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Hi from a very cloudy Birmingham

AstroJet

By AstroJet
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AstroJet

AstroJet

Posted
Posted

Well its 2.20am and the cloud cover is still here so decided to do some online star gazing and research.

Never been interested in star watching before but went out and bought a cheap Jessops telescope in their sale for £39, TA800-80 reflector which although it has given me a foot in the door it is starting to become tiresome with its wobbly tripod and clumbersome movement.

Decided to upgrade to a skywatcher 130m with eq mount and motordrive as I want to do some astrophotography and that seems like quite a good one without breaking the bank.

Hope to contribute soon.

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JamesM

JamesM

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Hi and welcome to the forum. You mention in your introduction that you have a desire to do some astrophotography and so may I recommend that get hold of a copy of Steve Richards' "Making Every Photon Count" (FLO £19.95). It will tell you all you need to know about what kit to get and why you need it to produce good consistent images. It is modestly priced and could well save you money by helping you to avoid buying the wrong kit and deciding on an appropriate budget from the outset. Imaging doesn't have to be hugely expensive (though a healthy budget won't do any harm :)) but if you are wanting to image deep sky objects (DSO's) such as galaxies and nebulae, then a very accurate mount will be the minimum requirement and that regrettably that does not include the mount that comes with the 130 Skywatcher. If however you only wish to image the moon and planets via a webcam, then this setup will be sufficient. Solar system objects being so bright, require very little exposure time when captured by a webcam and so the mount used doesn't have to be that accurate. Using a webcam allows you to collect a huge number of exposures very quickly from which you select the best 'frames' that are then stacked on top of each other in 'Registax' to create a single final composite image. Imaging DSO's is quite different in that being very faint, they will demand longer exposures to capture enough detail to produce a final image. Longer exposures mean accurate tracking which in turn will require accurate motors and that unfortunately will come at a price.

The above suggested book will provide you with all that you need to know to gain an informed overview before buying any kit. The 130 scope is great for visual astronomy and very good value for money, but equipment that is good for observing doesn't automatically make it good enough for imaging as the technical requirements are more demanding. Hope that helps.

Clear skies

James

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Dazzyd

Dazzyd

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Hi Astrojet from an equally cloudy Netherton (about 15 miles from you near the Merry Hill shopping centre). Nice one on the step up in scope quality : D

You'll love it here, everyone are SO friendly and helpful :)

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PorkyB

PorkyB

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The forecast for Birmingham is pretty encouraging for the first half of next week, so you might get the chance to try out your new scope :)

I am planning to get out whenever the clouds clear - who needs sleep :)

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