Mikeshuerto

Hi Joss Sorry, I know this post is 9 months old, but I'd thought I'd throw in my 10 cents. In fact, I found your post when researching the topic.I have owned a SW 14" GOTO Dob for 2 years, and I have also pondered putting the OTA on an EQ8 for 'hoped-for' improved imaging performance. So far I have not pushed the button. As someone mentioned above, for visual, the Dobson mount is great as is. The primary reason for not trying an EQ mount for imaging is that I already get great images with the Dobson mount. I find that using a good astrocam, appropriate filters, short exposures and good processing software I can produce images that come close to fairly serious images generated on EQ mounts. The second reason is the cost of the mount, and the probable need to build an observatory to shelter it. Here's a link to my astrobin page with images taken with the Dob. Dont mean to show-off, but just want to demonstrate that with appropriate accesories a Dob can be a great imaging scope! https://www.astrobin.com/users/MikeHuerto/

That very interesting. I've been using the L extreme for the past 6 months, and I'm veryy happy with it - except that I'd like more OIII! Do you have any comparisons you could share?

The Monkey Head Nebula in Orion NGC 2174 L-extreme plus a 14 inch mirror proves to be a great combo for capturing strong HII emitters. Taken on January 22nd as the clouds rolled in from the Mediterranean and the 80% moon was rising. Just 10 mins, and this monkey face filled the screen. Taylor made for my small FOV. I used the linear stacked FITS file to process a tad in Startools. Didn't need very much. This is pretty close to what I saw in the Sharpcap livestack. 154 x 4 secs (10 mins) 14¨ GOTO SW Dobson, SW coma corrector L extreme 1.25"filter ZWO ASI 294 MCPRO -15C Captured and stacked in Sharpcap 4 pro25 darks 25 flats Processed in Startools

Hi, I you really get interested in photography, you can always put the Dobson on an equatorial platform..... This will allow you to track the movement of planets and some stronger DSO. This guy has put his 8 inch Dob on an eq platform. https://stargazerslounge.com/profile/68662-tiago-ferreira/ Watch some of his videos - they are aimed at beginners. Good luck! Mike

Hi , if you haven't already - you should connect with your countryman Tiago on this forum. He lives on the Algarve, Portugal and is a Dobson fanatic and specializes in coaching beginners via his YouTube channel, and more recently live stream EAA sessions. https://stargazerslounge.com/profile/68662-tiago-ferreira/ Tell him Mike sent you. FYI - bought my first scope a year ago, a 14" GOTO Dobson - picked it up used for a song. Its been a lot of fun. You will enjoy your 8" Dob

My SW 14" GOTO DOBSON.Fully kitted out with ethernet extender for remote control of mount, derotator, autofocuser and ZWO-ASI 294 MC PRO. Note the roll-over shelter made from three pallets.

Time sequence of Comet Leonard passing through the stars in the morning of December 13, 2021. Each frame a Livestack in Sharp Cap. Imaged with a 14" Dobson and ZWO-ASI 294 MC PRO. I tried to align the images so the stars are aligned in each frame.

Orion and rosetta nebula from Valencia, Spain., New Years Eve 2021. Captured and live-stacked in SharpCap and the annotated at astrometry.net 67 x 60 secs, 250 gain HEQ5pro-mod Canon 18-55 EFS Lens (at ca. 33 mm) attached to a ZWO-ASI 294MCpro -15 C L-eXtreme filter, Optolong 1.25" 25 flats 25 darks

December 9th, 2021, Valencia, Spain. 67P-Churyumnov-Gerasimenko zipping across the sky. I was all set up to capture Comet Leonard again, and realized that this lump of rock was in the vicinity. This is a 152 x 4 seconds (10 minutes) Live Stack in Sharpcap. The stack was then processed in Startools to produce the attached. Not quite as much detail as I captured with Leonard, but you still see a focus of heat/light in the coma. (Captured with my 14¨Dobson plus ZWOASI 294 MC pro). More details at https://astrob.in/bbpmyq/0/ There´s an interesting story behind this one. It was the first comet to be orbited and landed upon by robots from Earth. The Rosettaspacecraft, carrying the Philae lander, rendezvoused with this comet in August 2014 and to escorted it on its journey to the inner solar system and back out again. More here: In Depth | 67P/ Churyumov-Gerasimenko – NASA Solar System Exploration

M78 reflection nebula in Orion. Taken while waiting for comet leonard to rise this morning. This is a 7 minute livestack in Sharp cap ) 104 x 4 secs at 400 gain, processed in Startools. Take using a 14 inch GOTO Dobson and ZWO ASI294MC pro. More details at https://astrob.in/i3pgm9/0/

I Posted this in the comets forum before I saw this competition. But here goes: December 5th, 2021, Valencia, Spain. 95 x 4 second livestack in Sharpcap using a 14¨ Dobson. This was a session of mixed emotions. From despondent to elated. After battling clouds high winds and bad flats, I finally managed to get this 6 minute stack at 6.55 am while the comet was at about 48 degrees Alt. This was shortly before sunrise as the comet rose into a clear area of the sky. It was much brighter than I expected. I could even see the head of the comet, with the scope, when it was visibly light outside at 7.16 am. Expecting this comet to brighten several fold in the next week or so. In this image you an clearly see the reddish dust trail and the bluish ion tail/cloud. There is also some good detail towards the head This image is a slightly cropped direct output of a livestack using Sharpcap. No other postprocessing or enhancement This was the best of multiple 5-10 minute stacks I made between 6 and 7 am. The detail in the head always showed up within the first couple of minutes of stacking. More details at Comet Leonard C/2021 A1 AT 6.50 AM December 5th (EAA) ( Mike Dobres ) - AstroBin

November 4th EAA of Running Man Sh2 279 in Orion 80x 4 sec, 400 gain (5.3 mins total). From my orchard near Valencia, Spain. SW 14" GOTO Dobson (f4.5) ZWO-ASI294MCPro-10C, ZWO UV-IR cut filter Pegasus Falcon Derotator Sharpcap Display Stretch output: 25 Darks and 25 flats subtracted and, stretched and color balanced in Sharpcap . Cropped and covnered to JPG in Mac Preview.

November 4th, 2021 Close-up of horsehead, flame and their reflection nebula with Alnitak (B33, NGC 2024 and NGC2023) Using the big Dobson for a close-up view. The new derotator allowed precise framing of this colorful region of Orion without the need to crop out field rotation. This image was originally captured as a 5 minute live stack. The FITS file of the stack was later used for further image enhancement with Startools to produce the image shown here. 78 x 4 sec at 400 gain. 5,2 minute total integration. From my orchard near Valencia, Spain. SW 14" GOTO Dobson (f4.5) ZWO-ASI294MCPro-10C, ZWO UV-IR cut filter Pegasus Falcon Derotator Captured and Stacked in SharpCap pro. Processed with Startools.

The Orion Nebula M42 EAA capture of with a SW 14" GOTO DOBSON (f4.5) on November 17th, 2021. From my orchard near Valencia, Spain. Direct output from Sharpcap Pro, no cropping or further processing Just converted to JPG for upload. 321 X 4 sec at 400 gain (21 min total integration) ZWO-ASI294MCPro-10C, ZWO UV-IR cut filter Pegasus Falcon Derotator Sharpcap Display Stretch output: 25 Darks and 25 flats subtracted and, stretched and color balanced in Sharpcap

I already posted this under 'special events and comets' , before I saw this thread, so here's the link. Plenty of detail in the head. Mike