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completely new to star gazing :) x


TwinkleTwinkle

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hi there, m from a tiny village called carnaby in the uk, well  i only moved here 3 years ago and where i live its very dark, iv never noticed what a fantastic view i had of the sky just in my garden, and i want to see more

iv only today bought a celestron nexstar 130 slt , its not great i know, but all i could afford, i would also like to know if i can do the dslr camera and take pictures with it, but need to know if i need extra adapters

i hope i can contribute here as i learn and post pictures of what i find

any help will always be apprerciated

pamela :) UTO

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Hi Pamela and welcome to SGL - Perhaps get yourself acquainted with the visual side of things before you attempt to hook up your camera :grin: Have you got a copy of Stellarium downloaded yet? It's free and will really help you navigate around the sky.

Look forward to seeing you around :smiley:

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Hi and a warm welcome.

In addition to the aforementioned stellarium and turn left at orion I'd suggest you invest in a pair of binoculars.  8 x 50's or 10 x 50's are great for finding clusters ect.  They aren't that expensive.  Also buy some cold weather gear.  Woolie hat, gloves, thick socks and maybe an all in one suit.  You wont look glamorous (No astronomer ever does but at least you'll be warm).  A cold astronomer isnt an astronomer for long.

Try getting in touch with your local astronomical group who, I'm sure, will give you plenty tips.  Main thing is to have fun.

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Hi Pamela, welcome to SGL; probably best to get the feel of the scope and whats `out there` first before involving a camera, although, that said, the requirements will be fairly minimal and easy to do for a DSLR.

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Welcome!

If you have a dslr it will be worth getting the connectors and taking snaps of the moon.

Other things will be very challenging as I'm finding our through research at the moment

I'd make the most of your great skies with your new scope first though, loads of interesting things up there to find.

Enjoy!

Max

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Hi Pamela and welcome to the forum. Astrophotography is proving more and more popular with many people who have decided to take an interest in astronomy in recent times. Imaging (...as it is more commonly referred to) can be broken down in to three main areas. 'Widefield' which is basically taking pictures of the night sky using your DSLR on a tripod and might typically include a terrestrial detail (Church spire etc) to provide a reference point or some familiar context for the shot. Next up is solar system imaging (moon, planets and the sun) which are typically captured using a video camera, in which the best 'frames' from a video clip are selected and stacked on top of each other to form a final composite image. Lastly and by no means least is Deep Sky Imaging which focuses on deep sky objects (DSO's) such as galaxies and nebulae. This area of imaging is the most technically demanding and requires an accurate motorised mount that is capable of tracking these very faint objects for a long period of time to enable you to collect enough 'data' to construct a final image. This method of imaging is the most technically demanding and so therefore will provide you with a steep learning curve as you attempt to bring all of your equipment together as a successful imaging 'rig' which can at times test both your patience and your wallet.  :grin:

To help you further understand the requirements of imaging, you might like to consider getting hold of a copy of Steve Richards' "Making Every Photon Count" which is a very comprehensive guide on what kit you need to enable you to perform different types of astrophotography. It's modest in price but of great value in helping you to avoid buying the wrong kit as the technical demands of imaging with a scope are quite different to those where which offer the best observing platform. The accuracy of the mount is critical for imaging DSO's and will represent an area of further research as the mount that came with your Nexstar 130 is unfortunately not up to the task for this area of work.

Wishing you clear skies and hope you enjoy your stay here. Imaging is very seductive but so is observing and there are plenty of objects waiting for to discover in the night sky with your current setup.  :smiley: 

James 

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