Astrophotography in Colorado

Here in southwestern Colorado we have plenty of clear dark skies. We enjoy our evenings taking photographs and viewing the amazing objects in the night sky. Taking pictures of the moon, planets and deep space objects is called astrophotography. Many of the deep space objects such as globular clusters, nebula and galaxies appear only as fuzzy white spots in telescopes and binoculars. However when photographed the brilliant colors of these objects is brought out.

If you have even a small telescope or a good pair of binoculars you ought to be able to see the four moons of Jupiter on a good night. With the telescope you will be able to see the rings around Saturn. Truly an awesome sight if you never seen it before.

Many globular clusters, nebula, and galaxies are visible with only binoculars. In fact, our closest neighboring galaxy, the Andromeda Galaxy, is visible to the naked eye under very dark skies. It appears in an area larger that the moon.

On the right you will see a sample of some of the objects we have photographed. On the left is a link to more astro photos from my gallery at Zenfolio. Please check it out if you'd like to see some of the pearls of the night sky!

Whether by telescope, binoculars, or just looking up to sell all that's there, I encourage you to get out and see the great sights. If you are unfamiliar with the night sky, seek out someone to give you a tour. There are many local astronomy clubs across the country that would be happy to introduce you to our night sky.

Steven Schlagel

Below is the Clear Sky Clock for our Colorado observatory. It predicts the cloud cover, transparency and seeing conditions for the next couple nights and is updated by the amazing Attilla Danko.

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