Your videos are the most useful I have found for target planning. Having the added info on target size and best shooting months is helpful. Thank you for making these available!
Some amazing sights there to take us through the early winter months. Your presentation/ music backing is excellent and your photographs are spectacular! I was just planning over the weekend which images to select for this month and you have just saved me a big job. I'm quite new to the astro side of photography so really enjoying your posts.
Great video...I particularly like the horizon transit graphics. Is that done with a separate program or are you hand jamming the the data into each one? Keep up the good work. We all appreciate it. Clear skies!!
Hi Earl. Many thanks for your comments. The graphics are done with a program that I have written myself. A huge undertaking to be honest, but it’s pretty much complete now. Now that it’s done the great thing is that I can tweak features however I like. Clear Skies to you too.
Great video, as always Martin! Thanks. Just a quick question since I've seen this reference a couple of times and I'm a bit confused. Is NGC 7822 actually called the Flaming Skull Nebula? I don't see that name associated with it in the references I look up. When I search for Flaming Skull Nebula, I pull up the designation Sh2-68 and it looks very different from NGC 7822 (the 'Question Mark Nebula'?). As I said, I've seen/heard NGC 7822 referred to in quite a few places as the Flaming Skull Neb, so I thought I'd ask. I may be missing something... Thanks again for all your great videos! So useful.
Hi Greg. Thanks for your comment. There is some confusing naming around this target online. Many targets have two or even three names, besides their designation. I put it down to the “ink blot test” effect where different people see different things in the same complex shape. Anyway, it does seem that Sh2-68 is more commonly referred to as the Flaming Skull Nebula than NGC7822 (and to me it looks more like a flaming skull!) I will therefore remove the name in the next video and just refer to it as NGC7822 in future. Clear skies.
Extremely helpful video Martin, thank you! With your photos would it be possible to caption the equivalent focal length they were taken at? As a beginner it would be useful to have an idea as to which targets are possible with modest equipment etc and get an idea for framing.
Hi David. Thanks for your comments and questions. Check out the User Guide video. Link is at the end of this video. It tells you how to compute your field of view. Then you just compare that to the apparent size given at top left for each object, and you will then understand how it will frame with your setup. My images have been taken over many years with lots of different setups, so it would be tricky for me to annotate them all with focal length and sensor size, which are the parameters that dictate the field of view. Please tell me what equipment you have and I will happily suggest some suitable targets for you to try in October.
@@martinsastrophotography Thanks Martin for the response, fully understand & agree its far easier to teach a man to fish as the saying goes! Looking forward to learning the method you suggested. Regarding targets I think I am going to try my hand at the Sadr region this month using my 24-120mm F/4 lens. Failing that I will have another go at capturing Andromeda with my 150-600mm - I got good results last year but think I have learned a lot and could do even better. Autoguiding and a Telescope are on my purchase list this winter to pair with my skyguider pro. Thanks, David
@@davidscottjohn6984 Hi David. I assume you are using a DSLR camera? I started out with a Canon DSLR and a 100-400mm lens I already had. My first astro purchase (after a Bahtinov mask) was a Sky-Watcher HEQ5 mount. It was the best decision I ever made. There is so much to learn and enjoy, and the Goto capability is awesome. You can get into remote control using a PC or laptop and can also learn to plate solve which is a total game changer. Then later you can add autoguiding capability and then get a telescope and …. eventually …. a dedicated Astro camera. I strongly recommend this evolution route. I think you will get very frustrated putting a long focal length telescope on your SkyGuider Pro. Finding the target will be a nightmare. I have a SkyGuider Pro and I love it, but I only use it with short focal lengths (
@@martinsastrophotography thanks Martin, some more solid advice in there to unpack. The SGP was my first foray in to the hobby and was meant to be mainly used for milky way as a portable unit with my nikon z6, but I've been able to push it to the limit & get up to 90 second subs on extremely good nights with my old Tamron 150-600mm. Aiming to add a ASIAIR & Autoguiding in this month when FLO gets some stock & then I feel I will have truly maximised the use of my current equipment to learn the basics. Then I plan to improve my mount & glass for sure - currently weighing up the cost/benefit of the EQ6-R Pro over the HEQ5. Your video on that matter was very helpful also!
Thank you so much for this fabulous series!! I build a monthly target list for our monthly dark skies trips...your lists have become the cornerstone!! What do you use to create the location graph on the right of the images? I really love those!!
Thanks Suzanne. I wrote my own software to produce these graphs. It was a labour of love (verging on insanity!!!) but I am really pleased with the result. I now use it all the time to plan my imaging. I am looking to make this planning tool available for purchase but I have to resolve image copyright issues first for images I did not take myself. May I ask, are you in the UK?
@@martinsastrophotography I would DEFINITELY buy that tool when you're ready to sell it! I have a pretty compulsive (OCD!!) monthly planning process - that includes developing a spreadsheet with the az/el coordinates of each targets, because I can't visualize RA/DEC. I'm in Colorado...
@@suzannebeers6238 Nice to hear! I started with a huge Excel spreadsheet and ended up writing an application to do it properly. It grew into a bigger and bigger project, but was very satisfying. I have now made it so the user can add and remove targets to/from the database so they can customise what targets are in their database, and they can use their own images or other people’s images. They just need to know the image scale. I could sell it with only my images included, but that would mean users would have to go and find images of the other targets… that would be a pain. I could wait until I have imaged ALL the northern hemisphere targets…but that might be years!!!! It’s a tricky one.
@@martinsastrophotography I'm still in the spreadsheet and manual planning every month stage, but a friend of mine is building an Access database to "automate" the process. Wonder if there's a way to integrate your tool with her DB?
@@suzannebeers6238 I have created my own database for the tool. The tool includes a facility for managing the database, including adding, modifying or deleting objects.
You should start with large bright objects such as the Great Orion Nebula (M42) and the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). The phone will struggle to capture faint objects.
@@martinsastrophotography even if I'm using a 10mm. I know that I can see the Pleiades in a x40.. what if I use a 2x barlow would that increase my visuals into deeper space, or does it depend upon the size of the scope itself.
@@eanbruce821 Increasing magnification does not help with seeing faint objects. You would need to increase the aperture, which is always the most expensive thing to increase! That is why I’m Astrophotography we stack multiple images to increase the signal to noise ratio and make faint objects more clearly visible.
Great tips! Best i've ever gotten. And spectacular photos!
Great target list Martin, thanks for posting these.
Your videos are the most useful I have found for target planning. Having the added info on target size and best shooting months is helpful. Thank you for making these available!
Thanks Ken! Really appreciate your comments.
Some amazing sights there to take us through the early winter months. Your presentation/ music backing is excellent and your photographs are spectacular! I was just planning over the weekend which images to select for this month and you have just saved me a big job. I'm quite new to the astro side of photography so really enjoying your posts.
Thanks for the great comments Graham. Clear Skies!
Very nice. A few nebula that were not familiar to me !
Wow merci beaucoup ! your photo are so amazing ! thank you very much for the guide.
Thank you so much for your comments. Clear skies!
Awesome thank you 🖖🏼
Great video...I particularly like the horizon transit graphics. Is that done with a separate program or are you hand jamming the the data into each one? Keep up the good work. We all appreciate it. Clear skies!!
Hi Earl. Many thanks for your comments. The graphics are done with a program that I have written myself. A huge undertaking to be honest, but it’s pretty much complete now. Now that it’s done the great thing is that I can tweak features however I like. Clear Skies to you too.
I really enjoy all your useful videos! What is the source of the diagrams on the right side? That looks like a handy illustration.
Thanks for your comments. I wrote my own Astrophotography planning tool and the diagrams are an output of that tool.
Great video, as always Martin! Thanks. Just a quick question since I've seen this reference a couple of times and I'm a bit confused. Is NGC 7822 actually called the Flaming Skull Nebula? I don't see that name associated with it in the references I look up. When I search for Flaming Skull Nebula, I pull up the designation Sh2-68 and it looks very different from NGC 7822 (the 'Question Mark Nebula'?). As I said, I've seen/heard NGC 7822 referred to in quite a few places as the Flaming Skull Neb, so I thought I'd ask. I may be missing something... Thanks again for all your great videos! So useful.
Hi Greg. Thanks for your comment. There is some confusing naming around this target online. Many targets have two or even three names, besides their designation. I put it down to the “ink blot test” effect where different people see different things in the same complex shape. Anyway, it does seem that Sh2-68 is more commonly referred to as the Flaming Skull Nebula than NGC7822 (and to me it looks more like a flaming skull!)
I will therefore remove the name in the next video and just refer to it as NGC7822 in future. Clear skies.
Extremely helpful video Martin, thank you! With your photos would it be possible to caption the equivalent focal length they were taken at? As a beginner it would be useful to have an idea as to which targets are possible with modest equipment etc and get an idea for framing.
Hi David. Thanks for your comments and questions. Check out the User Guide video. Link is at the end of this video. It tells you how to compute your field of view. Then you just compare that to the apparent size given at top left for each object, and you will then understand how it will frame with your setup. My images have been taken over many years with lots of different setups, so it would be tricky for me to annotate them all with focal length and sensor size, which are the parameters that dictate the field of view. Please tell me what equipment you have and I will happily suggest some suitable targets for you to try in October.
@@martinsastrophotography Thanks Martin for the response, fully understand & agree its far easier to teach a man to fish as the saying goes! Looking forward to learning the method you suggested. Regarding targets I think I am going to try my hand at the Sadr region this month using my 24-120mm F/4 lens. Failing that I will have another go at capturing Andromeda with my 150-600mm - I got good results last year but think I have learned a lot and could do even better. Autoguiding and a Telescope are on my purchase list this winter to pair with my skyguider pro. Thanks, David
@@davidscottjohn6984 Hi David. I assume you are using a DSLR camera? I started out with a Canon DSLR and a 100-400mm lens I already had. My first astro purchase (after a Bahtinov mask) was a Sky-Watcher HEQ5 mount. It was the best decision I ever made. There is so much to learn and enjoy, and the Goto capability is awesome. You can get into remote control using a PC or laptop and can also learn to plate solve which is a total game changer. Then later you can add autoguiding capability and then get a telescope and …. eventually …. a dedicated Astro camera. I strongly recommend this evolution route. I think you will get very frustrated putting a long focal length telescope on your SkyGuider Pro. Finding the target will be a nightmare. I have a SkyGuider Pro and I love it, but I only use it with short focal lengths (
@@martinsastrophotography thanks Martin, some more solid advice in there to unpack. The SGP was my first foray in to the hobby and was meant to be mainly used for milky way as a portable unit with my nikon z6, but I've been able to push it to the limit & get up to 90 second subs on extremely good nights with my old Tamron 150-600mm. Aiming to add a ASIAIR & Autoguiding in this month when FLO gets some stock & then I feel I will have truly maximised the use of my current equipment to learn the basics. Then I plan to improve my mount & glass for sure - currently weighing up the cost/benefit of the EQ6-R Pro over the HEQ5. Your video on that matter was very helpful also!
Thank you so much for this fabulous series!! I build a monthly target list for our monthly dark skies trips...your lists have become the cornerstone!! What do you use to create the location graph on the right of the images? I really love those!!
Thanks Suzanne. I wrote my own software to produce these graphs. It was a labour of love (verging on insanity!!!) but I am really pleased with the result. I now use it all the time to plan my imaging. I am looking to make this planning tool available for purchase but I have to resolve image copyright issues first for images I did not take myself. May I ask, are you in the UK?
@@martinsastrophotography I would DEFINITELY buy that tool when you're ready to sell it! I have a pretty compulsive (OCD!!) monthly planning process - that includes developing a spreadsheet with the az/el coordinates of each targets, because I can't visualize RA/DEC. I'm in Colorado...
@@suzannebeers6238 Nice to hear! I started with a huge Excel spreadsheet and ended up writing an application to do it properly. It grew into a bigger and bigger project, but was very satisfying. I have now made it so the user can add and remove targets to/from the database so they can customise what targets are in their database, and they can use their own images or other people’s images. They just need to know the image scale. I could sell it with only my images included, but that would mean users would have to go and find images of the other targets… that would be a pain. I could wait until I have imaged ALL the northern hemisphere targets…but that might be years!!!! It’s a tricky one.
@@martinsastrophotography I'm still in the spreadsheet and manual planning every month stage, but a friend of mine is building an Access database to "automate" the process. Wonder if there's a way to integrate your tool with her DB?
@@suzannebeers6238 I have created my own database for the tool. The tool includes a facility for managing the database, including adding, modifying or deleting objects.
I have a Celestron 127mm what are the nebulae that I will be able to photo with the aid of a phone adaptor.
You should start with large bright objects such as the Great Orion Nebula (M42) and the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). The phone will struggle to capture faint objects.
@@martinsastrophotography even if I'm using a 10mm. I know that I can see the Pleiades in a x40.. what if I use a 2x barlow would that increase my visuals into deeper space, or does it depend upon the size of the scope itself.
@@eanbruce821 Increasing magnification does not help with seeing faint objects. You would need to increase the aperture, which is always the most expensive thing to increase! That is why I’m Astrophotography we stack multiple images to increase the signal to noise ratio and make faint objects more clearly visible.
Thanks you the clarity and knowledge.
So I need a larger scope to see further.