Q1: At first, congratulation that your nice image won #ASIWEEK. Can you introduce yourself to us?

Hello. Thank you very much for your reward, it is truly an honor.

My name is Thomas LELU, I am 39 years old, and I have been an amateur astrophotographer for 8 years now in a small village in eastern France. I was a firefighter for 5 years on a voluntary basis, I play the guitar, and I love all science. I have always been very curious about the world and the Universe around me.

When I was already a child and with my friends, we were waiting for the falling stars in summer, lying on the grass in the fields.

Astronomy has never left me since after my studies in cell biology, I graduated from the Paris Observatory. With my first job and my first salaries in clinical research on oncology, I was able to make my dream come true by buying my first telescope, a Newton 200/800 on a NEQ6 mount on which I installed a camera.

Subsequently, my family supported me in this consuming passion, and I was able to build my astronomical observatory at the bottom of the garden with the help of my brother and my father.

I also do a few evenings of astronomical presentation to the youngest children. For me, it is like our ancestors thousands of years ago to pass on knowledge.

Q2: Why do you love astronomy? What does it mean to you?

Astronomy and Astrophotography is an open book. An infinite opening in the imagination. To be in “contact” with all these men since the dawn of time who, one day, raised their heads to look at these small luminous dots and who told a story. As in the days of ancient Greece when these small dots were “holes” in the floor of paradise. This is why I love astronomy.

Astronomy is a delicious mix of imaginary mythological stories, sciences, travels, conquest and above all mystery.

Astronomy is also a source of inspiration and well-being. Realize that we are very small in front of the immensity of the Universe. This allows you to relativize and have a certain serenity about the worries of everyday life. Strangely, it’s a way of keeping “your feet on the ground” but still having your head in the stars!

I like astronomy because sometimes it’s an opportunity to meet up with friends.

With friends while waiting for comet Neowise in July 2020

Q3: When did you start astrophotography?

I started astronomy from a very early age using my eyes.

With my friends, we had fun counting shooting stars during summer nights. We learned the constellations and how to find our way around.

I had to wait until adulthood, and my first job was to finance my first telescope. One Newton on an NEQ6 equatorial mount. I do not know anything in the field of astrophotography and especially image processing.

My first Skywatcher 200/800 telescope and my very first image. 58 lights of 60 seconds at 800ISO with a Canon EOS 450D

Q4: What gear do you use for astrophotography? Any pictures of them?

Regarding the material used to make my recent images. I am using a Newton ASA (AstroSystem Austria) at 900mm focal length with an AAF3 focuser with encoders on a Software Bisque Paramount MyT mount. The imaging camera is ZWO ASI2400MC Pro.

My autoguiding system is a parallel system with a Skywatcher ZenithStar 72ED telescope and a ZWO ASI290MM Mini camera. Even though I live in a small village where the street light goes out during the night and 25 km from a town of 100,000 inhabitants, I use IDAS filters (LPS P3 and NBZ) with the ZWO filter holder.

Everything is connected to a Pegasus astro advanced power box.

Here is my gear Newton ASA10 ” telescope with ZWO ASI2400MC Pro on a Paramount MyT mount. Autoguiding in parallel with SkyWatcher Evostar 72ED and ZWO ASI290MM Mini

Q5: We see that you have taken photos of Deep sky, Planets and Stars on Astrobin. Could you please rank them and tell us why?

If I had to mention my preferences, in third place our natural satellite. Then the stars and the first is deep sky.

First, I photographed the Moon. It does not require much material. As soon as I had the opportunity to photograph the sky with a camera, the Moon is the closest star to our Earth and magnificent by the many craters and variations in the morphology of its surface.

In second position, the stars. Immortalizing star constellations, globular clusters or just a portion of the starry sky, was really the click to continue in astrophotography. It required more material, but it brought to light, thanks to exposures of several seconds, stars with different colors. I was amazed by my first images.

With the experience and the equipment, I then photograph the deep sky. With the experience and the equipment, I then photograph the deep sky. This is my top one.

The richness of colors and shapes immediately seduced me. In addition, the acquisition work does not stop there with subsequently all the discovery of the processing of deep sky images.

Comet NEOWISE July 22, 2020- WO ZenithStar 61, Canon 6D Astrodon, SW Star Adventurer – 50×60 “at 1600ISO

Last crescent moon September 26, 2019- WO ZenithStar 61, Canon 6D Astrodon and IDAS LPS-D2 filter, SW Star Adventurer – 1×2″ + 1x(1/200)” at 400ISO

The pillar of Cepheus (VdB152) – ASA10’’, Paramount MyT, ZWO ASI2400MC Pro 83×300’’ + 121×600’’ IDAS LPS-P3 and 68×900’’ IDAS NBZ. Total exposure 44h5’

Q6: Among all these stars, galaxies and nebula you’ve shot, do you have one favorite target?

No, I don’t have a favorite. I am amazed by the beauty of the deep sky and am still so pleasantly surprised. Each target is different both in terms of colors and their structure. I still have a preference for nebula.

Spyder nebula – ASA10’’, Paramount MyT, Canon Ra 135×300’’ at 1600ISO and 115×300’’ at 800ISO. Total exposure 20h50’

Q7: Your ASIWEEK image “The girl walking in space – Hippocampus Nebula” was outstanding! How did you capture it?

To achieve this image, I accumulated almost 27 hours of exposure time. It took me 10 nights to complete my goal and make this single image.

All controlled by TheSkyX pro software, FocusMax and MaxPilote.

Once the 171 images were centralized on the hard drive, I was able to perform the pre-processing using the AstroPixelProcessor software.

The processing was carried out using mainly Photoshop and PixInsight.

The elimination of the light pollution gradient has been made easier thanks to the use of IDAS filters. The most time-consuming part was making a starless in order to work on the nebula alone.

Indeed, the use of a Newtonian telescope imposes egrets on the stars, which makes these stars difficult to remove in order to have an image without stars. I used PixInsight’s StarNet + process to do the heavy lifting. I then refined the image by hand in Photoshop by removing the remaining stars one by one.

I then worked on two different images: an image of the nebula and an image only with the stars to then merge them. I use a screen with a color calibration probe to respect the display.

The girl walking in space – ASA10’’, Paramount MyT, ZWO ASI2400MC Pro 33×300’’ + 101×600’’ IDAS LPS-P3 and 21×600’’ + 15×900’’ IDAS NBZ. Total exposure 26h55’

Q8: What do you think is the most difficult part of DSO and Planetary imaging?

The most difficult for astrophotography is the setting of different equipment and image processing skills. Regarding the regimes, it is very difficult to know how to configure all the accessories at the start. Know how to establish a periodic error curve to correct frame defects. Know how to produce DARK, OFFSET and FLAT images in good condition (especially FLATS). It is also necessary to have computer skills because everything is managed by software.

Having great raw images is not enough. If you are not comfortable processing images, you will not come up with something pleasant. So, the difficulty is to have all these skills simultaneously to obtain a beautiful image.

Q9: Do you usually travel to dark place to take photos of the night skies? If so, is there any unforgettable story that you can share with us?

No, I built my observatory at the end of the garden. In addition, dark places without light pollution are becoming increasingly rare. I move away a bit during the summer to take pictures of our Milky Way.

Trifid nebula, Lagoon nebula, Jupiter and milky way – Canon 6D Astrodon – SIGMA Art24-105mm 2x(3x120s) at 800ISO

Jupiter and Milky Way – Canon 6D Astrodon and SIGMA ART24-105mm – 3x118s at 800ISO

Q10: Apart from taking astrophotos, do you participate in other astronomy-related events?

I took part in a few training courses for image processing, but what I prefer is passing on knowledge.

So I hosted several evenings to present some concepts of astronomy to children.

Q11: What do you think the future of astrophotography if take the increasingly heavy light pollution and the rapidly developed technology into consideration?

Planetary lighting increases by 2% per year. The dark night disappears little by little, caught in the light of the cities. I find that really sad. On the one hand for sky lovers but also for disturbing consequences on biodiversity but also on our health. Migratory birds differ in their movements. Some nocturnal species can no longer feed in these areas too bright. According to the new World Atlas of Light Pollution, more than 80% of humanity would live under flooded artificial light and a third of the Earth’s population would never see the Milky Way.

Light pollution in my village – Canon 6D Astrodon 1×10’’ 800ISO

But even in places that appear very dark, with long-exposure images, there is still light pollution on the horizon.

Not to mention the Starlink project and other satellites that are even more likely to swirl our skies. I hope we will have a collective awareness of all its problems. Because finding technological solutions to mitigate these effects is good, but it does not eliminate the problem at the source.

Q12: We see you have a wonderful family. Does your wife like taking astrophotos with you? Would you like to teach your baby astrophotography in the future?

When we met, I had built my observatory, but it was not automated.

My wife had given me an electric heating blanket for the cold nights. She would come to the observatory and fall asleep with me with the electric blanket on.

Now that the observatory is automated, we stay warmer.

I am lucky to have a woman who accepts and supports me in my passion. She gave me the best gift in the world, a son, Jules.

Before I can teach her astrophotography, I hope I can show her the Milky Way before it disappears and teach her about the constellations and associated mythology.

Why not, later, if it interests him, we can take pictures together.

Q13: How many ASI cameras do you have? What is your first ASI camera and why did you choose it?

I have a total of three ZWO ASI cameras. My main camera (ASI2400MC Pro) on my telescope. My ASI290MM Mini autoguiding camera on my parallel mounted telescope. I also have an ASI224MC which I use as Allsky. My first ASI camera was my autoguiding camera. I wanted to switch to the new color CMOS sensor for my main camera. Indeed, under my sky, it was a waste of time to photograph with a monochrome camera. I purchased the ASI2400MC Pro this summer. Despite a fairly high price, I am fully satisfied. Finally, I built an allsky from the ZWO ASI224MC camera. This camera is widely used by allsky owners. The noise is low and allows me to raise doubts about the clouds.

Making an allsky from a ZWO ASI224MC camera

Use of the allsky to remove doubts about the quality of the sky. Exposure of 30s

Q14: Do you have any suggestions for the people who want to buy their first ASI cameras?

ZWO has moved the lines in the market for cameras dedicated to astronomy. It is a very good thing. The brand is now recognized around the world.

I was reluctant for my first purchase. Now my main camera is a ZWO camera, and I am very happy with it.

Q15: What achievement have you made on astrophotography during the whole year? What goal do you have for the next year?

This year, I had the honor of having my images awarded at the level of the astrophotographer community (ASIWEEK, AAPOD², APODGrAg, Astrobin).

I manage to make about 1 image per month. This year, I had the honor of having my images awarded at the level of the astrophotographer community (AAPOD², APODGrAg, Astrobin).

I manage to make about 1 image per month. I hope to be able to do more in 2022 but I am completely dependent on the capricious weather of the north-east of France and especially always take so much pleasure to photograph the sky. And maybe redo an APOD like in 2016.

The Cosmic Lizard-ZWO ASI2400MC at -10°C, ASA Newton 250/950 F3.6, Paramount MyT, 29h25′

Q16: What’s your impression of ZWO? Is there anywhere you think we can do better? Please feel free to tell us.

I do not yet have enough experience with ZWO cameras to have a representative opinion. I hope all the time that the material is efficient enough over time. I sometimes read mounting issues with the CMOS PCB which was not screwed on some cameras over $ 3000. So in view of the price, perhaps have a greater vigilance on the material at the level of the production line. For my part, I am very satisfied with ZWO, but a brand must also make its prestige at the after-sales level. I hope that I can make no request at this level. ZWO now has my full confidence. I will no longer hesitate to buy a ZWO camera.

1.

Topic: AM5

Q: Will the AM5 fit a standard photography tripod or just the ZWO supplied one?

A: The AM5 mount can work with any 3/8” screw mount. It is recommended to use the ZWO supplied tripod which will be more convenient, provide better stability and improved safety in use.

2.

Topic: AM5

Q: How do you calculate how much counterbalance weight would be needed?

A: According to the engineering calculations, we can calculate the maximum load capacity of AM5 mount:

• 13kg without the counterweight

The OTA should be secured on the AM5 of no more than 20cm in length.

• 20kg with the counterweight.

Supported counterweight: ≤5kg.

The counterweight should be secured on a counterweight bar of no more than 25cm in length.

3.

Topic: AM5

Q: How do you balance the telescope with the AM5? Will the axis unlock to check balance, or does it allow a significant difference in balance?

A: It’s OK to keep them roughly balanced. There is no need to precisely adjust the balance.

4.

Topic: AM5

Q: Will ZWO be supplying the counterweight arm for purchase?

A: Yes – Details will be provided shortly via the website.

5.

Topic: AM5

Q: Will ZWO be making a travel case available?

A: We will not be making a travel case for the AM5. The mount will be sold with an outer packing box in the material which normally used for packing drones.

6.

Topic: AM5

Q: Does the AM5 have a home position sensor?

A: Yes, A zero (home) position sensor is fitted, the AM5 mount also features a one-button go to zero position function. At meridian flip the mount will stop. Automated meridian flips will be possible using the ASIAIR.

7.

Topic: AM5

Q: Is the AM5 based on the OnStep system?

A: NO. The AM5 uses a system developed completely and independently by ZWO.

This guarantees system stability and interoperability with ZWO products like ASIAIR and means that future development and system improvements are built by ZWO developers versus 3^rd parties.

The AM5 operating system features an online upgrade functionality.

It is compatible with the LX200 command set.

8.

Topic: AM5

Q: Can you connect a ZWO camera to the body to act as a polar alignment camera? 

A: Yes, ZWO cameras can be connected to the AM5 to act as polar alignment cameras.

9.

Topic: AM5

Q: Laser alignment – Will we have this function or not? 

A: The Laser function will be removed from the first edition of AM5.

10.

Topic: AM5

Q: Is the braking on both axis – RA and DEC?

A: Only on the RA axis. The DEC axis does not need it.

11.

Topic: AM5

Q: Is there a price for the pier extension?

A: We are still working on optimising the pier extension. Pricing information will be announced when this work has been completed.

12.

Topic: AM5

Q: When is the tripod/pier available for order – can pre orders add a pier/tripod later?

A: The tripod can be booked from December 24, 2021. When we complete the development of the pier extension, we will offer the bundle on the ZWO website (you can also order it separately for sure.)

13.

Topic: AM5

Q: Will the tripod support adding counterweights at low latitudes without the pier extension or just with it?

A: Depending on the length of the OTA you might need a pier extension to avoid collisions. For the low altitudes, if you are adding the counterweight, then you may need to add pier extensions to prevent the bar and the counterweight from hitting the mount.

14.

Topic: AM5

Q: Does the AM5 have 1:3 synchronous belts on both RA and DEC axis?

A: Yes, it does.

Drive – Harmonic drive + Synchronous belt (Reduction ratio: 300:1)

Reducer specification (RA) – Model No.17 (Reduction ratio: 100:1)

Reducer specification (DEC) – Model No.17 (Reduction ratio: 100:1)

Periodic error – ＜±20”

PE duration – 432s

Drive (RA) – Harmonic NEMA42 stepper motor + Brake

Drive (DEC) – Harmonic NEMA35 stepper motor

15.

Topic: AM5

Q: How is the AM5 different from the Rainbow Astro 135?

A: The AM5 and Rainbow RST-135 both use harmonic drive speed reducers. The AM5 has a larger mount weight and increased load capacity, making it more stable in use.

Each ZWO AM5 harmonic drive speed reducer is tested for periodic error, ensuring it meets the accuracy and the required performance with the benefit that the AM5 is only half the price of the RST-135.

16.

Topic: AM5

Q: How come you recommend a shorter focal length at 900mm? The screenshots of Rosette Nebula and Horsehead are pinpoint.

A: The 900mm focal length is just an estimate based on the 1”-2”/px suitable sampling rate (normally the pixel size of an astronomical dedicated cooled camera is 3-4um), so not a recommended value but a guideline. We do recommend keeping your pixel scale above 1”/px.

17.

Topic: AM5

Q: Does the AM5 connect wirelessly to the ASIAIR Plus, Pro and Original version?

A: Yes – all ASIAIR editions can wirelessly control the AM5.

18.

Topic: AM5

Q: Does the AM5 emit its own WIFI signal?

A: The mount itself does not have Wi-Fi. The hand controller contains the Wi-Fi functionality, which can be wirelessly controlled by ASIAIR or other software on your computer.

19.

Topic: AM5

Q: Will there be any power outlets available?

A: We will add a power output at the side of the mount for supplying additional equipment.

20.

Topic: AM5

Q: Why ZWO is developing a harmonic drive mount? The harmonic drive mount is not that accurate in guiding compared to traditional mounts.

A: Compared to other mounts the harmonic drive mount offers greater portability, its lightweight construction is easier to transport and so is the perfect choice for astronomers who enjoy field trips to dark locations for their imaging. Also, the harmonic drive mount is more suitable for beginners since it does not need accurate balance.

The ZWO AM5 mount has a strong performance combined with a very reasonable price.

21.

Topic: AM5

Q: The tripod might not be very stable for larger loads?

A: There is a centre 3/8″ locking knob along with 3 x M6 screws for securing the AM5 head to the tripod.

The tripod is also supplied with a weight bag, which will provide additional stability to your mount when loaded with sand, stones or even your portable batteries.

22.

Topic: AM5

Q: Can the AM5 mount carry a Celestron C11HD?

A: To ensure stability of such a large OTA we recommend you use the optional counterweights to prevent large and heavy telescopes such as Celestron C11from tipping the tripod over.

The load capacity of AM5 mount without counterweights is 13kg, 20kg with counterweights. If you plan on large OTA’s like the C11 then don’t forget to take the counterweights with you when heading out to image.

23.

Topic: AM5

Q: How accurate is the AM5 capable of guiding?

A: The guiding accuracy is 0.5-0.8″ Sky conditions will dictate how well it performs and we will present results as the selected testers carry out their initial tests using a variety of telescope weights and focal lengths

24.

Topic: AM5

Q: Will the mount be integrated with ASIAIR? How to use the GOTO function if I do not have the hand controller?

A: The ASIAIR will provide full control functionality for the AM5 and connect wirelessly. You will also be able to connect and control the mount using the dedicated AM5 app via wireless connection.

GOTO functionality is also available via USB, and you can connect the AM5 to other astronomy compatible software using a USB cabled connection. In this configuration the hand controller does not need to be used.

We will consider integrating the ASIAIR into the mount in any possible future designs.

25.

Topic: AM5

Q: Does AM5 mount support ASCOM?

A: Yes, it supports ASCOM, INDI and is compatible with the LX200 command set.

26.

Topic: AM5

Q: Why is the mount called AM5?

A: A represents ASI; M represents mount; 5 represents the grade.

27.

Topic: AM5

Q: Will there be any encoder upgrades in the future?

A: Currently no, the AM5 mount is still considered an entry-level mount. In any future design we may consider adding encoders.

28.

Topic: AM5

Q: Does the mount support PEC?

A: No PEC functionality is included at this time.

29.

Topic: Ordering

Q: Does the pre-order stage mean we need to pay the full amount or just a deposit?

A: Mount orders require payment in full at time of ordering

30.

Topic: Ordering

Q: Will ZWO be selling the optional counterweights?

A: Currently ZWO does not plan to sell counterweights. You can utilise any commonly available ones that fit the counterweight bar diameter.

31.

Topic: Ordering

Q: When will payment be taken at ordering?

A: Payment will be taken at time of order. The estimated shipping date is the end of March or early April.

32.

Topic: After-sale

Q: If purchased directly from you and item has warranty issues, can it be dealt with by a local dealer or does it have to be shipped back to you?

A: We will consider giving the maintenance rights to our dealers once they are fully trained.

Q1: At first, congratulation that your nice image won #ASIWEEK. Can you introduce yourself to us?

Thanks very much, I was very excited to have my image chosen! My name is Nick Lake, and I am an amateur astrophotographer and lifelong space enthusiast living in the city of Chicago with my wife and two young kids. I recently started a YouTube channel about astrophotography, and I am also an opera enthusiast.

Image: selfie in the Grainger Sky Theater at Adler Planetarium, with my 4-panel SHO mosaic of the Sadr region

Q2: Why do you love astronomy? What does it mean to you?

Astronomy for me has always been about seeing things for myself. Whether it is knowing where to find Venus after sunset or star-hopping to M101 in the eyepiece or seeing the OIII data roll in on the Eastern Veil, I love being able to apply my knowledge and experience to find and see and image more and more amazing things.

Image: M31 in HaRGB. 1.5 hours H-alpha acquired in Chicago. 3 hours RGB acquired in Bortle 4 skies. RASA 8, ASI1600MM Pro

Q3: When did you start astrophotography? What was your feeling when you first saw the image showing on the screen?

I started astrophotography back in 2004 on film. I was still in college and didn’t have a lot of time or resources to pursue it fully, but getting those prints back from the camera shop (oh the anticipation!) and seeing the stars and clusters I had captured was really amazing. It opened up a whole new way of experiencing the sky: being able to capture more than what my eyes could see through the telescope. I eventually moved into DSLR astrophotography and those moments of seeing an image come up on the back of the camera were truly unforgettable. These days I mainly image in mono, so it isn’t quite the same impact when the image comes up on my smartphone through the ASIAIR, but it is still incredible, and my images are better than ever.

Image: me with my Celestron C90 Mak-Cass and Orion SkyView Pro 8” Reflector in 2004.

Q4: What gear do you use for astrophotography? Any pictures of them?

My primary setup includes a Celestron RASA 8 on an iOptron CEM40 mount. I image with an ASI1600MM Pro connected to an ASIAIR Plus and a ZWO EAF. I have a 60mm Orion guidescope and an ASI290MM Mini guide camera. I generally shoot narrowband as I am in Bortle 9 skies most of the time, and my go-to filters are 2” Baader 3.5/4nm f/2 filters.

Q5: Your ASIWEEK image “Rosette Nebula” was outstanding! How did you capture it?

Thank you! I took advantage of the speed of the RASA to complete an image in the very few clear December nights we get in Chicago. I was able to capture the data in two nights, with one night dedicated to H-alpha and the other night with all three narrowband filters. I was very selective with the subframes, especially the H-alpha. Using SubframeSelector in Pixinsight, I only accepted the subs with the best FWHM and Eccentricity, and selected those with the highest star counts. This allowed me to have a very crisp and clean integrated H-alpha channel, which I used as a Luminance layer over the standard SHO channel combination. This made up for somewhat limited SII and OIII integration times (only an hour each!) to allow that color data to shine through and not worry too much about the noise.

Q6: What do you think is the most difficult part of DSO imaging?

Probably having patience. It extends to everything, from planning a rig and purchasing equipment, to setting up your rig at night, to capturing enough data, to waiting out long spells of cloudy (or clear but windy) nights, to processing and eventually to posting and sharing your final image. It’s so easy to rush ahead at any of those points and try to take shortcuts that will almost always come back to bite you in the end. It’s really tempting to try to get it all done in one night, especially if you haven’t had a good night in a while, but it’s almost always better to slow down and capture the data you need for the best image you can get, rather than settling for just okay.

Image: California Nebula in SHO. 4.5 hours integration. RASA 8, ASI1600MM Pro, Baader f/2 Ultra-narrowband filters

Q7: Would you mind introducing your YouTube Channel “Windy City Astrophotography” to us?

Yes, I was very excited to start my YouTube channel back in September of 2021. I focus mainly on astrophotography from light-polluted skies, as we have here in Chicago. I show what is possible with the right equipment and a little know-how even from bright skies where you can barely see stars with your naked eye. I spent so long consuming amazing YouTube content from astrophotographers that I felt it was time to give back and hopefully help inspire newcomers to the hobby to see what they’re able to capture no matter where they live. It has been a blast so far. I just passed 1000 subscribers and have met and connected with so many amazing astrophotographers, some of whose work I have admired for years.

Image: Heart Nebula 2-panel Mosaic, SHO. 4 hours H-alpha, 1.5 hours OIII, 1.5 hours S2 per panel. RASA 8, ASI1600MM Pro, Baader f/2 Ultra-narrowband filters

Q8: Do you have any unforgettable experience during these years of astrophotography?

Funnily enough, the ones that stick out most are the shortest: capturing the ISS while hand-guiding my scope and also during lunar or solar transits. It’s so quick and so much planning has gone into it (especially for the transits) that it really gets my heart racing every time.

Image: Canon EOS SL1 at prime focus on Orion 8” f/4.9 reflector

Q9: Apart from taking astrophotos, do you participate in other astronomy-related events?

I am lucky to be able to be a space nerd in my spare time and also get paid for it. I work at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago in the Theaters department. I oversee our live planetarium presentations and help create our fulldome experiences that bring the wonders of the universe to our guests.

Q10: If you are asked to give some advice for the newcomers, what do you want to say?

Take time to get to know the sky as you learn astrophotography. It’s really incredible to be able to search for an object and slew to it immediately, but make sure you’re familiar with the sky and the different seasonal constellations from an observing perspective too. Getting to appreciate the sky and knowing its motions and phases can really help in planning your astrophotography sessions, and getting out there and reading a star chart and maybe star-hopping to a deep sky object in the eyepiece of a telescope can be tremendously rewarding. In the warmer months I often will have my imaging setup up and running and then bring out my optical scope to do some observing at the same time. It not only helps you be more familiar with the sky, but it also highlights just how incredible this imaging technology is that allows you to automatically point to, track and image objects that might be barely visible or invisible in the eyepiece.

Image: 4-panel SHO mosaic of Sadr Region. 1 hour H-alpha, 30 minutes OIII and S2 per panel. RASA 8, ASI1600MM Pro, Baader f/2 Ultra-narrowband filters

Q11: Does your family join you when you take the astrophotos?

Sometimes! When the sunset is early enough, I’ll often get set up early and then during bedtime for my young kids we’ll slew around the sky a bit and take some images of the moon or deep sky objects.

Image: Lagoon and Trifid Nebulae. 75 minutes integration through Baader RGB filters. RASA 8, ASI1600MM Pro

Q12: How do you like your camera ASI1600MM Pro?

I love it. It pairs extremely well with the RASA, and the image quality is outstanding. It isn’t the newest or fanciest, but it absolutely holds its own, and I’ll be using it for a long time to come.

Image: Cygnus Wall, 2.5 hours SHO integration. RASA 8, ASI1600MM Pro, Baader f/2 Ultra-narrowband filters

Q13: What achievement have you made on astrophotography during 2021? What goal do you have for 2022?

2021 was when I finally got my ideal urban astrophotography rig assembled, including scope, mount, camera and filters. It was extremely satisfying to see it all come together and work out the kinks and figure out some best practices. 2022 is all about starting to push the boundaries and see just what it is capable of now that all the pieces are in place.

Image: Witch Head Nebula. 3 hours total through Baader RGB filters. RASA 8, ASI1600MM Pro

Q14: What’s your impression of ZWO? Do you have any suggestions or feedback to us?

I’ve been really impressed with ZWO’s social media presence and ability to engage with their user base. Things like the ASIWEEK contest and multiple pages for different products help bring together all types of users and also bring them closer to company representatives and developers who can answer questions or take feedback. The cadence of new version releases for the ASIAIR is really impressive, and while not every feature request can be fulfilled, I think the number that is and the speed with which that happens is great!

Image: Wizard Nebula. 10 hours SHO integration with RGB stars. RASA 8, ASI1600MM Pro, Baader f/2 Ultra-narrowband filters and RGB filters

 Join Us in Making a Difference

ZWO believe in the power of many, and our journey to inspire, innovate and discover must be an inclusive one. At ZWO, we are curious about the universe, and we believe good observations and aesthetics come from anywhere. Therefore, we want to open up our product development to the collective brain to co-create the front panel of the ZWO AM5 mount.

*

How it works?

Use your talent to design the black front panel of the ZWO AM5 mount.

• How to Enter

1. Create your design using any platform or tool you like.
2. Write an artist’s statement – tell us what you have drawn and the story behind it.
3. Submit your entry to ZWO via email markting@zwoptical.com by the deadline: February 28, 2022 at 11:59PM UTC+8.

Image resolution: 300dpi

Color or mono: Only mono accepted

Image size: ≥1000*1000 pixels

Image format: JPG \ PNG

Note: In the email submission, please also include your name, the title of work and your contact information. Please keep your source file in .PSD or .AI format. If your entry is selected, we will ask you to provide the source file.

• Judging Criteria

Your design will be judged by ZWO judges on the following parameters:

1. Artistic merit
2. Relation to the theme: ZWO AM5 Mount and astrophotography
3. Theme Communication: how well the contest theme is expressed in both the artwork and the written statement

ZWO judges will select 3 finalists whose work will be posted on ZWO Facebook page on March 4, 2022. The finalist receives most likes wins the competition.

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Prize

The winner of the contest will win a ZWO AM5 Mount, Tripod and the winner’s design will be used on all future manufactured AM5 mounts.

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Terms and Conditions

By entering the ZWO AM5 Mount DESIGN TO WIN competition, entrants are agreeing to the following terms and conditions:

1. The sponsor is Suzhou ZWO CO., LTD. If you have any questions about this design competition, you are welcome to contact us at marketing@zwoptical.com.
2. Entry is open to worldwide astronomy amateurs. Any person who submits an entry under these terms and conditions is described as the “Entrant” in these terms and conditions.
3. All entries should be sent to marketing@zwoptical.com. We will confirm receipt of your submission in 2 work days.
4. Up to three submissions per entrant.
5. The winner’s name and design will be published on ZWO social media pages on March 11, 2022.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ZwoDesignAstronomyCameras/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zwoasi/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/zwoasi

6. If the Sponsor, having used reasonable efforts, is unable to contact the winner after 30 days the competition ended, then the prize is forfeited to the second-place entrant, as judged by Facebook users based on the Facebook likes, and the second-place entrant will be contacted and get the prize.
7. Entrants warrant that:

1) The entry is the entrant’s original work. If it involves plagiarism of other people’s work and infringement of others’ portrait rights, reputation rights, privacy rights, copyrights and other rights, the legal and civil responsibilities shall be borne by the contributors independently. ZWO as the organizer disclaims responsibility.

2) The work should not yet be published in any form before, except this competition.

3) If there exists important elements of similarity or large areas of similarity in entries, only the eldest of submission shall be accepted in this competition.  

4) Once the entry is found to be involved in infringement or plagiarism, the author will be immediately disqualified from this competition. The author will also bear all the reputation and actual losses of ZWO in this activity.

5) ZWO has obtained relevant consents and permissions from the final winner in relation to the use of his/her image. ZWO owns the intellectual property rights (including copyright and trademark) of the work, also has the right to modify it in potential scenarios.

6)    All persons to be solicited in the ZWO AM5 Mount Design to Win competition are considered accepting this declaration, no confirmation in written or in other ways needed.

Q1: At first, congratulation that your nice image won #ASIWEEK. Can you introduce yourself to us?

First, I want to thank all ZWO judges for their affirmations. I’m appreciated to be the winner of ASIWEEK. My name is Chien-Yu Chen. I’m a 16-year-old senior high school student from Taiwan. I love astrophotography, physics, and music.

Q2: Why do you love astronomy and when did you start astrophotography? What does it mean to you?

I think astronomy is mysterious and professional. I have been engaged in astrophotography for one year. By doing astrophotography, I can discover the beauty of the universe.

M45 & NGC1499

Modified Canon EOS RP + Canon RF 85mm f/2

Q3: What gear do you use for astrophotography? Any pictures of them?

For Deep Sky imaging, I use WO FLT 91, ASI533MC Pro, iOptron GEM28. I also have WO RedCat51. For wide field, I use modified Canon EOS RP, Sigma 135mm f/1.8 art, iOptron SkyGuider Pro. You can see them in the down picture.

Q4: We see that you have taken photos of Deep Sky and Planets. What different feelings do they bring you?

I prefer shooting Deep Sky because I think Deep Sky objects are fantastic. I tend to photograph planets during major celestial events such as Lunar Eclipse.

Total Lunar Eclipse 2021

Canon EOS R + Kenko SE-GT102M

Horse Head Nebula

ASI533MC Pro + WO FLT91

Q5: What do you think is the most difficult part of DSO and Planetary imaging?

I think image processing is the most difficult part. Equipment can be solved with money, but image processing requires continuous practice. Somebody uses good equipment but can’t get good photos.

Stacked vs. Processed

Q6: How long on average does it take for you to process one astrophoto? Do you have any experience that you can share with us?

I don’t take long time to process astrophotos. I spend an average of 1-2 hours processing one astrophoto. I use PixInsight now, and I think it’s powerful.

Q7: Is there anything you want to tell beginners?

You can search for information online or communicate with friends who also do astrophotography. You can start with a brighter target like M42 or M45. I advise you invest more exposure time on the same target instead of shooting several targets at once. I believe you will get good results.

M45-My first deep sky image

Q8: Your ASIWEEK image “M78” was outstanding! How did you capture it?

This object is bright enough that I could get lots of detail with only 6.5 hours exposure. I only use less than one hour to process this image. I think it’s a good target for beginners.

M78

 ASI533MC Pro + WO FLT91

Q9: Where do you normally take your astrophotos?

I mostly take my astrophotos on my balcony, but it has serious light pollution. I sometimes go to Mountain Hehuan, which has Bortle2 sky. As for this M78, I took this picture at a homestay which is also located in Mountain Hehuan.

Yuanfeng, Mountain Hehuan

Qingjing Starry House homestay, Mountain Huhan

Q10: Your introduction says that you are only 16 years old. How do you balance your study and hobby?

Since I can process images quickly, image processing doesn’t take up much of my reading time. I can also study while taking astrophotos on my balcony because I shoot automatically with ASIAIR.

Cygnus Loop from my balcony (Bortle8 sky)

ASI533MC Pro + WO RedCat51 + STC Duo-Narrowband Filter

M38 and surroundings (balcony)

ASI294MC Pro + WO FLT91 + STC Duo-Narrowband Filter

Q11: We see that you are the president of your school astronomical club. Do you have any club stories to share with us?

I am the president of the Astronomical Club of Taichung First Senior High School. During club class time, we will teach our members about astronomical knowledge, such as astrophysics, constellations, and astrophotography. Since we’re 30th this year, we’ve also released the Astronomical Desk Calendar for 2022.

Astronomical Desk Calendar

Club Class Time

Q12: What ZWO cameras do you have? What do you think of it or them?

I have ASI462MC for guiding and planet photography. I just bought ASI294MC Pro for deep sky imaging. I am satisfied with ZWO cameras.

Q13: What does your family think of your interest in astrophotography?

They think it’s a good interest because they can discover the beauty of the universe through these astrophotos. They support me a lot.

Q14: What achievement have you made on astrophotography during 2021? What goal do you have for 2022?

Because it’s just my first year of astrophotography, I don’t have many achievements. In AstroBin, I got a Top Pick and four Top Pick nominations. In the ZWO Facebook group “ZWO ASI Cameras”, I won the ASIWEEK once. In 2022, I want to capture more special DSO. I also want to get on APOD though it’s difficult. I will do my best for better astrophotos!

Top Pick-NGC6726

ASI533MC Pro + WO RedCat51

Top Pick Nomination-Hyades and Taurus Cloud

Modified Canon EOS RP + Sigma 135mm f/1.8

My 2021 Astrophotography Review

Q15: What’s your impression of ZWO? Is there anywhere you think we can do better? Please feel free to tell us.

I think all ZWO’s products are great. I especially like ASIAIR because it makes astrophotography quite easy. I can just control my equipment with my phone without having to bring a computer. I hope ASIAIR can add mosaic planning function like NINA. Then I don’t need to copy the coordinates to the phone one by one. This will make ASIAIR even better.

Some users have reported an “oil leaking” issue on the ASI2600MC Pro and in some instances on other camera models back in 2021. After research and investigation, we found the issue was caused by the thermal pad, which is a thermal conductive material sits between the sensor and backplate for optimal heat dissipation of the cameras. After long-term exposure to high temperatures, the volatile content of vinyl silicone oil in the pad would migrate to its surface, and then infiltrate through the gap between the sensor and the board, and in some cases bleed to the sensor surface. After discovering this oil leaking problem, we have improved our production process by switching to thermal pads with a lower volatile content to reduce volatilities. Cameras manufactured after October 2021 should not suffer from the oil leaking problem.

For those customers who were affected by the “oil leaking “issues, we are truly sorry and we offer you “Free Replacement or Free Repair with lifetime warranties”

If you are having the oil leak issue, please submit a report here: https://support.astronomy-imaging-camera.com/

Our support team will carefully examine your camera. If oil leak is detected, we will offer you the following resolution:

1. If your camera is under 2-year warranty, we will offer a free replacement. Any expenses incurred in transit will be covered by ZWO (Please keep your invoices).

2. If your camera is beyond the manufacturer’s 2-year warranty, we will offer a free repair and a lifetime warranty on the oil leak issue. We currently have 3 official ZWO maintenance centers and they are located in the USA, Germany and Japan respectively. The repair service includes deep oil cleaning, thermal pad replacement, and sensor alignment.

Friendly reminder: The replacement service or the free repair service with ZWO may take one to two months in transit.

The “Free Replacement or Free Repair” service not only applies to the ASI2600MC Pro camera, but also to other models with oil leak issues.

Q1: At first, congratulation that your nice image won #ASIWEEK. Can you introduce yourself to us?

I’m Arturo Buenrostro, I’m from Mexico, but I’ve been living here in Dallas for 15 years. My job is in the media, radio and TV, but my hobby is astrophotography and photography in general.

With my faithful companion Leia

Q2: Why do you love astronomy? What does it mean to you?

Astrophotography, for me, is like a magnet that catches you and you don’t let go. When I was very young, about 13 years old, my father bought a very homemade telescope, and from there I fell in love with looking at the sky day and night. At that time there was a great eclipse, and from there I was also caught when I could see this great phenomenon in magazines and news images, and of course, I said one day I would be taking photos too. And it has a special meaning for me because you realize the great gift that we have been given to be able to contemplate the wonders of the universe and not only contemplate it but capture it in photographs.

Q3: When did you start astrophotography? What was your feeling when you first saw the image showing on the screen?

For the first time I took astrophotography, it was 10 years ago, and obviously it was a blurred image and not well-focused, but for me it was love at first sight, it was an attraction, and then the challenges of wanting better and better began. We continue on the path to improve images as a team.

Q4: What gear do you use for astrophotography? Any pictures of them?

I have a Celestron Edge HD 11” and a Takahashi 106ed. The instruments that I use to take solar photos are a lunt 60ha and a lunt 10mm ha, with ZWO ASI178MM and ASI290MM. But I have other ZWO cameras like ASI183MC, ASI174MM, ASI2600MC Pro and ASI2600MM Pro.

Gear 1: Lunt 60mm Ha double stack Telescope + Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro + ASI178MM

Gear 2: Lunt 100mm Ha double stack Telescope + Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro + ASI290MM

Q5: Your ASIWEEK image “Solar activity” was outstanding! How did you capture it?

I love solar photography, and every day and at every moment it gives us a totally different landscape. I usually pay attention to when it is showing outstanding things, so take out my equipment and capture them, and this time it happened, I saw that there was a lot of solar activity. Then I began to capture. Sometimes it lasted more than an hour because the seeing was not good. But it is important to keep insisting until the objective is achieved.

#05/2022 ASIWEEK

Q6: It seems that you have spent a lot of time taking pictures of the sun. Why do you like Sun imaging so much? Does it have a special meaning for you?

The Sun is for me the most important star in our solar system. From the first time I saw images through a ZWO camera and the lunt telescope, it was impressive. It is an inexplicable attraction, and also because whenever you turn to observe it, you will have different and surprising views and images. But you have to be very careful all the time. Always make the disclaimer that if you don’t have the right equipment, taking risks to observe the sun can be very dangerous for your eyes.

Q7: What do you think is the most difficult part of Sun imaging?

Achieving precise focus and tuning the filters correctly are challengeable. Sometimes it’s too difficult to focus or tune, and I have to leave it for another day. I also use a cover for my computer as can be seen in the photos, to be able to better observe the images. Many solar astrophotography colleagues do it from inside the house, I could, but actually, to be able to achieve these images, I play a lot with the tuner of my telescopes, which I do manually, that is why I think that the images with other colleagues make such a difference, and sometimes the fortune of having good seeing.

I use a PC with a cover, and FireCapture

Q8: Do you have any other targets in 2022?

It would probably be possible to get a team with even greater scope (152mm), and improve in nebula photography too, which I also love and in the process.

North American Nebula, Bortle 9, 10h 10′.

Equipment: ZWO 2600MC Pro + Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro + Takahashi FSQ-106EDX IV + Radian Triad Ultra Narrowband Filter

Q9: Did anyone inspire you in the early stages of your astrophotography journey?

First of all, my father who was the one who bought me my first telescope, and then my brother Luis. They inspired me first and then to see so many images on the internet, and to have the challenge of being able to be at a similar level one day.

Q10: What kind of CMOS cameras do you want us to develop in the future?

Well, I would suggest cameras focused 100% on solar cameras, especially, for example, the ASI178MM or the ASI290MM but with cooling because it does get quite hot in solar photographs.

Equipment: Lunt 100mm H-Alpha Double Stack + ZWO ASI290MM + Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro

Q11: Does your family join you when you take the astrophotos?

No, my wife and my daughter have other activities, and they are not regularly in my astrophotographs. But they really like to see when there are planetary or lunar observations, they always accompany me that time.

Q12: How many ASI cameras do you have? Which one do you like most?

I have the ASI174MM, ASI178MM, ASI290MC, ASI290MM, ASI183MC Pro, ASI2600MM Pro and ASI2600MC Pro. The camera that I like the most is the ASI290 both mono and color. It is number 1 for planets and solar surface capturing.

Equipment: Lunt 60T/B1200 + ZWO ASI178MM + Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro

Q13: What achievement have you made on astrophotography during 2021? What goal do you have for 2022?

Well, in 2021 my photographs have been published in prestigious magazines, worldwide, as well as in recognition of NASA APOD, APOD GrAG in Italy, AAPOD 2. Anyway, I think they liked my photos in 2021. In 2022 that the solar cycle number 25 promises a great solar activity and we will be there to overcome what has been achieved this year.

Q14: What’s your impression of ZWO? Do you have any suggestions or feedback to us? Please feel free to tell us.

Just to thank the only brand that I think has grown enormously in recent years and thanks to the fact that it makes better equipment. And above all, the facilities for more and more people to approach astrophotography. Now thanks to ZWO, anyone from their cell phone or tablet, can control the astronomical equipment, congratulations and thanks for also taking into account solar photography.

Q1: At first, congratulation that your nice image won #ASIWEEK. Can you introduce yourself to us?

My name is Steeve Body. I’m a 41-year-old music composer, sound designer, sound engineer and educator living in Melbourne, Australia with my beautiful wife Lauren and my 7-year-old son Sebastien. I was born in France and grew up in Reunion Island (near Mauritius and Madagascar) before moving to Australia when I was 20 years old to pursue a career in music.

Q2: Why do you love astronomy? What does it mean to you?

I’ve been looking at the sky for as long as I can remember. I have always been fascinated by the cosmos and the sky in general. When I was younger, I either wanted to be a pilot or an astronomer and started studying physics at university, got a pilot license before ultimately deciding to follow my passion for music.

I have a deep connection to astronomy and observing the cosmos. I had my first telescope when I was probably 9 years old, and it has been a spiritual journey that connects me to everything else that surrounds me. I feel lucky and privileged to be living in a time where I can even appreciate what that means, to look up, contemplate and wonder.

Q3: When did you start astrophotography? What was your feeling when you first saw the image showing on the screen?

I took my first picture with my phone about 18 months ago, then had a DSLR for over a year and then finally got myself a ZWO ASI1600MM Pro with a filter wheel 2 months ago now.

It all started about 2 years ago when I bought my wife a small collapsible reflector for her birthday. A few months in, I stuck my phone to the eye piece to see if I could take a picture of the moon, I was hooked instantly!

First Telescope… Well, my wife’s first telescope

My first picture of the moon with my phone through a Saxon 200/600 reflector telescope

I love solving problems, so I made it my mission to keep trying up until I got a decent shot with my iPhone… I knew I was in trouble then because I was absolutely addicted to that feeling and this was probably going to hurt my wallet…

Like many other, I started checking out some YouTube videos about astrophotography and found many great channels like Trevor Jones Astrobackyard, Cuiv the Lazy Geek, The Astro imaging channel, Star Stuff with Dylan O’Donnell, Visual Darks amongst others and slowly started to learn the craft and get better.

I also joined my local astronomical society here in Melbourne, the ASV and met some truly great people and amongst them were some world class astrophotographers, so I was beyond excited to learn from them.

The first picture I was truly happy with was my mosaic of the Dragons of Ara about 6 months in with an entry level DSLR that I got second hand on eBay for $200, it was so much better but still hard to deal with the thermal noise…

Astro modified Canon EOSM100 with a L-Extreme filter, 14h integration through a WO ZS 73

When looking at the work of other on Astrobin, I knew that getting a mono camera was the path for me to take. I really wanted to take the leap and get an ASI2600MM Pro, but with the cost of the filters and the camera combined this put it out of my reach for my budget, so I decided to go with the ASI1600MM Pro, a trusted camera by many astrophotography’s and in many ways a camera that revolutionized amateur astrophotography at an affordable price point.

It was perfect timing with Orion season in full swing here in the southern hemisphere and I could finally take a shot of the Rosette that I never had the opportunity to take before. I was absolutely blown away when the subs started to come in, right there and then I really understood what I was missing out on when shooting with my DSLR, and I don’t think I could ever go back now.

My first picture with ASI1600MM Pro, Rosette Nebula, 4h45 integration. Antlia Pro Filters + WO ZS 73

Q4: What gear do you use for astrophotography? Any pictures of them?

This is the gear I currently have:

Imaging scope: William Optics Zenithstar 73 APO

Guide Scope: William Optics 200mm Uniguide scope

Mount: Skywatcher EQ6-R

Guide Camera: ZWO ASI120MM Mini

Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI1600MM Pro

Filter Wheel: ZWO 8 x 1.25” EFW

Pegasus Astro Falcon Rotator

Pegasus Astro Pocket Powerbox Micro

Antlia 3nm Pro filters Ha, Oiii and Sii, and Antlia Pro LRGB filters

Intel NUC 8^th Running Nina, Pixinsight and EQ Mod

Q5: Your ASIWEEK image “Dolphin Nebula” was outstanding! How did you capture it?

It was so stunning when I got the message from ZWO that I won that week! This was my first time attempting this target and it was such an amazing feeling to get some recognition for it. My first capture and process of this target, I took about 12h worth of exposures, stacked them in Astro Pixel Processor and processed the picture in Pixinsight and photoshop. It is such a wonderful target but difficult to process well as it is quite faint, and you need a lot of exposure time to be able to do this one justice from my bortle 6/7 skies and manage your signal to noise ratio.

Since then, I ended up adding another 21h worth a data for a total of 33h and spent some more time processing it to resolve finer details and get better looking stars.

Dolphin Nebula, 12h integration. ASI1600MM Pro + Antlia Pro Filters + WO ZS 73

Dolphin Nebula, 33h integration. ASI1600MM Pro + Antlia Pro Filters + WO ZS 73

Q6: What do you think is the most difficult part of DSO imaging? Do you have any skills to deal with it?

Well, capturing and processing are two completely different things. On one end you have been capturing where everything is out to get you, your seeing, sky pollution, guiding performance, flexture, focus, back focus, flat field, dew, full moon, wind, sudden weather change, technical issues of all sorts… it is a never-ending story… On the other end you have image processing which has a steep learning curve. You may be great at capturing but that does not mean your picture will be great unless you are skilled at processing. I think processing is probably the most challenging to get right in the long run and it is so easy to overdo.

I have been a sound engineer and mixer for over 20 years, and I think it is very similar to astrophotography in many ways with recording (capturing) and mixing (processing). I fundamentally understand the concepts and I believe this allows me to absorb a lot of information and fast track my learning progression. Being completely obsessive compulsive and spending countless hours and days practicing also helps a lot! I still have a long way to go but I’m really enjoying the process and the journey so far.

The Running Chicken Nebula, 2h20 integration. ASI1600MM Pro + Antlia Pro Filters + WO ZS 73

Q7: Where do you often take photos of the night skies? Are there any unforgettable shooting stories?

I mostly take pictures in my light polluted bortle 6/7 suburban night skies in Melbourne. I am looking forward to spending some more time shooting in dark locations to be able to capture reflection and dark nebulas which I can’t really take where I am.

My local astronomical society is an amazing dark site with some great facilities for its members, so I’m probably going to spend some more time there in the near future.

Aside from that, we have a lot of animals roaming around at night in Australia and I have had my guiding disrupted by possums on many occasions! Thankfully, my dog Tyke keeps them at bay… but he got very close to peeing on the telescope the other night so I’m not too sure what’s better!

My Backyard with my dog Tyke chasing away the possums

Q8: When is your most exciting moment during a whole astrophotography project?

I just love watching the pictures come in when live stacking during acquisition session and slowly building a color image, especially when it is my first time imaging a target. This really gets me excited and gives me an idea as to what to expect during processing, it just doesn’t get old and I love it!

Part of 9 panel mosaic of the Vela Supernova remnant living stacking viewing from NINA

Q9: Did you have a teacher, or did you just learn everything by yourself when you started astrophotography?

My teacher number 1: YouTube! Mostly all these amazing people who dedicate so much of their time to the hobby and share their knowledge with all of us, it is amazing.

Astrobin is also such a great place with so many knowledgeable people who are willing to give you feedback and advice. I highly recommend it.

I have mentioned this earlier but there are quite a few amazing imagers in my astronomical society, the ASV in Melbourne. Some of them are highly regarded at an international level. This truly inspires me to become better at the craft. I’m looking forward to hanging out with them more in person and learning from them directly. With lockdowns and COVID, it has been hard to do so, but I’m sure this will change soon.

Carina Nebula, 2h15 integration. ASI1600MM Pro + Antlia Pro Filters + WO ZS 73

Q10: If you are asked to give some advice for the newcomers, what do you want to say?

Start small and slowly build up your skills if you want to do astrophotography. Forget about the long focal length when you start imaging! The worst thing you can do is to start with an SCT (unless all you want to do is image planets and nothing else). It is very hard to get that kind of focal length to work well with guiding unless you spend a LOT of money of an amazing mount AND have developed great skills. That takes time, you must be patient. Don’t go spend a ridiculous amount of money right away on equipment and expect that to make you a great astrophotographer, you will be disappointed very quickly and it might get you out of the hobby in a heartbeat once you actually realize how hard it is to be truly great at this.

Start with a DSLR, get some Milky Way shots, learn how to polar align and read the skies. Milky way shots are hard to beat and accessible to most. You probably already have a DSLR right now, so go for a camping trip to a dark site, point your camera at the sky, put it on the ground, take a 20s exposure, take 10 of those and learn how to stack those pictures, you will be amazed at what you will see. Now get yourself a star tracker and start taking 60s exposures, take 100 of them, stack them and see how better your pictures are getting.

Then once you are comfortable with that, move on to a small refractor telescope like the one I have now, the WO ZS 73, or a small triplet like a SW Esprit 80mm or for wide field a WO Redcat with a cooled OSC camera and some good LP filters and most importantly, a good mount. Learn about guiding a get a small guide scope and an ASIAIR to help you automate everything easily.

When you decide to get a mount, don’t go cheap, it will be your most important investment and there are no two ways about this, you must invest in a good mount. The EQ6R is just a great performer and will do you well for many setups in the future. If weight and portability are concerns, the latest ZWO AM5 looks amazing for a lightweight high-performance mount.

You want to invest in a cooled camera to manage noise as soon as possible too. I went directly from a dslr to mono, and I do not regret that move one bit! People say it takes longer to process and get around mono than OSC. I disagree personally.

Then get good at processing. Photoshop is a MUST have. I also highly recommend Astro Pixel Processor for stacking. Once you get good at these two, I highly recommend you get into Pixinsight, beware it is not the most intuitive software though, so be prepared for the learning curve, watch YouTube tutorial from Visible Darks great channel and build up your skills. It has some amazing tools and the more I use it, the more I realize how powerful of a tool it is. Having complementary skills in Pixinsight and Photoshop is really where you want to be, they are both great at different things. I often start in Pixinsight and finish in photoshop.

Horsehead Nebula 6h20 integration. ASI1600MM Pro + Antlia Pro Filters + WO ZS 73

Q11: Does your family join you when you take astrophotos?

Yes, my son has his own telescope as well as my wife and they do join me to star parties. Most of the time when I’m imaging from the backyard however it is just me.

The ASV dark site, a Bortle 2 zone about 2h drive from Melbourne

Q12: What ASI camera do you use most? How do you like it?

The ASI1600MM Pro and the ASI120MM Mini are my work horse. I love them both and they have been super reliable. The ASI2600MM Pro and ASI6200MM Pro are my dream cameras. I hope I get one of them some day.

Q13: Do you have any shooting targets in 2022?

I’m going to keep on building my skills on classic targets like the Dragons of Ara, Carina, M8, Triffid, the Eagles Nebula, a few star clusters and maybe start capturing some reflection and dark nebulas if I can manage to go to a dark site more often.

I also want to acquire another refractor with a longer focal length around 800mm this year hopefully and open some more targets such as larger galaxies and smaller nebulas. I also want to start doing multi focal length acquisition on targets to increase resolution. I’m currently working on a big mosaic project of the Vela Supernova remnant… I wish I had an even wider field setup, but instead, I’m currently building a 9-panel mosaic with what I’ve got which is most certainly going to be a lot of work, I think!

Q14: What’s your impression of ZWO? Do you have any suggestions or feedback to us?

I think ZWO allowed a lot of amateur astrophotographers to have access to a quality of equipment and performance that was not available to most during the CCD only era. CMOS cameras and their relatively affordable price point made that possible and ZWO played a big part of that in my opinion.

Just keep on doing what you are doing, keep on innovating and getting involved with the community. The ASIWEEK competition is such a good initiative and benefits everyone involved. Again, I appreciate all your support and encouragement and I’m looking forward to posting some more pictures as I capture and process them. All the best to the ZWO team.

Q1: At first, congratulation that your nice image won #ASIWEEK. Can you introduce yourself to us?

My name is Shaun Robertson, and I am from Melbourne, Australia, 42 years old with a passion for Science, Photography, and Superheroes! A self-confessed nerd and ever curious by nature.

We are a family of five and I have a daughter (11) and a son (6), my wife Alana and of course our energetic dog Loki (named after the mischievous God of Asguard!)

Q2: When did you start astrophotography? What was your feeling when you first saw the image showing on the screen?

I started Astrophotography in early 2020, a couple of months before Covid took hold in Australia, so the timing worked well as I got to spend more time at home and was able to invest more time learning the skills associated with this amazing hobby.
It took me a while, as it does with most, to learn the technicalities but once I got past the first few hurdles, I was hooked!

I started with a DSLR and a Skywatcher doublet so the images weren’t great, for my expectations anyway, but enough for me to know that this was going to be a lifelong obsession!

As with most astrophotographers, I started with Orion and my very first setup and image is below. I’ve come a long way since then and the journey continues.

My very first night setting up with my daughter, early January 2020

About 2 hours of integration time and what a struggle this was, but I was in awe and completely hooked!

Q3: Why do you love astrophotography? Did someone inspire you? Is there a moment that makes you have interest in it and turn it into your hobby suddenly?

I’ve always had a passion for photography and loved photographing Airshows and nature but with a young family getting out and about and travelling was becoming harder, that combined with my endless curiosity of the cosmos and long being a fan of Prof. Brian Cox and Carl Sagan, this was the perfect time for me to combine my curiosity and passion to what will now be a lifetime hobby.

Pic 1: From the Australian Airshow in 2019, taken with the same 5D that I started my astrophotography journey with.
Pic 2: I love photographing lions as well, they are truly majestic and amazing to photograph!

Q4: What gear do you use for astrophotography? Any pictures of them?

My current main setup is a ZWO ASI1600GT and the Skywatcher Esprit 100ED. I feel like these two are a match made in heaven and have made me appreciate this hobby so much more because it just works!

I am also in the process of finishing a wider field rig comprising a RedCat 51 and a ZWO 183MC pro controlled by the ASIAIR PRO which I will use alongside the Esprit.
I also have an ASI178MM on its way from ZWO that will be paired with, hopefully, a Lunt 60Tha as I really want to get into Solar imaging as well.

Pic 1: This is my current setup and I’ve allowed space for a second setup as well. Whilst I don’t yet have a roll off roof, I can still sit inside and control everything whilst also being able to remote into the rig from the house.

Pic 2: The ASI1600GT and the Esprit 100ED have been amazing and I’ve loved using this setup over the last year or so. Hopefully, a lot more winning images to come from this setup.

Q5: Your ASIWEEK image “IC 2944 – the Running Chicken Nebula” was outstanding! How did you capture it?

Probably my favourite image to date, was captured with the ZWO ASI1600GT and Esprit rig. The first 300 second Ha sub that came through, I knew that this was going to be a great image. I captured this over a few nights in January, making the most of the few clear nights we had and once I had captured just over 10 hours of data, I decided to process it and see how it looked. I was satisfied that I had enough good data across the three filters given how bright this nebula is and the final image speaks for itself.
Pic 1: The final image that won me the ASI Image of the week and my favourite image to date

Pic 2: 4 hours of Ha, stacked and processed in Pixinsight and Photoshop

Q6: How did you do the post-processing of your image “IC 2944”? Is it different from the other images taken by you? 

I don’t really have a set process with my images and it really depends on what the data looks like and what I envision the image should look like. This one was relatively easy because the separation in the emissions was so good. I like colour in my images as I feel like it visually tells a better story for me and once I got to the colour separation I was looking for, I left it there, aside from some minor tweaking of the details.

Q7: Do you think astrophotography has changed you or your life in a bit?

It certainly has, aside from making me poorer of course!

It is extremely humbling and it definitely gives you a sense of perspective of the wonders of the universe and greater appreciation of how fragile we are in this infinite vastness.

I have invested a lot into this hobby because it enables me to visually tell a story to those that have an eagerness to learn, especially my kids.

NGC 3572 – The Southern Tadpoles

Sky-Watcher Esprit 100 ED f/5.5 APO + ZWO ASI1600GT + Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro + ZWO ASI Ha 7nm · Antlia OIII 3nm 1.25″ · Antlia SII 3nm 1.25″, 144×300″ (12h)

Q8: How do you learn astrophotography knowledge? Do you have a teacher or a club? Maybe you just learn everything from the Internet?

Most of what I know so far has been through the infinite videos on YouTube, again Covid enabled me to spend time researching and learning.

There has also been a lot of self-learning and things that I have picked up over the last few years. I want to develop a style of my own, if there is such a thing in astrophotography, and I will continue to persevere towards that.

There are also some amazing astrophotographers in the Astronomical Society of Victoria and people that I have built relationships with overseas that are always willing to part with their knowledge and experience.

Q9: Does your family like to join you when you are capturing? If your wife or kids need you to help them do something while you are just at a critical moment in capturing, how will you make the decision?

Yeah they do, but this is also time that I like to spend alone and they are kind enough to allow me this as well. Sometimes simple things like the ISS passing over become a family affair but I also like showing them how I go about doing things as well to continue to fuel their curiosity. I have also built a large deck in our backyard that not only houses my observatory but also serves as a place where we can just lie back and look at the stars. In those moments, nothing else matters!

NGC 6357 – The War and Peace Nebula

Sky-Watcher Esprit 100 ED f/5.5 APO + ZWO ASI1600GT, 132×300″ (11h)

Q10: We can know a lot from your homepage. You have a wonderful family. You should have a job too. And besides astrophotography, you also like bodybuilding. How do you balance all these?

It’s definitely not easy and I don’t spend the amount of time in the gym as I used to, but I don’t sleep much, which is probably why astrophotography suits me as well! Covid has helped redefine a lot of our lives and the way we live and I make sure I dedicate time to this each day. It makes a huge difference to my mental state as I value time spent alone, whether in the gym or photographing the night sky.

Also helps when you have an entire semi commercial gym setup at home. I am happily spending my kids inheritance and I really hope they don’t read this! Haha!

Q11: How did you know ZWO and why did you decide to buy an ASI camera?

It wasn’t hard making a decision given how prominent ZWO are and how great the products are as well. The ASI1600GT was perfect for me given I knew I wanted to do narrowband imaging and I loved the form factor. It took less than 3 months for me to jump from a DSLR to the ASI1600GT and I haven’t looked back since.

NGC 3199 – Banana Nebula

Sky-Watcher Esprit 100 ED f/5.5 APO + ZWO ASI1600GT + Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro + ZWO ASI Ha 7nm · Antlia OIII 3nm 1.25″ · Antlia SII 3nm 1.25″, 180×300″ (15h)

Q12: If you want to buy another ASI camera, which camera do you think fits you or attracts you the most? What camera do you want us to develop in the future?

I definitely want to move towards full frame imaging so the ASI6200MM Pro would be perfect, but knowing ZWO and the innovation there could be something better next year.
For now if you could make an interchangeable filter wheel for the ASI1600GT that would be amazing so I could do some RGB as well without having to unscrew the filters! Haha!

Q13: Do you have any plan or shooting target in 2022?

There are a few common targets that I have missed over the last few years such as the Eagle Nebula so I want to spend a bit of time on this.

My next project is the Dragons of Ara and I have a version of this in my mind that I want to work towards so time will tell if I am able to achieve this. These were my two images from last year and I think the Eagle nebula only had about 4 hours of integration time before it disappeared for the season.
As we head into the longer nights during the winter months, I’m looking forward to spending more time on these, and who knows, maybe another ASI Image of the Week comes from them!

NGC 6611 aka Eagle Nebula & NGC 6188 aka The Dragons of Ara

Q14: Do you have any suggestions or feedback to us? Please feel free to tell us.

Just keep doing what you guys are doing. Your products are amazing and I think the way this hobby has exploded over the last few years, innovation will be key.

I certainly look forward to more ZWO purchases in the future.

Q1: Firstly, congratulation that your nice image won #ASIWEEK. Can you introduce yourself to us?

Thank you for choosing me for ASIWEEK. My name is Ken Yasue (安江 健). I am of mixed Croatian and Japanese descent and currently living in Croatia, Europe. I grew up in Japan, majored in physics at the University of Tokyo, and about 2004. I moved to Croatia with my wife. I currently work in the IT industry and my NO.1 hobby is astrophotography.

Me, third from the left, and my astro friends.

Q2: Why do you love astronomy? What does it mean to you?

I have been amazed by space ever since my parents bought me my first telescope when I was 10 years old. I do remember asking for it myself. It all started with me reading some books about science in general and from then on, I was hooked. It piqued the interest of a 10-year-old me and it never stopped.

Dreyer’s Nebula – IC447 in Monoceros – Rasa 8 – EQ6-R – ASI294MC Pro – 60s x 499 – Bortle 4, 2022.

Q3: When did you start astrophotography? What was your feeling when you first saw the image showing on the screen?

I started in 2018. My first setup was Star Adventurer and my Pentax KP DSLR. Of course, in the beginning, I was impressed by everything so that I managed to take from stars, nebulae, galaxies etc (aren’t we all?). Although I was not good at processing them, I was extremely happy and wanted to show my photos to everyone.

M31 The Andromeda Galaxy – Pentax KP – Star Adventurer – Pentax-da 55-300mm – 40s x 50 – Bortle 7, 2018.

Q4: What gear do you use for astrophotography? Any pictures of them? (In this question, please include the photo of the gear you used for your winning picture.)

I have three setups but my main is Celestron RASA8, ASI294MC Pro, SW EQ6-R, ASIAIR PRO and ASI120MM Mini for guiding. My second in command is Sky-Watcher Esprit 100ED, ASI294MC Pro, SW HEQ5, ASIAIR PRO and ASI120MM Mini for guiding. My third in command is…. okay I’ll stop here because it’ll never end.
RASA is a fantastic telescope and it really pushed my astro photos to another level. Everybody who owns RASA knows how hard it is to make it work properly, but when you get a hang of it, the results just blow you away. If I may add that the ASIAIR is also one of those things that makes the process of obtaining data much easier and more stable than the PC environment. Now I can relax, open my beer and enjoy the imaging session in a warmer place.

Left are RASA 8 and SW EQ6-R, Right are Esprit 100ED and SW HEQ5 – Both ASI294MC Pro, ASIAIR PRO, ASI120MM Mini

Q5: Your ASIWEEK image “NGC1990 and around” was wonderful! How did you capture it?

About 2 years ago I noticed an interesting shape of a reflection nebula on one of my wide field photos of the Orion constellation. Due to the close proximity to the famous Horse head and Flame nebula, it usually does not get any attention. So when I had enough experience with my RASA8, I set the target. To my surprise, the result was amazing. For once it’s nice to see Alnilam and Mintaka in the frame. It was January, it was cold and I was alone in Podgaric, Croatia for two nights in a row, beneath the Bortle 3 sky. I’ve managed to catch 7 hours of data and as they say, the rest is history.

NGC 1990 – RASA8 – EQ6-R – ASI294MC Pro – 60s x 396 – Bortle 3, 2022.

Q6: What do you think is the most difficult part of DSO imaging? What do you think is the exciting or fulfilling part of DSO imaging?

Well, there are many shades of difficulties in astro photography and every astro photographer knows that when you begin the climb for excellence. For me, the most struggling part is the weather. As I got better at creating astro images, I have more and more expectations. Therefore, I have to have more numbers of exposures. So, I need more clear skies. For the exciting part, I tend to take wide field photos with my Samyang 135mm lens and after stacking, I look for interesting parts to target with my RASA or Esprit telescope. The winning ASIWEEK image of NGC1990 was made that way.

Horse Head nebula – Esprit 100 ED – ASI294MC Pro – HEQ5 Mount – 300s x 80 – Bortle 4, 2021.

Q7: What do you want to say to yourself when you started getting into astrophotography if you have a chance to do it now? Why?

I would probably say ‘Just go for it!’. This hobby brought me a whole new world of possibilities, new great friends and it really made my life more fun and interesting.

Constellation Cepheus Widefield – Sigma Art 50mm – Canon 60D – AZGTi Mount – 180s x 259 – Bortle 4, 2021

Q8: Do you often take astrophotos by yourself or will your family or friends join you?

I do both, with my family and with my astro friends. It’s always fun to share stories with my astro buddies, but also sometimes I like to be alone in the dark and silence under the sky full of stars.

Witch head nebula – Samyang 135mm – Canon 60D – AZGTi Mount – 180s x 159 – Bortle 4, 2022.

Q9: Where do you usually do DSO imaging? If not in the backyard, is there any unforgettable experience you want to share with us when you are outside?

After a few years of sleeping in cars and in the cold, we started to rent a nice lodge with a fireplace under the Bortle 4 sky. Now I use 3 ASIAIR PROs to control my three setups from a warm distance inside the lodge, could it be better?
I do remember one time when it was cloudy for months in Croatia, I went to Hungary (neighbouring country) to some dark site that I found on the map. I drove 3 hours to get there and did my usual setup in the dark. Just after midnight some younger people start to gather nearby doing who knows what. They didn’t bother me, but I was scared indeed. I didn’t understand the language and it’s my first visit to this country but no offense. I packed my bags and left that area as soon as possible.

Krivaja Vojnicka, Croatia

Q10: Did you ever participate in some astronomy-related events?

Every year in Lika (part of Croatia) we have a Star party where most of the astro imagers gather for three nights and photograph, share and talk space related stuff, you know, every country has one. It’s fun to see people from all over and communicate with them in person and what can be more ecstatic than being with astronomers for three nights under Bortle 1,2 skies, it’s every astro imager’s dream.

VDB 152 – RASA8 – ASI294MC Pro – EQ6-R – 60s x 176 – Bortle 2, 2021.

Q11: If you got a chance to reselect a hobby, would you still choose astrophotography? Why? If still astrophotography, what is it that attracts you the most?

As I mentioned before, I have been hooked on space since I was a child. It even influenced me to get a degree in physics and astrophotography is just an extension of that. The most exciting part is that no matter how much I know about space, there is always something new and interesting to learn. Just the other day I learned about galactic halo from my own photo of M63, that’s just crazy how much stuff is out there. I hope I’ll manage to transfer this hobby to my next life, that’s how much I love doing this.

M63 & Galactic halo – RASA8 – EQ6-R – ASI294MC Pro – 60s x 420 – Bortle 3, 2022.

Q12: Please ask yourself a question like we did above and answer it too.

Question: What is your favorite astrophoto?

This photo is one of my favorite photos. The reason behind is that I’ve tried to take images of the Cocoon nebula two times before and I was really unhappy with the results. When Esprit 100ED came to my family, I had to try it one last time and it was great success. When I saw those molecular clouds of dust I was beyond happy. It’s not the best processed image, but after so much struggling, it became my most favourite.

Cocoon nebula – Esprit 100ED – ASI294MC Pro – HEQ5 – 300s x 72 – Bortle 4, 2020.

Q13: Last one. What’s your impression of ZWO? Do you have any suggestions or feedback to us? Please feel free to say.

My first and still the main camera is ASI294MC Pro. I have no doubt that this is one of the best astro cameras when it comes to quality and price, best buy for sure. I did have some minor troubles and the user support was so great that I ended up buying my second ASI294MC Pro camera.
The game changer was ASIAIR, it really overrides complications with software and drivers, so you can focus on imaging without any hassle. My sincere recommendation is to use ASIAIR PRO/Plus as soon as possible, you’ll thank me later. I have a feeling that people from ZWO really love astrophotography and the results are a large variety of great astro products.

My 3 setups, 2022.

Q1: At first, congratulation that your nice image won #ASIWEEK. Can you introduce yourself to us? 

Thank you very much!

I am Daniele Gasparri, an astrophysicist, astrophotographer and author of many astronomy books. I work at the University of Atacama, in the middle of the Atacama Desert, Chile, the best place in the world to observe the night sky. As a professional astrophysicist, my main topics are galaxies from the observational point of view. I’ve been in the Atacama Desert for 4 years. In my spare time, I love to explore the desert and to take astrophotography through the telescope and with wide-field lenses.

Q2: What do you think of astrophotography? Do you do it for fun or for science?

Modern astrophotography is a very powerful tool both for communication and science. I made astrophotography for science in the past, discovering a couple of variable stars and a transiting exoplanet. Now, I mostly do it for fun and for communication purposes. It is unbelievable what we can do now: with cheap equipment and an internet connection, we can share the wonder of the Universe anywhere in the world.

Q3: When did you start astrophotography? What was your feeling when you first saw the image showing on the screen?

I started astrophotography when I was in high school, in 1998, with film cameras! Actually, I did not have money to buy a reflex, so I stole a compact camera from my mother and modified it for long exposures. My first image was a simple star trail of the planet Jupiter with a single two-hour exposure. When I saw the image after some very long days of waiting, I could not believe my eyes. At that moment I understood the power of astrophotography to show the infinite wonders of the Universe behind the limited sensitivity of our eyes.

My first astrophoto ever: the trail of Jupiter in the sky. August 2, 1998, with a film camera modified by me

Q4: What gear do you use for astrophotography? Any pictures of them?

Here in the Atacama Desert, I use a very simple and relatively cheap setup: a 130 mm Newtonian telescope on an old fashion (but working) EQ5 mount and the ASI2600MC Pro camera. I have a ZWO OAG and a small, but powerful ASI224MC as the guide camera.

That’s all you need!

My setup is ready for imaging the wonders of the Universe from the best place on Earth.

Q5: Your ASIWEEK image “Comet Leonard” was outstanding which includes 8 images! How did you capture them?

Thank you! Well, when you live in the driest desert of the world where there are more than 320 clear nights per year, with sub-arcsecond average seeing and no light pollution, things are a bit easier and Comet Leonard helped a lot since it was well-visible with the naked eye. Actually, I must say that during the best visibility of Comet Leonard, I lost a couple of days because of clouds! But I am still very satisfied.

Every image of the Comet Leonard is an average of 5-6 single shots with 2-minutes exposure time. I could not integrate more because the comet was moving very fast with respect to the stars. Basic processing has been made, like dark and flat frame calibration, stretching and color adjustment.

Q6: We see you are an Astrophysicist and the author of more than 35 astronomy books in your Facebook profile. Could you please say something about your books? How do you accomplish all these?

I started writing in 2007 for an Italian astronomy magazine and I really enjoyed it, so I started to write books on my own. My first book was published in 2011 and since then I wrote almost every day. My books, unfortunately, are in Italian, except for two that have been also translated into English. There are practical books where I teach to observe and photograph the Universe and some more theoretical ones about the principles of astronomy and astrophysics. Practical or theoretical, my goal is to make astronomy as accessible as possible for everyone; that’s why I started writing and continue to do so. When someone can see the beauty of the Universe because of my books, I feel very satisfied. More people in the world should look up and understand a few things to make this Planet a better place.

I was writing the book The colors of the Universe. It presents 110 spectacular images of the Universe.

Q7: Would you mind introducing your Facebook page “Daniele Gasparri Astronomia” with about 15,000 followers to us? When did you have the idea of creating a page to share your photos? How could you let it become a page with so many fans?

The idea of a page came to me when I moved to the Atacama Desert and saw the incredible beauty of this sky. In two weeks, I managed to collect more astrophotos from Atacama than in years from the poor Italian skies where I came from. The internet was (and still is) full of spectacular images taken with the largest telescope in the world but I wanted to show that also with modest equipment the Universe can be marvelous. On my page, I share my adventure in the Atacama Desert and the pictures of the Universe I take mostly from here, with regards to the emotional part. I think that people like my page because I share not only images but also what I feel by looking at these incredible pieces of the Universe captured with my cheap equipment.

Q8: Where do you normally take astrophotos? Did you have any unforgettable experiences to share with us?

I have a secret (more or less!) spot about 70 km from the city where I live, Copiapó, the capital of the Atacama region. It’s a Bortle 1 sky with superb seeing, far from the main roads. I go there at least one week every month during the new Moon to take pictures with the telescope.

When I want to take night landscape images, I often travel to the Cordillera de los Andes, about 170 km from my city, easily reaching 5000 meters of altitude. There, if you can breathe, you will see an amazing night sky.

There are many experiences that I could share with you, but I choose this one.

It was one night as many. I was about to start my astrophotography session in the middle of the desert, 70 km from the nearest city. A car passed by on the near road, then stopped a few hundred meters after my spot and went back straight to where I was standing with my telescope. A man went out and started to walk towards me. I was a little scared because I was alone, with no mobile phone signal and no one knew I was there. Suddenly this man, still hidden in the dark, started screaming: “Wow, this is a telescope? Man, this is a real telescope?? I cannot believe it!” In one second, I understood that there was nothing to fear. This man was astonished to see me there, in the middle of nowhere, to look at the stars. I talked with him for at least half an hour. He explained that he worked in a mine, but he had a huge passion for the Universe since he moved to Atacama and saw this impressive sky. It was a very surprising talk, a demonstration that people want to know about astronomy, once they can see the stars instead of the light pollution.

The stunning sky above the martian-like spot where I take Astro images. The red light in the sky is not light pollution but atmospheric airglow.

The quality of the sky from my observatory in the desert. Untracked 30 seconds shot on a tripod.

Q9: What do you think is the most difficult part of capturing Comet?

For me, it’s the fast movement in the sky, that makes it difficult to perform long integration times to capture the faintest details. If you align the images on the false nucleus, the stars will show trails. If you align to the stars, the comet will be blurry. There are some advanced techniques to merge the stars and the comet, but they are very invasive, and the results are not always perfect. So, the best way to capture a comet is to go under very dark sky, with a very sensitive camera and a low f ratio telescope, in order to collect as many photons as possible before the movement of the comet shows up in the images.

Comet Leonard on December 25, 2021. Newton 130 PDS, ASI 2600MC Pro. Average of 21 images of 60 seconds.

Q10: If you are asked to give some advice to the newcomers, what do you want to say?

Don’t spend all your money on larger telescopes and complicated electronics, because if you don’t have experience and a dark sky, you will never reach great results. There is no telescope that can give to you experience and dark skies. Cheap and easy-to-use equipment with good quality sky is always better than a Hubble-like telescope used in the city. So, if you don’t live under a dark sky, try to save money to travel to the darkest place you can reach, instead of buying very expensive equipment. My setup is relatively cheap, ready in 10 minutes and under the sky of the Atacama Desert gives me unbelievable results, impossible to reach from light-polluted locations.

4 hours of integration on the faint Running Chicken nebula in the constellation of Centaurus, with a 130mm Newtonian and the ASI2600MC Pro, without filters.

Two-hour integration on Omega Centauri with the same equipment. No gradient correction, no light pollution removal. When you have the sky, you have everything.

Q11: How do you like your camera ASI2600MC Pro?

The ASI2600MC Pro is impressive. I used for many years very expensive science grade CCD monochrome cameras with high noise and small chip size. The ASI2600MC Pro is a revolution. With a fraction of the cost of old CCD cameras, you can have a huge sensor, one-shot color and very low noise. High-level astrophotography is finally more accessible than ever.

Q12: What camera or product do you want us to develop in the future?

As a scientist, I am very interested in the potential of the new generation of CMOS detectors, but the commercial offer lacks a product optimized for scientific purposes. I would like to see one day a full-frame (or APS-C) monochrome camera with larger pixel sizes, around 7-8 microns. This camera will be even more sensitive and with a huge full well capacity with respect to the actual small pixel size detectors and could be used for transient object surveys (supernova, nova, variable stars), as well as for high precision photometric applications. The high framerate of the CMOS detectors will also allow high precision timing applications, for example in the study of lunar and asteroid occultations. The CMOS has a great, still unexplored, potential in amateur research. We just need an optimized camera for that.

Q13: Do you have any goals for 2022? Have you accomplished some?

During the four years in the Atacama Desert, I accomplished more than I could even imagine. Besides the stunning skies, I witnessed two total solar eclipses, one beautiful comet and two total lunar eclipses: that’s more than in an entire lifetime! My goal for 2022 is then very simple: I want to continue to enjoy at maximum this sky because one day, not far, I will go back to Italy, and I will miss forever this place.

July 2nd, 2019, at the boundary of the Atacama desert, Chile. My 4th total eclipse: the same feelings as the first one. A love that will never disappear.

Q14: What’s your impression of ZWO? Do you have any suggestions or feedback for us? What do you want us to do in the next ten years?

My impression of ZWO is very positive. In the future, I just hope that ZWO will keep astrophotography as accessible as possible to everyone. Because there is a need for astronomy, there is a need for beauty and there is a need for wonder. All this is possible thanks to astrophotography.

Q1: At first, congratulation that your nice image won #ASIWEEK. Can you introduce yourself to us? 

Hello! First, I would like to thank you for choosing my photo as an ASIWEEK winner and thank you for inviting me for this interview. My name is Emil Andronic, I am originally from Romania, now living in Hertfordshire, UK with my wife Claudia and our 2 beautiful daughters, Nina and Olivia. Apart from everything related to space, I love nature, I love animals and I like to listen to Celtic and medieval music. I like everything else that is beautiful.

Me and my telescope

Q2: When did you start astrophotography? Why do you love it? What does it mean to you?

In the beginning, it never crossed my mind to go into astrophotography because I bought my first telescope for visual purposes only. As I was very inexperienced and knew next to nothing about telescopes, in 2016 I bought my first one, a Skywatcher 200p on a manual EQ5 mount, a setup that wasn’t very appropriate for a novice, but my desire was much stronger than all the difficulties that I was having. After some proper documentation, lots of questions asked on the astro forums and lots of YouTube tutorials. I managed to make good use of the equipment. After a while, I realized that light pollution is a very important factor in what I could actually see through the telescope, so I decided to try to take some photos of the moon with my phone through an eyepiece. This is when my astrophotography journey started with the first photo taken at the end of 2016. I was absolutely hooked and from that time everything changed, the passion and desire became stronger and stronger. My first proper astrophotography setup was the original Skywatcher 200p (which luckily turned out to be a very good astrophotography telescope too) and an astromodified Canon 700d on an EQ6 mount.

My first astrophotography setup

I had a lot of fun and a lot of headaches with that setup, and only after 6 months, I managed to take some photos that even today I am proud of.

Fireworks galaxy and NGC6939 cluster (20x900s, Skywatcher 200p, EQ6 mount and Astromodified Canon 700d – 2017)

M27 (41x300s, Skywatcher 200p, EQ6 mount and Astromodified Canon 700d – 2017)

Q3: What gear do you use for astrophotography? Any pictures of them?

Over the years I owned various astrophotography gears and at the moment I own 2 Deep Space astrophotography setups and some gear for widefield nightscape work.

Out of the two, my most important setup is an Astro-Tech 106 LE 690mm f6.5 triplet refractor with a Moonlite focuser upgrade, TS Flat2 field flattener, ASI294MM Pro CMOS camera, ZWO 8×1.25” electronic filter wheel with a Chroma 1.25” filter set on a Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro mount, setup that I used to take the winning photo of the Seagull nebula.

Gear used for the Seagull Nebula-ASIWEEK image

My second setup is for widefield DSO and consists of a TS65 420mm f6.5 quadruplet refractor on an AZ-EQ6 GT mount.

My second setup

For my nightscape work, I’m using a portable star tracker with an astromodified Canon 6d and a few lenses.

Travel setup (Skywatcher Star Adventurer, Astromodified Canon 6d and Samyang 135mm f2 lens)

Q4: We see you have posted both DSO images and Nightscapes on your Astrobin account. How do you like the two different kinds of images? Do they bring you different feelings?

Indeed, in time my love for capturing the night sky extended from DSO imaging to nightscapes too. I absolutely love both kinds of imaging, but being outside, under the dark sky filled with millions of stars gives me a true sentiment of being one with the universe.

Milky Way over Durdle Door (15x60s, ISO 1600, Astromodified Canon 6d and Samyang 24mm f1.4, Skywatcher Star Adventurer)

Orion Seaford (108x30s, ISO 3200, Astromodified Canon 6d and Sigma art 50mm f1.4, Skywatcher Star Adventurer)

Milky way at Bodiam Castle (10x120s, ISO 1600, Astromodified Canon 6d and Tamron 15-30mm f2.8 at 24mm, Skywatcher Star Adventurer)

Most of my DSO imaging is done from the comfort of my home and the excitement of seeing the images of those faint targets rolling in is something that can’t be compared.

Needle galaxy single Lum 300s (single 300s, AT106, EQ6, ASI294MM Pro, ZWO 8×1.25” filter wheel, Chroma LoGlow filter)

Q5: Your ASIWEEK image “Seagull Nebula” was awesome! How did you capture it?

The Seagull Nebula is a very difficult target for me and for most of the people living in the UK. It is a low-altitude target, from where I live crossing the meridian at only 27 degrees. Also, the fact that it was shot from the London suburbs with the heavily light-polluted metropolis right to the south of my location made it even more challenging. My sky visibility towards the South was not great and I could only shoot a couple of hours each night, but with a lot of patience, I managed to gather a total of 16 hours and 30 minutes to create a color image of this beautiful target.

Seagull Nebula-SHO-RGB (AT106, EQ6-R, ASI294MM Pro, ZWO 8×1.25” filter wheel, Chroma SHO RGB filters 16 hours and 30 mins)

Q6: Could you please tell us how you processed the “Seagull Nebula”? Its colors and details, beautiful.

Most of the times I do my calibration and stacking in AstroPixel Processor, which gives me a very good starting point. The exact same thing was done for my Seagull nebula photo. I don’t use APP for much more, so I move the stacked photos into pixinsight, where, in linear state, I crop the stacks, apply a few iterations of DBE, do my noise reduction and sometimes deconvolution. When I am pleased with the result, I use the star removal technique for each of the narrowband photos and proceed to combine them into a SHO image. Because the Hydrogen alpha signal is much stronger than all the other channels, the combined photo comes out predominantly green. With the help of SNCR Green, I try to make it a bit more pleasing to my eyes. This is mostly everything I do in linear state. I then proceed to the initial stretch masking the brighter areas in the photo. My knowledge in pixinsight is not very vast, the reason why, most of the times, after the initial stretch I move the photo into photoshop. Here, using a lot of layer masking, I stretch the photo even more, apply high pass filters for selective sharpness, and if needed, I use Topaz Denoise or Noise Ninja to keep the noise at bay. For the colours, I like to play and experiment with the Hue/Saturation and Selective colour until I get a satisfactory result. In the end, I add the RGB stars to the photo and save it as final.

Q7: How did you know ZWO? Why did you choose this brand?

When I first started my astrophotography journey, I didn’t know the dedicated astro cameras were quite affordable and only after one and a half years of using a modified DSLR I moved to a dedicated CCD camera. The camera was not very sensitive and results were good but not great. After joining a few astro groups on Facebook, I found out about ZWO, and the incredible results that people were getting with the ZWO CMOS cameras made me want one for myself. In 2019 I had the opportunity to purchase my first ZWO camera, an ASI294MC Pro. I was extremely excited that I finally had the camera I was dreaming of. That’s when my astrophotography journey started to get better and better. I was incredibly happy with the results and only at that point my images were starting to be published in well-known astronomy magazines.

M33-HaRGB (TS65Q, ASI294MC Pro, EQ3 Pro, 28 hours and 10 mins) published in the BBC Sky at Night Magazine

DWB111-HaRGB (TS65Q, ASI294MC Pro, EQ3 Pro, 11 hours and 20 mins) published in the Sky & Telescope Magazine

M78 (TS65Q, ASI294MC Pro, EQ3 Pro, 17 hours and 36 mins)

Wispy clouds in a sea of stars – published in the Sky&Telescope Magazine (TS65Q, ASI294MC Pro, EQ3 Pro, 16 hours)

Along with the ASI294MC Pro, I had a different brand mono camera too, but being so impressed by the results and sensitivity of the ASI294MC Pro, I sold that mono camera only to replace it with the mono version of the ASI294MC Pro. I was also on the lookout for a good set of filters to pair them up with the ASI294MM Pro, so I bought a set of Chroma filters.

The first light was absolutely incredible, I imaged the Rosette nebula and the result is one of my best photos to date. The photo brought me a lot of joy, not long after posting it to Astrobin, it was chosen as a Top Pic. It was also published in the Astronomy Now Magazine and BBC Sky at Night Magazine and it was chosen as APOD by the Gruppo astrofili Galileo Galilei in Italy and as the cover photo for the August month in their 2022 calendar.

Rosette Nebula-SHO (AT106, EQ6, ASI294MM Pro, ZWO 8×1.25” filter wheel, Chroma SHO filters, 5 hours and 5 mins)

Because of the great results I was getting with the ASI294MM Pro camera and the narrowband filters, I started to adventure into imaging targets that I thought would be impossible from my bortle 7 location in Bushey.

SH2-124-SHO – Top Pic on Astrobin and published as the Photo of the Month in the Astronomy Now Magazine November 2021 issue (AT106, EQ6, ASI294MM Pro, ZWO 8×1.25” filter wheel, Chroma SHO filters, 15 hours)

S2-115-and-S2-116-SHO-(RGB-stars) – Top Pic on Astrobin, APOD from Gruppo astrofili Galileo Galilei and published in the Sky & Telescope Magazine (AT106, EQ6-R, ASI294MM Pro, ZWO 8×1.25” filter wheel, Chroma SHO RGB filters, 24 hours and 45 mins)

One of those targets is Barnard 150 – The Seahorse nebula

Barnard 150 – The Seahorse Nebula – Astrobin Top Pic, APOD by Astronomia.com, published in the Astronomy Now Magazine and published as the Photo of the Month in the BBC Sky at Night Magazine – January 2022 issue (AT106, EQ6, ASI294MM Pro, ZWO 8×1.25” filter wheel, Chroma Lo-Glow and RGB filters, 12 hours and 30 mins)

I have always been reluctant to do LRGB imaging from home, but the great desire of capturing this target and the lack of chances to take my scope to dark skies to image it made me have a go at it from my back garden. And I’m very happy I did because the ASI294MM Pro camera showed me yet again that it’s capable of greater things that I ever hoped for.

Q8: Do you usually travel to dark places to take photos of the night skies? If so, is there any unforgettable story that you can share with us?

Most of my images are shot from my back garden, but whenever I have the opportunity, I do like travelling to dark places. I used to travel a lot with my telescopes.

Bignor Hill astro trip in 2019

Beachy Head Astro trip in 2018

Northolt Branch Astro Star party in 2018

Farnham Night Sky Star Party in 2019

But lately I find it much easier to travel light with only a backpack and some widefield gear.

Me and the Big Dipper (Birling Gap, West Sussex in January 2022)

The Highway to the stars (South Downs National Park in February 2022)

Ah, yes, a story.

Last year, 2 of my friends and I planned a trip to Winspit quarry for some nightscape shots and when we got there, the place was full of people listening to loud music, filming and dancing with fire. I have never seen anything like it. They were very friendly and they even let us take some photos.

Fire-dancer (Winspit Quarry in 2021)

I don’t know who they were and what exactly they were doing there but it was a very nice experience. In the end, we moved to a different location nearby and achieved our goals of shooting the Milky Way.

Milky Way Dark Horse going up the cliff (Winspit Quarry – Dorset in 2021)

Q9: What do you think the future of astrophotography if take the increasingly heavy light pollution and the rapidly developed technology into consideration?

The ever increasing light pollution and technology like the Starlink megaconstellation are indeed things that we should worry about, and we must do our best to reduce their impact by contacting our representatives, making our point of view known on the social media platforms and over the World Wide Web. As we know technology has evolved quite a lot and with the use of narrowband filters, it is now possible to image the night sky from heavily light polluted locations but that is not really a solution to the problem. It is not only us that are being affected, species of insects, birds are driven to extinction and there’s no return if they are indeed extinct, science is being greatly affected by the growing number of satellites that orbit the Earth. The good thing is that light pollution can be reversed and we must make everyone around us aware of its detrimental effects and hopefully there will soon be regulations put in place so that both science and “megaconstellations” can coexist.

Q10: Did anyone inspire you in the early stages of your astrophotography journey? How did you learn all the astrophotography knowledge?

When I started to take photos of the night sky I wasn’t on any of the social media platforms, and Google was my best friend for answers. A lot of them came from a well-known forum called Stargazers Lounge where I ended up registering so I could ask my questions. The friendly members helped me very much, but one particular member gave me answers that I could truly follow and understand. His name is Olly Penrice, and because of his answers, I started following him on the forum to get notifications for all the tips and tricks that he was giving to other beginners like me. Only after a while I found out about the YouTube tutorials and about the Facebook astronomy groups. In the recent years I have made a lot of friends in these groups and I started following a lot of pages where I found valuable information on how to improve my skills. Casey Good, one of my favorite astrophotographers, also inspired me to become better at what I am doing, Trevor Jones from Astrobackyard.com has some good tutorials that I used with great success, Peter Jenkins is always an inspiration. I don’t follow a set workflow in my processing and I don’t know if this is a good or a bad thing, but I’m trying my best to get a final result that I am pleased with and only after that I post it to my website emilandronic.co.uk and on the social media platforms.

Q11: What changes has astrophotography brought to your life?

Astrophotography is now a part of my life and there isn’t a day gone without thinking of it or without planning something, if it’s a future target or some changes to my gear. We recently bought a house, and when we were at the stage of finding one, the back garden of the house had an impact on the final decision. Astrophotography takes my mind of other things, which is not always good because of the family commitments, but most of the time it provides relief from the stress accumulated during the day. Astrophotography keeps me busy and keeps my mind working, which I consider to be a good thing.

Q12: Will astrophotography take most of your spare time? How do you balance astrophotography and your work?

My wife says yes, but I disagree with her.

I do indeed dedicate quite a lot of my spare time to astrophotography, but if there is something more important that needs doing, I can leave it aside for some time. Now, for example, I am on a break because the garden of our new home is not safe enough to keep the gear outside. That will soon change and when it is ready, I’ll get back into imaging. I’m really looking forward to it.

I can easily balance the hobby with my work, with all the software and technology available I don’t have to stay awake to capture my photos, I can easily set my session from start to finish and let the telescopes do the work throughout the night. Even though I would love to be awake, during the weekdays when I have to wake up early in the morning, I can’t afford to have sleepless nights. It’s different during the weekend, but if I have the opportunity to go to a dark location, I prefer to do that, but with my widefield gear for nightscapes work. With the help of a remote control app on my phone, I take an occasional sneak peek at what the telescopes are doing at home. In the near future, I’m planning to build a fully automated observatory in my garden which will help me even more in balancing my work with the astrophotography.

My gear (Skywatcher EQ3 Pro, TS65Q, ASI294MC Pro, and Skywatcher EQ6-R, AT106, ASI294MM Pro, ZWO 8×1.25” filter wheel)

Q13: What have you achieved last year? Do you have any goals in 2022?

2021 has been a year that will be very hard to beat. I had an incredible year and I am thankful for all the achievements that came with it.

Last year I posted 40 photos on Astrobin and 13 of them have been chosen as Top Pics.

NGC 2112-HaRGB (AT106, EQ6, ASI294MM Pro, ZWO 8×1.25” filter wheel, Chroma HaRGB filters, 5 hours and 28 mins)

The Gruppo Astrofili Galileo Galilei team chose 5 of my photos as their ApodGrAG and they gave me the honour of having the Rosette nebula photo in the 2022 calendar.

M106 – HaLRGB (AT106, EQ6, ASI294MM Pro, ZWO 8×1.25” filter wheel, Chroma HaRGB filters, 24 hours and 6 mins)

The AAPOD2 team chose 4 of my photos as the Amateur Astronomy photo of the day.

Lion Nebula-SHO (AT106, EQ6, ASI294MM Pro, ZWO 8×1.25” filter wheel, Chroma SHO filters, 15 hours and 50 mins)

Throughout the year I received 4 APODs from Astronomia.com;

Last but not least, it’s all the photos published in the well-known astronomy magazines, 5 photos published in the Astronomy Now Magazine with 2 of them as the photo of the month, 3 photos in the BBC Sky at Night Magazine with one photo as the picture of the month, 2 photos in the Sky & Telescope Magazine and one in the Astronomy Magazine.

This year, because we finally have our own house and won’t rent anymore, I’m hoping to finally have my own observatory. From there on, everything will be much easier.

Samyang 135mm f2 and ASI294MC Pro

Q14: Last one. Do you have any suggestions or feedback to us?  Feel free to say it.

Keep up the good work because, from all the cameras that I have used throughout the years, your cameras are the best.

Thank you again for giving me the opportunity to present myself, my gear and my work.

Q1: Hello, Ernest! At first, congratulation that your 2 nice images won #ASIWEEK. Can you introduce yourself to us?

Hi, thank you. My name is Ernest Brendel. I have been addicted to photography my whole life. Last six years I have lived in Tenerife, Canary Islands where I moved from Lithuania with my wife Olga and two of our children. Here I raised my love for Astrophotography. Also, I have another hobby that is very important to me – Windsurfing.

Me with my Equipment

Q2: When did you start astrophotography?

Photography is my hobby already for more than 30 years. I worked a lot on improving my knowledge and skills in Landscapes and Portraits, studied composition and light and how to deliver my mood into my photo works.

After moving to Tenerife, my first experience was taking photos of the Milky Way. The night sky of Tenerife is really dark and you can enjoy the beauty of the Night Sky.

Then I started to study more advanced techniques of capturing the Milky Way by using my first Mount Skywatcher Star Adventure and camera Canon 1Dx with lenses 70-200 mm and 16-35 mm.

So I was taken over by the Night Sky and wondered to look deeper into the space.

First project with additional light for composition and mosaic panorama with tracker for Millay

Q3: Why do you love astrophotography? Does it own a special place in your heart among your hobbies?

Since I was a boy, I was excited by sci-fi movies about space and was always charmed by the Night Sky and the Stars.

At the moment, Astrophotography takes an important place among my hobbies.

Technical progress let guys addicted to astrophotos. Capturing amazing pictures from the Earth is wonderful.

“Dolphin Head Nebula” ZWO ASI1600MM Pro camera, ZWO ASI290MM Mini for guiding, WO FLT 132 on EQ6R+EQ8R with SestoSensoII focuser and PrimaluceLAb EaGLE computer, WO GS61 Guidescope

Q4: Do you still remember the feeling when you first saw something from the eyepiece of the telescope?

I have never used telescopes for observing the sky. My first observation was made by using Canon lens 400 mm to watch and capture the Moon.

After moving to Tenerife and my first successful picture of the Milky Way I bought my first small telescope SpaceCat from Williams Optics.

Using an ordinary camera Canon RA, I made my first Deep Sky photo of Lagoon Nebula. When I looked at the preview on the camera, I was so excited and almost cried.

“Lagoon Nebula” First shot using Canon EOS Ra with Optolong L-eNhance filter on SpaceCat WO

Q5: What gear do you use for astrophotography? Any pictures of them?

At the moment I use the Mount EQ8R Pro. I used the Mount EQ6R Pro previously and it is no longer available for the photo because I changed it in order to move forward and have a more heavy and powerful Equatorial Mount.

All the rest of the gear on this photo is the same I used to take the photos that won ASIWEEK.

EQ8R Pro mount, WO FLT 132 F7, Flat 68III, ZWO ASI1600MM Pro, ZWO ASI290MM Mini, ZWO filter wheel with full set of Astrodon 3nm Filters, Primalucelab Eagle System with ECCO, and ESATTO3 focuser, WO Giudescope GS61

(Sorry guys, at this moment I don’t have EQ6R mount. It has been sold)

Q6: Your ASIWEEK images “Needle Galaxy” on #32/2021 and “Islands of Heart” on #1/2022 were both incredible! How did you capture them?

Every astrophotographer will tell you – planning is everything.

Everything begins with a plan. The Needle galaxy was a part of my plan for the galaxy season. As long as the galaxy is in a horizontal position towards us, it was the last galaxy I captured.

So, I could spend a lot of time working on the details.

As I use an incredible Monochrome camera from ZWO, I have to collect a lot of information for each channel and use it in further integration.

As it is my favorite hobby, I can afford everything, like not being hasty, and collecting the information for a long time though it is painstaking.

So as a result I can get an amazing image because its integration used the best data. For some galaxies, I spent 3 months of work getting qualitative data.

Maybe that is why my image of the Needle galaxy was highly appreciated on social networks.

Almost the same work was done with the Heart nebula which I called Islands of Heart. It was planned and highly performed work at every step.

Gathering information for Ha, O3, and SII channels was very special. The quality of every exposure was maximally detailed.

“Needle Galaxy” it’s Broad Band spectrum image of galaxy without Halpha integration. So, LRGB Image. Therefore, for this type of Image, we use “DARK” moon phase.

“Islands of Heart” to the uninitiated

It is in SHO version, also called Hubble palette.

To get it requires a mix of three very narrow specific wavelengths.

Obtained with filters and only let those so-called wavelengths go.

Ha (Hydrogen Alpha)

OIII (oxygen)

SII (sulfur)

Q7: What do you think is the most difficult part of DSO imaging? How do you deal with it?

I think it is very individual.

For some guys who take the EQ8R out of the garage is pretty challenging. For some people who have a backyard, everything becomes very simple in general.

In the Canary Islands, I have Dark sky that is evaluated as Bottle 3-4. No doubt, this is an advantage, but my house is 100 meters far away from the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. So I can’t use my gear on the terrace of my house – in one hour my expensive gear will be covered with a plain layer of salt and dust which can kill the gear due to high abrasivity.

So for me, the most difficult part is the journey to the mountains every time: 100 kg of gear that I have to place into my car and go up. It is not so easy to find a good place to set up the gear in the mountains because of turbulence and wind – the evilest enemy in the mountains.

The wind is absolutely unpredictable after midnight when the temperature and pressure change.

The other very specific factor for the Canary Islands you have to consider is the Calima – the dust mass that flies across the Atlantic Ocean and reaches the forests of Amazon.

The visibility on such days can be just about couple hundred meters.

So every journey is about the detailed study of wind direction, its power, probability of dust in the air over the island, humidity up to 6,000 meters and the behavior of high clouds.

Finally, there’s a chance that the session lasts just for one hour and you have to go home with empty hands making a useless 200 km journey through serpentine National Park Teide. Probably this is the hardest part of DSO on Tenerife. But the pleasure of watching the Night Sky full of Stars motivates me to move forward and keep taking photos of Deep Sky Objects.

“NGC 2359” ZWO ASI1600MM Pro, ZWO ASI290MM Mini, WO FLT132, EQ8R Pro

Q8: Shooting alone or with friends, which one do you prefer? Why?

As I already mentioned, I work on the Field and none of my friends shares my passion to spend the whole night in the mountains.

Sometimes my family arrived with me to watch the beauty of the Milky Way but got frozen too fast.

And to be honest, I love to be alone. There are a lot of excursions held on Tenerife and mostly there are a lot of people around me till 23 o’clock and it is annoying.

Q9: Do you usually travel to dark places to take photos of the night skies? If so, is there any unforgettable story that you want to share with us?

As I mentioned, I don’t have my own AstroBackyard and for every session, I have to go to the mountains.

One of the sessions is especially memorized as the wind was very tricky that night and I was forced to change my location three times which means reinstalling of all the gear every time. As a result, I didn’t make a single shot. All my friends call me crazy when hearing about that

“M106” in HalphaLRGB combination

ZWO ASI1600MM Pro, ZWO ASI290MM Mini, WO FLT132, EQ8R Pro

Total integration time: 15.2h

Q10: What do you think the future of astrophotography if take the increasingly heavy light pollution and the rapidly developed technology into consideration?

I think this situation is a subject of deeper research, not only Light Pollution. Probably in the nearest future, not only expensive and more advanced filters will compensate for the Light pollution but also the post processing itself will become much easier.

Q11: You have started this hobby for no longer than 2 years, but your images were fantastic. How could you make it? Is there any shortcut?

The shortcut is my experience in photography for more than 30 years. My photography works are famous around Europe and there were 5 exhibitions of my landscapes in different corners of the world. I once represented my country as a photographer – a landscaper. So I do have some photo knowledge.

After I moved to Tenerife with my family and got interested in capturing the Milky Way, I started to study the technique and Deep Sky post processing very fast. I was excited and inspired by the possibility of making true my childhood dreams. Get closer to the space and feel myself as a discoverer of new objects. The combination of passion, access to the information and technology makes the progress very fast and lets you achieve amazing results if you really love it.

“Orion Nebula” Combination of Halpha signal for detail in (L) and RGB for colors, specific method of post processing.

Q12: If you are asked to use 3 words to sum up your achievements in astrophotography during the year 2021, what words would you choose? You can elaborate them if you want.

Passion for the Night sky, self-discipline, and strong character.

“M51” ZWO ASI1600MM Pro, ZWO ASI290MM Mini, WO FLT132, EQ6R Pro

L 6h, R 3h, G 3h, B 4h, Ha 5h. Integration: 21h.

Q13: What goal do you have for this year? Do you think you can accomplish them?

My goals are very simple – to keep doing things I love, things that inspire me. And if it can make other people happy, it is more than sufficient for me.

Q14: What’s your impression of ZWO? Is there anywhere you think we can do better? Please feel free to tell us.

ZWO products are highly respected all over the world and I am happy to be one of those who are loyal to this brand.

On the other hand, there is always something to improve. I could mention the following: Reduce step size in ZWO focusers, make them more precise and not so massive. Avoid the oil leak in all ZWO cameras because it spoils the impression however this is not a big problem to remove the oil from the sensor of the camera.

(Reminder from ZWO: For those customers who were affected by the “oil leaking” issues, we are truly sorry, and we offer you “Free Replacement” if your camera is under 2-year warranty or “Free Repair” if your camera is beyond the manufacturer’s 2-year warranty. And both with lifetime warranties. Click here to know more: https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/news/oil-leak-issue-on-asi2600mc-pro-and-other-cameras.html )

Don’t have any other complaints as it is a great product.

1. Why doesn’t the ZWO AM5 Mount need a counterweight?

The AM5 is different from traditional equatorial mounts that are driven by worm gears and require counterweights to balance.  The AM5 adopts a high-torque strain wave gear reducer customized for astrophotography.  There is no need to balance the mount or use a counterweight.  Just install the telescope on the mount, start imaging simply and quickly.

Strain wave gear reducers are widely used in industrial applications.  The pressure per unit area is relatively small, while the whole load capacity is relatively large.  Even without a counterweight, the AM5 can easily lift a weight up to 13kg.

2. How is the stability of the AM5 without a counterweight?

We understand people who are experienced astrophotographers with traditional mounts may have a cautious attitude towards the AM5 because it does not need a counterweight.  The benefits of losing the weight of counterweight are obvious – the weight of the entire setup is reduced and there is no need to carry a heavy counterweight all the way out to a remote location for astrophotography.  The AM5 works out of the box!

Without a doubt, the heavier the gear is, the more stable it will be.  But instead of only pursuing weight, normally astrophotographers have to face one question.  “How do I keep the balance between weight, mechanical precision and personal strength?” The AM5 itself is able to keep good stability and precision as long as the load is no larger than 13kg when no counterweight is attached.  The included weight sling comes with the TC40 tripod to further increase the stability.  Portable batteries, buckets, stones or anything else you can find can all be put in the weight sling to keep the setup as stable as possible.

3. What is the difference between the AM5’s strain wave gear reducer and the ordinary ones?

There are many kinds of strain wave gear reducers used in the industrial field on the market, but they cannot be directly used for astrophotography when it comes to accuracy.  Just like cameras, there are so many industrial cameras available, but we cannot directly use one of them to do planetary and deep space imaging.  Thus, we developed astronomical dedicated cameras.

ZWO has been deeply involved in the field of astrophotography for over 10 years. The company was founded based on the passion for astrophotography, so we have a clear view of amateur astrophotographers’ points of concern.  We need the strain wave gear reducers that have small periodic errors, large transfer ratio, large torque, small size, are lightweight, and can also be used in regions around the world with various temperatures.  Among these strict requirements, the most important one is to keep the periodic error in the reasonable range of +/-20 arc seconds, which is a maximum total of 40 arc seconds.  This is very hard to achieve for industrial strain wave gear reducers.

ZWO worked together with a well-known and professional manufacturer in China to develop the strain wave gear reducer dedicated for astrophotography, making sure the guiding accuracy of each mount keeps stable at 0.5″ ~ 0.8″, which is fine enough for most amateur astrophotgraphers’ telescopes and their seeing conditions.

4. How does ZWO ensure the quality of their strain wave gear reducer?

To ensure quality, we work hard on the test procedure.  Normally, companies producing mounts also have reports on their reducers’ partial periodic errors.  At the very beginning, ZWO had the same thought as them and create a report on 1~2 single periodic errors of the mount which would be satisfactory.  However, after deep research from our development team, we found the periodic errors of a strain wave gear mount are different from that of a worm gear mount.  When we say PERIODIC ERRORS of a strain wave gear, the errors are actually not that “PERIODIC”.  It seems the error of each gear is different from another.  Such a discovery surprised us, and we decided to test the full periodic errors of each mount.

All kinds of periodic errors

A full period goes 360° in one reducer rotation in 24 hours.  To scrutinize the full periodic errors of each mount, it can be a very laborious task.  But we eventually did it.  Now when you receive your AM5 package, a custom report will be found in the box, giving a clear view of the reducer of your mount.

5. Where can I find the PE report of my mount?

As previously mentioned, the paper PE report is found in the AM5 box with the mount’s Quick Guide.  Scan the QR code on the report, there will be an online testing report to download and share with friends.  The reports will be stored in ZWO’s server permanently.

6. Can you explain the PE report?

ZWO sets a standard for each AM5 mount that its maximum periodic error must lie within the range of +/-20 arc seconds, but due to the workmanship difference, which is basically unavoidable, each mount has its own unique periodic error curves, bringing different maximum periodic error values. Some users might find the maximum periodic error of their AM5 mount is extremely small compared to others.  But as long as the total periodic error is under 40 arc seconds, the AM5 is within our acceptable range, and you can also easily get a good guiding accuracy between 0.5″ ~ 0.8″ with a 1-second guide exposure.

The smaller the periodic error is, the better tracking accuracy the mount can achieve without guiding.

Please view the reports below, the left report shows a maximum periodic error of 35.9 arc seconds with an approximate tracking accuracy of 0.21”/s.

0.21″/s is the mount deviating 0.21 arc seconds per second when tracking the object.  If guiding is enabled, it can be also considered as the theoretical best guiding accuracy the mount can get, assuming effects of seeing and other conditions are not taken into consideration and a 1 second guide exposure* is used.

(*If you drop the guide exposure down to 0.5 seconds, this will decrease the guiding accuracy by one half.)

The report on the right shows a smaller maximum periodic error of 15.9 arc seconds and therefore a better tracking accuracy of 0.074″/s.  Such high accuracy allows the mount to reach better theoretical guiding accuracy.

That being said, we all know that the theoretical best guiding accuracy is almost impossible to achieve due to seeing, winds, and all other aspects which would affect the mount’s final guiding performance.  Especially when looking at the seeing and the guiding accuracy of a mount, the seeing greatly affects the final guiding performance.

7. How to understand the full periodic error chart and partial zoom of the max periodic error chart?

The full periodic error chart represents the errors the strain wave gear reducer produced in different positions during its whole operating period at 360° of one reducer rotation. Looking at the two reports above as examples, the left one has a maximum PE of 35.9 arc-second and a minimum PE of 25.3 arc-second. The right one has a maximum PE of 15.9 arc-second and a minimum PE of 3.8 arc-second.

To test the periodic error of one strain wave gear mount, we must not just test one certain position. Obviously if we do so, the result we get will be very limited.

The partial zoom of the max periodic error chart selects one single period with maximum error from all periods.  When zoomed in, it can be seen how quickly the error changes and if it is small enough, the best theoretical guiding accuracy is achieved.

The duration from the low to high points in the left chart is 172.8 seconds, so with the formula we can calculate the maximum error per second of the reducer, which is 0.21″.  Assuming 1 second guide exposure, which is correcting the error per second, even if the error can be corrected, there will still be a deviation of 0.21″.  Considering all other factors during imaging, we can ensure the guiding accuracy is between 0.5″ ~ 0.8″.

The smaller the periodic error is, the better the guiding results.  But as mentioned above, seeing is an important factor that can not be ignored.  Seeing makes it very difficult for us to get an even better guiding accuracy smaller than 0.5″.

8. Why do you give a PE test report with each AM5 mount?

The uncertainty and irregularity of the periodic error of strain wave gear make it necessary to carry out a full-period test for each gear to ensure its maximum error falls in the range of +/-20 arc seconds.  No testing or only testing of single periods instead of the full period may allow unqualified products to come into the market.  It also gives very bad experiences to our customers.

See the sample below, in some periods, the error can be as low as 30.9 arc-seconds, while in some periods, the error reaches 92 arc-seconds. Obviously, it is not up to the standard.

9. What relations do periodic error, guiding accuracy and star sizes have?

The period error has effects on guiding accuracy. The guiding accuracy determines whether the star can be round enough. In most cases, you won’t get star trailing in your images if the guiding accuracy is less than 1/4 of the star size.  Take a look at the average star size in your images, then you shall know how much guide accuracy you need.

For example, if the guiding accuracy you get is 0.5″, then it can basically support a star size around 2″ and above.

One of the most important influencing factors of star size is seeing. The better the seeing is and the larger aperture your telescope has, the smaller the star size you can get, which as a result giving higher requirements for the guiding accuracy.

10. Why isn’t the ZWO AM5 integrated with PEC?

PEC represents periodic error correction.  It records the error curve in some periods, then plays it back when photographing an object to allow the mount to correct errors.  In the past, most worm gear mounts have the PEC function.  PEC helps a lot for astrophotography without guiding. But since guiding is used while imaging deep space objects, PEC is not a required function.  Also, as we mentioned above, when we say PERIODIC ERRORS of a strain wave gear, the errors are actually not that “PERIODIC”. The changes are irregular, so it cannot help us correct errors by playing it back.

Summary:

There are no two identical leaves in the world, nor are there two identical strain wave gear reducer error curves.  The AM5 PE error curve received by each AM5 user is unique and guaranteed to be qualified by us. Enjoy your astrophotography journey with the AM5, and feel free to ask us any questions.  We are always glad to help!

Q1: We are deeply sorry to hear the bad news of your father. Through our contact with Mr. Latham, our team members recognized him as a very good and understanding person. Such a pity that we did not have more opportunities to get to know him better! If you don’t mind, could you please make an introduction of him to us?

Nigel Latham was born in 1954 and lived all of his life in the Midlands, UK. In his younger years, he worked as a disco DJ, making a lot of his equipment himself due to also being interested in electronics. After this, he began to work as an electrical engineer, mainly working on car stereos. Eventually, he moved into an IT role providing support for bespoke software. His last position before retiring due to progressing health issues was working as an IT Technician at a local school.

His main hobby for most of his life was photography. He tried all types such as models, scenery and still life.

The last 10 years were tough for Nigel. His health problems worsened and made it difficult for him to do the things he loved. He passed away peacefully in March and awaits in the stars. He is deeply missed by his wife, Lesley and his two sons, Richard and Stephen.

Q2: Nigel joined some FB astrophotography groups and was very active in them. His love for astrophotography was impressive to us all. Do you know why he loved astronomy? And why did he step into the journey of astrophotography?

Due to his declining health and mobility, no longer capable of getting out and about to take scenic photography, he looked for a way to continue and evolve his hobby into something new. At first, this came in the form of still life photography. This took him many hours of preparation for every photograph, which in a way prepared him for the patience required in astrophotography.

I am not sure what sparked the idea of pointing the camera at the stars, but I am very glad it happened.

Cygnus Wall

Q3: Have you ever joined your father’s astrophotography nights? In your view, did your father enjoy those nights?

Absolutely. I would sometimes just sit and watch him, listening as he told me about the various objects he was attempting to image. I could tell from the way he was explaining what he was doing, he was extremely passionate about astrophotography and I believe he definitely enjoyed having the company.

Horsehead Nebula

Q4: When he got in trouble during those imaging nights, how did he deal with it? (The weather may be a problem for astrophotographers because astrophotography usually requires clear skies.)

Being in the UK, as you can imagine at many times of the year clear nights were few and far between. While I am sure he felt frustrated at times, he used that time wisely to improve and optimize his workflow and setup. For example, making custom length cables to make sure everything was neat and tidy. He also spent a lot of time making preparations and learning new techniques so when a clear night came along, it would not go to waste.

The Moon – 600mm

Q5: Do you think your father had changed since he started astrophotography?

I believe astrophotography set him free. He was a person of routine. Always in bed for 10 pm. After he started the hobby, he would be up until 2, 3 or even 4 in the morning. It was a more adventurous side I had never seen before.

Pleiades M45

Q6: Can you share with us some photos of your father’s setup and astrophotos?

Setup

Rosette Nebula

Q7: Is there a photo of your father’s favourite work? Do you know how this photo was taken?

I am not sure of his personal favourite, but the one I would pick would be the Eagle Nebula, home to the Pillars of Creation. It’s such an iconic object and it makes it even better knowing that he imaged it himself. I am not sure on what equipment he used for this.

Eagle Nebula

Q8: If there’s any, could you please show us one of your father’s early works when he first stepped into astrophotography in around 2018 so that we can see the evolution?

Earliest finished work I can find is the Orion Nebula from November 2018.

The most recent one he completed before he passed was coincidentally the Orion Nebula once again in February 2022.

The difference speaks for itself on how much he improved over a few years.

First image. In November 2018. 

Most recently. In February 2022. 

Q9: Did Nigel like to call himself an astrophotographer? Did he have some astrophotography friends and maybe join in the local star parties?

He did and was very proud to do so. The vast majority of interactions with other astrophotographers were through various online groups and we were not aware of any local groups at the time.

Q10: Nigel was a member of ZWO’s ASIAIR test team and helped us a lot. Did he ever mention this to you? (We are very grateful for his dedication!)

It was the main thing we spoke about. Whenever I asked him what he was working on, it was usually testing a new feature or reporting bugs. He was extremely excited whenever a new firmware version was released, especially if it fixed an issue that he had reported. When he found out his name would be printed on the booklet for the ASIAR Plus, we were both extremely proud of the work he had done.

ASIAIR Dream Partners

Q11: As one of the dream partners, Nigel had always been active, enthusiastic and friendly in helping others and answering their questions, whether in the ASIAIR test group or in the user group. He must also have been this friendly in his normal life, wasn’t he?

He was the friendliest and laid-back person you could ever meet. He was so enthusiastic about his hobbies and was a pleasure to be around.

Q12: Did your father have any other hobbies besides astrophotography?

Apart from his regular photography, he enjoyed listening to music immensely. He would listen every night and in his spare time, he would add to and organize his large music collection accumulated over many years.

Q13: Usually, we give astrophotographer’s stories titles by ourselves, but this time we want you to name this article. What title do you think your father might want us to have?

“From Earth to the Stars: Nigel’s Story”

Q1: At first, congratulation that your nice image won #ASIWEEK. Can you introduce yourself to us?

Hi! Thank you and it’s an honor to be selected for ASIWEEK. My name is Liqun Zhu. I live in Shanghai, China. I’m 53 years old and I love Astrophotography.

Q2: When did you start astrophotography? Did someone inspire you?

I started to take digital photos about 20 years ago as a hobby. I took family and travel photos mostly until 2019 spring. I took a Milky Way photo during travel by chance and I’m amazed at how beautiful the starry night is. Shortly after, I decided to do deep sky photography and took my first Orion Nebula at the end of 2019.

M42, ASI1600MM Pro+Esprit100+CEM45, 3 hours

Q3: Why do you love astrophotography? Is there a moment that makes you have interest in it and turn it into your hobby suddenly?

I love astrophotography because it’s a combination of science and art. Every time I process an Astro photo, I’m always thrilled by the fact that these lights are from millions of light years away and wondered how big the universe is and how short human life is. Although I know little behind the Astro photos, I want to show people the beauty of the universe.

Q4: How did you learn astrophotography? What has it taken to get these achievements?

I learn astrophotography from the internet. I read and watch tutorials and then practise. It’s a long way to go and I’m still learning now. Nowadays, I and my friends established a group to share astrophotography experience via online meetings and live broadcasting to help others.

Online astrophotography experience sharing, May 14, 2022

Q5: What gear do you use for astrophotography? Any pictures of them?

I have 3 gears at the remote observatory and 2 with me. They all use ZWO ASI6200MM Pro. About the telescopes, one is RC reflector and the others are APO refractors. I also have ASIAIR PRO and ASIAIR Plus. I use them when travelling and they do make astrophotography much easier.

ASI6200MM Pro+FSQ106+CEM60EC at Shangri-La remote observatory

ASI6200MM Pro+GSO RC14+CEM120EC2 at Yang-La remote observatory

ASI6200MM Pro+TOA130+CEM120 at Yang-La remote observatory

Q6: Your ASIWEEK image “Rho Ophiuchus” was fantastic! How did you capture and process it?

Thank you! I knew the rain season was coming to my remote observatory and there would be little chance to capture any photos. I love the color of Rho Ophiuchus so much, so I took 2 nights worth of 6 hours subs right after it’s photographable. I took 2 panels mosaic and process them in Pixinsight. In the end, I processed them in Photoshop.

Q7: We see you posted a lot of astrophotos in ZWO ASI Camera group and earned plenty of likes. Do you have any unique skills of astrophotography to share with us?

I just do some daily astrophotography. I like to take more subs to start with and process it slowly and carefully in every step to avoid over-process.

M51, ASI6200MM Pro+TOA130+CEM120, 36 hours

Q8: Do you want to say something to the newcomers? How to select equipment, how to learn astrophotography, how to do post-processing better, etc. Say whatever you want. We can definitely learn a lot from you.

My advice to the newcomers is as followed. First, buy a small reflector like 3 or 4 inches APO and cheap Astro camera of small format like 4/3” or APS-C format and a good mount to start with. Second, watch tutorials to learn how to take astrophotos and then practise at home. Third, join forums or groups to learn more skills and ask for help sometimes.

Iris Nebula, ASI6200MM Pro+FSQ106+CEM60EC, 8.5 hours

Q9: Which photo or target is your favorite? Would you mind telling us something about it?

I like big bright nebulae such as M42, M45, M31 at first and I still love them now. Then I try narrow band emission nebulae such as Eagle Nebula, Heart and Soul Nebula, and I love the colorful Hubble Palette tones. Lately, I have turned to challenging objects like dark nebulae, planetary nebulae and small galaxies. I think they are all very beautiful and I want to capture as many as possible.

M42, ASI6200MM Pro+TOA130+CEM120, 19 hours

M45, ASI6200MM Pro+TOA130+CEM120, 21 hours

M16, ASI6200MM Pro+RC14+CEM120EC2, 12 hours

Heart and Soul Nebula, ASI6200MM Pro+FSQ106+CEM60EC, 18 hours

Q10: How do you like your ASI cameras? What camera do you want us to develop in the future?

I like ASI cameras very much. They are easy to use, and I can take very clean and sharp subs with them. I wish ZWO can provide an affordable COMS camera with a large format like IMX461.

Q11: People say the complex astrophotography software is one of the reasons that makes newcomers tend to give up at the beginning. What do you think? How to get familiar with the software quickly?

Astrophotography software works differently compared to common photography software like Photoshop. I think the best way to learn it quickly is that you should try to know the basic concept and workflow by reading books or watching videos, then practise with an easy target like a bright nebula.

Q12: Have you ever travelled to distant dark places for astrophotography? Are there any interesting experiences that can share with us?

The nearest dark place from my home is Dongtan, 50 miles away and barely Bortle 4, very humid and often with strong wind. Although it’s not ideal for astrophotography but it’s a beautiful bird reserve place. I have travelled there many times with friends and had lots of fun. Three years ago, only a couple of people went there for astrophotography and now there are dozens including high school students whenever there is a clear night at weekends. The biggest event was 2021 Perseid Meteor Show, families and couples were all over the place, and I heard “WOW” all night. I’m glad to see astrophotography community growing so rapidly. We call the place “The Astro Street”.

Q13: Do you think astrophotography somehow changed you over the past times ever since you were into this hobby?

I have been into a new world ever since I started astrophotography. I have learned a lot of new knowledge, made many new friends and had a lot of fun when travelling and taking Astro photos together.

LDN1622 and M78, ASI6200MM Pro+Sharpstar 656+CEM70EC, 10 hours

Q14: Last one. Do you have any suggestions or feedback to ZWO? Please feel free to tell us.

I would like ZWO to make more accessories like drawtubes, adapters, rotators, etc. And I prefer cables of higher quality. I personally think the lens on some cameras are not very useful, and I hope they could be improved. I will be very excited if ZWO can produce high-quality telescopes.

David Jenkins is the winner of ASIWEEK #34 and #38.  Over the past years, he has produced so many great astrophotos, including the ones we displayed here. You may see his gallery on his website if you get interested – Believe us, those gorgeous images are really worthwhile to watch!

Q: First of all, could you please give us a self-introduction so that we can know more about you?

My name is David Jenkins and I live in Southwestern Ontario, Canada where I love to spend clear nights in my backyard under the stars collecting thought provoking images of deep space. For as long as I can remember I have had an enthusiastic interest in astronomy and anything space related. I feel fortunate to live under Bortle 5 skies. Someday, I hope to find some even darker skies for this wonderful hobby.

Q: What makes you become an astrophotographer and how long have you been?

As a teenager, I attempted to photograph the moon through my wobbly Tasco telescope using my Pentax 35mm film camera pointed at the telescope’s diagonal prism. Not surprisingly, none of the photos turned out. Years later, in 2007, now married with three children, I purchased a 12-inch Meade RCX-400 telescope, which was very large and very heavy.

Since I had nowhere to store it, my telescope sat in our living room. A few months later, construction began on my backyard SkyShed so that I could have a permanent home for my new telescope. Being a fork mounted telescope, it was very challenging for me to take any long exposure photos. Instead, for many years, I spent my time imaging the moon and planets.

In 2020, I purchased a German Equatorial Mount and a SkyWatcher Refractor. My journey into long exposure, deep sky imaging began.

Old Versus New:

My backyard SkyShed:

Q: Is there anyone who inspired you at the very beginning?

My parents were always supportive of my interest in Astronomy. Also, I have fond memories of my Grandmother talking to me about the night sky. She knew many of the constellations and asterisms, which amazed me.

Brocchi’s Cluster. Equipment: Esprit 100ED + EQ6-R Pro + ASI2600MC Pro + ASIAIR PRO. Integration: 20min 

Q: What gear do you use, any photos of them?

I currently have several Sky-Watcher and William Optics refractors, two Sky-Watcher German Equatorial Mounts, and a Celestron EdgeHD 8”. I power all of my equipment with the ASIAIR (I own two of them) from inside my house using my iPad. I use the both the ASI2600MC Pro and MM Pro cameras to take my images.

Q: Where do you normally take astrophotos, in your backyard or somewhere darker but also remoter from home?

I almost always take my astrophotos from my backyard. That way, I don’t have to spend time setting up and tearing down my equipment. It also saves me time that would otherwise be spent traveling to and from another site. I love my backyard!

Q: Do you still remember your first astrophotography experience? What feelings did you have when you saw your first astrophoto?

Here is my first astrophoto of the Orion Nebula from January 2008. It’s fun to look back at my old images. I’m amazed at how far technology has advanced in the past 14 years.

Q: What do you think astrophotography has brought to your life? Does it change you in any sort?

As many have come to realize, this is a very complex yet rewarding hobby. I enjoy building telescope rigs, taking images, as well as processing my data using both PixInsight and Photoshop. The learning never ends, which I love!

Jellyfish Nebula in combined SHO and HOO. Equipment: Esprit 80ED + EQ6-R Pro + ASI2600MM Pro + ASIAIR PRO. Integration: 19h

Q: When the frustrations come, how do you normally act and how do you overcome them?

I enjoy problem solving as it engages the mind. I try to take a calm, logical approach to solving technical challenges, which has served me well.

The Eastern Veil Nebula. Equipment: Esprit 150ED + EQ8-Rh Pro + ASI2600MM Pro+ ASIAIR PRO. Integration: 21.5h. Bortle 5 skies.

Q: What do you think is your biggest achievement in astrophotography so far?

Narrowband image processing has been my biggest achievement. I’m still working to further develop my processing skills with broadband imaging. There are a lot of talented people out there who provide me with inspiration.

Eagle Nebula. Equipment: Esprit 150ED + EQ8-Rh Pro + ASI2600MM Pro + ASIAIR PRO. Integration: 12h. Bortle 5 skies.

Q: Do you have a favorite celestial target or region in the night sky?

My favorite celestial target is the one that I am currently working on. The night sky is full of wondrous targets.

M27. Equipment: Esprit 150ED + EQ8-Rh Pro + ASI2600MM Pro + ASIAIR PRO. Integration: 6h. Bortle 5 skies.

Q: What kind of unique style do you think your photos have?

I spend a great deal of time framing my targets in a way to provide a unique perspective not typically seen by other astrophotographers. This often involves moving the key subject matter away from the centre of the image in order to draw your eye to some of the other intricate and complimentary details. This requires me to spend many hours (and nights) imaging the same target in order to bring out the faint nebulosity. To achieve some depth within my photos, I carefully balance the colours using the histogram tool. With narrowband imaging, I strive to pull out the deep blues, subtle yellows, and deep reds and orange to make a dramatic looking image without oversaturating the target.

Elephant’s Trunk Nebula. Equipment: EQ6-R Pro + Esprit 100ED + ASI2600MM Pro + ASIAIR PRO. Integration: 20h. Bortle 5 skies.

Q: Would you like to share with us your project plans in the future?

I’m now running two telescopes simultaneously, which presents some fun challenges. I soon hope to have both telescopes pointed at the same target where one image in RGB data using the ASI2600MC Pro while the other images in Luminance and/or Hydrogen Alpha using the ASI2600MM Pro.

This should be a good combination for galaxies with the added benefit of reducing the number of nights required to image each target.

Needle Galaxy. Equipment: EQ6-R Pro + Celestron EdgeHD 8″ + ASI2600MC Pro + ASIAIR PRO. Integration: 3h 42min. Bortle 5 skies.

Q: Can you give the ZWO team some suggestions, or share your thoughts on ZWO products?

I would love to see a ZWO field rotator that can be controlled with the ASIAIR. I currently use the Pegasus Rotator, but it is heavy and needs to be controlled separately. Another suggestion would be for ZWO to produce mounts that automatically polar align themselves instead of relying on manual intervention to adjust the RA and DEC knobs. That would be a real competitive advantage!

ZWO ASIWEEK Picture of the WEEK Competition is an international contest open to all astrophotography lovers who are in possession of ASI cameras. It is held every week in the Facebook ZWO ASI Cameras group. Hundreds, and thousands of breathtaking astrophotos have been exhibited to the public ever since it was started in 2019 for the first edition. To thank all the participants for their hard work, and to show more people the beauty of the universe, here we include some of the images of each edition and reveal the equipment and acquisition information. Hope we are having more and more amateurs joining in the community in the future.

The winner of ASIWEEK #20/2020 is Andrew Blackwolf Maniero. Congratulations!

Photographer: Andrew Blackwolf Maniero | Target: Venus

Equipment: SCT14″ f/17 + ZWO ASI178MM + UV350nm filter + IR807nm filter

About the Camera:

ZWO ASI178MM, $299.00-$347.00

Entries of this week from other astrophotographers

Photographer: Jeffrey Horne | Target: Cigar Galaxy

Equipment: Celestron Nexstar 8se + ZWO ASI2600MC Pro + Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro + Orion Starshoot Autoguider Pro + Celestron 6.3 focal reducer / corrector

Photographer: Victor Van Puyenbroeck | Target: The Rosette Nebula

Equipment: TS 8″ f/4 ONTC + GPU corrector + ZWO ASI1600MM-C + ZWO EFW + Astrodon 3nm Ha/OIII/SII

Photographer: Amrit Seecharan | Target: Saturn

Equipment: Celestron NexStar Evolution 9.25″ + ZWO ASI224MC + Nikon 3X Tele Converter

Follow us on Facebook to learn more information about the contest.

Join the FB group to attend the contest: https://bit.ly/3Qy7k3a

ZWO ASIWEEK Picture of the WEEK Competition is an international contest open to all astrophotography lovers who are in possession of ASI cameras. It is held every week in the Facebook ZWO ASI Cameras group. Hundreds, and thousands of breathtaking astrophotos have been exhibited to the public ever since it was started in 2019 for the first edition. To thank all the participants for their hard work, and to show more people the beauty of the universe, here we include some of the images of each edition and reveal the equipment and acquisition information. Hope we are having more and more amateurs joining in the community in the future.

The winner of ASIWEEK #21/2020 is Sergey Trudolyubov, Congratulations!

Photographer: Sergey Trudolyubov | Target: M106

Equipment: 250 mm f/4 Lacerta PhotoNewton + ZWO ASI183MM Pro + Orion HDX-110 EQ-G

About the Camera:

ZWO ASI183MM Pro, $999.00

Entries of this week from other astrophotographers

Photographer: James Gossage | Target: Omega Centauri

Equipment: ZWO ASI294MC Pro + ZWO ASI120MM Mini + Explore Scientific ED102 FCD100.

Photographer: Mackay Storms & Astro | Target: Southern Pinwheel Galaxy

Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM Pro + Sky-Watcher NEQ6 PRO + Orion SSAG

Photographer: Kurt Zeppetello | Target: M51

Follow us on Facebook to learn more information about the contest.

Join the FB group to attend the contest: https://bit.ly/3Qy7k3a

ZWO ASIWEEK Picture of the WEEK Competition is an international contest open to all astrophotography lovers who are in possession of ASI cameras. It is held every week in the Facebook ZWO ASI Cameras group. Hundreds, and thousands of breathtaking astrophotos have been exhibited to the public ever since it was started in 2019 for the first edition. To thank all the participants for their hard work, and to show more people the beauty of the universe, here we include some of the images of each edition and reveal the equipment and acquisition information. Hope we are having more and more amateurs joining in the community in the future.

The winner of ASIWEEK #22/2020 is James Gossage. Congratulations!

Photographer: James Gossage | Target: C/2020 F8

Equipment: Explore Scientific ED102 FCD100 + ZWO ASI294MC + ZWO ASIAIR PRO

About the Camera:

ZWO ASI294MC Pro, $999.00

Entries of this week from other astrophotographers

Photographer: Uroš Gorjanc Urke | Target: M104

Equipment: ZWO ASI1600MM Pro + Sky-Watcher 10” f/4.7 + DeepSkyDad AF1 + Sky-Watcher EQ-8 Pro

Photographer: Chuck Ayoub | Target: The Crescent Nebula

Equipment: Celestron RASA 8-inch + ZWO ASI1600MM Pro + Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro

Photographer: Menezes FO | Target: Ganymede

Equipment: MEADE LX200 10 “UHTC + ZWO ASI290MC + Baader Planetarium L 1.25 ”

Follow us on Facebook to learn more information about the contest.

Join the FB group to attend the contest: https://bit.ly/3Qy7k3a