A Night in the Back Garden Under the Stars
Target: NGC 1499, the California Nebula
Mood: Mischievous Backyard Astronomer
There are glamorous observatories on mountaintops… and then
there’s my back garden: a patch of grass with a steep incline above it, and a
band of trees that act like they own the southern horizon. A slice of sky that
runs from the northwest around to the east. Everything else? Hidden behind a
wall of woodland darkness, as if the universe pulled a curtain halfway across
the stage. Frustrating? Absolutely. But also, oddly charming.
I often joke that imaging from the back garden is lazy
astronomy—as if I’m somehow cheating the grand tradition of freezing atop
windswept hillside car parks. Yet, every time I do it, I feel delightfully
wicked, like a child raiding the biscuit tin when no one was watching. No
packing the car. No driving at ungodly hours. Instead, I get to nip inside for
a cuppa or catch a bit of TV while the mount gently whirrs away outside under
the stars. The nightscape? Hooting owls, prowling cats, and the occasional fox
strolling down from the woodland like it’s popping by to check on my guiding
graph.
Shamefully luxurious behaviour… and I adore it.
A few months ago, in the spirit of “back garden decadence,”
I upgraded the observing area. I installed three perfectly spaced patio slabs
for my tripod. Then I brought some colourful 12mm children’s foam jigsaw mats to
lay across the decking. Functional? Extremely. The deck turns into something
between a skating rink and a death trap this time of year, and those mats keep
me from performing accidental gymnastic routines while carrying expensive
optics.
So, a few weeks back, on a crisp moonless night, I finally
aimed for NGC 1499. From the kitchen table (aka mission control), I could see
the mount through the window while stirring hot soup and basking in the warm
red glow of my head torch. I seem to feel the cold more these days—an
unexpected betrayal, considering how many winters, long ago, I spent stomping
through snowfields or dangling from an ice axe on frozen waterfalls. Back
garden astrophotography, therefore, feels like a snug loophole in the
universe’s rules.
Despite the suburban light pollution, I managed several
solid hours on the nebula over two nights. Below is the kit list for anyone
curious—or for future me, when I inevitably forget which power bank ran what.
Equipment
- Canon
800D with clip-in Optolong L-eNhance filter
- William
Optics Zenithstar 61II with 61A field flattener
- Sky-Watcher
EQM-35 Pro mount
- Guiding:
ASIAir Mini + ZWO 120mm guide cam + RVO 32mm guide scope
- Celestron
Lithium Pro power tank
- Dew
bands on main and guide scope
- Two
small power banks dedicated to dew bands
- Dummy
battery + power bank for the Canon 800D
- MSM
green laser pen with polar alignment adapter
- Sky-Watcher
right-angled polar viewer
- Neewer
intervalometer
Imaging Data
Night One
- 30 ×
360" lights
- ISO
1600
- 12
darks
- 20
bias
- 30
flats
Night Two
- 43 ×
360" lights
- ISO
1600
- 15
darks
- 20
bias
- 30
flats
Guiding behaved surprisingly well for an un-serviced,
third-hand mount. The RA axis is a little stiff – a bit like me – a ‘sometimes’
reluctant older bloke getting out of a comfortable chair. Nothing disastrous
with guiding - RA hovered around 0.80, DEC around 0.90. Honestly, not bad
considering I’m still getting acquainted with the ASIAir Mini and its app.
This was my very first rough post edit of the data and I’ll
update this post further once I process the images properly; and I will share
my full workflow - warts, wonders, and all. Stay tuned for a hopefully better
edited California Nebula in all its crimson glory!
