astrosathya

Onevery simple thing to do before all the plate solving etc. One requires good PA for good tracking. Plate solving is only for accurate positioning. Do a 2 star alignment first, after which the handset normally displays the PA error. Else, go to settings, alignment, polar alignment. Do a PA using the handset instructions. It'll bring you very close. Later, use sharpcap/PHD2 etc for accurate PA. Only then, use some plate solver to go to the object and this time you'll be able to do atlease 180s subs unguided with the HEQ5.

You are using a 15mm eyepiece and 2x barlow. Thats not the way to do it. Don't use the 15mm eyepiece along with the Barlow. Use only the Barlow followed by the camera. The purpose of the Barlow is to bring the focus outward.

Hi Everyone, We all more or less are using some form of corrector/flatener/reducer/combo of these while we image using our refractors,reflectors and cats. Now I have always assumed that the "required back focus" specified for each FF/FR/CC etc is the distance calculated from the last lens (camera side) to the sensor surface. However, i recently found that a popular astrophotographer from Canada, in one of his videos mentions that the back focus distance is calculated from the front lens (lens facing the telescope) of the FF/FR/CC. Please could someone clarify whether it is calculated from the lens facing the telescope or lens facing the camera.

Really beautiful image. No reason to complain.

Thanks for the reply Susaron. I actually have a 150mm F/ Newtonian as well as a QHY9M with 7x36mm HaOIIISIILRGB filters. The newt has a faulty secondary holder and its too much effort o setup the CCD in rainy season, hence the use of my Modified DSLR. I'll try the newt next time with a LP filter. Thanks again.

How did you manage to record so much data in 1hr? I too images the same object on 5th July this year through my RC and DSLR (135x30s, iso3200). The ISO was a mistake, should've kept it at 800, but regardless, theres a stark difference. Please can you help?

The best flats I've taken have always been using the Av mode of my DSLR. I stretch a white vest over the front of the scope, point the scope to the Western sky at dawn (6 am ish) and shoot at the same ISO I used for the Lights. For my refractor I sometimes use my laptop, open a blank notepad file, point the scope flush to the screen and shoot Av mode flats. These don't work well sometimes. Sky flats are always good.

You just made my day calling my image good. Will make me strive harder. But seriously, I think I need to image this from the village or something maybe, or even longer exposures, I don't know. But yes, I don't entirely hate my image now. When I uploaded it to facebook, it looked like crap because of reduced quality.

Two nights ago I captured the below image of M7 in Scorpius using my GSO 6 inch f/9 Ritchey-Chretien telescope and my self modded DSLR. The data is only 1h 7m 30s total. After looking at images of the same object taken by others, its quite obvious that something is lacking. My technique or exposure time etc., I am not able to quite figure out. Any help in thsi regard will be appreciated. Location: Bangalore, India (Red/White zone) Scope: GSO 6inch f/9 Ritchey Chretien Mount: Sky-Watcher HEQ5-PRO (2012) Camera: Canon 500Da (self mod) ISO3200 (I forgot to change it to 800, but it didn't harm) 135 x 30s Lights (1h 7m 30s) ~75 Darks, ~40 Av mode Vest Sky Flats ~43 Bias. Software: Deep Sky Stacker 4 for stacking Photoshop for processing.

Hi, I have the GSO/IOptron/Altair Astro/Astr-Tech/Orion 6 inch f/9 Rc scope. They all come from GSO factory. If you are game for collimation, then by all means go for it, but do remember that its a slow scope, f/9, but good for galaxies as many folks have got some great pics. Now the CEM 25P is a nice mount, but do go for the IEQ30 or 45-PRO, they're better i'd reckon if not for anything else, but the loading limit.

Thank You. With a secondary mirror this large, its quite difficult to really say. I'll try it out tonight.

Hi everyone, I recently got myself a GSO 6" f/4 astrograph, but seems like the secondary mirror was quite off. I then tried collimation using Astro Baby's tutorials, and others around the net. I've had a few Nets during the past 20 years, but this one seems to be a bit of a pain to get right. The secondary holder is a bit stiff. Anyone here done any mods for the scope and have reasonably good performance? I'be attached an image with Mire De Collimation circles. Image shows the reflection of primary, followed by the edge of secondary and followed by the grey card placed behind the secondary, which ends with the focuser tube. Any help will be appreciated. Edit: If I were to move the secondary towards 2'o'clock position, could it solve the problem?

He installed it last week. As you know, skies have been really bad. He did test it and said pointing is alright. But he is an absolute beginner with no experience in astrophotography, which I am guessing is your case too?

Recently my friend updated his Bresser EXOS-II with the GOTO kit. It cost him Rs. 45,000 or something. The EQ5/similar mounts are really not suitable for 8 inch scopes+accessories. I'd recommend you upgrade to a better GOTO mount by investing arounf Rs. 1,50,000 approx (IOptron IEQ45-PRO)

Hi Gerry, I only took payload capacity into consideration and should've thought about the accuracy of the mount itself. However, answering your question, I got this number from several sources on the internet. There seems to be two schools of thought about loading it either 50% or 75%, I chose the latter. From personal experience, I've loaded my HEQ5-Pro mount upto 15 kg with an 8" F/5, 80ED, DSLR, Finder and rings to fit them all together and it did not suffer from problems. Now however I stick with about 10kg overall because i've sold my 8" newt as it was too big to carry to the countryside without a car.