The images below illustrate some of the setups used during rooftop observing sessions on VIU’s Nanaimo campus. Visual observations (utilizing a selection of eyepieces offering different fields of view & magnifications) are done using alt-az mounted 8″ reflectors and dual-mounted 3″ & 5″ refractors, while short exposure “electronically assisted” viewing utilizes a fast 6″ Newtonian & specialized astronomical cameras to provide colour images of deep-sky objects.
The images below were taken from our Nanaimo rooftop viewing site between 2023 – 2024 using VIU’s 5″ refractor paired with ZWO’s 533MC camera and the “Live” view feature of ZWO’s ASIAir Pro wireless control device. Individual exposures ranged from a few seconds to a couple of minutes and are combined (“stacked”) “on the fly” by the ASIAir to improve signal-to-noise. Some minor post-processing has been done to produce the final images below.
The images below were taken from Nanaimo between 2022 – 2024 with ZWO’s 2600MC/MM and 533MC camera(s), my 3″ & 5″ refractors and a 6″ reflector utilizing the “Live view” feature of ZWO’s ASIAir Pro wireless control device. Individual exposures of a few seconds to a few minutes are combined (“stacked”) “on the fly” by the ASIAir to improve signal-to-noise. Some processing using Siril and Photoshop has been done to produce the images shown below.
The images below were taken from Nanaimo during the spring of 2021 with my 3″ & 5″ refractors using the “Live view” feature of ZWO’s ASIAir Pro wireless control device. Individual exposures range from a few seconds to a couple of minutes which are combined (“stacked”) by the ASIAir “on the fly” to improve signal-to-noise and produce the images shown. Aside from contrast adjustment these images are straight from the iPad running the ASIAir Pro. The colour images were taken using an inexpensive, uncooled, low resolution ASI385MC camera.
** NOTE: sky conditions vary greatly from night to night, affecting image quality. In addition, images have been compressed for the web which impacts image quality. **
