Ok, I finally did it.   I went and purchased a new digital camera.  It is a Nikon Coolpix 8700.  It has 8 Megapixels of resolution and a 8x zoom lens (280mm 35mm equivalent.)  The best thing about it is I found it for under $600 and it can do 10 minute bulb time exposures!  I looked hard for an inexpensive camera that had those capabilities, and the Nikon Coolpix cameras were the only ones that fit the bill.

I really wanted a Canon Digital Rebel or a Nikon D70, but they cost more than what I am willing to spend at this time.  Plus, the standard lenses they come with are not big enough to do the kind of piggyback astrophotography I want to do.  I would have to buy an expensive 300mm or higher lens, which would have cost just as much as the camera, if not more!

Anyway, here are a few pictures I took with my new Nikon Coolpix camera on my first few nights using it.   I am still in a learning phase, but so far, it looks very promising! 

The moon on 12/2/04 at full 8x optical and 4x digital zoom! Post-processing in Paintshop Pro (unsharp mask, slight color correction.)  Equivalent 35mm lens would be over 1100 mm!  ISO 50, 1/22 sec exposure and -2.00 EV at f4.2.  Camera was on a tripod mount.

Polaris, the North Star.  A 10 minute time exposure to show how the stars move in a circle around Polaris due to the Earth's rotation.  Post-processing in Nikon View 6 to darken the sky background, since it over-exposed from all the light pollution and the moon's glow.  Taken 12/2/04, ISO 50, and 10 minutes on bulb setting.  35mm lens f2.8 equivalent.

The Pleades, M-45 on 12/10/04 at 280mm f4.2 and ISO 200.  This is a composite of 5 individual photos of 3 minutes exposure each.  Registax was used to stack the frames and some post processing in Paintshop Pro, such as unsharp mask, color balance and saturation, etc.  The camera was mounted on my Celestron C-8 piggybacked.   The scope was used to guide the exposures.

The Perseus Double Cluster, NGC-869 and NGC-884 on 12/10/04 at 280mm f4.2 and ISO 200.  This is a single exposure of 5 minutes.  Post processing in Nikon View 6 to adjust color balance.   I also used Paintshop Pro for further color balance work,  contrast/brightness adjustments  and to zoom in and crop the original 8MegaPixel TIFF file to 1050x750 pixels. The camera was mounted on my Celestron C-8 piggybacked.   The scope was used to guide the exposures.

The Orion Nebula, M-42 on 12/10/04 at 280mm f4.2 and ISO 200.  This is a composite of 2 individual photos of 3 minutes exposure each.  Registax was used to stack the frames and some post processing in Paintshop Pro, such as unsharp mask, color balance and saturation, etc.  The camera was mounted on my Celestron C-8 piggybacked.   The scope was used to guide the exposures.

The Flame Nebula, the Horsehead and the
"Running Man" reflection nebula on 12/12/04.   This is the region right above the Orion Nebula in the picture above.   Two images of 10 minutes exposure each were stacked in Paintshop Pro, then cropped.   The levels were enhanced and background light pollution was subtracted.   Even though the light pollution was severe, I was able to get a usable image out of these 2 frames.  I was experimenting.   :-)

The Andromeda Galaxy, M-31 on 12/10/04 at 280mm f4.2 and ISO 200.  This is a composite of 6 individual photos of 5 minutes exposure each for a total of 30 minutes of equivalent exposure!  Registax was used to stack the frames and some post processing in Paintshop Pro, such as level adjustments and layer masking.  Picture was also cropped and resized.   As before, the camera was mounted and guided with my Celestron C-8 telescope  piggybacked.

I had lots of fun taking these photos.  I did not get much sleep for a few days, but it was well worth it!   My next project is to rig the camera in prime-focus mode to my C-8 telescope.  Of course, that means spending more money on more accessories!  

I am thinking of buying a William-Bell 52mm eyepiece that has 52mm threads to mate directly to a Nikon filter/telephoto lens adapter, which I already have.  Its a 2-inch eyepiece, and I'm hoping it will work with my Lumicon Easy-Guider without too much modification. 

I'll keep posting new pictures to this website as soon as I take them.  Clear skies!