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Imaging with a Star Adventurer


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8 hours ago, Nova2000 said:

Hi sorry this is off topic question. Which flattner do you use with the 72ed?didn't wanna start a new thread 

I use the field flattener for the 72ED, which is actually the 80ED FF with an adapter. Got it here: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/pro-series/skywatcher-85x-reducerflattener-for-evostar-72ed-pro.html

5 hours ago, Nerf_Caching said:

Do you use guiding with the star adventurer? I'm asking because you have got the exact same setup as I do, minus the astro-mod to the 650d!

No I don’t use auto guiding. I can do 2 minute subs with this setup with no guiding. I have an HEQ5 for more serious stuff but I don’t actually have any auto guiding equipment at the moment!

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12 hours ago, AstroExploring said:

No I don’t use auto guiding. I can do 2 minute subs with this setup with no guiding. I have an HEQ5 for more serious stuff but I don’t actually have any auto guiding equipment at the moment!

Ah cool! I've only taken my rig out a few times but this is what I've done so far. All of them are composed of 30-second subs.  Picture of my rig included. M45: 38 minutes, M31: 9 minutes, Flame and Horsehead: 1 hour.

M45 Pleiades.png

Flame and Horsehead Nebula.png

M31 Andromeda Galaxy.png

 

Screenshot 2020-02-23 at 11.35.15 AM.png

Edited by Nerf_Caching
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Went out to a dark site yesterday evening and managed these 2 pictures with my star adventurer mini, Canon 1200Da and Sigma 70-200 f2.8

First one was a widefield view of the orian cloud complex. Stacked about 50 x 60s images ISO800 @135mm F/4

2072970021_M42135mmprocessed_rez.thumb.jpg.7c01fcebfee8d387d9cfae21cea54aff.jpg

 

Second target of the night was the Rosette Nebula. This time I stacked 64 x 75s images ISO800 @135mm F/4

749413605_Rosetterez.thumb.jpg.fd77012835df0582156d74dc4c6b51d4.jpg

 

Cheers

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18 minutes ago, Sidecontrol said:

What are you using to guide your skywatcher star adventurer? 

Hi, sorry to step in here, but I also use guiding with my Star Adventurer and I've found it quite effective.

I use PHD2, but of course with this mount you can guide in RA only so the configuration needs to be adjusted accordingly to turn Dec guiding off. 

If you get a good Polar Alignment (I use the Polemaster) then I find the Dec drift is not too bad.

If you have a guide scope/camera it is certainly worth trying in my opinion.

Cheers!

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1 hour ago, daemon said:

Hi, sorry to step in here, but I also use guiding with my Star Adventurer and I've found it quite effective.

I use PHD2, but of course with this mount you can guide in RA only so the configuration needs to be adjusted accordingly to turn Dec guiding off. 

If you get a good Polar Alignment (I use the Polemaster) then I find the Dec drift is not too bad.

If you have a guide scope/camera it is certainly worth trying in my opinion.

Cheers!

Thanks for the input, I would be looking for something that didn't require being hooked up to a laptop?

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4 minutes ago, Sidecontrol said:

Thanks for the input, I would be looking for something that didn't require being hooked up to a laptop?

So guiding may not be for you. If you are imaging with a DSLR then consider an intervalometer. I picked one up for around £20 and they are great for automating imaging sessions without a laptop. 

But you may have to rely on good tracking from the mount for decent exposure times if not guiding. For this I really recommend getting your polar alignment as good as possible. 

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1 hour ago, daemon said:

So guiding may not be for you. If you are imaging with a DSLR then consider an intervalometer. I picked one up for around £20 and they are great for automating imaging sessions without a laptop. 

But you may have to rely on good tracking from the mount for decent exposure times if not guiding. For this I really recommend getting your polar alignment as good as possible. 

My camera has built in intervalometer, and have been using that, managed 60s at 135mm sunday night, stars look better compared to when using my Move shoot move tracker.  So that's a good sign haha. 

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On 23/02/2020 at 16:36, Snooze said:

Went out to a dark site yesterday evening and managed these 2 pictures with my star adventurer mini, Canon 1200Da and Sigma 70-200 f2.8

First one was a widefield view of the orian cloud complex. Stacked about 50 x 60s images ISO800 @135mm F/4

2072970021_M42135mmprocessed_rez.thumb.jpg.7c01fcebfee8d387d9cfae21cea54aff.jpg

 

Second target of the night was the Rosette Nebula. This time I stacked 64 x 75s images ISO800 @135mm F/4

749413605_Rosetterez.thumb.jpg.fd77012835df0582156d74dc4c6b51d4.jpg

 

Cheers

Nice, how do you find the sigma 70-200 f2.8 for imaging? I've heard mixed reports but the price of these used compared with the canon equivalent makes them hard to ignore. 

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1 hour ago, Stuf1978 said:

Nice, how do you find the sigma 70-200 f2.8 for imaging? I've heard mixed reports but the price of these used compared with the canon equivalent makes them hard to ignore. 

Thanks :)

 

The Sigma 70-200 is not too bad but it's not the best lens ever either. It is certainly a huge upgrade over my sigma 70-300 f/4 - f/5.6.  I find that stars are little bit bloated with my copy of the lens and it can be hard to get good/perfect focus even with a bahtinov mask. Also there is some coma at the edges even at f/4. There is very little CA andIMO images are quite sharp if you manage to get focus right at f/4. I've seen canon versions of the lens that had worst CA than the sigma.

Also I got mine at a bargain price of 150€ (used without autofocus) so I very happy with how it performs :D .

Cheers,

Alex

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2 hours ago, Stuf1978 said:

Orions belt using a star adventurer, modded 450d and a sigma 150mm f2.8 macro lens. About 2.5 hours exposure from my bortle 8 garden. 

Autosave3 (1).jpg

Very nice. I have only managed a couple of sessions on the orion nebula since getting my star adventurer. I would be out all the time if it was not for this persistant rain and very windy condions.  Its looking like Monday night is nice.and clear plus a lot less wind. So hopefully i can get out and improve on the last session of about 35 subs of 60s. Hopeing to do the same amount of subs but 120s exposure this time so i can do a comparison. Fingers crossed for the clear skies 😀

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1 hour ago, Snooze said:

Thanks :)

 

The Sigma 70-200 is not too bad but it's not the best lens ever either. It is certainly a huge upgrade over my sigma 70-300 f/4 - f/5.6.  I find that stars are little bit bloated with my copy of the lens and it can be hard to get good/perfect focus even with a bahtinov mask. Also there is some coma at the edges even at f/4. There is very little CA andIMO images are quite sharp if you manage to get focus right at f/4. I've seen canon versions of the lens that had worst CA than the sigma.

Also I got mine at a bargain price of 150€ (used without autofocus) so I very happy with how it performs :D .

Cheers,

Alex

For 150 euros it was definitely worth a shot, I've seen some earlier copies of the lens go for similar sorts of money and that's why I've been tempted. 

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58 minutes ago, Chefgage said:

Very nice. I have only managed a couple of sessions on the orion nebula since getting my star adventurer. I would be out all the time if it was not for this persistant rain and very windy condions.  Its looking like Monday night is nice.and clear plus a lot less wind. So hopefully i can get out and improve on the last session of about 35 subs of 60s. Hopeing to do the same amount of subs but 120s exposure this time so i can do a comparison. Fingers crossed for the clear skies 😀

Thanks, yeah this winter has been a bit of a write off for astrophotography. Good luck with the next session.

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1 hour ago, Stuf1978 said:

Thanks, yeah this winter has been a bit of a write off for astrophotography. Good luck with the next session.

Keeping a close eye on both of the weather apps i use. Keeping my fingers crossed etc.. 😀.  Hopefully all will be good as i am off work the Monday and Tuesday so i can get set up earlier and enjoy a few beers whilst sat out taking many subs.

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43 minutes ago, Chefgage said:

Keeping a close eye on both of the weather apps i use. Keeping my fingers crossed etc.. 😀.  Hopefully all will be good as i am off work the Monday and Tuesday so i can get set up earlier and enjoy a few beers whilst sat out taking many subs.

Yeah clear outside looks half promising.  I'll keep my fingers crossed for you 👍

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Does anyone guide with the star adventurer? And if so how long can you expose and what scope/lense do you use ? I am thinking of a nice quick light weight and effective setup in the future which I can just easily take out and do some imaging .

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10 hours ago, Nova2000 said:

Does anyone guide with the star adventurer? And if so how long can you expose and what scope/lense do you use ? I am thinking of a nice quick light weight and effective setup in the future which I can just easily take out and do some imaging .

I have guided several times with the SA and have had some good results. I think it can be effective.

Of course it is only possible to guide in RA as the motor only drives in that axis. Because of that it is important to get your polar alignment as good as possible. I use a Polemaster so I have been able to get it quite accurate. I have found that with a good PA the DEC drift can be quite small.

In terms of equipment I use a Skywatcher ED72 with a Nikon D5300 DSLR mostly. Sometimes I use the D5300 on its own with a 200mm prime lens.

Both setups are quite light - that is the reason I chose them. In terms of exposure time I am still experimenting, but with a good alignment then I would suggest 2-3 minutes would be achievable. However, depending on setup/camera, more subs with shorter exposure time may be better.

All in all I think the Star Adventurer is a fantastic solution for grab and go astrophotography.

Clear skies!

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23 hours ago, Nova2000 said:

Does anyone guide with the star adventurer? And if so how long can you expose and what scope/lense do you use ? I am thinking of a nice quick light weight and effective setup in the future which I can just easily take out and do some imaging .

I guide the star adventurer when I use the 72ED and it's pretty effective. I've managed subs up to 5 minutes with nicely rounded stars (haven't tried longer subs yet). As daemon indicated good polar alignment is required and I use Sharcap for that 😁

Here's my set up: 

20200204_195145.jpg

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8 hours ago, Stuf1978 said:

I guide the star adventurer when I use the 72ED and it's pretty effective. I've managed subs up to 5 minutes with nicely rounded stars (haven't tried longer subs yet). As daemon indicated good polar alignment is required and I use Sharcap for that 😁

Here's my set up: 

20200204_195145.jpg

Interesting that you mount an RDF on your scope. I am planning to do the same but with a skywatcher 6x30 finderscope. Does it affect your balance at all?

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2 hours ago, Nerf_Caching said:

Interesting that you mount an RDF on your scope. I am planning to do the same but with a skywatcher 6x30 finderscope. Does it affect your balance at all?

Not at all, the RDF doesn't weigh much and I need something to get roughly on target. Plus in the configuration shown the counterweight is below the guidescope in order to achieve balance, so there is still loads of room to move it about if needed 😃

Edited by Stuf1978
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My latest with the Star Adventurer.

Never imaged this area before, interesting stuff up there. I'd wish I had a bigger scope to make some close ups.

image and equipment info:

Nikon d90(mod)TS72 APO + TS72flat

settings: 432mm, f6, iso800, 360min

guiding:ZWO asi120mcsTS 50mm guidescope

Tracking: Skywatcher Star Adventurer

software:

guiding: phd2

Stacking: Deepskystacker 4.2.2

Processing: Adobe Photoshop CC, automated action set, GradientXterminator, Nik software, HLVG

149240822_christmasstree6hrs2.thumb.jpg.f9978f660890146b100c78953dfe3069.jpg

 

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