Equipment advice and settings for a complete novice!

[BeerGutGazer]

Hi all and apologies in advance if i am posting this in the incorrect forum (first post).

I'm new to astronomy, but I've been a longtime observer from a distance...so to speak. I have recently inherited a Celestron NexStar 127 telescope along with a Nikon DSLR 3300 camera. I have several thousand questions to ask, but ill try to make the first post brief so i can at least start to enjoy the scope and camera!

First things first, What is the best option for getting the camera to play nice with the telescope? (I have tried it with the camera attached to the diagonal via a barlow and t-adaptor - image appeared upside down/back to front, I'm guessing that has something to do with the lenses on both camera and scope? 

Is it best to remove the diagonal and just fit the camera direct, or am i missing something?

Secondly, In the day time i have managed to get an image through the camera (local wildlife stuff) on the camera's screen, but in the evening i can't seem to get a reading from the camera? Is there a particular ISO, aperture, exposure setting i need to select? Ideally i just want to take an Image of the moon for starters.

Lastly, if anyone has any other advice that may help, it would be greatly appreciated...

Once again thank you in advance to anyone who can offer any support with anything regarding my setup and future star gazing!

[MARS1960]

I;m new to this too but what i have found so far using just prime focus, (IE: no barlow) is that leaving the diaganol in helps with achieving focus, BUT it's an extra piece of glass that doesnt help the quality of your image.

I bought a couple of extension tubes to solve this problem.

For the moon with your scope using prime focus i would imagine that 1/200s @ ISO 200 would be a good place to start.

If you are imaging something bright like the moon you should be able to see it as long as your scope is actually pointing at it, not as simple as it sounds, especially if you start using a barlow.

Use a low powered eyepiece to make sure the moon is in your FOV and then attach the camera and have play without the barlow to get the hang of things.

Also remember that live view is your best friend, it's a godsend to aiding sharp focus.

[BeerGutGazer]

Thanks for the input thats a great help! Could you explain a little more about live view? I understand pressing the LV button triggers the mode, but do i have to stay on the screen that shows all the information, or do you just alter the settings in that mode? Plus if you stay in that mode, how do you know what the shot will be like?

Thanks again!

[MARS1960]

Sorry i assumed your live mode was similar to mine which has a x5 and x10 mag to help with focus.

However it's still a handy aid on your Nikon for viewing your test shots histogram.

[BeerGutGazer]

Hi, sorry I'm still a little confused about the live view option. When I press the LV button on the camera it goes to a screen with information about aperture, iso etc. It doesn't then allow me to see what the camera/telescope is pointing at?

Is there a way to use live view and still see what you're aiming at, or am I being a bit thick?

Cheers.

[hjw]

The Nexstar 127 has a fairly long focal length (1500mm) and a slow focal ratio (f/11.8). It is also mounted on a AZ mount. Your best targets will be the moon and the planets and they should work just fine. Main problem will be to achieve focus. Live view with zoom is one way to do this: point the scope to a bright star and use live view at the highest possible magnification to minimise the size of the star. Your camera can do this. You might have to refer to the manual. A tool called Bahtinov mask will help enormously. Once focused you can take numerous pictures at full resolution or using the video mode and stack them using for example Registax.

For nebulae and galaxies require much longer exposure times and require a very sturdy equatorial mount and ideally a scope with a shorter focal length and faster f-ratio.

Good luck!

HJ

[MARS1960]

Once you hit the LV button then use the info button, this will change the display options.

[BeerGutGazer]

The Bahtinov sounds interesting. What size would I need for my particular scope? And not to sound silly, but would it need changing if I use different optics such as a Barlow.

Not sure how it works?

Cheers

[MARS1960]

No, the bahtinov fits the other end.

Have a look here.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/bahtinov-focus-masks/starsharp-bahtinov-focus-masks.html

[glowingturnip]

make your own in fact, with a bit of black card - http://astrojargon.net/maskgen.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

I did, and it works perfectly

[BeerGutGazer]

Thanks guys, think I'll buy rather than make, that is when I work out which one I need from the list...haha!

I appreciate everyone's input, thank you!!

Hopefully I'll be able to get some moon time soon with all the recent cloud cover!

And one day soon I might even figure out the tracking stuff and find a planet!