Astrophotography Equipment DSLR Webcam Collage

This astrophotography collage shows a small collection of images representing different types of astronomical photography: solar and lunar eclipses, planetary imaging, deep sky objects, the Milky Way, aurora borealis, and astrophotography equipment.

The collage also illustrates some of the equipment used for capturing these images, including a Celestron NexStar 4SE telescope, Canon EOS DSLR cameras, astronomy webcams, and large astronomical binoculars. Different astronomical targets require different techniques — from long-exposure DSLR photography for wide-field night landscapes to high-frame-rate webcam imaging for planets like Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars.

Over the years I have experimented with multiple astrophotography methods: planetary imaging using RegiStax stacking, solar imaging with a Coronado SolarMax telescope, wide-field Milky Way photography, and eclipse photography. This collage represents some of those early experiments and observations.

Astrophotography Equipment DSLR Webcam Collage – Planetary, Solar and Night Sky Astrophotography

Most of these images were captured from New York City or nearby locations, demonstrating that interesting astrophotography is possible even under light-polluted skies. Other images were taken from darker locations such as national parks and remote observing sites.

Astrophotography Posts Featured in This Collage

• Celestron NexStar 4SE Telescope with Barlow and Canon EOS 40D Setup
• NYC Lunar Eclipse – April 15, 2014
• Northern Lights – Aurora Borealis Astrophotography
• Comet 103P/Hartley 2 from New York City
• Solar Prominences – Coronado SolarMax II 60
• Saturn – NexStar 4SE, RegiStax 6 and NexImage Webcam
• Saturn – Celestron NexStar 4SE Planetary Imaging
• Solar Eclipse from New York – November 3, 2013
• Jupiter 2010 Opposition – NexStar 4SE Planetary Imaging
• Mars Map – Identifying Surface Features with Celestron NexStar 4SE
• Zhumell 20×80 Astronomy Binoculars
• Milky Way – Yosemite National Park Astrophotography

This collage shows how different branches of astrophotography — planetary, solar, deep-sky, night landscape, and atmospheric phenomena — can all be captured with relatively modest amateur equipment. From photographing the rings of Saturn and the cloud belts of Jupiter to capturing the Milky Way over dark landscapes, astrophotography allows us to explore the universe from our own planet.

Urban Astrophotography

These photographs demonstrate the challenges and possibilities of urban astrophotography under extreme light pollution in New York City. All images were taken from Brooklyn, where night skies are heavily affected by artificial lighting and fall into the Bortle Scale Class 9 (inner-city sky).

In the first image, photographed from my backyard at night, you can see a simple foreground of polls and a wire silhouetted against the sky. Above them are the Orion constellation and the Pleiades star cluster. The bright, washed-out background clearly shows the impact of severe light pollution, which reduces contrast and limits the number of visible stars.

Urban Astrophotography - NYC astronomy - Orion Constellation

The second image shows the Lyra constellation. Here, the urban foreground was minimized, allowing the stars themselves to stand out more clearly. I added constellation annotations in Photoshop to help identify the star pattern — a useful technique when imaging from bright city environments.

Urban Astrophotography NYC - Lyra Constellation

In the third image, the Cassiopeia constellation is visible, again with annotations added for clarity. Even under heavy light pollution, some prominent constellations can still be captured from Brooklyn, though only the brightest stars are detectable.

Cassiopeia constellation - Urban Astronomy-  Brooklyn Astrophotography

The final image is a panoramic night view of Manhattan photographed from Brooklyn Bridge Park. Both the Brooklyn Bridge (closer) and the Manhattan Bridge are visible, along with the illuminated Financial District and its reflections on the water.

Although a few bright points appear in the sky in this last image, they are not stars. Under Bortle Class 9 conditions, no recognizable constellations are visible above Manhattan. Most of these bright points are likely airplanes moving through the night sky rather than astronomical objects.

Brooklyn astronomy - Manhattan panorama at night

This post illustrates how urban astrophotography requires adjusted expectations — focusing on bright constellations, wide-field compositions, and creative framing — while also highlighting the dramatic contrast between natural night skies and the artificial glow of a major city.

Urban vs. Dark Sky: In heavily light-polluted cities like New York (Bortle Class 9), only first-magnitude stars are visible to the naked eye, while deep-sky objects are largely washed out by skyglow. In contrast, truly dark locations (Bortle Class 1–2), such as remote deserts or dark-sky parks, reveal a celestial masterpiece: thousands of stars, the full structure of the Milky Way, and faint nebulae and galaxies that are completely invisible from urban environments. The difference highlights how dramatically artificial lighting alters our human connection to the cosmos.

Related Posts

• Milky Way Casting Shadows – Chile (Bortle Class 1)
• Watching the Sky: Observing Meteors at Cherry Springs State Park
• Astrophotography: Tiny Planet at Night (Urban vs Travel Skies)
• Brooklyn at Night – City Light and Night Photography
• Grand Teton National Park Nightscape – Dark Sky Astrophotography

Brooklyn Astronomy - Andromeda Galaxy from Tripod

Astronomy? Impossible to understand and madness to investigate.

— Sophocles, c. 420 BCE

Brooklyn Astronomy -  Andromeda Galaxy from Tripod - Canon 40D

Sky, Clouds, Sunsets and Sunrises from Airplane – Travel Moments of an Astrophotographer

Many of my astrophotography projects take place around the world. Traveling to dark sky locations often requires long flights across continents and oceans. During these flights I frequently photograph the sky, clouds, and sunrise or sunset from the airplane window.

These moments are interesting for an astrophotographer because they reveal the atmosphere from above: layers of clouds, the horizon of Earth, and intense twilight colors created by sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere. In a sense, the journey to a dark sky location begins long before the telescope is set up — sometimes already at 35,000 feet above the Earth.

Sky and Clouds from Airplane

Sunset from airplane over New York – atmospheric sky photography

Sunset - East Coast of the United States from airplane, Astrophotography

Photos from Airplane - Europe sunrise

Clouds from airplane

View from airplane – Earth sunrise above the horizon

Many of the destinations for these flights later became locations for my night sky photography. After landing and reaching dark sky areas, the same Sun that creates these colorful sunsets eventually disappears below the horizon, revealing the stars, constellations, and the Milky Way that are the main subjects of astrophotography.

Photography from an airplane offers a unique perspective on Earth's atmosphere and the interaction between sunlight, clouds, and the horizon. For an astrophotographer, these flights are not only part of the journey, but also part of the sky experience itself.

Related Astrophotography & Sky Phenomena Posts

• Orion Constellation Astrophotography Around the World
• Big Dipper (Ursa Major) Astrophotography Around the World
• Milky Way Panorama Astrophotography Around the World
• Astrophotography Little Planet at Night Polar Panorama Around the World

Astrophotography Around the World

These flights have taken me to some of the best dark sky locations on Earth including the Atacama Desert in Chile, the Galápagos Islands, Yellowstone National Park, Cherry Springs State Park, and Tanzania in East Africa.

Many of my astrophotography projects take place in different parts of the world. Flights like the ones shown above are often the beginning of a journey to dark sky locations where the Milky Way, constellations, and other night sky phenomena can be photographed.

• Milky Way Casting Shadows - Chile Astrophotography - San Pedro de Atacama
• Crux (Southern Cross) and Milky Way – Galápagos Astrophotography
• Cherry Springs State Park Pennsylvania – Dark Sky Astrophotography
• Rainbow of the Milky Way and the Eternal Baobab — Tarangire, Tanzania
• Yellowstone Astrophotography