Celestron NexStar 6SE - best way forward for imaging

[Danielle]

Hi, complete beginner here.
I’ve just bought the Celestron NexStar 6SE. Once we become acquainted, I’d like to have a go at Astro imaging.
My camera is a Nikon D70s.
Can anyone point me in the right direction. What are my options?
Thanks.

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi @Danielle and welcome to SGL. 

Firstly what do you intend to image? - lunar and planetary should be very good for an SCT. For galaxies and DSO's you will need the Celestron field flattener/focal reducer, a.k.a. FF/FR. (Other brands do exist). This will bring the 'scope down from f/10 to f/6.3, therefore shortening the exposure time by about one-third. Your mount will need to polar aligned for longer exposures.

Secondly do you have a T-ring? - this is what couples/connects the camera to the back of the 'scope, along with a nosepiece adaptor. Depending on whether your are going prime focus you will use the 'scope as a lens only, or if afocal you will need an eyepiece projection unit a.k.a. EPU.

I myself have a Celestron C6/SCT-xlt; (and two other 'scopes); Nikon D40x & D80, have the parts/accessories as above, but not net attempted anything serious. Also my mounts are manual alt-az.

Other more experienced astro-imagers will be able to answer and advise in greater detail. 

Edited July 17, 2020 by Philip R

[Danielle]

Thank you🪐

[Cosmic Geoff]

This would be a good outfit for having a go at planetary imaging - preferably with a dedicated planetary video camera and processing the results with stacking software.

OTOH, for deep space astrophotography the scope and particularly the mount are not well suited for this, and beyond having a dabble to see what you can achieve, you should think of buying something else.  The book "Making Every Photon Count" (available from forum sponsor FLO) is recommended as the standard reference.

If you look in the imaging sections of this forum, you will see what kit is being used.

[happy-kat]

Whilst not ideal it is the setup you have so have a play.

This thread is about imaging with your style of mount, a mount that tracks left right up down and not equatorial.  This movement is what curtains the capabilities as whilst your mount is tracking the object and keeping it in the field of view, the target is rotating and this becomes evident if the exposure is too long with elongated stars. You will always have to crop the image edge as field rotation will show there even if the centre is kept neat stars. Stacking using kappa-sigma clipping can help keep slightly off star shapes neater

Have a go, and you could use instead just your camera and a camera lens as this will be far less demanding then a long focal length telescope when imaging with the SE mount.

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/228101-the-no-eq-dso-challenge