Photo of the Week for May 16, 2014
This detailed image of spiral galaxy M81 reveals many pinkish star-formation regions tracing the big galaxy’s twirling arms. Astroimager Roger Dingman of Elkhorn, Manitoba, traced his evolution in astrophotography for SkyNews: “I started out about three years ago with a small telescope to look at the Moon and planets. Then I bought a larger telescope and attached a Canon camera and started taking pictures and just loved it. I soon realized the limitations of astrophotography with a fork mounted scope. So I bought a CCD camera, imaging filters and an upgraded mount and the pictures noticeably improved. Armed with Maxim DL capture software and PixInsight for processing, it was quite a learning curve. Seeking more improvements, I invested in a higher quality Astro-Physics mount and 12-inch Ritchey-Chrétien telescope and an observatory.”
Rodney’s repeated upgrading may sound familiar. It is a common story as the enthusiast delves deeper into astronomy — especially astroimaging. And as the results here show, it can be a richly satisfying endeavour.
