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DuncanBiscuits

By DuncanBiscuits
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DuncanBiscuits

DuncanBiscuits

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Hi there everyone!

My Name is Duncan, I'm 31 and living in Norwich, Norfolk, UK (so lots of nice dark skies around, compared to a lot of the rest of the country!). I have been very interested in space and astronomy for as long as I can remember. I have always had a pair of binos laying around, and would often turn my attention to the night sky! I now have a 150mm reflector scope, bought for me as a present a couple of years ago. I don't think it is best of quality, and will be upgrading soon (plenty of questions to follow about that I'm sure!!) al though it did allow me to see Saturn its rings for the first time a couple of weeks ago, (which was jaw droppingly amazing and stunningly beautiful, if a little blurry!) and now I am totally hooked!

I am a beginner, so expect lots of questions, and pleas for help and advice! All of which will be much appreciated!

I also enjoy photography, so I hope to be able to combine this with the astronomy and get some nice shots of the night sky. planets and maybe some DSO. Again, I will be looking for guidance and any tips, but I will cover those in other posts!

So that's me introduced!

Cheers,

Duncan

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JamesM

JamesM

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Hi Duncan and welcome to the forum.

As easy as imaging might seem, in fact its a little trickier than you might imagine. Wide field shots taken from a camera tripod sis fairly traight forward as is using a webcam to take shots of the moon or planets. Its the Deep sky imaging (galaxies, nebula etc) that the equipment requirements start to change and are not necessarily the same as those you would use observing. Can I recommend that you get hold of a copy of Steve Richards, "Making Every Photon Count" (FLO £19.95) as it is a comprehensive guide to what kit kit you need, how to use it and why you need it to achieve the level of results that your interested in getting. It is a relatively cheap book but it may well save you a lot of money in the longer run, particularly as you may be thinking of buying some kit in the near future. Hope you don't mind my suggestion but imaging or thoughts in that direction need a little help so you know what you're getting into. They don't call it the 'Dark Side' for nothing.:)

Clear skies in the meantime.

James

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DuncanBiscuits

DuncanBiscuits

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Thanks for all the replies folks!

Andy79 the scope I currently have is an Optisan Star 150 700.

Was bought for me as a present, so I cant complain too much!

Its got a solid, weighty tripod, but the controls for adjusting it a very slack, not doing anything then suddenly jolt into motion! The focusing dial is very stiff, meaning you really have to work it to get anything sharp which means you then end up wobbling the whole rig!

I can view the moon well, and saw Saturn for the very first time, but it does seem to have a lot of blurring or flaring, make stars look almost like comets, with tails coming out of them! I have been reading around and it does seem to be a bit of a cheap and nasty, with most literature in Polish so not much help! Im not sure if its the mirror which is dud, or the eyepieces or both! I think, from what I have found, that it only has a spherical mirror, rather than parabolic so that isn't going to help much either!

The thing is, even though its a bit rubbish, it has let me see my first planet, which has hooked me! So now I want something of a better quality. thinking about a Skywatcher Explorer 150P with EQ3 GOTO mount, but that's a whole new post, got to raise some money first!

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