Keith's Astrophotography Page

Greetings and Salutations!

The telescopes, cameras, and software available to the amateur today allow the common man to take astrophotos with a quality exceeding that of the worlds biggest telescopes and best equipment of just 20 years ago. And even better, the cost and difficulty has gone way down, and the choice and quality have gone way up. All of these pictures were taken with an off the shelf Canon digital camera on commonly available scopes.

It is amazing when you look up at the sky, then take a picture through a scope, and the stuff below shows up. You look back up in the area of the sky you just photographed and just say "Wow". What's even more amazing IMO is that all the stars, galaxies, and nebulae that we see and photograph are only a fraction of what is actually there. In much the same way that the nighttime lights of towns from the window of a cross country jet only hint at all the world below, so everything we see and photograph turns out to be less than 1% of what's actually all out there. To perceive it all, astronomers use a multitude of instruments to look at the spectrum from radio waves to gamma rays to gravity waves.
 

What's New? updated 1-28-10

M81, Bode's Nebula. A large nearby galaxy, visible with binoculars, between the lip of the big dipper and the N. star

What's New? updated 3-25-09

Moon, at 61%

The Moon Tonight

Only February can go without a full moon. That will occur when both January and March have a "blue", (second full) moon

Jupiter's Great Red Spot 1:00am to 2:45am (CST), 3-14-2005.

What's New? updated 12-4-08

M82, A starburst galaxy, relatively near to us. It can best be seen in the predawn up near the lip of the big dipper.

My Stuff & "A" Frame Obseratory

 

Astronomical Weather Forecast For N. Cntrl Wis,  90deg W & 45deg N

You are visitor # Hit Counter comments, suggestions, questions, are welcome   keithnk_m42@yahoo.com


My best photos, of (IMO) the northern sky's 100 most interesting objects

They are arranged starting closest to the north pole and go about 35 degrees below the celestial equator.  Click on the thumbnails for a larger view, and lots of information about each object.

 

NGC 3034

NGC 3031

NGC 7023

IC 342

 

NGC 7635

NGC 6946

NGC 457

M82, Cigar

M81, Bode's

C4, Reflection

C5

C9 Cave

C11, Bubble

C12, Spider

C13, E.T.

NGC 869

NGC 281

NGC 5907

NGC 3556

NGC 3587

NGC 5457

NGC 3992

NGC 650

C14, Dbl Clstr

Pac Man

 

M108

M97, Owl

M101, Pinwheel

M109

M76, Little Dumbbell

 

 

 

NGC 4258

IC 5146

NGC 5194-5

NGC 7000

NGC 7000-S

IC 5067

NGC 6341

NGC 891

M106

C19, Cocoon

.M51, Whirlpool 

C20, N. Am.

Central America

Pelican

M92

C23

NGC 5055

NGC 224

NGC 4736

IC 1318

NGC 4244

NGC 6888

NGC 1499

NGC 6205

M63, Sunflower

M31, Andromeda

M94

Sadr Strait

C26

C27, Crescent

California

M13, Hercules

 

 

NGC 6720

NGC 2099

NGC 6992

NGC 6960

NGC 598

NGC 5272

C30, Deer Lick Group

C31, Flaming Star

M57, Ring

M37

C33, E. Veil

C34, W. Veil

M33, in Triangulum

M3

 

 

NGC 4565

NGC 1457

NGC 6853

NGC 1952

NGC 4826

NGC 4321

NGC 628

NGC 4548

C38, Needle

M45, Pleiades

M27, Dumbbell

M1, Crab

M64, Black Eye

M100

M74

M91

 

 

 

NGC 4501

NGC 4254

NGC3628

NGC 4569

NGC 3623

NGC 3627

NGC 3351

NGC 2264

M88

M99

M90

M65

M66

M95

Xmas tree & Clstr

 

NGC 2244

NGC 4303

NGC 5904

NGC 2068

NGC 2024

IC 434

NGC 6402

NGC 6254

C49-50, Rosette

M61

M5

M78

Flame

Horse head

M14

M10

 

 

NGC 1977

NGC 1976

NGC 6705

NGC 4594

NGC 246

NGC 2359

NGC 6611

NGC 2437

Running Man

M42, Orion

M11, Wild Duck

M104, Sombrero

C56

Thor's Helmet

M16, Eagle

M46

 

 

NGC 6618

NGC 247

NGC 7293

NGC 6514

NGC 6656

NGC 6523

NGC 243

NGC 6273

M17, Swan

C62, Whale

C63, Helix

M20, Trifid

M22

M8, Lagoon

C65, Sculptor

M19

 

 

NGC 6121

NGC 5236

NGC 1097

NGC 6809

NGC 6405

NGC 6475

NGC 5128

NGC 5139

M4

M83, Southern Pinwheel

C67

M55

M6, Butterfly

M7, Ptolemy's

C77, Centaurus A

C80, Omega Centauri

 

 

 

Subfolder A

Subfolder B

Subfolder C

Subfolder D

Subfolder E

 

 

 

Comets

Widefield

Planets

Lunar

Solar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

USEFUL AND INTERESTING ASTRONOMY LINKS

Heavens Above,
Locations of current Comets, & International Space Station
ASTROMART: buy, sell, trade astronomical equipment. Plus, astronomical news and equipment reviews SKY & TELESCOPE Magazine On Line The 110 Messier objects

Digital AstroPhoto
Email  Group
Astronomy Clubs in Your Area ASTRONOMY Magazine On Line    
MAPUG, Meade user Email group, Extensive telescope info archive ASTRONOMYLINKS.COM  A Master List of Astronomical Links