed to this site, one of three things has happened;
Number one ... you are a family member or a good friend, or a good friend of a member of my family,
Number two ... you were directed here by entry number 100 or above by a search engine,
Number three ... You are a long lost relative wh is doing some research.
First of all, I have always been interested in outer space. I enjoy watching TV shows about the solar system, I have a membership with the local astronomy club, and I own four telescopes. I own an SBIG CCD camera as well as a 35mm Nikon D-40 DSLR that I can use around the house, or attach it to one of my telescopes with an adaptor kit.
But please don't confuse me with an astronomer. I have no degree in physics, astrophysics, nor do I have a job at an observatory. I am a plain and simple amateur astronomer, a back yard astronomer.
My wife won my first real telescope for me. She was shopping at WalMart, stopped by the vision center where a drawing was being held for a Mead NaviStar 80mm refractor telescope. She put my name on a piece of paper and dropped it in the box. Low and behold, two weeks later I get a phone call telling me that I had won! I was stunned! It was right around the holiday season too. That was around 2002. The first pictures I had ever taken was with a web cam taped to the eyepiece, and I got some wonderful images of the Sunspots. Those pictures are long gone, but that was the first time I had ever taken an astrophoto.
A few years later I bought a 4 inch reflector at a pawn shop. about 3 months after that, I bought my first go-to reflector from Walmart for a little more than two-hundred dollars. I really thought I was spending big money on the stuff. He he he... I was such a rookie!
I started doing some research. I read magazines, I joined astronomy on-line clubs, made some phone calls to universities with observatories, and sent a whole host of emails before I made my next purchase.
I bought an Orion 8 inch(203mm)Newtonian reflector and a Go-To Sky View Pro mount. WOW! That one is still my favorite telescope.
Next was a 6 inch (150mm) Mak-Cass "tube". A tube is just the telescope without any mount. I didn't really need a mount for my Mak because at that price range most telescopes and mounts are interchangable. What is a Mak? It's called a Maksutov-Cassegrain or a Mak-Cass for short. The difference between a reflector and a cassegrain is clearity. Although a reflector (also known as a Newtonian) has greater light gathering ability, a Cassegrain, working through a series of lenses and mirrors, offers a clearity that is unmatched. The rings of Saturn as well as the bands of Jupiter are clearly visible with a Mak.
Another advantage of the Maksutov-cassigrain is the ability to take pictures right-side-up. So you can take nature pictures too!
There is much, much more in the stars than meets the eye.