need help plz

[keiwein1]

so i bought a t-ring and a t-adapter 1.25 inch. its all fits well and good onto my camera and my telescope i just dont know were to go from here. how is the image magnified? and hwo do i take photos? any general tips? plz i need help. thx in advannce (i have an 8se and a nikon DSLR)

[CraigT82]

Hi, you will need to switch to manual focus and manual mode, set your shutter speed (about 1/200s for the moon, which is probably the best thing to practice on ). Set Iso to 200, Set a 2/3/5 second timer to reduce the wobble from pressing the button, then take the picture! Check the picture and adjust the shutter speed and iso as needed

The image in your scope will be greatly magnified anyway as your camera will effectively have a 2000mm telephoto lens when attached to your scope. You'll get about half the moon in the shot. Use a 2x Barlow between the scope and camera if you want more magnification.

If you have live view switch that on to focus as it'll be more accurate than using the viewfinder. Focus the image using the scope focuser as if you just had an ep in.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[keiwein1]

Hi, you will need to switch to manual focus and manual mode, set your shutter speed (about 1/200s for the moon, which is probably the best thing to practice on ). Set Iso to 200, Set a 2/3/5 second timer to reduce the wobble from pressing the button, then take the picture! Check the picture and adjust the shutter speed and iso as needed

The image in your scope will be greatly magnified anyway as your camera will effectively have a 2000mm telephoto lens when attached to your scope. You'll get about half the moon in the shot. Use a 2x Barlow between the scope and camera if you want more magnification.

If you have live view switch that on to focus as it'll be more accurate than using the viewfinder. Focus the image using the scope focuser as if you just had an ep in.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

i live in an area with moderate light polution, will i have to turn on the option to filter that out?

[steppenwolf]

Your first task is to achieve focus with the camera attached to the telescope. Perhaps the easiest way to do this is to get an approximation of focus during the daytime by inserting first an eyepiece and observing a distant terrestrial object. Remove the eyepiece, attach the camera and, using the Nikon's viewfinder, re-focus the image. Make a careful note of the focus position (a strip of cardboard cut to fit in between the front of the camera and the rear of the telescope will help).

Next clear night, aim the telescope at a bright star or even better the Moon and adjust the focus again, starting from your 'test' position. Voila, you have your focus position for the camera for celestial objects.

As for capturing images, that is a huge subject and so much will depend on what objects you wish to image! You should be able to capture Moon images quite easily but deep sky will require a tracking mount and planets will require a different camera (one that captures video with a fast frame rate).

You are at the start of a fascinating aspect of astronomy but you'll need to do plenty of research.

[keiwein1]

Your first task is to achieve focus with the camera attached to the telescope. Perhaps the easiest way to do this is to get an approximation of focus during the daytime by inserting first an eyepiece and observing a distant terrestrial object. Remove the eyepiece, attach the camera and, using the Nikon's viewfinder, re-focus the image. Make a careful note of the focus position (a strip of cardboard cut to fit in between the front of the camera and the rear of the telescope will help).

Next clear night, aim the telescope at a bright star or even better the Moon and adjust the focus again, starting from your 'test' position. Voila, you have your focus position for the camera for celestial objects.

As for capturing images, that is a huge subject and so much will depend on what objects you wish to image! You should be able to capture Moon images quite easily but deep sky will require a tracking mount and planets will require a different camera (one that captures video with a fast frame rate).

You are at the start of a fascinating aspect of astronomy but you'll need to do plenty of research.

will the images that i take be darker than my naked eye when i take something like a half second exposure? how long would it take for the object to drift out of my view? also thx!

[happy-kat]

Digital imaging is free to experiment and practice have fun learning.

You will find practicing will answer some questions.

You will also need to learn about post processing, pressing the shutter button is the start. Talking of which you should use either the time release option or a remote shutter release cable to make sure there is no shake introduced.

For the Moon you might also like to try capturing videos.

[D4N]

i live in an area with moderate light polution, will i have to turn on the option to filter that out?

Oh I wish that it was that easy!

Unfortunately light pollution isn't so easy to get rid of. There are filters available but they are expensive and I wouldn't worry about them yet.

As previously suggested start off with the moon to get to grips with how everything works.

The moon is big, bright and easy to get images of. You won't have to worry about light pollution with the moon, it is even possible to get good daytime shots of it (just be careful to avoid pointing your scope at the sun!).

The 8SE comes on a goto mount doesn't it? Your target should stay fairly central so long as you have aligned the scope properly.

If your camera has video capabilities try that too, there is some great free software for turning video into still images. Registax and AS!2, PIPP can also be handy if the video is in an odd format or too big.

Video works well because the short exposure at high frame rates can catch the moments when the atmosphere is clearest, these good frames are then stacked in the software to produce a superior image.

Once you have got good at the moon the planets will beckon, they are a lot smaller though so you may want to use a Barlow.

Deep space objects would be very difficult with your setup.

/Dan

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[keiwein1]

Oh I wish that it was that easy!

Unfortunately light pollution isn't so easy to get rid of. There are filters available but they are expensive and I wouldn't worry about them yet.

As previously suggested start off with the moon to get to grips with how everything works.

The moon is big, bright and easy to get images of. You won't have to worry about light pollution with the moon, it is even possible to get good daytime shots of it (just be careful to avoid pointing your scope at the sun!).

The 8SE comes on a goto mount doesn't it? Your target should stay fairly central so long as you have aligned the scope properly.

If your camera has video capabilities try that too, there is some great free software for turning video into still images. Registax and AS!2, PIPP can also be handy if the video is in an odd format or too big.

Video works well because the short exposure at high frame rates can catch the moments when the atmosphere is clearest, these good frames are then stacked in the software to produce a superior image.

Once you have got good at the moon the planets will beckon, they are a lot smaller though so you may want to use a Barlow.

Deep space objects would be very difficult with your setup.

/Dan

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

if i attach my computer to my telescope would it mnake it easier to track an object? as of yet i stilll dont know how to track objects on my telescope.

[steppenwolf]

will the images that i take be darker than my naked eye when i take something like a half second exposure? how long would it take for the object to drift out of my view? also thx!

Half a second will probably be too long for the Moon (as it is so bright) and too short for deep sky objects (because they are too dim). So many variables here - you need to experiment I'm afraid.

[D4N]

if i attach my computer to my telescope would it mnake it easier to track an object? as of yet i stilll dont know how to track objects on my telescope.

There isn't really any need to do that for planetary work if you have a Nexstar 8SE.

Just use the sky align function on the handset then tell it to slew to a target.

It should automatically follow that target across the sky.

If you move onto deep space imaging you would need to use a wedge, polar align, star align and guide. That will require a computer and is a lot more complicated.

/Dan

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[ollypenrice]

There is no such thing as magnification in imaging. When we say binoculars 'magnify by 8x' we mean that the image on your retina will be 8x bigger in the bins than naked eye. In imaging your naked eye doesn't come into it so there is nothing to magnify. In imaging we deal in focal length. An 8 inch SCT has, in amateur terms, a long focal length and will project onto your chip images (at least deep sky images) which are more than big enough. They are likely to be too big, in fact.

Olly

[Scott]

I really think you need to find a good beginners imaging  book. A very popular one on this forum is making every photon count http://www.firstlightoptics.com/books.html. it really will help with everything from finding your target right up to processing. money well spent in my opinion.