Which is better for astrophotography

[CJBooth]

If you have the 200p you have a great scope for astrophotoraphy. take a look at my blog theres a post on there detailing how I go about taking my shots. I have just got a canon 350d for my second camera but all my pics were done with the 200p with a single axis drive. Been using it for a year now and love it. The EQ5 mount does a good job as well.

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Just a quick 'thanks' from me for your informative video on YouTube (the one with the 200P on the EQ5 mount). Very useful indeed.

[Quatermass]

Just a quick 'thanks' from me for your informative video on YouTube (the one with the 200P on the EQ5 mount). Very useful indeed.

Cheers CJ I apologize for the heavy breathing in the video that the camera man has got asthma and wont give up smoking my wife said it sounded like he was stalking me lol

I should follow my own advice having went out last night with my new second hand canon and completely ignored all I said in the video tut tut still you live and learn. I might make some more videos if people like them I thought one on taking Darks flats and bias shots for your images might be worth a go but I must get another camera man who doesn't sound like a park stalker lol.

[Quatermass]

Above is my first attempt at the moon with the 200p using a Nikon D50 DSLR. The moon was high in the sky and very bright - I used an ISO setting of 160 for this image - but the main problem I feel was with camera shake - I know what you guys mean about having the right mount and i see an EQ6 mount on the near horizon - Tarn

If you can get photoshop this is what the unsharp mask filter can do I used it on your moon shot to show the subtle difference it makes.

PM me I can help you out with Photoshop

[TROJAN]

Thankyou very much - I used a NIKON D50 DSLR connected via a T ring and Celestron 2 x T adaptor barlow - I used the basic windows brighten / darken package which came with my computer to process the picture - but i feel i must upgrade to something a little more advanced -

What i did find was that the image was stable enough on the mount until it came to depressing the shutter - then it all moved all over the place - I have now invested in a remote control for the shutter release - which should arrive next week sometime - That may help until i can order an EQ6 -

I must say that i am sorely tempted to buy the Celestron C11 that harrisons have up for £1500 - just due to the focal length - however maybe a x3 barlow will do just as well on my 200p - Truth is ive got the bug now and really dont know why I didnt take this up years ago...........

[TROJAN]

OH WHAT !!!!! - I have just seen the photo difference of my images through photoshop !!!! I need that package - I will PM now - Thankyou !!!

[Quatermass]

no problems glad to help

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[Spackbackle]

Hey,

I just been reading all this with huge interest. I'm just starting to dable in astrophotography. Currently using a Sky Watcher 130 on an EQ2 Mount (a bit shaky!!) I've been looking at the 200PDS 250PDS or even the 300PDS as my next possible scope (Sometime within the next year) but clearly from what has been posted and from what I have experienced with the EQ2 the mount is extremely important.

Trojan - Don't overlook gimp as a photo editing package, you can't go far wrong for free, I think someone else has also reccomended it, and photoshop is a tad expensive.

Just for laughs here is my first moon with SPC900 webcam, and before you say it yes there are some holes in the photo, I was short on time.

Stu

[Quatermass]

hi stu moving up to the 200p was for me personaly a great step forward. The mount is very important if your going to do astrophotography I was glad I got the Eq5 but getting the next one up would be better still. Have a look at my blog if you want any help along the way happy to oblige ;-)

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[Quatermass]

great shot of the moon :-)

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[Johnn3ie45]

Thankyou ! Ive either been reading too much, or the wrong articles as several people have told me that the 200p was not the best choice for photography. However having just looked at Quatermass's blog I am totally reassured. Thankyou as well Kim your imput ,it always very much appreciated as I value your knowledge and opinions.

http://daxibeidelang.teasm.cn/Index.aspx

[RAC]

Most of my shots were done with either my Skywatcher 200p or gso f6 version(same thing really) on an EQ5 mount. Only the latest M17 shot was with the modded EQ5 mount.

The EQ5 is a bit small for imaging with a 200p but it can be done.

Flickr: meg rac's Photostream

[Quatermass]

Just took a peek at your Flickr pics RAC thats some modifications you have done on the EQ5 looks very cool. Loved your photos as well so many great images there.

[TROJAN]

I have just managed to buy a second hand EQ6 from Harrison Telescopes - I didnt know they had a seond hand section, apparently the guy there just puts local ads on his site and then puts you in touch with the people selling. Anyhow it came with the synscan system, So Ill let you all know how I get on with that. Also one of the best things I ever bought recently, Is a remote control for the DSLR, it only cost me a couple of pounds from Amazon, But works well and cuts down on the shaking when taking the "snap".

[TROJAN]

Oh and yes I agree, I have just downloaded Gimp for the photo processing and it is great, especially for free.....Thankyou.....

[TROJAN]

The other thing I didnt realise, was that as the DSLR body fits directly onto the scope minus its own lens (obviously with the correct T ring), then the focal length of the telescope is set. and that governs the magnification on the subject. I also didnt realise that you can increase the focal lenth with a T ring Barlow, I bought a 2x one for the shots I took and I understand that effectively doubles the focal length...

The question is.........can you get a T ring barlow which increases the focal length further....

[pwalsh61]

I know that with Canons you can get 1.4x and 2x teleconverters which multiply the focal length but I suspect the main consideration with using such things (and barlows) is the additional glass in the optical train with different refractive indices etc.

With (relatively) bright targets such as the Moon or Jupiter/Saturn this is perhaps less of an issue, but with DSOs it's a different matter.

If you take M31 for example. When you look at it through your scope you see a fuzzy blob. When you first try imaging it (with, say, 2min exposure) you still see a fuzzy blob. The temptation here is to increase the magnification which would probably result in a bigger, yet fainter fuzzy blob. Increase the exposure time and/or aperture and you capture more photons with which to generate a final image.

Great images of the Moon by the way!

I've found that a lot of things that can be done in PS can also be done in GIMP, though sometimes in a roundabout way. There are plenty of tutorials on YouTube etc. to show how PS effects can be achieved in GIMP. The first "rule" is to always work on a copy of the background layer. This makes it easy to see the effect you're having on the image. Also, make very gradual changes and use "Save As" to save the file otherwise you run the risk of overwriting your original.

Perhaps the biggest drawback with GIMP is that it only handles 8-bit files, so you lose information when converting from 16-bit to 8-bit

[Quatermass]

Good thread this. I went out last night and took 174 shots of M13 at 30 seconds each with the ISO setting on 1600. Looking at this there is a good amount of detail in them but when I stacked all of them with 50 darks and 30 flats and 30 bias I was very disapointed. What I got was fine for the outer dust lanes but the core was a horrible bright blob that I could do nothing with and that after waiting 3 and half hours for deep sky stacker to finish. Ironicly if I work on a single shot I can pull out more detail and get a better picture then if I try to work on the stacked image. I dont understand how this is coming about its wierd. Another time when stacking 40 images of the dumbell nebula and 10 flats darks and bias the image came out perfect first time.

I am now trying to re stack with less to see if that helps. M13 is proving to be a very tricky subject right now and its driving me bonkers.

When I get my timer I can put the canon 350d on bulb and do longer exposures but I would have thought 174 good average subs would have given me better results then this, how frustrating having been out there pressing the camera button for 3 hours plus to get all that. sigh..

[Quatermass]

The other thing I didnt realise, was that as the DSLR body fits directly onto the scope minus its own lens (obviously with the correct T ring), then the focal length of the telescope is set. and that governs the magnification on the subject. I also didnt realise that you can increase the focal lenth with a T ring Barlow, I bought a 2x one for the shots I took and I understand that effectively doubles the focal length...

The question is.........can you get a T ring barlow which increases the focal length further....

Congrats on the mount that is a very good one so off to a good start. I found that using the 2x Barlow with my Canon is only good for the moon really but very good for the moon. Also with my canon all I needed was the t ring as the sky watcher has the other fitting already, just unscrew the fitting that slots into the 2inch hole and that screws into the t ring. So all your going to need is a t ring for about 9 quid. see my blog for pics in he astrophotography part 1 section.

[TROJAN]

Thankyou everyone for all the input... Its all starting to make sense now... stable mount, Large aperture, decreased shutter speed and or aperture for the camera, lots of time and a good photoprocessing package. Oh penty patience... and finally clear skies....

[TROJAN]

Last night I went out and had a go at taking some photos of Jupiter.. I used the 200p with a Nikon DSLR and attached the 2x barlow for all shots. I used the EQ5 mount as I havent quite worked out how to use the EQ6 yet...I used a camera shutter speed of 25 and an aperture of 5.6 - but the images are very poor and dont show much detail. any ideas what im doing wrong ? Ive put the photos in my albums...

[RikM]

'Planets' and 'Deep sky' really need different kit. For deep sky imaging like nebulae or star clusters, you need long exposures and generally a wide field of view at low magnification (f/5 or so). The quality and stability of the mount is the most important consideration.

For lunar / planetary imaging, optics are far more important. You need high magnification (f/20+) of a small field of view and lots (many hundreds) of short exposures of less than a second to allow you 'beat the seeing' and get the sharpest image. Most of the best beginners planetary images are done using 'avi video files and programs like Registax (free download) to align and stack the images. Wavelet processing (included in Registax) is also used to sharpen the detail in the images.

Your 8" Newtonian and a DSLR is good for Deep Sky AP. (I use a 150P on an NEQ6 mount). For planetary imaging, you would probably get better results with the C11 you were thinking about coupled with a high frame rate camera.

Edit: If the C11 is out of the question, get a high-frame rate camera and TV 5x Powermate and continue to use your 200P.

[Quatermass]

Last night I went out and had a go at taking some photos of Jupiter.. I used the 200p with a Nikon DSLR and attached the 2x barlow for all shots. I used the EQ5 mount as I havent quite worked out how to use the EQ6 yet...I used a camera shutter speed of 25 and an aperture of 5.6 - but the images are very poor and dont show much detail. any ideas what im doing wrong ? Ive put the photos in my albums...

Have sent you a pm on this subject Trojan having done the same thing I think the answer is a webcam for planets like Jupiter and Saturn but the moon would respond well to your camera and Barlow combination. The moon is a wonderful subject on its own and well worth spending time on and great for practicing your astrophotography skills on. The truth is there's just so many things out there you could be photographing and studying you really are spoiled for choice.

[red dwalf]

starting to image, what a massive learning curve !

one thing i`ve learnt but very basic is high f ratings for planets, f10 sct or f15 maks, barlowed to increase the ratio upto a limit, and the lower f ratings for DSO`s, they don`t make f4 newts for nothing, as they can make good imaging scopes.

all the best

[TROJAN]

Hmmm.... Thankyou all for the input... I will try the webcam video approach next and then stack the images through Registax as you suggest. If that doesnt work out then Santa might have to bring me a C11 -

I suppose I am being a total newbie by asking if everyone has Stellarium downloaded..? Its one of the most incredible pieces of software ive ever seen for free... Tarn

[Spackbackle]

Hey Trojan,

Definately try the webcam approach for planets, below is my first attempt at jupiter on my sky watcher 130, its not great but you can see some detail.

Unfortunatley my 130 can't gain focus with a dslr so I'm stuck with webcam and piggy backing for the moment. I am thinking about buying a long exposure webcam though