Telescope ordered!

[Cyberman]

Have decided to upgrade from my little Celestron TravelScope and have ordered something a 'tad' larger.
I have to wait a few weeks for my supplier to get it, but am looking forward to learning more about astronomy and astrophotography.

[S_J_P]

Re: Telescope ordered!

Cool Cyberman, what type of 'scope have you gone for, and more importantly what type of mount?

I can wholeheartedly recommend the introduction to Astrophotography recommended to me, "Making Every Photon Count" by Steve Richards, as a great way to start out, it gives all the information which you need in a nice, easily gives table format :)

[wayne2418]

Re: Telescope ordered!

Looking forward to seeing some images with it Andy ..

[Cyberman]

Re: Telescope ordered!

Cool Cyberman, what type of 'scope have you gone for, and more importantly what type of mount?

I can wholeheartedly recommend the introduction to Astrophotography recommended to me, "Making Every Photon Count" by Steve Richards, as a great way to start out, it gives all the information which you need in a nice, easily gives table format :)

I spent quite a while in the shop looking at different options. In the end I went for a Celestron VX Advance 6" SCT.
This has an equatorial mount so should be better for tracking, the compromise is that it will be a bit trickier to setup initially as I am an astronomy novice.
The optical part is a Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope, should be ok for me for quite a while. Possibly slightly better for moon and planets but should allow me to try out deep space if I understood correctly.
I went for this option instead of some of the easier to setup and cheaper options as the tracking and photography capabilities should be better.

I will ill check out that book, thanks for the recommendation.

I am hoping things like StarWalk on my iPad will help with initial alignment.
I am looking forward to getting it, my wife wonders where it will live!

[S_J_P]

Re: Telescope ordered!

That's a very nice 'scope and an excellent mount Cyberman, I'm sure it'll do you proud. As I'm discovering, planetary astrophotography is a difficult business as you need high magnification and good, clear skies. Deep-space stuff is very rewarding though :)

Polar alignement is absolutely crucial for astrophotography, and is something which is unfortunately often overlooked. After being disappointed with the length of exposure I could achieve without the dreaded star-trails (around 15 seconds), I ended up purchasing a polar-finder (around £30) and I use a cheap iOS app to tell me the position of polaris and can now achieve up to 90 seconds. It's surprising just how far adrift you are when you align on polaris itself! It's equally surprising just how little decent information is available online regarding aligning the polar scope with the mount, then aligning the telescope to the polar scope, and then aligning it all with polaris. The best resource I've found is Astronomy Boy on YouTube, he waffles-on a little but there's some good information in his videos.

If you live in a light-polluted area then a light-pollution (LP) filter is a must, otherwise you'll be limited to exposures of around 1 minute at 800ISO or less. Have you bought a T-Mount adapter to connect your camera to the 'scope? There are various configurations of T-Mount/Adapter and after starting out with the 1.5" incarnation I quickly switched to 2" because it's more securely mounted and gives less vignetting, so start with all 2" fittings if your 'scope focusser is compatible.

[Cyberman]

Re: Telescope ordered!

If you live in a light-polluted area then a light-pollution (LP) filter is a must, otherwise you'll be limited to exposures of around 1 minute at 800ISO or less. Have you bought a T-Mount adapter to connect your camera to the 'scope? There are various configurations of T-Mount/Adapter and after starting out with the 1.5" incarnation I quickly switched to 2" because it's more securely mounted and gives less vignetting, so start with all 2" fittings if your 'scope focusser is compatible.

Unfortunately my area is going to have fairly high levels of light pollution, so I will look at filters. Thanks for the tip.
I believe the telescope has a 1.25" mount for eyepieces, and it's the Celestron camera adapter and mount I have ordered. From what the guy said with my 70D I should be reasonably ok, and not get to much vignetting.
But again, Thanks for the info I will look at eyepiece and mount options.

Also, thanks for the hint on polar scopes, I know my mount has a 'hole' where I guess this would go.
Have seen one YouTube video with these, for the amount you mention it could be a worthwhile investment, especially it if going to help me align the scope quicker and easier.

I appreciate all the info, thanks very much.

[paul linton]

Re: Telescope ordered!

Very interesting stuff
I can't wait to see how you get on, and look forward to seeing the results that you hopefully achieve.

Paul

[Wayne Els]

Re: Telescope ordered!

Congratulations that looks lots of fun but with a bit of a learning curve to it!

[MX5]

Re: Telescope ordered!

I spent a few days close to Exmoor (Kentisbury) a while ago in a 'Dark Sky Reserve' and was quite taken aback what was visible just with the naked eye ... reminiscent of my childhood. Binoculars opened up things further. Sadly I don't carry my 'scope (a 4.5" reflector) when away from home.

I hope you gets lots of pleasure from your new telescope and hopefully you'll attach a camera ...