Advice on targets would be welcome

[ryandsimmons]

I have been imaging with a webcam for a while now, and have some moderate success with Jupiter and the moon, but last week I decided to try my hand at deep sky imaging, so picked up some extra kit.

I was just wondering if someone would be so kind as to point out some easy beginners targets for me to try to get my hand in given the time of year and the following equipment.

I have the following equipment:

Celestron C8 CST on a CG5 GOTO mount.

Canon EOS 1000D camera.

I have no focal reducer or filters that would help.  Skies around me are medium to low light pollution, and my garden is south facing so my field of view is fairly limited to E/SE/S/SW skies that are quite high.  I was going to try for Orion but A) I have heard it is a poor beginers target due to the high magnitude of the core making everything else poor, and it is fast moving to the west and by the time everything is set up and the skies are clear it is starting to become a rush.

I did a course on processing on the weekend and it really showed up how much I need to plan for targets, so I was hoping for some suggestions for now / the next couple of months so I could start to prepare.

Any help would be much appreciated, especially suggested exposures for any targets.  (Help on why suddenly last night my tracking was out by 45 degrees suddenly and I could not do anything would also be great.  I assume it is to do with daylight savings, but I tried putting the time an hour forward / back and it was still pointed far too vertically, but that is another thread.)

Many thanks

Ryan

[ollypenrice]

The first thing to do is model your scope-chip combination on a map of the sky. Many planetarium software packages allow you to do this including, I think, the free Stellarium. I use SkyMap Pro11 but they all do the same job. You can then see which targets will fit on your chip and how to orientate the camera. (If you have enough field of view to do so, orientate your chip along the lines of RA and Dec for repeatability. Just slew during a 3 or 4 sec exposure and see how the star trails are aligned. Adjust as necessary.)

The DSLR will be slow in your scope so long exposures would be best, but you don't mention autoguiding so you'll need to keep them short. (Your webcam can be used for guiding with the aid of a few accessories from Shoestring Astronomy. I haven't done this so someone else will doubtless take you through it.)

We are entering 'galaxy season' as the Milky Way lies down on the western horizon and we see out of it to distant targets. But why not start with some clusters to get the hang of it?

Olly

[ryandsimmons]

I do like the idea of clusters.  I was going to aim for M35/36/37 (I think those are the 3 bright ones?) as they are stunning visually and I thought they would be great for starting shots, but the delays in getting the T-Ring delivered ruined those plans.

Many thanks for the advice on the guide scope idea with a webcam, I will look into that.  Possibly I can connect it to the finderscope.

[jarlaxle2k5]

I do like the idea of clusters.  I was going to aim for M35/36/37 (I think those are the 3 bright ones?) as they are stunning visually and I thought they would be great for starting shots, but the delays in getting the T-Ring delivered ruined those plans.

Many thanks for the advice on the guide scope idea with a webcam, I will look into that.  Possibly I can connect it to the finderscope.

Hello there

I did M35 and M37 and they are both beautiful clusters.

For M35 i suggest you to point the goto to NGC2158 because in my canon 1100D i couldn't fit both the clusters.

It is the little globe of stars just beside M35, it will make your picture more effective

Enjoy

[todd8137]

Hi this may be some use to you. Select your scope camera ect

http://www.12dstring.me.uk/fov.htm

And a screen shotyou can select targets from the menu and it will give you a pic of what you will get hope it helps

Pat

[Leveye]

Go for the Whirlpool or Leo triplet.

[ryandsimmons]

Cheers for the link G3IV3-V -TAG, very useful.

And thanks Leveye for the suggestions.  I may try for the Whirlpool, though that does run slightly north and hence above my house so I would need to be at the bottom of the garden and I may have heat haze issues.

Is there anything easy to aim for in the southern skies?

[edjrgibbs]

Hi

If you PM me your email address I can Dropbox you my list of targets by month. It's basic but I find it fairly useful.

Ed

[todd8137]

Hi a no it sounds boring. But have a go at the moon single subs take one at a time ,it will get you used to the settings on the camera really quickly as,already suggested use stelarium and look at targets in the south that you can see and then use the other to see,what it will look like on your camera

It's really galaxy season this time of year

Pat

[proflight2000]

The M13 is a beauty to grab, also have a look at the double cluster, an immense amount of stars that would fill a picture beautifully.