Various images by Erwin

[CometGuy]

I am not sure if everyone has seen Erwin Rene van der Velden's images with a modified Nikon D70 which I host at my site at:

http://www.pbase.com/terrylovejoy/erwins_modded_d70_gallery

Erwins attention to detail and scientific approach have seen him do some really impressive work with fairly basic equipment (i.e a c9.25 on GP-DX mount + D70). For those who don't know Erwin hails from Brisbane.

I'll see if I can get him to signup to 'iceinspace'.

Terry

[silvinator]

He sure does have some great pics. Wonderful wide field/deep sky shots and planetary shots. Do get him to sign up so he can share his wisdom with us on how to get impressive shots like his :D
By the way, I'd really hate to see what you call advanced equipment :P

[Mombat]

In one of the pics he mentions a Herbig Haro object. Does anyone know what that is?

[westsky]

Hi Silvie,Erwins equipment is the most basic that one should use to get the quality that he gets ( his own dertermination not withstanding)
The Vixen mount would be the best out of the box of the mass produced mounts, it works and does the job well.
The C9.25 is without doubt the best photographic scope without spending huge amounts( read thousands of $) of money on the RC type scopes.
His setup is simple but effective.
Oh did I mention his determination :-))

David.

[astroron]

Herbig Harpo objects are nebulas objects associated with newly forming stars, the first three wherethe Orion Nebula by George Herbig and Guillamero Haro they are thought to be the result of interaction between a protostar and intersteller gas which is heated and compressed, they are generaly between500 and 4000 au in size and have about 0.5-30 earth masses.
They can be generaly seen in deep photo's of the Orion Nebula.
the suggestion is that they ejected from young stars. Regards Ron:)

[[1ponders]]

Quote from "The Universal Book of Astronomy" by David Darling, Wiley Publications

Quote:
A small bright nebula in a star forming region, created when fast moving jets of material from a newborn star collide with the interstellar medium. As the bipolar flow from a young star plows into the surrounding gas, it generates strong shock waves that heat and ionize the gas. In the cooling gas behind the shock front, electrons and ions recombine to give an emission line spectrum chacteristic of Herbig-Haro objects. They are named after the American astronomer George Hergig (1920 - ) and Guillermo Haro who discovered the first three such objects in 1946 - 1947 in images of the nebula NGC1999 in Orion. All known Herbig-Haro objects have been found within the boundaries of dark clouds and are strong sources of infrared."

End Quote

Hope that helps :)

This attachment, a scan from the same book might illustrate it better

[silvinator]

Thanks David, that's what I thought. It's just that I was thinking about getting the vixen GP-DX mount for my dream astrophotography setup (and yes I've thought constantly about the D70 as well :P ) as I've read that it is a great mount with low PE. That is why I was just a little surprised to hear it being called a basic setup. But when you put it that way - that it is a setup with just a great scope, a great mount, and great camera, it really is as basic as you can get :) Erwin's setup definitely is very effective indeed, well done to him.

[westsky]

Hey Silvie, what scope would you put on your vixen when you get it?:-))

David.

[silvinator]

hehe a vixen scope of course :D I was thinking of some sort of wide field apo refractor...or maybe geoff's 80ed :P

[Striker]

I have had the pleasure meeting with Irwin on my Leyburn trip.....and yes his setup is nothing extreme at all....good on him and go Brisbane....wahooooooooo.

[CometGuy]

Sorry my choice of words (i.e 'basic') were not so good :( The equipment he has are highly regarding as being excellent choices for astrophotography. I was more thinking he didn't have to take out a housing loan to achieve these results!

Advanced equipment? Try an 16" RC scope + observatory style mount + highend astrocamera = $80,000. Ouch!

Terry

[Astroman]

Nice images, but I doubt I will be ripping apart a $2000 camera just yet for astrophotgraphy.

[iceman]

What a great idea! :poke: :D

Excellent images.. It's good to see some great stuff from downunder for a change! Been hanging out on CN too long!