What scope for galaxy imaging?

[dmahon]

I used to have an equinox 120, but got rid of it as I found it not wide enough and not zoomed in enough - it fell in the middle, no-mans land.

I am happy with my equinox 80 for widefield shots, what would be best for galaxies along with my SXVR-H694 camera? A RC, an SCT, an ODK or something else? It would be nice if I could get an occasional lunar or planetary shot from time to time, but that's not the main aim.

[robin-m]

I've just bought a Celestron C8 Edge HD for exactly the same reason. It arrived yesterday but looking at the forecast for the next week or so I don't think It's going to get used in anger for a while 

[Stu_2011]

Hi

I have just bought one of the 6" Altair Astro (made by GSO) RC scopes for exactly this reason. I wanted a scope that would go on my HEQ5. I've not really used it yet but for £400 it looks good value. One of the guys on here (John??) has done some amazing work with it so it is capable in the right hands.

Stu

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[GuillermoBarrancos]

He has the NEQ6 Mount, so he can go for the Celestron C9.25 SCT. No diffraction spikes. And also an amazing planetary scope as a bonus.

With the 0,63 reducer you will get a focal length of 1481mm and when you 2x2 bin your camera you are looking at 1,27 arcsec pixels. As I assume Your SX camera is the same as the Atik 460EX? No?

The 9.25 SCT is a very popular imaging scope for small targets, like galaxies and planetary nebula.

You already got the lodestar as guidecamera, just pop it into an OAG with the SCT and you are set.

Teleskop Service has a nice imaging package of these SCT´s by the way:

http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/language/de/info/p3657_.html

[swag72]

I went for an SCT - The C9.25. So far it has not disappointed in any way. I was torn between an RC and an SCT and in the end a couple of things clinched it for me.

1) The SCT has no star spikes (I really don't like them)

2) The SCT is a closed design so less concerns about having to clean mirrors etc.

I bought it second hand, figuring that if I didn't like it I could sell it at little loss. I won't be selling it!!! The reducer gives me a focal length of 1370mm and to say that it's forgiving on space is an understatement (that was a nice surprise). I read terrible things about the focuser, but mine is excellent and I won't be changing that either!

So I have no complaints about it at all. I've done my first LRGB galaxy, which is exactly why I bought it and it came out OK.

[johnrt]

Either an SCT or RC will serve you well for longer focal length imaging. There's really not much between them and as Sara says almost bolls down to the simple question - do you like spikes on stars or not?

Personally I'm a fan of the RC, but that is just what I've learnt my trade on. An 8" RC would be my choice, the only reason I went with the 6" at the time was the fact it would be going on an HEQ5.

[Pint Of Stellar]

I went for an SCT - The C9.25. So far it has not disappointed in any way. I was torn between an RC and an SCT and in the end a couple of things clinched it for me.

1) The SCT has no star spikes (I really don't like them)

2) The SCT is a closed design so less concerns about having to clean mirrors etc.

I bought it second hand, figuring that if I didn't like it I could sell it at little loss. I won't be selling it!!! The reducer gives me a focal length of 1370mm and to say that it's forgiving on space is an understatement (that was a nice surprise). I read terrible things about the focuser, but mine is excellent and I won't be changing that either!

So I have no complaints about it at all. I've done my first LRGB galaxy, which is exactly why I bought it and it came out OK.

Sorry to hijack the topic a little but what else do you have in the image train Sara - I can see the reducer, the OAG and the Filter Wheel on your web page - are there any spacer etc in there too please as I'm about to embark down a very similar setup and want to make sure I've got all the bits I need :-)

Cheers