sebn

I have the 72ED and its a great scope for the price, you do definitely need the reducer/flattener though if you want your stars sharp anywhere other than in the center of the image. This then does make it quite a bit more of an expensive option....

I use this for my star adventurer. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/tripods/sky-watcher-38-stainless-steel-tripod.html

Solid as a rock.

1 hour ago, CraigD1986 said:

Ah, of course. Thanks for that. It was right in front of me all along!

lol same, i had a nightmare yesterday trying to get something in the center of the frame, loosening the clutch each time, cant believe i didnt think of the buttons on the mount to do exactly this!

Which eye pieces are you using? It may be helpful to have some photos of how you are currently using the telescope.

Its great here in Dorset too!

I had the same target on Friday night, was a lovely clear night but a very bright moon. With nearly 3 hours of data i have much the same result. With much stretching and changing the colour balance aggressively i can make out the general shapes and  bright areas of the nebula. I was using a stock dslr  @ 200mm F5.6, 90second exposures. I'm pretty sure it was just because the moon was so bright. I will give it another go when the moon is in a better phase.

Lovely clear skies here this evening, shame about the brightness of the moon, cant grumble though, any opportunity!

My very basic starter imaging rig. Star Adventurer, dslr with ac coupler, raspberry pi running astroberry and dew strap. Powerline adapter giving raspberrypi a fast connection back to the house so don't have to rely on dodgy wifi.

I converted the image for you, i dont have an answer to your question though!

Thankfully we had a few hours of clear skies here in Dorset this evening, there was a band of cloud that passed over around 21:00 but it soon went.  I was trying astroberry for the first time controlling my image capturing session (dslr). After working out a few bits I managed to get about an hour and a half of M31.

Had the 8" dob out while the imaging was happening and had a good look at the Orion nebulas and the beautiful Pleiades.

Thanks for the info Dave, I shall do some googling for SCAG. I would be happy to just be able to get out in the garden right now after the few weeks we have had with the weather here!

I've just had one of these delivered - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-star-adventurer/sky-watcher-38-stainless-steel-tripod.html its absolute beast, super well made and incredibly sturdy. As Elp said above, a decent tripod is one of, if not the most, important bit of your setup. Don't scrimp as you will only regret it later.

Thanks Peter, pm sent.

Hi all,

I've been a casual visual astronomer for the past year or so and have recently started to venture into the astrophotography space. I'm looking for any intel on quiet, dark and safe locations around the blandford area.  I have been to badbury rings a couple of times in middle of the night and whilst it is wonderfully dark, I have encountered on a number of occasions groups of youths causing havoc in their cars in the car park.

I wouldn't expect decent places to be talked about openly on here but I'm happy to receive pm's if people are willing to share.

Also completely up for meeting with other local astronomers in the area too for sessions, safety in numbers etc.

Thanks in advance.