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Andrew McCarthy

9 Feb, 6 tweets, 4 min read

One of the most recognizable constellations in the night sky is Orion. and It is absolutely stunning. But after I spent some time shooting it from dark skies, I learned there is more to it than meets the eye. A short thread. #opteam #astrophotography #space

Our eyes do not perform well in low light, and do not pick up much in the "near infrared" portion of the visible spectrum. My camera, however, can. Look at everything that is revealed after just 18 minutes of shooting.

I annotated this image since it was too much to cover in one tweet. Everything from star forming regions, to supernova shockwaves, and even interstallar dust illuminated by nothing but starlight is visible in this pic. Along with millions of stars.

Here is the same image faded in from the recognizable constellation. By the way, anybody with a DSLR can take shots like this. It's a lot easier if you have a star tracker like this one but not required. optcorp.com/products/skywa…

The image was stacked and calibrated to remove the effects of light pollution, as well as to increase the image contrast. All my raw data is available to patrons to those that want to play with it: patreon.com/ajamesmccarthy
Here's what a shot straight out of camera looks like.

Due to popular demand- this is now available as a print here: imagekind.com/art/orion-at-m…

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More from @AJamesMcCarthy

Andrew McCarthy

@AJamesMcCarthy

8 Feb

I spent a few hours the other night with my telescope locked onto the heart of the Orion Nebula. This is the image that came from that session. A vibrant scene of forming stars- so bright you can see it with your naked eye. #astrophotography #space #opteam

Here's the full image, since I cropped and rotated to take advantage of twitter's 16x9 previews. This is also available as a print here: 8x10.co/cosmic_backgro…

If you are ever interested in learning how the raw data turns into these images, I do make my data available to aspiring astrophotographers via my patreon. This is a challenging hobby but quite rewarding. patreon.com/ajamesmccarthy

Read 4 tweets

Andrew McCarthy

@AJamesMcCarthy

16 Jan

For the last couple years, I have fully delved into backyard astrophotography from the city. My most common question- what kind of gear is needed if someone wants to learn to take these photos? Here is a full thread on the topic. #astrophotography #space #opteam

I do have a short youtube video walking through the basics of what I use and why, but sometimes its easier just to read a quick summary and check out product/prices, which is why I am doing this. Here's the video if you haven't seen it yet:

When I just want to observe, and not take photos, I use a dobsonian. They offer the largest aperture for your dollar and can show you everything from planets to galaxies. Great place to start. Just don't expect to be able to take pictures. bit.ly/2N3ukMk

Read 17 tweets

Andrew McCarthy

@AJamesMcCarthy

15 Oct 20

Yesterday morning I captured an incredibly brief and rare event, the ISS transiting the 4% illuminated moon during the daytime. #astrophotography #space #opteam

Here's the full shot, which was assembled as an HDR mosaic (the ISS was captured with a narrow FOV). Prints available here for 24 hours: 8x10.co/cosmic_backgro…