AlcyoneSVX

Thanks for the info. I have a T-ring with an internal thread. I remove the 1.25" eyepiece holder from the focuser and fit the SLR in its place. That gets the camera as close as possible to the focuser. I was hoping somebody would know a way to use the ZWO.

Thanks for the responses. I have read that Newtonians are no good for imaging, but I have managed to use several cameras with this scope: A Nikon DSLR, a JVC Camcorder and the ZWO. It takes a lot of trial and error to find the right combination of bits to make it work though. So using the ZWO camera I get a similar field of view to my 6mm plossl eyepiece. Which is great for smaller targets. How do I get a field of view that looks like what I see through my 15mm or 20mm plossl eyepiece? Or can it not be adjusted?

I am beginner at this. I have a ZWO ASI224MC which I use with a Celestron C8NGT. I have managed to take some nice pictures of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. But for targets like the moon, or tonight's conjunction, it's too zoomed in. I can't get the whole target in the frame. I bought an Svbony x0.5 focal reducer thinking that it would do the opposite of a barlow lens. It would zoom out and make everything half the size, so I could fit more would be in frame. But if I screw the reducer onto the camera, or even onto an eyepiece, I can't seem to get focus. Can't really see anything at all. Where am I going wrong?

OK. That makes sense. Thanks.

So I bought a ZWO ASI224 camera. I've only had a chance to use it once, but I've already got much better results for much less effort than I did with my DSLR or Camcorder. I know this camera can be used for autoguiding. All the pictures I've seen show one camera on the finder for guiding and another on the main scope for imaging. But can it do autoguiding while attached to the main scope and taking images at the same time? I mean, if I just plug it into the autoguider socket on my mount, will it keep the scope on target while filming? Sorry if this is dumb question.

Thanks I'll definitely try that when the weather next allows. Now that I have the procedure worked out I can start refining it.

Until recently I've been trying to take images using a Nikon D40 DSLR. It has been frustratingly difficult and the results have always been disappointing. Last week I noticed that my wife's camcorder has a 46mm screw thread on the front for attaching some kind of lens converters, so I decided to see whether I could use it with the telescope. Apparently it's quite a good camcorder. It's got a 1.2/3 inch 10 megapixel CMOS sensor. (Whatever that means!) I got a 46 to 42mm adapter ring on ebay for 3 quid and used that to attach the camcorder to my telescope camera adapter. After a lot of experimentation, I found the best way to do it was using the eyepiece projection method. I removed the 1.25 eyepiece adapter from the telescope and screwed the 4 inch long tube to focusser. Then put a 15mm plossl inside the tube and attached the camcorder. I set the camcorder to manual focus, but left all the other settings on auto. I took a few videos of about 30 sec to 1 min onto the SD card and then copied them to my laptop. First I used VLC to convert the MTS video files to MP4. Then I used some video editing software to chop off the first and last 7 seconds of each recordings, because the camera shook when I pressed the record button. I wanted to put the videos into autostakkert, but it wouldn't open them. Following a tip I found online, I opened them in PIPP and saved them again, then autostakkert worked. I don't really know how to use any of these software programs but here is the final product. I could probably improve upon it by fiddling with the exposure settings. But that is a faithful recording of how it looks through the eyepiece of my telescope anyway. All the planets look like bright white balls with no surface detail. The camcorder is definitely easier to use than the DSLR and gives a better result.

I too am a beginner at this. I have a C8-NGT GoTo scope that I bought second hand. When I first got it, I tried using the polar scope, but I couldn't see anything through it, Polaris was too faint for my eyes to pick out. So then I tried running through the alignment program using the stars it suggested, but often I couldn't find them even using Google Sky on my phone . So then I came up with an idiots method to get it near enough, although it will probably horrify the experts on here. I skip the alignment program and just choose an easy target like Venus. I tell the scope to point itself at that target. Once it stops moving, I pick up the tripod and turn it round until Venus is visible in the finder. Obviously it's not a proper alignment, but it's quick and easy and usually good enough for my needs.

I went outside about half past nine to see if the sky was clear, and to decide whether to get my telescope out or relax in front of the TV with a glass of wine. As my eyes adjusted to the dark, I saw a star that seemed to be moving across the sky. I thought maybe it was the ISS or something, which I've never seen before. Then I noticed another one following behind it, and another. I suppose they must have been military aircraft. There were at least 6 of them flying in a line (a long way apart, not a tight formation) in a North Easterly direction at high altitude. I see aircraft fly over quite often as we are near to Heathrow and Northolt, they are at much lower altitude and are easily recognisable by the flashing lights, green and red. But what I saw tonight was just single white lights like stars high in the sky and moving at a constant speed. Anybody else see them. Any other suggestions what they could be? Phil.

Wow, that was a fast response! Thanks for the advice. I've attached my 3 best photos below to show the kind of results I'm getting. Actually when I look at these three in isolation, without all the bad ones, it doesn't seem so bad. But the view through the telescope eyepiece is a million times better and that is what I really want to capture in the photo. Is that too much to hope for?

Hi, I'm a beginner at astronomy. About 18 months ago I got a Celestron second hand C8N-GT and I'm very pleased with it. Mostly I look at easy things like the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn and the view through it is simply stunning. But I want to take some pictures of the things I'm looking at. I've been experimenting with using my Nikon D40 DSLR. The resulting photos are universally awful, the photos are very grainy and either completely black, or blurry, or showing the internal parts of the telescope. Although I do have one shot of the Orion Nebula that I'm quite pleased with. I've tried various different ways of attaching the camera to the scope. I found the secret to doing prime focus is removing the 1.25inch part of the focuser and screwing the T ring in it's place. I found the secret to doing eyepiece projection is not to push the eyepiece all the way down in the adapter tube, but to leave it up a few millimetres. I can't really see anything through the camera eyepiece. Sometimes I snap dozens of shots, moving the focus a fraction between each one. When trying to focus on Jupiter the other night I could see a white blur that gradually resolved into 5 white pentagons at best focus, I guess that comes from the prism of the camera because when I took the shot, I did get a picture of the planet. Overall, I'm not enjoying using the D40, it has a very bright screen on the back which destroys my night vision and the moving shutter vibrates the telescope. It's a lot of fiddling about for a poor result. So, to get to the point, I'm wondering whether a dedicated astronomy camera is the solution to my problem? Should I spend some money on a fancy USB camera, or persevere with the Nikon? Will it be easier to get a good result, or am I just going to be substituting one set of problems for another? Phil.