Discover how to photograph galaxies and nebulae in our 3-part online course, starting September 2023.

By Iain Todd

Published: Monday, 04 September 2023 at 10:13 AM


Have you ever wanted to get into deep-sky astrophotography and start photographing distant spiral galaxies and nebulae?

In our upcoming 3-part online course, we’ll take you through everything you need to know.

Click here to book tickets for all three Masterclasses and save 20%

BBC Sky at Night Magazine Deep-Sky Imaging Masterclass

Starting on 28 September 2023, our Deep-Sky Imaging Masterclass will run once a month until November, and will be hosted entirely online.

You can find out more about the Masterclass by visiting our Virtual Events page.

The Masterclass will look at three key areas of deep-sky imaging:

Masterclass 1 – How I got into deep-sky imaging

The Heart of the Heart – Melotte 15 © Hannah Rochford, Bruton, Somerset, UK, 13–15, 18, 27, 28 and 30 January 2022. Winner – The Sir Patrick Moore Prize for Best Newcomer, Astronomy Photographer of the Year 14. Equipment: SkyWatcher Evostar 80ED telescope (with 0.85x reducer), Baader ultra narrowband filters, SkyWatcher EQ6R-pro mount, ZW0 ASI2600MM Pro camera, 510 mm f/6.37, 333 x 300-second (H-alpha x 102, OIII x 129, SII x 102) exposures
The Heart of the Heart – Melotte 15 © Hannah Rochford

Hannah Rochford’s image, The Heart of the Heart – Melotte 15, won Best Newcomer at the prestigious Astronomy Photographer of the Year Awards 2022

In the first part of our Masterclass, Hannah will discuss how she got into astrophotography and how she went from beginner to capturing an award-winning deep-sky image in just a year.

Hannah will look at the best targets for beginner astrophotographers, what equipment you need, capturing data and a brief look at image processing.

Masterclass 2 – Dealing with Light Pollution

The North America Nebula, taken with a Canon 700D DSLR – using 2 hours of 4’ exposures per filter (Ha and OIII). Credit: Charlotte Daniels
The North America Nebula. Credit: Charlotte Daniels

In the second part of our Masterclass, expert astrophotographer and BBC Sky at Night Magazine writer Charlotte Daniels reveals her top tips on fighting light pollution.

She’ll cover light-pollution filters, narrowband imaging, dark-sky locations and processing.

Click here to book onto Masterclass 2

Masterclass 3 – A Deep View of Orion

Orion Mega Mosaic. Credit: Tom O'Donoghue
Orion Mega Mosaic. Credit: Tom O’Donoghue

In the final part of our Deep-Sky Imaging Masterclass, astrophotographer Tom O’Donogue will reveal how he captured his award-winning Orion Mega Mosaic.

Tom will explain how he captured and processed his large-scale image to show targets like the Flame Nebula, the Horsehead Nebula and the Orion Nebula.

Click here to book onto Masterclass 3


Click here to purchase tickets to all three talks and save 20%

For more Masterclass talks and workshops, visit our Virtual Events On Demand page.

For more info about BBC Sky at Night Magazine’s virtual events, visit our FAQ and T&Cs page.