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Hello from Durham

skydiver

By skydiver
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skydiver

skydiver

Posted
Posted

Hi Guys,

thought I'd pop in to say hello - and pick a few brains along the way :(

Name's Ken and totally new to astronomy, although always had an inkling to get into it.

Recently into photography and just had the oppourtunity of buying my first 'scope' from someone selling up as it just wasn't being used.

Initially, before I head off to the 'Newbie' thread, I'd like to ask if I can really expect any decent pic's from it?

It's a Skywatcher, D= 130mm F=900mm, if that makes sense and comes with a couple of eyepieces, a couple of Barlow lenses and a T-mount to attach a camera - it's mounted on an EQ2 mount (I think) with an EQ2 Motor drive.

I think I've managed to put it together properly, but haven't even looked through it yet, never mind carried out any of the recommended balancing and aligning adjustments - the instructions are limited to say the least :(

Current camera kit is Canon DSLR

Have been reading through some of Forum threads and there's a minefield of information to try to absorb, but is the 'scope' up to it or would I be wasting my time?

thanks in advance...

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Bizibilder

Bizibilder

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Hello Ken and welcome to SGL!! You should be able to mount the camera as you have an adapter. Somewhere from the back of my mind I think that the SW130 has a problem in that it is not possible to focus a DSLR as there is insufficient inward travel on the focusser. This is not terminal as you can remount the main mirror slightly (about 1-2cm) further up the tube, if you don't mind a few extra holes in it! Or you can take pictures using the Barlow lens which will allow focus.

Try a shot of the Moon first as it is easy to align on and the short exposures needed will allow you to get an image without having to worry about the accuracy of your motor drive or polar alignment (within reason).

If you want to take the Planets or deep Sky Objects then, I'm afraid, your scope and, more importantly, your mount isn't really up to the task. You may get away with mounting the camera and a normal camera lens on the mount and taking some wide-field shots with something like a 50mm lens - you should be able to get more or less a whole constellation within one frame - maybe take exposures of 30 sec at a time and try stacking them with some free astro software from the web?

if you want to know more ask in the beginners help and advise section - there are plenty of folk who will help you.

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JamesM

JamesM

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Hi Ken and welcome to the forum.

Imaging with a scope can effectively be split into two camps, solar system (moon & planets) and deep sky objects (DSO's) such as galaxies and nebulae. The first can be achieved using a simple webcam (better than a camera) from which the best 'frames' are selected from the video, stacked on top of each other using a free program called Registax, to construct a final composite image. The key part here, is that as the objects being so bright, do not need long exposures to capture an image. However with DSO's the opposite is true. As the objects are so faint, long single exposures are required to capture any detail which in turn requires a very accurate mount to be able to track sufficiently accurately during this period.

In summary, imaging solar system objects can be done on any scope on any mount, whilst DSO imaging requires more accurate kit to help with longer exposures. What you have at the moment is sufficient for the first option.

Clear skies and enjoy the forum.

James

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skydiver

skydiver

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Hi Guys,

thanks for the welcome messages and feedback :(

Already have the feeling that this is gonna be costly...must learn to be patient instead of always jumping in at the deep end :(

Right, time to pay a visit to the Beginners Forum....

Note to self:

must keep away from the Classifieds section...

must keep away from the Classifieds section...

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