Almost ready - advice needed for the next step

[Mr Spock]

What I know about imaging can be put on a postage stamp and I'm no good at reading stuff. So, what do I do next to get what I want?

Here is my set up:

EQ6 with 80ED and Nikon D7200. There's no more money to be spent so what you see is what there is.

The aim of this setup is to get positional data for comets, so I'm not aiming for the best image quality. What I do need is to get to at least mag 13 - 14 or there abouts. Any advice as to how I acheive this would be welcome.

[knobby]

Comets move at different rate to stars so you'll be limited to short exposures unless you guide on the comet itself.(more money) probably stack several shorter exposures (DSS free) depending on the comet size, a shorter focal length may be better (camera lens Free but short dovetail to attach camera to mount more money)

Oh, and take scope outside ?

Not the greatest advice but the best you've had so far.

[Mr Spock]

Yes, the scope will be outside ?

I will also be using a Sigma 150mm f2.8 for wider views. With no guiding I won't be going above 30s. The idea is to get spot locational data anyway.

[Stargazer33]

23 minutes ago, knobby said:

take scope outside ?

Beat me too it!? Only advice I had.

If you take a series of pictures say 1 minute apart (tracking at sidereal rate) and then turn them into a video wouldn't moving objects such as asteroids/comets show up as the stars should remain motionless. Anything moving in the frames could therefore be a comet. Or Planet X of course! ?

[happy-kat]

Comets show up easier in my few comet goes and are relatively easy to stack in DSS using the comet feature, that was a barndoor mount and 50mm lens. I even picked up an asteroid taking 20 or so images with a 50mm lens and 10 second exposures on a static tripod. I found the asteroid on the images when I looked through them as it's movement was quite noticeable.

Don't be afraid to have a go, point device in direction of comet/asteroid and take images. Have a look at comet images and see what people did, had they guided or had they just used sidereal rate and how long generally were the exposure lengths. Your camera lens sounds great as gives the sky space to pick up the extent of any tail.

Comet lovejoy had lots of members imaging it and it has a spectator tail.

[Pompey Monkey]

Screw the toe protector back onto the counterweight bar asap!

Really! ?

[Alien 13]

A Samyang 135mm f/2 would probably be your best friend for this type of work..

Alan

[Helen]

Just budget 25 Euro for a licence for astrometrica to do the stacking and measuring for you ?   I'm happy to talk you through this.

Helen