Looking for a bit of help please guys!

[generic]

Firstly, sorry if I'm posting in the wrong section! 

My partner got me a Celestron Astromaster 130 for christmas and I love it! I've always been interested in space and always been interested in photography so I decided to combine the two! 

I purchased a T ring adapter for my Canon 600D and attached that to the x2 Barlow lens, i know it's a fixed focal length but is there any way I can change it so I can get all of the moon in shot? Or anything I can buy so I have the ability to zoom or change focal lengths? 

I'm also very interested to learn how to take photos of galaxies and deep space in general. I've read that the scope I have is no good for this but I tried anyway and can't get anything other than a black picture no matter what! 

What scope would you guys suggest that would be good for photographing deep space? Or would buying a zoom lens for my camera instead of an extra scope be an option?

Here's a single shot of the moon I took on new years eve with my current set up 

I tried to sharpen it up a bit in light room, any tips for making it look less soft on the top and the right? 

Any help would be much appreciated, thanks! 

[baggywrinkle]

Try without the barlow and attach directly to the focuser.

I have the Baader zoom and though it is good for visual work if does not maintain sharpness over the whole FOV when used with a camera.

Re focusing if you have live view and can magnify the display use that to focus and use the terminator as the best sharpness can be more easily achies there. Then lock the focuser to prevent it shifting.

Use a lower exposure time, you can tweek an under exposed image but not an over exposed image.

[PeterCPC]

Hi

To be able to take images of DSOs you must have a tracking or GOTO equitorial mount because the exposures have to be so long. Planetary imaging like the moon is best done by taking short video clips and then stacking them in AS!2 or Registax. You can use fairly simple web cams for this.

Peter

[Owmuchonomy]

Hi generic. Firstly well done on the moon image. That is a very good first go. Secondly if you want to progress to deep sky images then that is much more demanding of your kit, time and wallet. I wouldn't say your scope is wrong but your mount is the weak spot right now. Deep sky imaging requires a quality EQ mount accurately driven in RA and preferably Dec. A number of further accessories will be required too. You can certainly give it a go with your mount driven in RA but you may not be too happy with the results. Try a bright object first such as M45 or M42, at ISO 800 and 20 to 30 seconds exposure taken with camera directly attached to the focuser. You could do a lot worse than buy the book Making Every Photon Count and read it thoroughly before parting with more cash. It is available from FLO, the Sponsors of this site.

[brantuk]

That's a smashing shot for a first attempt at AP  

However a dslr is not the best tool for solar system objects and is far better suited to the deep sky. For planets/moon/sun you really need a webcam (or possibly use video mode with the dslr). Stack several frames together for sharper images.

I'd recommend you get "Making Every Photon Count" by Steve Richards. It's the astrophotographer's bible and will take you through all the techniques and equipment required from elementary setups like yours, through to advanced techniques and gear for dso imaging. It's very easy to read and covers everything you need to know.

Welcome to the forum!

[ronin]

For you moon remove the barlow and try to get the DSLR in close enough to get the image on the sensor - you may not be able to.

For DSO imaging then it is a different ball game.

Basic requirements are:
Motor driven EQ mount, and a reasonably solid EQ mount, a goto is better.

Scope - usually a start is the 130PDS for a 70mm ED refractor.

DSLR - you have.

Remote timer to get long exposures and multiple exposures.

Assorted adaptors.

You can go for: EQ5 + motors, scope as above, DSLR and timer and give it a go. You will get a result, perhaps not what you were expecting but a result. In simple terms you take say ten 60 second exposures and stack them. Remember the sky is rotating so you need the rotate the scope+camera accordingly. Alt/Az is no good it has to be equitorial.

Possible problem is if you go fo a next step.

Not sure what the next step in reflector line is but in refractor it would be something like a WO GTF-81 (£1000).

That is heavier so a bigger mount should be considered - HEQ5 Pro.

If you went for guiding then certainly a bigger mount and goto is a requirement of guiding.

DSLR would have to go for a dedicated astro ccd - say Atik 450 at £1400, the smaller 420 is £900.

So everything has been changed, the second step is close to £4000+

The "Lets try it" first step can be £800-1000.

So there is a big jump from 1 to 2.

[Mick J]

 Or would buying a zoom lens for my camera instead of an extra scope be an option?

Possibly have a look in the Widefield Imaging section, look at the equipment used and settings to capture, you may already have that equipment, a prime lens may be better than a zoom, you can stitch sections of the moon into a whole, that comet needs your attention for the next few weeks.  Lots to try, have fun.

Same looking at captures in the other sections, equipment & settings, I know for now a lot will be gobbleiegook but the learning curve for this stuff is steep.

[Tommohawk]

Hi and welcome to the forum - I'd say your first photo is a very good start.

A couple of things: the moon is bright and large, so is an excellent first target to get used to your kit. In fact, as you've discovered, its too large for your set up. The barlow is effectively magnifying everything by 2, so you dont need that for the moon. Your DSLR has loads of pixels, so dont worry if the frame is only half full.

If you dont have Stellarium, I'd advise downloading this - its brilliant. It shows you where all the planets, the moon, and DSOs are, and you can check their posotiions on differnt dates in the future. Moreover, you can load your telescope and camera details so that the display shows exactly what size the image will be.

Other subjects will be either small eg planets, or faint ie nebulae and galaxies. (Deep sky objects or DSOs)

Planets: You should expect to see Jupiter and Saturn and some of their moons with your scope, but even with the barlow the image will be very small. Imaging will be challenging due to the lack of magnification.

DSOs: you'd be surprised how large some DSOs are. M31 Andromeda galaxy is huge - it has a larger angular size than the moon. BUT, and its a big but, its faint. You'll see it OK with your scope but to photograph requires long exposures. You can probably get something by using say ISO 1600 for maybe 10seconds.

The mount is the issue here - not sure what you have but it wants to be equatorial, so it tracks the path of the subject, and ideally it needs to be driven. Even then, for really long exposures the drive mecahansim needs additional guiding. But thats for the future. Theres loads to be going on with, so just enjoy it and keep your fingers crossed for clear nights.

Final point - however much you read up there always something more to learn... not such a bad thing, and however long you spend at your scope theres always something new to see. Have fun. 

[Tommohawk]

By way of encouragement, I shot this with my first scope, a Skywatcher 150 not so different to yours which had motor drive but no guiding. I was off centre so the stars arent very round, and I didnt know about using RAW format so its done as a JPEG, and the colour isnt great. But its one of my favourite images - M82 Cigar galaxy with supernova on the right side.

[nigelbeaumont]

A DSLR with telephoto lense of about 200 mm focal length would be a good start for the larger brighter DSOs (eg Orion Nebula, the Double Cluster etc) - you could get an old pre-digital manual focus lense off eBay for £30 or so plus another £5 for an adaptor to fit your camera (old ones are easier to accurately focus than using a modern autofocus one in manual mode, use LiveView rather than the viewfinder to focus and zoom in on a bright star). You should be able to crank up the ISO to 1600 or higher and take 2 to 3 second exposures without visible star trailing - take 30 to 40 shots and then use Deep Sky Stacker (Windows freeware) to combine them and something such as Gimp (also freeware) to process the image. But get a copy of 'Making Every Photon Count' ASAP, it is an excellent quick start for astrophotography

[LunarNight]

So here's a really stupid question that has been really bothering me... is the north star actually in the north? I have easy found ursa major and minor, and know that the north star is the tip of ursa minor, but these constellations are in the Southeast when I look... and I can find a star that I believe to be polaris but it's nowhere near the north. In fact because of very bad light pollution, both the north and west have too much light from a nearby major road. So I only have half a sky to observe

[LunarNight]

And here's another one... how in the heck are you guys making "sketches" of the images? Someone told me to do that for Jupiter and all I thought was how in the heck am I supposed to draw in the dark? I am having buyers remorse about the telescope too. There are so many more things to owning one than I thought. I've already engaged in the battle of the dew which I had no idea of... I have a makeshift dew shield made out of my pink blanket wrapped around it. Looks pathetic but it works. And now sketches, bad light pollution, I think my EPs are Rubbish, it's so cold here (in the teens now) and UGHHH.

[Tommohawk]

Polaris in the South east?? Something not quite right there! You need to sort that out if you're going to track anything. And yes its cold at night in winter - let me know if you find a fix for that.

Theres a lot to learn, but then if there wasn't you'd be bored on day 1.

[Scorpius]

So here's a really stupid question that has been really bothering me... is the north star actually in the north? I have easy found ursa major and minor, and know that the north star is the tip of ursa minor, but these constellations are in the Southeast when I look... and I can find a star that I believe to be polaris but it's nowhere near the north. In fact because of very bad light pollution, both the north and west have too much light from a nearby major road. So I only have half a sky to observe

sk-pol4.bmp

[generic]

Thank you all for the replies! It looks like there's a lot to learn! 

In regards to not using the barlow with my current set up, the T ring thread is a few millimeters too big to attach directly to the focuser on my scope! Is there another T ring or anything similar I should look out for?

A few people mentioned getting the book 'Make Every Photon Count' I'm going to see if it's in my local library, if not I shall purchase it quite soon! 

I believe my scope is a reflector scope, is this the best type of scope for DSO's or would a refractor be my best bet? 

I purchased a Microsoft LifeCam HD 3000 a few days a go but I have absolutely no idea how to modify it.

[LunarNight]

Generic, I'm sorry to keep posting under your post but for some lame reason I can't create my own. Anywho, Tommohawk I figured out my problem. My house faces north and I'm in the backyard. After downloading a compass app I confirmed my suspicions.... Polaris is not visible from any angle besides an uneven grassy corner in my backyard which is not an option right now. I would have to build a platform. And I can't be in the front yard because there are street lamps and Polaris happens to be right by a street lamp making it impossible to see any nearby stars. I found Polaris thanks to my compass app and Google Star Maps (pretty cool app).

So what now? My telescope is not portable so I won't be traveling with it and I can't align with polaris...

[Mick J]

Thank you all for the replies! It looks like there's a lot to learn! 

In regards to not using the barlow with my current set up, the T ring thread is a few millimeters too big to attach directly to the focuser on my scope! Is there another T ring or anything similar I should look out for?

A few people mentioned getting the book 'Make Every Photon Count' I'm going to see if it's in my local library, if not I shall purchase it quite soon! 

I believe my scope is a reflector scope, is this the best type of scope for DSO's or would a refractor be my best bet? 

I purchased a Microsoft LifeCam HD 3000 a few days a go but I have absolutely no idea how to modify it.

Not sure about the T ring Generic, perhaps start a new thread,  for deep sharp good DSO images the mount soon becomes the important thing and may cost more than the telescope.  Tracking stars across the sky needs a motorised mount to allow longer exposure times,  adding guiding to the tracking improves again this can be an additional scope with a simple camera tweeking the tracking via software. The options and learning curve is steep and it's all to easy to spend money.  I don't have  'Make Every Photon Count' but do think it would be a good start for you.

Lifecam HD 3000 looks an easy mod, google finds a few good hits.

[graemlourens]

Something experienced when shooting my first moonshots with a DSLR, was when taking the image, the mirror flips up right before the exposure and makes a tremendous shake on the mount (if you don't have some very crazy heave mount)

I got rid of this by setting a 'mirror delay' (but i don't know if you're camera has got that feature) of around 2 seconds (if you're making pictures), so the mirror flips up 2 seconds earlier, then does nothing for 2 seconds, and then only exposes the sensor, giving the mount time to stablize.

If you're making video you don't have this problem and would probably be better in any case and then stack it.

Strange for me: you've got the same problem as i have, the top edge is more out of focus in relation to the lower edge, never found out why this is the case in my setup.

Kind regards, Graem