alacant

Hi everyone Despite the fact that f8 is far too slow for astro-photography (don't!) and whilst waiting for The Crab to get high enough, we went for the double cluster anyway. The aberration-free reflector never fails to surprize. Even with my processing, there's a hint of blue in some of the stars:) Not much detail in The Crab, not sure what to do about that. Maybe a milder stretch for the central part and then layer over the brighter? Thanks for looking and all comments most gratefully received. eos 700d on nt150l

Hi everyone Just time to fill in with 14 frames before sunrise. Could do with another 14. And the rest! Noisy, small and not enough to do the sigma thing with the satellite. Ah well... eos 700d on 6",f8

Here we are rotated 90º. Not quite the improvement I was hoping for...

Hi Keep it simple? One of these and one of these will just work. HTH

Hi everyone and have a great new 2020 Here are some not too distinct tadpoles. Would it be cheating to layer-mask them through I wonder? Cheers and thanks for looking eos700d - 6" f8 - 2 !/2 hours - ISO800

Now at 30 frames. Much easier:

Does the OP need that complexity? Your excellent description should do it, no? Cheers

PHD2 can see the mount, but calibration will fail; you must calibrate on a star. I don't think the PCM 8 uses eqascom, but good idea to set an aggressive guide.

Hi Lose POTH; ensure that the mount is connected via ascom (e.g. you can slew via stellarium). Make a new profile for PHD2 and choose pmc8-ascom -or whatever Bresser call it- from the drop down menu for the mount. If it still doesn't work, post the link to the PHD2 debug log (help > upload log files) Cheers and HTH

Hi everyone. Have a look here: http://dslr-astrophotography.com/iso-values-canon-cameras/ It maybe that the stars will saturate at any ISO value because they are inherently bright. I think there may be more noise below 800 when you stack. Nor sure of the technicalities... HTH

Hi Unless you're using a narrow band filter, there'll be an improvement in star quality (signal to noise ratio?) by guiding through the filter. Tested with a cls when we have to image in non-rural settings. Conclusion: save yourself €silly on a filter adaptor! Cheers and HTH

Hi If you're thinking about astrophotography, then a Nikon DSLR rules out many of the excellent Zeiss, Takumar and Russian screw fit lenses. These produce first rate results on deep sky objects and can be had for a fraction of the cost of dedicated Nikon fit lenses. Remember that a lens for astrophotography needs none of the autofocus or exposure control features found on modern lenses. Similarly for camera bodies; a used, faulty body is fine. All that is required is that it fires its shutter on 'B' and that its usb port works. Canon and Sony among others, make cameras which will allow you to use the above mentioned lenses. These maybe worth considering too. Cheers and HTH.

Hi everyone Still caring for the abandoned and unloved 6" f8. Just time for 14 frames before sunrise, but this looks promising. Nice to get close, alas Alnitak is still in the frame. I wonder if turning the camera 90º would isolate the horsehead and lose Alnitak altogether but maybe the spikes would remain even though it was out of frame? I wonder... Cheers and thanks for looking. All replies most gratefully received 700d on nt150l

Hi. Nice image. Maybe try ISO 800 and take as many frames as the cloud and your patience will allow. Cheers

Hi everyone This is all I have available ATM so what the hell? Have a go at something faint anyway. Didn't expect to get much so this was a nice surprise, especially as it filled the frame well. 5 minute dslr frames @ ISO800; a bit noisy. Wish I'd left it longer. So, c'mon. Join the 6" f8 club. Thanks for looking and clear skies. All comments most welcome.

You don't need to level your tripod unless you have a fast or a slow telescope. Phew, that was close. Almost blew it! Merry Xmas everyone:)

No it wouldn't! I think you maybe confusing camera lenses with telescopes. View the same object at the same size in each telescope and it would be exactly the same brightness. Equally: image the same object using the same camera at the same size and you would need exactly the same time on both telescopes to record it equally. As @vlaiv recommends, don't say 'fast' [1] Cheers, HTH and clear skies. [1] but if you do, then please say what your definition of fast be;)

Very much inspired by your article on Newtonian modifications and in particular the long-strong dovetail😉 I wonder just how many Newtonians are rejected -astrograph potential wise- for having inadequate tube support afforded by their tiny narrow dovetails? Cheers

If the top of the tube is at 10-o'clock, and you have an f4-f5 telescope, good. HTH.

No mention of cameras. Phew, that was close! Hi If a fast telescope is one which collects a lot of light, then no. A 200mm diameter f6 telescope collects more light than an 80mm f6 telescope, so the former is faster. AFAICT, that's it. HTH

Hi everyone I put a proper dovetail and top rail on this -not so- little gem and it now looks and acts the part. No cc, filter or other glass to distort reality; just add camera nose-piece and go. The extra weight of the dovetail was offset by using an oag, although I think that with the modifications, you may get away with a guide telescope. No blue stars though. Again! At this fl, monkey-head nebula should fill the frame. That's the next target I think... Thanks for looking and let's not forget the ability of the humble Newtonian. Who knows, we could even have a 6"-f8 thread; I've seen a few other -IIRC 150pl- users on the forum... 700d, nt150L, 60 minutes

Hi everyone We're getting on for 18 moths now. Just checking back to see if anyone has managed it yet. Cheers, merry xmas and clear skies.

Hi. The coma corrector needs to be further from the sensor, either 56.0mm or 58.5mm. This depends upon whether you are using the supplied m42 adapter or the m48 thread on the coma corrector itself: HTH

Hi. Phew, €64 plus shipping?! But they look interesting. The one used in the guide is this one. Not sure it's as accurate as @Starflyer's though. HTH

Hi A light -not all pixels set- mask over the witch under isolate in the life module should bring it forward. HTH