Which GoTo Mount for Deep sky photography

[nomi]

Hi,

I am new to all this. Very interested in astrophotography. Looking to buy a goto system and a good cheap small refractor telescope.

my question is..with the goto system, do I have to use a laptop to control it or NOT. Very sorry about the stupid question. I have done a bit or research, but still not sure.

[vlaiv]

Hi and welcome to SGL.

With goto mount you don't need a lap top to control the mount. Mount has hand controller that you can use to select object and tell mount to go to it and track it. Most hand controllers have database of objects, but you can also go-to object not in your database by simply entering celestial coordinates in your hand controller.

Such goto mount can also be controlled via lap top. In this instance lap top plays a role of hand controller, but usually more powerful. For this you need suitable cable to connect mount to computer - most are some sort of serial to usb cable.

There are even mounts that work via wifi connection - and are usually controlled via smartphone or tablet. These can also be connected to either hand controller or computer via regular cable (computer can also connect via wifi same as smartphone or tablet).

One thing that you will need lap top for, at least in most cases, is guiding the mount in long exposure photography. There are stand alone autoguider devices, that don't require laptop, but people often prefer guiding cameras controlled via lap top.

[kendg]

You don't need a laptop or desktop computer for Astrophotography BUT

With no computer

          you lose plate solving,

          you limit yourself  to DSLR (mainly) cameras

          you lose the ability to do sequences of exposures and/or targets

and lots of other nice to be able to do things

[Carbon Brush]

Hello Nomi.

Welcome to SGL. The best advice is do not rush. Take your time to read posts in the forum and ask lots of questions.

To hold any reasonable scope & the bits to go with it you are looking at an EQ5 size mount as an absolute minimum.
But really HEQ5 is going to be better. EQ6 mounts are a big lump to carry outside.

You talked about buying a refractor. Cheap and good usually do not go together.
You are looking for something with good chromatic aberration for photography.

A good starting point (in my opinion anyway) is a DSLR with a 135mm/200mm lens on an EQ5.
Or a small mount aimed at cameras.
This will give pleasing results for not too much expense.

The EQ5 mount will be good for any scope (visual not photo) up an 8" reflector sort of size.
This means the mount is not tied to your photos.
Some of the camera mounts are not that good with scope choice.

Astrophotography can be a money pit. Give it a try at moderate cost first, then move up the cost and complexity.

Keep asking and enjoy the journey.

David.

 

 

[Louis D]

Make sure to get an equatorial goto mount, not an alt-az goto mount.  The latter would require an equatorial wedge for long exposures, and most alt-az mounts today don't do well on them.  Alternatively, you'd have to have a field derotator for the camera, and they're not cheap.

[malc-c]

On 14/02/2019 at 15:30, nomi said:

Hi,

I am new to all this. Very interested in astrophotography. Looking to buy a goto system and a good cheap small refractor telescope.

my question is..with the goto system, do I have to use a laptop to control it or NOT. Very sorry about the stupid question. I have done a bit or research, but still not sure.

 

Astrophotography and cheap are generally seldom used together....

The mount is really the key to getting good astrophotography.  Generally when people have asked similar questions in the past the mount most people suggest as being the "entry" level mount is the HEQ5 pro goto.  You don't need a laptop as the mount comes with a hand held controller with built in database of subjects.  

Again, you mention "cheap" telescope, but really having a decent telescope will dictate how well your images come out.   There are lots of posts and guides on getting into this field and I;m sure if you sat down with a cuppa and used the search function to look up the old posts it will help with the research.  But basic questions are:

Is the scope going to be a permanent set up in your garden, or are you going mobile

What subjects are you hoping to photograph.  Imaging the Moon and planets required a different technique and equipment than  taking images of deep sky objects.

What's your realistic budget.  Imaging isn't cheap, at one end of the scale you can invest £10,000 for an observatory based setup, but even for a "basic" deepsky setup with a DSLR, you could be looking at £1500 - £2000 just to get started.

 

Yes there are those who have used basic equipment, and got reasonable results for around £500 (Explorer 150 on a EQ3 mount and an old canon 350D for example) but often these are people who have lots of experience and patience.  But where long guided exposures for faint deepsky objects are required, the mount isn't up to the job.

With regards to a laptop or PC.  It makes the process of taking 20 or 30 images less of a headache.  It makes guiding the telescope a lot simpler, and it makes targeting as simple as right clicking on a starmap.  Most of the software is free, or in the case of APT or BYEOS, very affordable ( $35/$50 USD for BYEOS and 19 Euro for APT - both have free trials).  Interfaces to the scope and camera can be made or purchased (typically £35 for a EQDIR cable)

 

Hope that helps

[happy-kat]

What camera and lenses, if any, do you already own?