Will swap turkey for SkyMax advice / pictures !

[Rigel-7]

Hello

Does anybody have any good links for Astrophotography with a SkyMax 127 Goto? I am considering this as a first scope but am unsure whether it would be able to take picture of nebulas etc. Googling seems to return superb images (but none taken with the 127).

Is this a realistic goal or should I swap one of my children for one of these telescopes.

[ronin]

Non realistic is the simple answer.

The scope has too long a focal length so tracking errors are amplified.

The f number is too great so the image is dimmer so longer exposures are required. This is effected by the first reason.

The mount is Alt/Az so no good for long duration exposures, you get field rotation of the object.

Get a short focal length refractor, something like f/6 on a good £800++ equitorial mount.

Since you have already looked and found that no-one uses an 127 the answer would seem apparent that they are not suitable.

[Rigel-7]

Will the auto-tracking not track DSOs? I was also looking at the SkyLiner 200P auto but I presume this is in the same boat :-(

[russ.will]

Quite. The Skymax 127 on AZ GOTO was exactly what I was looking at as my first scope, when I started looking last January, for exactly the same long term goal.

Advice on here made me realise that DSO imaging is a complete non starter on an Alt/Az mount and that the absolute minimum Equatorial mount would be an EQ5. Throw in the long exposures DSOs require and an HEQ5 becomes the minimum.

I'd also suggest that, based on experience, you will actually spend a lot more time just looking at things. You may also be surprised to find, as I was, that bright, small things like planets and globular clusters, actually end up being a lot more interesting that you thought. So, a scope with a medium focal length and a big aperture, is a good bet as a first purchase to cover all of theses bases. Advice lead me to a a Skywatcher Explorer 200p Newtonian Reflector, a decision that I don't regret one bit. It's great with DSO fuzzies, long enough to pull in some planetary detail and it's not an expensive mistake to make.

My point is, that with the best will in the world, you probably don't know what's actually going to wibble your frosset pouch until you've seen it and the SW 200p is a great way of seeing most things, for not a lot of cash. On a HEQ5 Pro Synscan, it's a £969 package. The MN190 is undoubtably a better imaging scope, but at 10kg, it NEEDS an EQ6 for imaging and that's pushed you from £365 to nearer £2k. That's a big difference.

You also don't yet know how much you're going to spend on eyepieces (gotta have another!), different finders and other £50 whatjamaflips. I'd go for the best mount you can (because it's the foundation on which everything is built) and keep the scope simple for the moment until you know more.

Russell

[Rigel-7]

Thanks Russell,

Looks like you've been in my boots. I was looking at the 200p on EQ5 as this is just an amazing deal for what you get however I was worried about the bulk of the item and the set up time required. Looks like there is no easy answer.

I saw some of the images from the MN190 and they blew me away. I think the EQ6 package cost is about £1,800 - I don't think my kids will fetch that on eBay.