Astrophotography

In addition to my academic interests, I enjoy pursuing astrophotography as a hobby. I think in a way astrophotography is one of the most accessible forms of astronomy outreach one can do, especially in a time where social media is at large. I mostly work on planetary images, but dabble in imaging all types of celestial objects.

I have 3 different equipment sets for the various areas of astrophotography I'm interested in (all of them!). I purchased almost all of my equipment secondhand - something I'd recommend everyone who isn't a millionaire do when entering the hobby. My equipment setups are listed below. I hope they are helpful, or at a least informative!

Telescope: Orion XT8 (well used)

Mount: N/A

Camera: ZWO ASI 224MC

Other: 2x Barlow Lens, 9x50 finder for target aquisition.

Notes: Requires hand tracking and a lot of patience. Results only good for moon, Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars near opposition. Often unrewarding if sky conditions are unfavorable.

Telescope: Coronado PST

Mount: Orion Solar StarSeeker Tracking Altazimuth Mount

Camera: ZWO ASI 120MM

Other: 2x Barlow Lens

Notes: Seriously subject to atmospheric conditions since the aperture is already very small. Very strange to worry about focus and tuning the PST simultaneously.

Telescope: William Optics Zenithstar 71

Mount: Orion Sirius EQ

Camera: ZWO ASI 224MC

Other: ZWO AsiAir Pro

Notes: Planetary camera does surprsingly well for compact deep sky objects like planetary nebulae. Hoping to upgrade to a full frame, cooled device at some point.