Top 10 amateur astrophotography targets

There is my list of top 10 objects for beginners in astrophotography

1.    Milky Way
2.    Northern Lights and airglow and bioluminescence
3.    Star trails and/or photography of meteor shower
4.    Zodiacal Light
5.    Moon
6.    Sun
7.    Saturn
8.    Jupiter
9.    Solar Eclipse
10.   Lunar Eclipse

Milky Way View From Earth - Yellowstone

Night Scape Astrophotography Award Astronomyforum.net 3rd Quarter 2014

StarTalk radio chose my photo - Grand Teton Milky Way

Universe Today posted my image Yellowstone Astrophotography

Yellowstone Astrophotography photo was couple of days in Google News

NYC Solar eclipse photo was chosen by Yahoo news as Best-of Flickr week photo

NJ Astronomical Observatory at Sterling Hill

NJ Astronomical Observatory

New Jersey Ellis Astronomical Observatory

Ellis Astronomical Observatory at Sterling Hill Mining Museum

Astronomical Observatory NJ

Astrophotography little planet at night polar panorama

Astrophotography - tiny planet at night - Photoshop Filter - Polar Coordinate.. Manhattan.

Astrophotography little planet at night polar panoramas

Ladder to the Sky - Manhattan 360 Degrees Panorama polar coordinate

Little Planet - Tower of David Jerusalem Israel - 360 Panorama

Little Planet Brooklyn Sheepshead Bay

Canon 60Da Milky Way Tripod Ultra Wide Angle Astrophotography Summer Triangle

Canon 60Da Milky Way Ultra Wide Angle Astrophotography Summer Triangle  Tripod Catskills Upstate NY New York

Wide Angle Canon 60Da Milky Way astrophotography. There are Cygnus, Delphinus, Lyra, Lacerta, Sagitta constellations. Also you can see parts of Cepheus, Equuleus, Pegasus, Draco, Aquila constellations. Program founded about 10000 stars in this photo. Three most bright stars are from the summer triangle – Vega, Deneb, Altair. Visible nebulas are IC 1396 - Elephant's Trunk nebula, NGC 7000 - North America nebula, IC 5070 and IC 5067 - Pelican nebula, IC 1318 - The Gamma Cygni Nebula, IC 5146 - Cocoon Nebula, IC 1311 - Sadr region nebula, Veil Nebula, Triple cave dark nebula in Aquila, Le Gentil 3 dark nebula in Cygnus, beginning of Great Rift,  Open clusters M29, NGC6885 and NGC6940, Brocchi's cluster.

 

Canon 60Da setting

Milky way - Canon 60Da, Ultra Wide Angle Canon Lens EF 16 35mm f2.8L II U, Fixed Tripod; F2.8, ISO 12800, exposure time 9 seconds for one shot, total about 20 min. Photo stacked in DeepSkyStacker.

Canon 60Da Astrophotography - Tripod, Timer Remote and anti-Dew Dew-Not

There is annotated wide field astrophoto

Wide Field Astrophotography Canon 60Da Milky Way - annotated

Milky way over lake and star reflection

Milky Way, Canon 60Da, Canon Lens EF 16 35mm f2.8L II U, Fixed Tripod, panorama 3 photos, ISO 12000, 10 second, f2.8,Catskill Mountains Astrophotography

Milky Way over lake and star reflection Canon 60Da Astrophotography panorama

It is amazing to see reflection of stars in Upstate NY especially after NYC where even on sky you can see only brightest stars!

Star reflection over lake

Milky Way

Wide Field Milky Way over Lake Canon 60Da

Milky Way looming over NY Canon 60Da Wide Field Astrophotography

Milky Way looming over Fireman lake Rock Hill New York

Canon 60Da Star Trail Astrophotography

Star Trails - Canon 60Da, Canon Lens EF 16 35mm f2.8L II U, Fixed Tripod, Dew Heater, 37 images - Exposure time 2 min , ISO 400, Aperture F4.0. Post-processing: StarStax and Photoshop, Star Spikes filter

Canon 60Da Star Trail Astrophotography - Upstate New York

For last image I used the Star Spikes filter.

StarSpikes Pro for Startrails

StarStax - Startrails

 From image easy to see that stars have counterclockwise direction of rotation. Our watch hands do not follow the star rotation direction; its follow the rotation direction of shadow of Sun. The shadow has the opposite direction to sky rotation. Even simple astro photo has a lot staff behind the scenes. This is why I like astrophotography.

Canon 60Da Milky Way Astrophotography Catskill Mountains Upstate NY New York

Now I know where the Milky Way comes from.
Canon 60Da, Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Ultra Wide Angle Lens, Exposure time 9 sec, F2.8, ISO 12800

Canon 60Da Milky Way Astrophotography Catskill mountains

Canon 60Da, Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Ultra Wide Angle Lens, Exposure time 15 sec, F2.8, ISO 12800

Canon 60Da Milky Way Astrophotography Upstate NY New York

Canon 60Da fireworks upstate NY Catskill Mountains

Just testing canon 60Da for fireworks photography.

Canon 60Da fireworks upstate NY

Canon 60Da Fireworks

Catskills Firework Canon 60Da

Fireworks  Catskill Mountains Canon 60Da

Fireworks photography Canon 60Da Upstate New York

Fireworks Photography Fourth of July

Canon 60Da Lightning Photo during Brooklyn NYC Long Island storm 07-02-2014

I am tried to test Canon 60Da for Lightning Photos. Actually this is my first one. Weather was not good for astrophotography, but was good for Lightning Photos.

Canon 60Da Lightning Photo during Brooklyn NYC Long Island storm 07-02-2014

Canon 60Da, tripod, Canon Lens EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM, ISO 100, F13.0, Bulb mode, exposure 6 second.

Canon 60Da Tripod astrophotography - Catskill Mountains New York

Astrophotography Canon 60Da - Fireflies and stars - Summer night in Catskills

Fireflies and starry night - Canon 60Da, Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Ultra Wide Angle Lens, Exposure time 26 sec, F2.8, ISO-12800

Canon 60Da Astrophotography  Catskill Mountains New York - Stars and Clouds

Catskill Mountains Astrophotography - Canon 60Da, Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Ultra Wide Angle Lens, Exposure time 120 sec, F4.0, ISO 400

Astrophotography  Big dipper and little dipper - Canon 60Da Catskills

Big and little dippers Astrophotography Canon 60Da, Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Ultra Wide Angle Lens, Exposure time 26 sec, F2.8, ISO-12800

Cloudy Night Sky Astrophotography Catskills - Canon 60Da

Upstate NY Astrophotography - Andromeda rise

Catskills Monticello night sky Astrophotography