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Good scopes for imaging Galaxies and clusters?


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Hi all,

I am thinking of investing in a scope that will enable me to get up close and personal with galaxies, globular clusters and the like.

I currently have a Star 71 which is brilliant, great quality and easy to to use. I also have a 150 PDS which is good for mid range and gives good results, but is fiddly and awkward in use. So I'm not sure I want another reflector. 

My mount is an HEQ5 and I image with a crop frame DSLR (Canon 100D). I have no intention of getting another mount or getting into ccd imaging.

I've just started thinking about this really and thought you might be able to suggest a suitable scope. I've been looking at the 8" Edge HD as a poss solution as it's not too heavy and about the right price

I look forward to any suggestions or thoughts you may have.

 

Cheers, stay safe. Tim.

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47 minutes ago, StargeezerTim said:

Hi all,

I am thinking of investing in a scope that will enable me to get up close and personal with galaxies, globular clusters and the like.

I currently have a Star 71 which is brilliant, great quality and easy to to use. I also have a 150 PDS which is good for mid range and gives good results, but is fiddly and awkward in use. So I'm not sure I want another reflector. 

My mount is an HEQ5 and I image with a crop frame DSLR (Canon 100D). I have no intention of getting another mount or getting into ccd imaging.

I've just started thinking about this really and thought you might be able to suggest a suitable scope. I've been looking at the 8" Edge HD as a poss solution as it's not too heavy and about the right price

I look forward to any suggestions or thoughts you may have.

 

Cheers, stay safe. Tim.

Im happy with my Edge 8. 

So far mostly used with hyperstar. But the ability to go to f10 + Barlow. Was that made the decision to get one. Was more investment, than I was planning. But I think it is a scope you can have for a long time. 

But, all the equipment adds up to the total wheight. Long f numbers. usually means better mount, needed.  Haven't tryed imaging at f 10 yet. 

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A cheaper option would be one of the 6inch f9 RC scopes- with a reducer/flattener. You'd have the pption of 1370 mm or 1000mm focal length- with the edge it's 2m or 1.4m with reducer. Both are a tough ask for the HEQ5.

At 1m with your camera and 2xbinning your image scale is around  0.9arcsec per pixel and at 2m it'd be half that.

If you can guide at 0.5arcsec per pixel rms then Imaging at over 1m focal length could give good results- but I'd check my guiding stats before investing in the Edge.

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Funnily enough I moved from WO 132 to an 85 mm as I found the targets I wanted to image were to big for the 132. Unless you are really sure stick with the 71mm

Test your targets with an online program for size/fit on your camera for each possible scope choice.

Derek

Edited by Physopto
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When I posted the last comment I was in bed. I could not for the life of me recall the name of the prog.

 It is Ron Wodaski's CCD Calculator. I have the last version version 1.50

You can also add pictures to it via an external site. This way you can see what any Scope,  Barlow and camera can do. You can add your own data as in focal ratio, aperture, focal length, camera pixel size, array size bin mode, chip size and pick your targets, if they are in the pictures folder.

Derek

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1 hour ago, Physopto said:

When I posted the last comment I was in bed. I could not for the life of me recall the name of the prog.

 It is Ron Wodaski's CCD Calculator. I have the last version version 1.50

You can also add pictures to it via an external site. This way you can see what any Scope,  Barlow and camera can do. You can add your own data as in focal ratio, aperture, focal length, camera pixel size, array size bin mode, chip size and pick your targets, if they are in the pictures folder.

Derek

Thanks Derek. 👍

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I would suggest not going with the SCT because of the F ratio and guiding issues. I would go for a refractor. As regards working out what each combination will produce you can use the resources tab at the top and use the Astronomy Tools provided.

Peter

Edited by PeterCPC
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I have a Celestron C8 and it does well for viewing but then there is always aperture fever or refractor wants in 127mm or bigger . Personally i think a refractor gives sharper viewing and imaging . But then you have size to consider. I’d love to have a good 5” or 6” scope for viewing but my SCT is alot easier to move around . But some galaxies really need that aperture for really good viewing . 

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