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Imaging with the 130pds


Russe

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There is subtle difference between them but I think for me just by a smidge is the Baader OIII closely followed by the first.

Is this the sun spot causing the Aurora for us?

Did you crop the image or does it fill the frame like that?

Looks like it was this though I'm pretty ignorant about such things!

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/246872-ar2371-close-up/

Edited by Thalestris24
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I find the sun spots facinating, would a barlow draw you in closer

I guess so but not easy to fit to my setup and might be difficult to focus. I'm not really a solar imager but it makes a change plus it's good to be able to image during the day :)

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Just a few of the goodies ive had from the 130pds over the past few months:

11695810995_10115937dc_b.jpg

11934828685_543ed2628b_b.jpg

12549102443_17822313b5_b.jpg

12852852235_b521e53e60_b.jpg

12876522975_a5dea5030f_b.jpg

12936956565_1e1bbd6b20_b.jpg

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

UNREAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I found this website by browsing a facebook astronomy group and finding a discussion about someones first astrophotography telescope, and just had to register and tell you how FREAKING AWESOME those pictures are!!

AMAZING

So I want to create astrophotos and also look through with my eye, can I do both reasonably well with this telescope? I mainly want to look at deep sky objects like Andromeda, the crab nebula and other unknown wonders out there... But I also want to look at close stuff, like Saturn, Pluto, and the sun.

Haha got you!!! JK about the sun part.. my vision is bad enough, LoL:!!!!ARyxZF1.gif

Yeah so I want your exact model.. because those pictures are so good I want to make some of the same quality, but I don't want to go broke either. I found a BKP 130 DS online for around $350, is that a good price? Or should I get another telescope?

REPLY ASAP

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WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

UNREAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I found this website by browsing a facebook astronomy group and finding a discussion about someones first astrophotography telescope, and just had to register and tell you how FREAKING AWESOME those pictures are!!

AMAZING

So I want to create astrophotos and also look through with my eye, can I do both reasonably well with this telescope? I mainly want to look at deep sky objects like Andromeda, the crab nebula and other unknown wonders out there... But I also want to look at close stuff, like Saturn, Pluto, and the sun.

Haha got you!!! JK about the sun part.. my vision is bad enough, LoL:!!!!ARyxZF1.gif

Yeah so I want your exact model.. because those pictures are so good I want to make some of the same quality, but I don't want to go broke either. I found a BKP 130 DS online for around $350, is that a good price? Or should I get another telescope?

REPLY ASAP

Hi TazG

The 130pds is a great scope but unfortunately it isn't all you need and the scope (ota) can be pretty much the cheapest part of an imaging system. Imaging is a money pit! It is also quite demanding in terms of time and effort (and frustration!). I recommend you read up on astrophotography and what it entails before buying anything. There is a lot of info here, of course, but a good up to date book on the subject is a good place to start.

Louise

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TazG, steady on old boy! :) That was high praise indeed, but the results from the 130 have been a combination of the following

  • Tinkering and modifications to the telescope
  • A solid, reliable EQ mount
  • Good guiding and polar alignment
  • A large format CCD camera (Atik 383L) - 8300 chipped
  • Lots of data
  • Lots of time
  • Lots of collimation (took me a while to find a settled solution... depends on how demanding you are, and you have to be with an 8300)
  • Lots of patience

There are a number of separate tenets that need to come together in order to create a good image, and as you become better at each separate skill - the end product will improve. You can check the other pages in this thread for the progress that I (and others) have made in improving the images (2" filters and more effective calibration frames).

However, you mentioned that you want a telescope to do smaller objects as well (ie: solar system objects, planetary nebulas or galaxies). Well, for small stuff like that - the 130pds isnt quite suitable as there is no such thing as a "do it all" telescope. So you need to take the approach of matching the telescope to your target, and avoid all forms of magnification in the optical train (ie: no barlows - unless doing solar system objects).

To simplify:

Big stuff (Andromeda, MW nebulas, galaxy clusters) = Small telescope  (400-650mm)

Small stuff (dumbell, ring, crab etc) = Medium/Big telescope (800mm-1200mm)

So you would have the 130 for widefield, and then something like a 200 (8") for the smaller stuff.

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Need to spice up this thread with another galaxy image :grin:  NGC 4565

88x60s subs unguided on EQ5 Pro. Image data from two nights in March 2015.

attachicon.gifNGC4565Proc2_cropped.jpg

i was going to ask how long unguided exposures could be achieved with an heq5, but your post somehow answered it for me, you must get really good PA.

i was able to get 30s max, gonna try improving my drif alignment.

Frank

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  • 2 weeks later...

Loving this thread! [emoji4] Haven't read all of it but could someone post a single frame (or stacked) from a DSLR so I could see what kind of sharpness I can expect with the 130PDS? Crops are OK as well. Can I expect pinpoint stars when viewed at 100% ?

I assume a coma corrector must be used and tracking (guiding) spot on.

In short, what is the maximum sharpness possible with this scope?

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When you say sharpness, thats a bit of an open question because the there are quite a few things that contribute to the sharpness/contrast of an image, examples being:

1) Resolution: This is determined by the cameras pixel size, and the focal length and resolving power of the telescope. Its unlikely that you will find a pixel size small enough to oversample the 130, most DSLRs will yield roughly the same results.

2) Good data: That is data taken with good guiding and conditions (no clouds, no moon), long subs.

3) Processing: A fair amount of the contrast and sharpness is won back at this stage. You cant expect a newt to be as contrasty as a frac (eg: an 80ED), but where is does win out is with the depth of the data you have from running at f5 (can therefore stand up to more processing). 

4) Collimation: Better the collimation, better the image

Yes you need a coma corrector if youre going to do anything serious with it, but when you ask for pinpoint stars - that wll be down to you and how you handle the telescope (ie: collimation etc). Its perfectly feasable to get  a good field without much effort, but if youre asking for 100% perfect in each corner of a big chip (what I call "the last 1%") - thats a bit more difficult.... it depends on how demanding you want to be.

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When you say sharpness, thats a bit of an open question because the there are quite a few things that contribute to the sharpness/contrast of an image, examples being:

1) Resolution: This is determined by the cameras pixel size, and the focal length and resolving power of the telescope. Its unlikely that you will find a pixel size small enough to oversample the 130, most DSLRs will yield roughly the same results.

2) Good data: That is data taken with good guiding and conditions (no clouds, no moon), long subs.

3) Processing: A fair amount of the contrast and sharpness is won back at this stage. You cant expect a newt to be as contrasty as a frac (eg: an 80ED), but where is does win out is with the depth of the data you have from running at f5 (can therefore stand up to more processing).

4) Collimation: Better the collimation, better the image

Yes you need a coma corrector if youre going to do anything serious with it, but when you ask for pinpoint stars - that wll be down to you and how you handle the telescope (ie: collimation etc). Its perfectly feasable to get a good field without much effort, but if youre asking for 100% perfect in each corner of a big chip (what I call "the last 1%") - thats a bit more difficult.... it depends on how demanding you want to be.

Thanks for a good answer! Knowing myself - I'm pretty darn demanding. Today I use a Canon EF 300/4L IS, which is in essence a 75mm f/4 triplet with a built in field flattener :) On a good day (seeing, turbulence etc) it gives me really sharp stars.

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My latest project is a section of the Elephant Trunk Nebula.

Currently at 41x600s frames of just HA, all with the moon in the sky (only time it seems to be clear round here).

post-11689-0-90719700-1436214904_thumb.j

Just a quick process to see how its going

I've dropped down from my usual 15 minute subs as I found I was dropping to many subs for the small amount of semi-darkness we are getting at the moment.

As a result I haven't had to remove any subs due to guiding errors for this image which makes me a happy bunny :bunny:

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My latest project is a section of the Elephant Trunk Nebula.

Currently at 41x600s frames of just HA, all with the moon in the sky (only time it seems to be clear round here).

attachicon.gifElephantTrunkWip.jpg

Just a quick process to see how its going

I've dropped down from my usual 15 minute subs as I found I was dropping to many subs for the small amount of semi-darkness we are getting at the moment.

As a result I haven't had to remove any subs due to guiding errors for this image which makes me a happy bunny :bunny:

Awesome! Is that a scaled down version of the entire image or a 100% crop? Looks good either way :)

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When you say sharpness, thats a bit of an open question because the there are quite a few things that contribute to the sharpness/contrast of an image, examples being:

1) Resolution: This is determined by the cameras pixel size, and the focal length and resolving power of the telescope. Its unlikely that you will find a pixel size small enough to oversample the 130, most DSLRs will yield roughly the same results.

2) Good data: That is data taken with good guiding and conditions (no clouds, no moon), long subs.

3) Processing: A fair amount of the contrast and sharpness is won back at this stage. You cant expect a newt to be as contrasty as a frac (eg: an 80ED), but where is does win out is with the depth of the data you have from running at f5 (can therefore stand up to more processing). 

4) Collimation: Better the collimation, better the image

Yes you need a coma corrector if youre going to do anything serious with it, but when you ask for pinpoint stars - that wll be down to you and how you handle the telescope (ie: collimation etc). Its perfectly feasable to get  a good field without much effort, but if youre asking for 100% perfect in each corner of a big chip (what I call "the last 1%") - thats a bit more difficult.... it depends on how demanding you want to be.

I'm loving this thread! I have a 150P-DS which is very similar to the 130.

I've done a handful of images on an HEQ5 with PHD on a tripod, but I'm in the process of building my roll-off shed obsy with a AZ-EQ6 mount.

I have a 500d that I will astro modify and I will see how far I can go with that from my suburban skies (probably about Bortle 5).

Eventually, I will go to the dark side proper and get a CCD (hopefully a 8300 based set-up).

But, for now, the game for me is to refine the process and understand how to push along that asymptotic curve to "perfection" i.e. that last 1%. Advice like the quoted above is priceless! :)

I reckon I still have about 98% to go! ;)

post-33415-0-51364800-1436393192_thumb.j

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I have a 500d that I will astro modify and I will see how far I can go with that from my suburban skies (probably about Bortle 5).

Whoops! I have Bortle 7 skies - the "5" is for the local dark sky site that I have access to maybe a couple of dozen or so times a year.

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Whoops! I have Bortle 7 skies - the "5" is for the local dark sky site that I have access to maybe a couple of dozen or so times a year.

Mines's probably 6. :-(

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Awesome! Is that a scaled down version of the entire image or a 100% crop? Looks good either way :)

Its 100% of the image captured. It was done using the Atik 314L+ camera and whilst it is an amazing chip, the small field of view it provides does leave you yearning for a bigger chip sometimes :grin:

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Its 100% of the image captured. It was done using the Atik 314L+ camera and whilst it is an amazing chip, the small field of view it provides does leave you yearning for a bigger chip sometimes :grin:

Ive only one word for that..... mosaic!! :D

But if you want a larger FOV, all you need to do is use a smaller telescope (simples!) - the 314 is good down to about 400mm FL (380mm at a push).

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But if you want a larger FOV, all you need to do is use a smaller telescope (simples!) - the 314 is good down to about 400mm FL (380mm at a push).

Such heresy! :grin:

I love my 130pds but yes, a small refractor is something I am considering for the larger targets.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Loving this thread! [emoji4] Haven't read all of it but could someone post a single frame (or stacked) from a DSLR so I could see what kind of sharpness I can expect with the 130PDS? Crops are OK as well. Can I expect pinpoint stars when viewed at 100% ?

I assume a coma corrector must be used and tracking (guiding) spot on.

In short, what is the maximum sharpness possible with this scope?

Sent from my phone using Tapatalk

Hi,

I was out last night giving my new 130PDS its first light, using my unmodded Canon 700D. Had a few problems stacking (discussed in another thread) but have come up with some pleasing images. This is nowhere near the limit of what DSLRs can do, but it's not bad for a comparative beginner with his first newt.

You'll get pinpoint stars ok as long as your polar alignment and guiding are good, and you use a coma corrector. I used the SW own make 0.9 one, which takes the scope to F4.5. For guiding I got an adaptor from Modern Astronomy which allows one to use, in my case, an Orion Starshoot autoguider with a standard SW 9x50 finderscope  with excellent results.

Anyway, here are my first light results from last night:

post-39242-0-19239200-1437241389_thumb.j

post-39242-0-85966600-1437241408_thumb.j

post-39242-0-37335900-1437241441_thumb.j

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