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scottlord

SH2-308 Dolphin Nebula

An 11.5 hour integration of the Dolphin Nebula located in the constellation of Canis Major.

An 11.5 hour integration of the Dolphin Nebula located in the constellation of Canis Major.
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Milton, Kentucky, US

upload_date

May, 2023

Views

395

Likes

Awards

Summer Views Award

Contender in the Visual Poetry Project

Flawless Summer Award

Absolute Masterpiece

Peer Award

Outstanding Creativity

Superb Composition

Top Choice

Top Ranks

Top 20 rank

Top 20 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 30 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 30 rank week 1

Top 10 rank week 1

Behind The Lens

Location

The Dolphin project was taken from my home in Milton, KY.

Time

All of my projects (and I call them projects because they are shot over the course of many sessions or nights) involve long imaging throughout the nighttime hours.

Lighting

Ideally, any astrophotography subject takes advantage of the darkest skies available. Due to moving in early spring, I did not start shooting the Dolphin Nebula until March when it was lower on the horizon than I would have liked and the daylight hours were getting longer. In addition the Dolphin is a very faint nebula to begin with, so it really was a race against time this year to collect enough imaging time to make a noteworthy final image.

Equipment

All of my astrophotography is done using an 81mm refractor telescope with a dedicated cooled astrophotography camera set up on an equatorial mount. The entire system is run from an ASIAIR-Plus (Raspberry PI unit) and linked to my cellphone and computer to control the imaging sessions.

Inspiration

My astrophotography projects have grown increasingly complex as I continue to learn and advance my skills in this hobby. It is always a good idea to try and challenge myself as a photographer and there are thousands of objects out there in the night skies to try and photograph. This project is far from complete and I am hoping to expand on it next season when the Dolphin is back in the night sky. As one of many stellar objects that cannot be seen with just the naked eye, I have a passion for capturing and sharing these wonders with anyone who wonders what may be out there in the universe.

Editing

All of my post processing is done through a program called Pixinsight, developed specifically for astrophotography. My photo is comprised of 11 hours of individual 5 minute exposures through a light pollution cutting filter and a special filter that enhances Hydrogen and Oxygen wavelengths of light as well as and additonal 30 minutes of 30 second shots on the background stars to keep them from being over-exposed. All of these are then combined adjusting for backgound intensity and noise reduction, contrast, clarity and sharpening.

In my camera bag

See the above equipment information.

Feedback

I always tell people astrophotgraphy is an exercise in patience and practice. The best teacher is experience and I've learned more from my failures in this venue and from what I did wrong that enables each successive project that I do to be a little better than the last. The final photo of every project is not a true representation of the many starts and stops and even complete rejection of the processes involved in making a great photo. Be humble, accept that you do not know everything, learn from others and continually strive to improve on your techniques. I've been doing astrophotography for only two years now and am proud of how far I've come, but know that I will always have farther to go in this fascinating pasttime.

See more amazing photos, follow scottlord

scottlord

scottlord

SH2-308 Dolphin Nebula

An 11.5 hour integration of the Dolphin Nebula located in the constellation of Canis Major.

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow scottlord

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