First shot of the moon with my new scope

[WonderStar]

Good morning all :-)

At last the clouds have cleared which meant only one thing, time to try out my new scope!

I'm a complete amateur and Ive only been doing this since the turn of the year so I'm pleased with my attempt but I want to take it a step further and shoot Jupiter.

Before I go any further this is my setup. Skywatcher Evostar 80ED 80ED DS-Pro OTA on a standard EQ mount (I know, the mount is more important than the scope. Upgrading very soon ;-) ) A Canon 600d, unmodded.

So this shot was at prime focus but I would like to try eyepiece projection. Ive tried with a barlow but cant get the moon into focus so my question is what do I need to achieve focus.

Thanks guys, this is a great place to learn :-)

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Very nice first shot. I prefer the use of a Barlow or tele-centric lens (like the TV PowerMates) to using EP projection. Not sure why you cannot get focus. Can you tell us at what end the image is sharpest (or least blurry)? If the best image is found with the focusing tube wound inwards, you probably need a different Barlow. If it occurs when the focuser is fully extended (which I expect), you may need an extension tube.

[Grotemobile]

Very nice. I think U

have done well.

 

Steve.

[WonderStar]

5 minutes ago, michael.h.f.wilkinson said:

Very nice first shot. I prefer the use of a Barlow or tele-centric lens (like the TV PowerMates) to using EP projection. Not sure why you cannot get focus. Can you tell us at what end the image is sharpest (or least blurry)? If the best image is found with the focusing tube wound inwards, you probably need a different Barlow. If it occurs when the focuser is fully extended (which I expect), you may need an extension tube.

Thanks for the quick reply :-) Ok, so with the moon the whole image is just a blur and with Jupiter it's a blurred white disc of of light. The focus tube is fully extended :-)

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

6 minutes ago, WonderStar said:

Thanks for the quick reply :-) Ok, so with the moon the whole image is just a blur and with Jupiter it's a blurred white disc of of light. The focus tube is fully extended :-)

You probably need extension tubes, in that case

[WonderStar]

44 minutes ago, michael.h.f.wilkinson said:

You probably need extension tubes, in that case

Any idea what length I need? I already have a Celestron barlow T-adapter. Thanks for your help

Steve

[WonderStar]

& just to add, when I look at Jupiter it is very bright but also tiny, i mean pea sized, I can see the four moons. So would a barlow increase the image size of the planet? Sorry, I'm a complete beginner so no laughing lol ;-)

[Grotemobile]

6 hours ago, WonderStar said:

& just to add, when I look at Jupiter it is very bright but also tiny, i mean pea sized, I can see the four moons. So would a barlow increase the image size of the planet? Sorry, I'm a complete beginner so no laughing lol ;-)

Yes it sure would. This one is pretty good.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/baader-planetarium/baader-classic-q-225x-barlow.html#

 

Steve.

[WonderStar]

3 hours ago, Grotemobile said:

Yes it sure would. This one is pretty good.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/baader-planetarium/baader-classic-q-225x-barlow.html#

 

Steve.

Thanks Steve, much appreciated. In the meantime I've  managed to 'bodge' something up using the celestron universal barlow and a cheap plastic 3x barlow with lens removed as my extension tube. I'm now able to reach focus. This is the result  Pretty chuffed if I'm honest :-)

[The Admiral]

Yes that's a nice image, congrats.

I found that using the Celstron X-Cel x2 Barlow gave me a cr*p image of the moon, with chromatic aberration and fall off in definition at the edges. I get much better results straight through. May be I would need to tinker with spacings, but it has rather made me wary of buying another for imaging. Unless it's a Televue of course £££!

Ian

[WonderStar]

Thanks Ian, well I've ordered the Baader barlow so let's see what happens :-)