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cjp01

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cjp01

cjp01

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Hi Everyone,

I've just joined as i'm very interested in starting to get into astronomy.

I'm currently looking into buying my first scope so that I can take some nice pics of planets and stars.

Anyone have any advice on what is a good beginner scope that has computer tracking that is not expensive.

Cheers,

Chris:hello2:

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JamesM

JamesM

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Hi Chris and welcome to the forum. LCM stands for light computerised mount and for observing and tracking an object would certainly do the job. One thing to be mindful of with regards to GOTO. The manufacturers will often out do each other in the numbers of objects that are contained within the GOTO catalogue but of course that is only half the story. The aperture of the scope will determine the amount of light that you can capture and therefore the amount of detail you can resolve, Think of the word 'aperture' as meaning 'information'. It follows then that although the mount can take you there, that in itself doesn't guarantee that the scope will reveal that object to you - that depends on aperture.

Regarding imaging, there are two types. The first is using a simple webcam which can be used to image planets and the moon. Free Registax software will help you stack the best frames to help you construct a composite image. You can use a webcam on any reasonable scope (including the celestron) because the exposure times will be very quicj (given the objects brightness) and so there is no need to track the object as would be required for longer exposures. The other type of imaging attempts to image deep sky objects (DSO's) such as galaxies and nebulae which are further away and very faint. In order collect enough data on these objects you will need a very accurate equatorial mount. The proposed Celestron mount is the wrong type of mount as it is an alt/azimuth mount which tracks the objects using tiny vertical and horizontal steps, which will show up on the final image. The equatorial style mount tracks objects in a natural smooth curve as they move across the night sky and therefore helps obtain a sharp image. So for DSO imaging, you will need a very accurate mount that will also allow for auto guiding, a system which is used to adjust the mount's motors to keep the intended object in exactly the same place within the image.

In conclusion, the Celestron scope will be fine to webcam planets and the moon. You will need a slightly bigger budget to purchase the type of kit that is needed to image DSO's. If imaging is going to be your goal, then a good idea would be to get of Steve Richards' "Making Every Photon Count" (FLO £19.95) which will tell you what kit you need and why you need it. Hope the above clarifies a couple of things.

James

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cjp01

cjp01

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:( thanks for the advise

Hi Chris and welcome to the forum. LCM stands for light computerised mount and for observing and tracking an object would certainly do the job. One thing to be mindful of with regards to GOTO. The manufacturers will often out do each other in the numbers of objects that are contained within the GOTO catalogue but of course that is only half the story. The aperture of the scope will determine the amount of light that you can capture and therefore the amount of detail you can resolve, Think of the word 'aperture' as meaning 'information'. It follows then that although the mount can take you there, that in itself doesn't guarantee that the scope will reveal that object to you - that depends on aperture.

Regarding imaging, there are two types. The first is using a simple webcam which can be used to image planets and the moon. Free Registax software will help you stack the best frames to help you construct a composite image. You can use a webcam on any reasonable scope (including the celestron) because the exposure times will be very quicj (given the objects brightness) and so there is no need to track the object as would be required for longer exposures. The other type of imaging attempts to image deep sky objects (DSO's) such as galaxies and nebulae which are further away and very faint. In order collect enough data on these objects you will need a very accurate equatorial mount. The proposed Celestron mount is the wrong type of mount as it is an alt/azimuth mount which tracks the objects using tiny vertical and horizontal steps, which will show up on the final image. The equatorial style mount tracks objects in a natural smooth curve as they move across the night sky and therefore helps obtain a sharp image. So for DSO imaging, you will need a very accurate mount that will also allow for auto guiding, a system which is used to adjust the mount's motors to keep the intended object in exactly the same place within the image.

In conclusion, the Celestron scope will be fine to webcam planets and the moon. You will need a slightly bigger budget to purchase the type of kit that is needed to image DSO's. If imaging is going to be your goal, then a good idea would be to get of Steve Richards' "Making Every Photon Count" (FLO £19.95) which will tell you what kit you need and why you need it. Hope the above clarifies a couple of things.

James

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