Conquering Light Pollution: Capturing Andromeda from the City
For many astrophotographers, the dream of capturing the vastness of space is often hampered by the pervasive glow of light pollution. But what if you're stuck in a Bortle 8/9 zone, a veritable urban jungle? This post is a testament that it's still possible to capture breathtaking deep-sky objects like the Andromeda Galaxy.
The Gear Behind the Glory
Achieving this result from a heavily light-polluted area requires careful selection of equipment. Here's what was used:
- Telescope: Iexos 100
- Aperture: AT 60 ED
- Filter: Antlia Triband
- Camera: Playerone Saturn (uncooled)
The Integration and Processing Journey
Capturing the faint details of Andromeda in a bright sky demands significant integration time and meticulous processing. The data was acquired using:
- Sub-exposures: 30 seconds
- Integration Time: 12 hours
- Guiding: Unguided
- Calibration: Fully calibrated subs
The post-processing workflow involved a suite of powerful software:
- Siril
- GraXpert
- Seti Astro Suite
- Affinity
- DarkTable
Recently, I've been experimenting with RapidRaw, a tool that I found to be a fantastic free alternative to Lightroom for astrophotography. While I might have pushed the saturation a bit in this particular image to showcase its capabilities, the results are undeniable.
The Antlia Triband Filter: A Light Pollution Lifesaver?
One of the key components in this setup is the Antlia Triband filter. While I've never had the opportunity to test it from a truly dark site, its performance in high light pollution environments has been incredibly promising. It significantly helps in isolating the target object's wavelengths from the overwhelming artificial light.
Seeing is Believing
Here's the final result, a testament to the power of modern astrophotography equipment and software, even under challenging conditions:
This image serves as an inspiration for anyone looking to explore the night sky from their own backyard, regardless of the ambient light. With the right approach, the universe is still within reach.
