Nerf_Caching

Wow excellent! I take that you are getting the hang of using your scope?

I told you astrophotography was expensive!😂

There is a thread on the front of the dew shield for the lens cap to screw onto. Not sure if a camera filter would fit but the diameter of the front of the dew shield is 90mm for reference. U fortunately I don't think your particular filter would fit as the thread is on the dew shield and not on the lens cell.

The star adventurer and 72ED is a great combo for starting out in deep-sky astrophotography. I've only used mine for a few sessions but I'm loving it.

Some photos I took using the Evostar 72ED and a stock canon dslr. The Eagle and Swan Nebula (1 hour integration for each target) were taken with the scope mounted to a motorized alt-az mount while the Leo Triplet (1 hour 17 minutes) was taken on a Star Adventurer unguided. I personally find it a blast to use especially considering the price of it; I love this small refractor and I don't really notice any CA that bothers me. I know there is field curvature but I'm also not really bothered by it although field flatteners are available.

Nah, something a little more advanced than that; a dslr actually!😆

Yes I was in Hong Kong haha. I was actually photographing the Flame and Horsehead Nebula in Orion with that setup.

I took this last night. Messier 4 using the Celestron Nexstar 5SE telescope on its original motorized alt-az mount. 30x30 seconds at ISO 3200 with a stock Canon 650d. Bortle 8 skies.

This occupation sounds really fun indeed! If only I was able to do full time lol.

Just to give you an idea of how to point your telescope once you are aligned to Polaris, here is what my setup looks like when pointing at an object high in the sky(A different telescope and mount to yours but the same principles apply). This photo was taken facing North and so is my mount. You set the mount to your latitude and you never touch it again. Same with the left and right adjustment. You use only the RA and Dec to move the telescope.

I posted a picture previously illustrating how the mount should face North. As long as that is the case, the tripod doesn't really matter so long as it is level with the ground.

I think I understand what you mean. After you align to Polaris using the latitude and left/right(azimuth is the fancy term for this direction of motion) bolts, you do not touch them afterwards; they are not for moving the scope around the night sky. I think you are finding it difficult to visualize how to actually maneuver the scope since it does not move in the conventional up-down-left and right motion. But instead of thinking in these four 'natural' directions, you need to think in terms of compass points: North, South ,East and West. The front of your mount always points North to Polaris. The Right Ascension axis arcs in a way that allows you to move your telescope from the East to the West side of your mount. The declination axis sits on top of the right ascension axis and allows you to rotate the telescope tube North and South. I appreciate that using an equatorial mount as a novice is quite confusing but you will get there. Use those cloudy nights to practise maneuvering the mount as it requires a bit of learning for it to become second nature. hope this helps!

As a rule of thumb, Polaris is due North, n degrees above the horizon where n is your latitude. If my latitude is 50 degrees, then Polaris will be due North 50 degrees above the horizon. The width of your fist at arm's length is about 10 degrees so you can use it to find the correct angle above the horizon to search for Polaris. Alternatively, locate Polaris by using the two end stars of the Plough's saucepan shape which point directly at Polaris which is not as bright as you think.

Well, I can recommend you your first object to look at during a clear night which is the double star Alcor and Mizar. Find the Big Dipper or Plough in the northern sky. It is unmistakable as an inverted saucepan-shaped pattern of stars. Find the middle star of the saucepan's 'handle'(the second star from the end of the handle). If you point your scope at it, you will find that it is actually two stars close together with one of the two (Mizar) being a tight pair itself. I have attached a simulation from Stellarium to show you what you should be able to see through your scope at about 63x magnification. Bear in mind that the view through your telescope is inverted by design and that stars will always appear as points of light no matter the magnification.

The most important part out of everything is knowing how to navigate the night sky to hunt for those 'faint fuzzies'. You might not be able to see a faint galaxy or nebula the first time but technique, patience and experience will help you manage your expectations of what faint deep-sky objects will look like. Additionally, here is a list of accessories worth upgrading to: 1. A Telrad or red-dot finderscope. 2. Grab yourself a set of Celestron Omni Plossl eyepieces, ideally a 32mm, 15mm and 9mm. You may also consider an Omni barlow to double the eyepiece collection by providing more magnification options for lunar and planetary viewing. 3. A laser collimator(for collimating the telescope although you don't need to worry about this unless your telescope mirrors are misaligned by rough handling of the scope.)

I don't think these finderscopes have the rubber ring. I know skywatcher 6x30 finderscopes do but these don't based on experience.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/telrad-finder-astronomy.html Slightly pricier but maybe you could consider a Telrad.

If you got the same object in both the finderscope and telescope then you don't need to adjust the screws. What I meant was only adjust if the finderscope is NOT looking at the same thing as the telescope.

By the way, forget about using the barlow or setting circles as they do not do the telescope justice; again I suggest that you upgrade your finderscope and barlow in the future. I have no idea what Celestron was thinking but trying to find objects with a manual equatorial mount is a huge faff for beginners and some just end up giving up.

Well, just keep trying! These finderscopes are a pain to operate but if that is all you have for now then keep fiddling with the screws until the finderscope doesn't lose the object.

The finderscope should 'see' the same object as your main telescope is pointed at; it works like a riflescope. To align the finderscope, first point your main telescope at a distant landform or object like a telephone pole WITHOUT using the finderscope ; just eyeball it. Next, center the object in the eyepiece of your main telescope. Once you're done with that, don't move the telescope again until you're done with the whole alignment process. Next, WITHOUT moving the telescope as mentioned before, look through the finderscope. In the finderscope's view, you should see the said object somewhere in the field of view of your finderscope; chances are that it won't be centered in the crosshairs. Next, fiddle with the three screws holding the finderscope in place to put the object in the middle of the crosshairs WITHOUT moving the actual telescope in any way shape or form. It will take a little time to precisely center the object in the crosshairs but you will get there. Make sure to tighten the screws enough so the finderscope will not be bumped out of place as easily causing another misalignment. Now, you are done with the alignment process and you can use your telescope. Moving the telescope to aim at a land object with an equatorial mount is a little awkward but it has to be done to align the finderscope properly. On another note, the finderscopes installed on the powerseekers are quite horrible for aiming at stars. I have used one before and I've only managed to use it on a bright object like the Moon. In the future you could consider purchasing a red-dot finder to replace it instead; it saved me lots of grief:)

To be fair though after using one of those on somebody's scope that finderscope seems to be quite rubbish if I have to be honest with you. I'd rather ditch it and replace it with a red-dot finder.

This video may help. This guy has the same series of telescope as you albeit with a bigger tube. P.S: When the guy says adjust your 'longitude', he actually means latitude.

Hi all, here is my image of the Leo Triplet which I took over three nights. It consists of one hour and seventeen minutes of data using a stock Canon 650d using 30 second subs at iso 800. The scope I used was a Skywatcher Evostar 72ED refractor. The mount I used was a Star Adventurer without guiding. I was just curious to see what you guys could get out of my stacked file as my knowledge of post-processing is still evolving. The processing software I used was GIMP. Have fun! Leo triplet stack 2.TIF

If you are looking into trying astrophotography perhaps a 130 pds will work. If you fancy a refractor a Skywatcher Evostar 72ED would work equally as well; I own that scope and it works flawlessly for deep-sky imaging. It's best not to exceed half of the rated payload capacity as it may stress the mount's motors so I would go for the latter option if portability and weight is a concern. I hope this helps!