Hello everyone

Im a newcomer to the field of Astrophotography,
hope to learn more about the night sky, and to get into astronomy.

I was out shooting pics at Kingsland observatory last weekend, heres an example of what was taken.



Comet Lovejoy 2014 Q2
Taken with Nikon D700 with a 200mm f/2 on 23rd May 2015 at 00:34 hrs at Kingsland Observatory, Co. Roscommon.
ISO speed: 5000, Exposure 30 secs, no tracking.
FOV: 390 x 580 arc mins
Comet Lovejoy is a green fuzz at bottom right corner beside Ursi Minoris 44
A satellite shows up near Polaris

Any thoughts opinons would be much appreciated
joe

hi,
Just up loading scaled up image of lovejoy.
And a picture of are Neighbor.


Nikon D700 , ISO 200, at 1/25th sec
23 May, 00: 34hrs
Using Nikon 400mm X2 converter = 800mm F.L., f/5.6
Taken 23/5/2015

Joe,

I saw Comet Lovejoy in 20 x 80 binoculars last night at midnight.
It was about 2 degrees from Polaris, NE.
It was about 12 magnitude. I couldn't see any tail.
The sky had very good seeing from Indiana.

You probably could take a long exposure without tracking with your set up.
You might be able to get down faint enough to possibly discern a tail, if any.
May be the comet is to far from the Sun to have a tail emitting.

Regarding your Moon photo you'll need to determine the focus by doing a series of test shots.
In your case the infinite focus may be found by using a test marker at about 60 metres distance from your tele lens.

Eamonn

Thanks Eamonn, will do

Hi Joe,

Those are good efforts; I always like wide field shots of the night sky and the Moon.
Like anything else practice is the key and you also have the opportunity to learn from the good folk on this forum that have invested much time and effort in the art and science of astrophotography.
There is a wealth of information in the “astrophotography section” to build upon and it’s beneficial of course to ask questions right here on the forum in order to help each other out, we don’t bite!

Best wishes and clear skies
Mike

Hi Joe, it's great to see you have got the bug You get the exact focus on the moon via the test shots as Eamonn says or indeed through a live view on your camera, does your have one? If so, you can zoom in on the moon using this and focus your lens clearly

You can use widefield lenses to capture great skyscapes, or longer focal length lenses such as you 200mm to take a shot of a particular part of the sky, would you consider tracking your shots? You can use your scope with motors of course, or indeed an 'Astrotrac' or similar device.

Keep up the good work !

Keith..