Looking beginner advice - C8 SCT with CG5 mount - 450D Canon

[Colin A]

Hi all,

I appreciate that these questions have been answered before.  

This is very new to me and looking some basic advice and tips please.

I have a Celestron C8 SCT with a CG5 mount.  Just bought the celestron adapter and ring for my Canon 450D.  Adapter and ring are in the post and looking forward to having a go at the imaging.

My first targets would be Jupiter and our Moon.  Then maybe Venus.  After that i'd like to have a crack at some DSO's if possible.

What should my initial settings be on the camera?  Exposure times, white balance etc.

Also what is best for post processing?  Is there any decent free or cheap software out there?  On a tight budget here! 

Any other help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Colin.

[PeterCPC]

For planetary imaging you want to be taking AVIs which you can then stack in AS!2 or Registax  - I think AS!2 is better (both freeware). You can either use your Canon with it's own software but it's much easier to use something like Backyard EOS. It's not free but there is a period when you can use it free to see if you like it and the cost of it is quite small anyway. If you use the Canon software you will need to convert your movies to AVIs and this can be done in PIPP (also free).

You can have a go at DSOs but would really need to guide using a guide scope and guide camera for long exposures. You could have a go at some of the brighter DSOs like Globular Clusters with shortish exposures. These images can then be stacked in Deep Sky Stacker - also free. Hope that helps a bit. There is much more to it but it gives you a flavour.

Peter

[Stargazer33]

Hi Colin and welcome to the wacky world of astrophotography. I have the same scope and an 1100D Canon. I either use EOS Utilities or APT (free but if you donate you get more functionality). You can control focus on a Canon lens with APT which is really handy as there is no image shake during the focusing process. There are also lots of goodies like FWHM focusing, Screen zooms and many many more wonderful things...ooh, I came over all 'Police Academy' then!

As Peter said, DSLRs are more for DSOs rather than planetary. Something like the ASI 120 or the QHY5L II are better for planetary. You can image DSOs with your DSLR without guiding if you keep the lights relatively short. You would need very good polar alignment. Using APT you could do a DARV alignment after the star alignment routine on your mount (I'm assuming you have the CG-5 GT version).

Have a look at my gallery.

I am not an expert by a long way but it shows you the sort of thing that can be achieved. BTW, the C8 is a bit long on focal length for a lot of the DSOs - you would have to build up a mosaic of Andromeda for instance as it would be too big even with a focal reducer.

[PeterCPC]

If you have a look at this http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/238553-a-few-jupiters-from-6-march/ the first image is taken with my Canon and a powermate. It gives you an idea of what you can get with a Canon.

Peter

[Colin A]

Thanks for the advice Peter and Bryan.  I knew this would be another steep learning curve.  Alot to take in before i even hook up the camera!  

Cheers, Colin.