{"id":679509,"date":"2026-05-19T11:27:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T11:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/679509\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T11:27:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T11:27:11","slug":"new-telescope-will-allow-serious-astrophotography-astro-club-founder-pembinavalleyonline-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/679509\/","title":{"rendered":"New telescope will allow \u2018serious’ astrophotography: Astro Club Founder – PembinaValleyOnline.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although spring\u2019s longer days can make telescope viewing \u201chit and miss,\u201d Kenton Dyck of the\u00a0Pembina Valley Astro Club<\/a>\u00a0said the group has been involved in\u00a0a number of\u00a0events and partnerships recently \u2014 all in the name of\u00a0making astronomy accessible to everyone in the community.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

More technology, more possibilities\u00a0<\/p>\n

In addition to\u00a0its full schedule of\u00a0events,\u00a0Astro Club\u00a0has been adding to its equipment arsenal.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dyck is in the\u00a0final stages of\u00a0constructing an\u00a0Allsky camera<\/a>, which will record astronomical and meteorological events above the\u00a0Pembina Valley.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI got everything, powered it up, got the software on it, and I was running it, and then\u00a0it turns out in order for me to put it at the site that I want, I have to rearrange the power requirements a little bit more,\u201d he said\u00a0of the project.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Related stories:<\/p>\n

As Dyck puts the finishing touches on the Allsky project, the club\u00a0has also recently\u00a0acquired an SVBONY SV555 Astrograph Telescope from a community sponsor.<\/p>\n

The new piece of equipment will expand the group\u2019s astrophotography capabilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c[It]\u00a0is a telescope that is specifically designed to be hooked up to a camera,\u201d\u00a0Dyck explained.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can look through it\u00a0optically\u00a0\u2014\u00a0it’s\u00a0more than capable of doing that\u00a0\u2014\u00a0but what this is specifically designed to do is astrophotography, so now\u00a0Astro\u00a0Club\u00a0has the bones, or the framework, of a serious astrophotography rig.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

A five-element Petzval optical system\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the telescope may at first resemble a camera lens, Dyck explained that what makes it \u201cfancy\u201d is its five-element Petzval design, which allows for sharper images.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c[With astrophotography], you have to take light from a rounded kind of element,\u00a0which is a 3D shape, and project that onto a 2D sensor plate, so\u00a0you have to basically stretch the image flat\u00a0before it hits that camera sensor,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He explained that when light travels through glass, it can cause chromatic aberration, which appears at the edges of a captured image.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou’ll\u00a0see the\u00a0colours\u00a0starting\u00a0to separate, and\u00a0that’s\u00a0what this thing is specifically designed to get around. The five elements inside\u00a0are designed to take that away, giving us perfectly sharp stars in our corners, as well as\u00a0accurate\u00a0colour\u00a0gradients throughout the whole thing.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AnKenton Dyck’s outreach includes going to local classrooms to present on astronomy topics. Submitted photo.\u00a0
\n <\/p>\n

Dyck said that an important component of the astrophotography setup is a high-quality camera designed specifically for that purpose, which he may look into acquiring in the future.<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

Before that, though, a mount is next on the list.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a telescope that … will give us an entirely new vehicle for getting people extremely interested in [astronomy],” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The plan is to get an equatorial mount, which will then allow the telescope to track the stars down to a\u00a0milliarcsecond<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 so with tremendous degrees of accuracy.”<\/p>\n

\u2018There are very few things that grab people’s attention more than a huge, wide projected photograph of a supernova\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dyck said he is \u201cextremely excited\u201d about Astro Club branching into astrophotography, which he was\u00a0inspired\u00a0to do\u00a0by a\u00a0Winkler\u00a0photographer (jenkashots on Instagram<\/a>).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI met him at an event that we had, and he had his very nice camera there, and he took a shot of the Milky Way and sent it to me,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was the instant that I was like,\u00a0\u2018Oh, I want to do this.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

He added that astrophotography, which helps connect the astronomy and photography communities, is also an effective form of outreach \u2014 especially with children.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"handHand-drawn thank-you cards for Kenton Dyck from students he visited while sharing about astronomy. Submitted photo.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u00a0didn’t\u00a0realize would be the impact that astrophotography has, particularly when I go on school visits,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are very few things that grab people’s attention more than a huge, wide projected photograph of a supernova.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dyck said he hopes the setup is complete for the fall astronomy season, when shorter days bring even more opportunity to see\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0above.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

With files from Ty Hildebrand and Jayme Giesbrecht<\/p>\n