Basic AP with a Dob

[DRT]

I know from reading lots of threads here that a Dob is better for viewing rather than high quality AP. I am (for now) committed to Dobs as I really enjoy observing and need the experience to be quick and easy due to lack of experience and available time.

I want to be able to capture some basic images of what I am observing. I don't want to reproduce Hubble-like stuff or spend hours in front of a laptop processing images. I am looking for something that I can attach to my Dob, click, and have a digital image of whatever was in the eyepiece, even if it is a bit of a blurry mess. I have an instant camera that I have pointed at the eyepiece and taken some OK shots of the moon but it doesn't work on planets and certainly not on DSOs.

Sorry if these questions are really basic but I would apreciate advice on the following:

1. What is the most basic type of digital camera I could use to attach to my Dod for point and click photography of the moon, Jupiter and Saturn?

2. How do I attach a camera to a Skywatcher Heritage 130p?

3. Do I need to buy any special lenses or filters to fit between the camera and the telescope?

Derek

[JamesF]

For Jupiter and Saturn you'd be better off with a sensitive webcam or dedicated planetary imaging camera.  You could do the same for the Moon if you didn't want that wide a field of view.  I really have my doubts that a Heritage 130 would take the weight of a larger camera.  A planetary imaging camera would just fit into the focuser using a nosepiece attached to the camera.  A barlow would probably be useful to increase the size of the image, but I'd try it without one first as the wider field of view will help.

James

[DRT]

Thanks, James.

I am planning of trading up to the 300p Flextube Goto at bonus time (end of March) so the weight thing shouldn't be an issue for too long.

My problem with webcams is that all my computing equipment is Mac rather than Windows so unless I want to pay out a fortune for a new laptop I need the camera rather than software to do most of the work.

[JamesF]

Thanks, James.

I am planning of trading up to the 300p Flextube Goto at bonus time (end of March) so the weight thing shouldn't be an issue for too long.

My problem with webcams is that all my computing equipment is Mac rather than Windows so unless I want to pay out a fortune for a new laptop I need the camera rather than software to do most of the work.

Hmm, well, that's going to be tricky  I don't use Windows other than for imaging, but for the moment there's not really much of an alternative.  Generally some processing is going to be required and most of the processing software is Windows only.  It's entirely possible however that you could use some cheap end-of-life Windows laptop for image capture and then process on a Windows VM on the Mac.

For some examples of what you get from the processing, here's a single-frame image of the Moon that I took with a DSLR:

And here's the processed result from the same imaging run:

Or for planetary images, here's a single frame of Saturn:

And here's the processed image from the same run:

Even if you have a DSLR on the 300P, it will be far easier to focus and control the camera if you can do so from a PC.

To be honest I think I'd wait until you have the 300P before making any other decisions.  I am as sure as I can be that the 130 will be a nightmare to use with a DSLR because it isn't designed to carry one and you're probably very limited in terms of useful webcams that work on the Mac.  Waiting would give you time to decide what options there are computer-wise and you can take things from there.  There may perhaps be some passable DSLR control software for the Mac at least.

It's also worth pointing out that with any alt-az mount, including a dob, you're always going to struggle with DSO targets.  There are not too many that are bright enough to image in the time before field rotation becomes an issue.  It may be that globular clusters are the only viable targets that way.

James

[DRT]

James,

Thanks for taking the time to post all of that, which is extremely helpful.

Just so that you and others know, the pre-processed images above are more than enough for my needs. I want to buy a camera that will take those kind of shots and I want to buy it as cheaply as possible.

I know that lots of people here would wonder why I would want those blurry shots. The answer is that my father is partially sighted and very interested in space. It would be great to send him a picture in an email saying "look, Dad, I just took a picture of Saturn!"

So, how can I do that for about a hundred quid?

Derek

[DRT]

I stumbled across the Orion Starshoot IV on the web this morning and it says this new model is Mac compatible so I'll give it a go and report back.