Dark Sky Map

Dark Sky: Where Are You? [Astrophotography]

Post author:Kevin Francis
Post published:November 3, 2019
Post category:Astronomy Astrophotography Night Sky Wide Field Astrophotography

Milky Way (I didn't take this photo) The hunt for a dark sky was once imaginary. Before Lewis Howard Latimer and Thomas Alva Edison dropped the mic on the light…

Telescope & Mount: ModifiedOrion Astroview 6 Reflector with Astroview Mount Camera: Canon EOS XTi Guiding: None Location: Carrollton, VA Sky: Bortle Class 5 Acquisition & Calibration: - Filter: None and I'm looking into narrowband filters - ISO 1600 - 49 Light Frames @ 30 s - 35 Dark Frames @ 30 s - 20 Flat Frames - 30 Bias Frames - Total Integration Time: 24.5 minutes

Long Exposure Astrophotography [Get A Drive Motor]

Post author:Kevin Francis
Post published:October 20, 2019
Post category:Astronomy DSLR Camera Google PIxel Long Exposure Astrophotography Telescope Telescope Mount Wide Field Astrophotography

Long exposure astrophotography without a GoTo Mount has been a fun challenge for me. Over the past few months, I've posted a few of my results on Reddit to some…

Messier 31 Andromeda Galaxy Telescope & Mount: Orion ST-80 with Astroview Mount Camera: Canon EOS XTi Guiding: None Location: Carrollton, VA Sky: Bortle Class 5 Acquisition & Calibration: - Filter: None - APT (Astrophotography Tool) - ISO 1600 - 40 Light Frames @ 120 s - 62 Dark Frames @ 120 s - 19 Flat Frames - 60 Bias Frames - Total Integration Time: 80 minutes

Wide Field Astrophotography and First Light with My Orion ST-80 [Andromeda Galaxy]

Post author:Kevin Francis
Post published:October 6, 2019
Post category:Astronomy Galaxies Night Sky Telescope Wide Field Astrophotography

Because it's small and great for wide field astrophotography picked up an Orion ST-80 telescope. The ST stands for Short Tube. In case you're wondering, first light, simply means the…

Messier 51 or M51 or Whirlpool Galaxy. Telescope: RRRT (Fan Mountain) Camera: SBIG STX-16803 Exposure: Red: 14 @ 2 min Blue: 14 @ 2 min Visible: 14 @ 2 min Total - 84 minutes exposure

Messier 51 On The RRRT [Whirlpool Galaxy]

Post author:Kevin Francis
Post published:May 11, 2019
Post category:Astronomy Astrophotography Deep Sky Long Exposure Astrophotography Night Sky Telescope

Remember my last article? You know the one about my experience at the Fan Mountain Observatory in April 2019. The outcome was to target Messier 51 or the Whirlpool Galaxy…

Fan Mountain Observatory Complex which houses the 30 inch and 40 inch telescopes.

UVA, Norfolk State & Me [Fan Mountain Observatory]

Post author:Kevin Francis
Post published:May 2, 2019
Post category:Astronomy Astrophysics Night Sky Telescope Universe

Fresh off seeing my UVA Cavaliers win the NCAA Mens Basketball Championship, I couldn't wait to visit grounds. In fact I packed all my UVA gear

Orion Astroview 6: Equipment Spotlight [Moving Prime Focus]

Post author:Kevin Francis
Post published:March 10, 2019
Post category:Astronomy DSLR Camera Nebula Night Sky Telescope

I moved prime focus without cutting the OTA (Optical Tube Assembly) on my Orion Astroview 6 telescope. Huh? How? No way? The first thing I did when the Canon EOS…

3D printed Bahtinov Masks

Bahtinov Mask: Equipment Spotlight [Focus]

Post author:Kevin Francis
Post published:February 2, 2019
Post category:Astronomy Astrophysics DSLR Camera Telescope

I 3D printed a Bahtinov Mask, so I can clearly see the sky. There are numerous objects in the night sky. Using a telescope brings them into view but how…

Canon EOS XTi: Equipment Spotlight [DSLR Camera]

Post author:Kevin Francis
Post published:January 26, 2019
Post category:Astronomy DSLR Camera Nebula Night Sky

The Canon EOs XTi joins my astrophotography family. I started using my Google Pixel Really Blue to photograph night sky objects. I've captured the Orion Nebula, Sun, stars, planets, star…

2019 Total Lunar Eclipse [Astrophotography]

Post author:Kevin Francis
Post published:January 22, 2019
Post category:Astronomy Lunar Eclipse Moon Night Sky

Progression from start to totality Total Lunar Eclipse The total lunar eclipse was beautiful! I took more than 500 pictures of this event to create this photo. The 2019 total…

Smartphone Astrophotography Challenges [Obstacles]

Post author:Kevin Francis
Post published:January 22, 2019
Post category:Astronomy

What Smartphone Astrophotography Obstacles? I've been "Missing In Action" with my smartphone astrophgraphy for many months now. Let me tell you why. First was the Android P or Android Pie…