miguel87

The images dont look great but depends how they were taken? If I just put my phone camera up to an eyepiece for example I wouldnt expect much more than this.

Hope you enjoy the new telescope 😁

I know there has been a million of these photos so sorry! My best shot from last night. Really happy to have got a proper look at it before it disappears.

Just a quick phone photo of a single shot on my DSLR screen. Beautifully clear here. Great night 😀

What is the focal length of your scope? If it is 850mm then I would be tempted to get the 5mm for 170x magnification rather than 106x from the 8mm. That's presuming you mainly want it for planetary viewing. The 8km would be more versatile for some deep sky objects.

When viewing planets I guess I use around 150-300× magnification usually.

11 minutes ago, Jezphil said:

Thanks Miguel87. Got it now. The camera is now set with cropping enabled. It allows this to combine with 4k. So would you use cropped 4k or cropped 1080p? Presumably cropped 4k? 

Not sure about that one. I would guess the same as you. Mighy dictate the area of the sensor used perhaps? I'd go with 4k 🤷‍♂️

A boost of more than 30% light gathering if you step up from 130mm to 150mm, so it's pretty considerable.

My personal thoughts would be to invest in eyepieces first. I have never used the astro essential plossly but there design and price suggest they are fairly modest. I have been amazed at the difference using a £50 eyepiece over a £20 one. Especially at short focal lengths which is what you want for planetary and lunar detail. I would buy good quality 6 and 9mm eyepieces.

✌

25 minutes ago, LeeHore7 said:

Hi

This question will of been asked a bazillion times so here goes. I have an astromaster 130eq new style on a cg3 eq3 mount I've had it for 3 months now so still finding dso or planets to look at and plenty of life in the scope. But whenever I think of upgrading to another scope I'm looking for some help, I was looking at a skymaster explorer 200p Inc eq5vmount for £469, this is a beast of a size, I live in a first floor flat so this will probably be a bit cumbersome to lug up and down the stairs, I would love this scope but the size it a bit off putting, is there anything in this price range that's better than my 130eq that may be a bit smaller than the 200p explorer I'm open to refractors, maks etc, I realise these are costlier than newts and apperature is king, I like astrophotography but only using my smartphone or webcam to capture images so not worried about using a dslr on the scope. I have been looking on the sale sites for alternatives but require some great advice from the friendly people on here as they've guided mecvery well in the past. I know each scope has disadvantages and advantages. 

Hi Lee,

I would ask what it is about your current view with the 130 that you want to upgrade. That might point you in the right direction.

Brighter - go for more aperture. Even a 150 will make a noticeable difference.

Sharper image - maybe try out a refractor to see how much difference you get.

Sturdier mount - maybe you dont new a new scope at all.

Having said that, I have no idea what quality your eyepieces are and an upgrade there can make an old scope feel new.

Mike

1 hour ago, Jezphil said:

Indeed Happy-kat. Just experimented and discovered Lynkeos is happy to process 4k mp4 movie files, so will record in that format. 

I know it seems weird, but you might better more detail in cropped video than in 4k.

I'm no expert but basically you have more sensors on your camera chip than pixels in a 4k image, I think! So a tiny detail from the chip might get lost in translation to 4k. Whereas crop video pulls out one pixel per 'sensor' on the chip. That's why it only uses part of the sensor and the picture appears more magnified.

I guess it depends on the individual camera but it is something worth looking at.

15 minutes ago, Jezphil said:

Yes, it has a function called 'cropping' in the video menu. But the flip-out screen on the Canon Ra magnifies x30 in the viewfinder which really helps manual focusing and makes it easy. Wouldn't I be better off focusing manually with the excellent focusing dials on the telescope (bigger dial and smaller dial for fine tuning) and looking at the x30 image? 

Cropping will give you a 1:1 pixel ratio for your image and is the optimal way to pick up planetary detail. Use this video mode if you can for all planetary photography.

If I use my 32mm eyepiece to look at the full moon through my 8inch, 200p, I can just see the central shadow. 

I'm 33 years old and the above set up creates a 6.5mm exit pupil.

The effect is impossible to notice on any planets or deep sky objects.

Might be useful.

1 hour ago, John said:

A Pentax K-r DSLR. It's not a camera that is commonly used for astro photography - I bought it so that I could use my old Pentax K fit lenses etc from my old 35mm days.

I have exactly the same camera! Again, not purchased for astrophotography but I have been suprised at how capable it is. I only have the stock lens tho so widefield images only unless I have it attached to the telescope.

Tonight's forecast is excellent here so pretty confident I should get something.

Nice photos.

Still yet to catch this beauty. My partner and I are shacked up on a mini break in the wye valley and I have scoped out a nice spot with a good northern horizon. Hoping to catch it tonight. I havent got a telescope with me as we travelled light but do have a DSLR, tripod and 10x50's

🤞

I'm not sure I am referring to them with the right name.

I have the 200p explorer. The black tube.

I can collimate well enough with the three primary mirror screws. Then next to each screw is a taller, narrower, finger screw that just touches up against the mirror if tightened.

I fail to see how these screws do anything?

If I tighten them too much surely I will move the mirror? If they are loose they are obviously doing nothing. If they are just touched up against the mirror what are they even doing? 

Thanks ✌

Yep, looks pretty good. I would be happy with that anyway.

33 minutes ago, alacant said:

Hi

By darkening the sky, you're losing a lot of the information you recorded. Even with your uploaded .png, you can see more stars with just a little change to exposure.

Starting with your .fits or .tif original, at 1000mm focal length, it should be spectacular; you'll see a lot more stars on the edge of the cluster.

Cheers and HTH

Ok thanks, that's good to know.

To be honest I am so bad at processing that I literally follow a bullet point list of instructions online because the photo editor software overwhelms me. I have never used computers of work or pleasure.

Will look into the processing process 👍

5 hours ago, alacant said:

Hi

Excellent shot and thanks for helping to prove the don't-even-think-about-it-big-telescope-on-an-eq5 myth wrong! 

One thought: I think there are a lot more more stars waiting to be revealed in the background. They're still there I'm sure, but the dark sky is masking them. Worth a try with a paler sky maybe?

Cheers

Thankyou for your comments. 

Yes I'm learning that you can get OK photos of a basic setup.

Wouldnt a brighter sky make the stars more difficult to see tho??

M13 taken tonight, only my third real long exposure photo, pretty happy with it.

First time I have used flat frames which helped massively with vignetting compared to my last effort which was M81/82.

200p on an EQ5 with single axis motor run on batteries, unguided, 84x30sec exposures.

Beautiful, wouldnt mind a look through that. Love a classic long frac.

Also, I know I cant help myself but... I often see spirit levels on equatorial mounts. You are wasting your time, no need for the tripod to be level. Sorry 🤣

On 30/05/2020 at 11:23, Mr Spock said:

Do you have evidence to support the contrary?

That's not how science works. Do you have evidence to prove there isn't a zebra in my attic?

21 hours ago, johnturley said:

I don't know whether it was an optical illusion, but observing the wafer thin crescent Venus only 6 degrees from the Sun at 17.00 hrs today, I got the distinct impression that I could see a faint ring of illumination all the way round the Venusian disc. In addition the mainly unilluminated disc appeared a slightly darker shade of blue than the background sky.

John 

I believe this is known as the 'ashen light'. It is debated as to whether it is real or an optical illusion. I have never seen it myself but many have.

Sorry I have looked for topics about this because I thought there would be one but I cant find it.

Tonight at 9:30 BST the manned space x dragon rocket will launch from Florida. Some newspaper websites suggest it will be visible from the uk 15 minutes later passing from west to east on the southern side of the sky.

This is the first manned space launch from US soil in 10 years and the first ever manned space launch from a private company.

Does anybody have better info than me and will it actually be visible?

Also I have read suggestions that we might be able to see separation of rocket and capsule.

Mike ✌

The big bang started space-time, so there wasn't a before.

Also read up on the heat death of the universe.

I have just finished 'welcome to the universe' by neil degrasse tyson. Really great read that looks at alot of topics like the OP stated.

I think unfortunately for us normal people, we just dont have the level of intelligence to really seriously consider the question. Try reading the black hole chapter in Steven hawking's brief history of time! 

Your sub atomic physics needs to be world class to even understand the question properly.

And mine certainly is not! 😂

Yeah satellites will flare sometimes if they catch the light but I believe the object in discussion was not moving across the sky? I also didnt think anybody got a picture of it? 

I'm confused.

17 hours ago, Neil H said:

but in 2025 /2026 the planets are up in the evening so would that be a better time to catch mercury

The position of the other planets is irrelevant to mercury. Every year is the same for mercury so 2025 will be no better.

Basically mercury does what it does over 88 days, then it repeats that over and over.

Mercury is never more than 28 degrees from the sun so you will never see it in a dark sky. It will always be up for less than an hour before sunrise or after sunset.

Great photo thanks for sharing!