Priesters

😔 darn it, think I’ll sell up. I never thought of that. Or alternatively maybe I just enjoy the process and have got to a point where I’m happy with the outcome. I’ve also never heard any photographer of any type refuse to take a photo just because someone else has snapped it already. Anyhow, this thread is already getting a bit tasty without me adding an imagers v visual barney 😉. We’ll be going all Cloudy Nights next.

I’m not one for superlatives but ‘Spectacular’ is the only word that comes to mind. Well done. 👏

Very nice. Any filters involved in that capture? Picked up an Askar 120 myself a few weeks ago but it has yet to get first light 🙄

My two penneth for what it’s worth is to try and get focus on a distant object in the daytime. It’s so much easier and gets you to rough focus for the night.

Finally swapped out my SCT for a large-ish refractor. Looking forward to first light whenever that may be 🙄

Hi all, Going to show my ignorance now (again). Can anyone explain why my Sharpcap histogram when using a narrowband filter looks like a slope (see below) rather than the usual 'hill'? Thanks Andrew

Hello and welcome to SGL. I think a little more info is needed. Is your hubby interested in taking pictures do you think or would he prefer to observe visually? If its pictures then you probably already have the answer with the ZWO Seestar. If it’s visual, how technical a chap is he and how portable does this kit need to be?

Whilst I totally agree with the advice given on telescope/camera set up for DSO imaging it’s perhaps not such a lost cause as you may think. If you are willing to invest further in a tracking equatorial mount you may find you can get some acceptable images of the smaller DSO’s (distant galaxies and planetary nebula). You will need to use ‘binning’ to get a sensible pixel scale though. Investment in a decent mount will also not be wasted if you change scope/camera at a later date. At the risk of putting my head over the parapet I’ve added a couple of examples from my 8” SCT with reducer and camera with APS-C sensor that has 3.75 um pixels @ 2xbinning. They’ve been post processed using SIRIL which is free software and Topaz AI which isn’t free. However, as people have already said, I’d think very hard before spending more on your current set up unless it’s something transferable to another set up at a later date. Please be gentle people, we all have different views on what’s an acceptable image and I’m only posting this because the OP already has the SCT, camera and reducer and investment in a decent mount would not be wasted if he went a different route in the future.

Only thing I’d add is that if you do swap things around (e.g. remove diagonal and use extension tubes) you’ll need to refocus. My advice is to try and get rough focus during the daytime on the most distant object you can see. It makes life so much easier and quicker when you are in the dark searching for a tiny object in the sky.

Lake District, UK. iPhone.

Good point. Where is it?

Holy moly, I feel so inadequate 😂

Very nice. I bet you could barely see the Askar on top of an EQ8 😂

Bought the AZ4 and other bits and used it last night with my GT81 and a 3mm and 27mm eyepiece. AZ4 was a bit ‘sticky’ so might change the grease. However, can’t really express enough how much I enjoyed those 3 hours with Jupiter, Saturn and the Pleiades but god was it cold last night up here in the Lake District. I’m also expecting a telling off at some point today for putting towels over the bollard lights at our caravan site😂. GT81 did admirably at 160x but I’ve got the bug now so have an appointment to inspect a used Altair Starwave Ascent 102 ED on Wednesday as per @The Lapwingtip. If (when) I pull the trigger on that I’m just hoping the CFO won’t notice there are two white scopes for a while. Very much looking forwards to planetary/lunar visual whilst DSO imaging. Thanks for all your advice. Cheers Andrew

Thanks for the advice. Pretty certain eyesight will prove to be a limiting factor so might not push it too far.