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Are we imagers really missing something


astro mick

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Hi Guys and Gals.

While i wait for my new camera to arrive i ventured out last night into a not perfect sky,and only for about 2hrs as clouds were on their way.I decided to do a bit of visual,something i have not done seriously for several years.

Equipped with a good mount scope and eyepiece,it was a fabulous 2hrs.Going back to view double stars which were a big favourite of mine when i was starting out,the colours, the splitting,just the never ending variety of things to see up there.Then there are the clusters of hundreds of stars  packed to-gether makes a glorius site. 

The stars were pin point in the scope,and that gave me a joyus feeling.I did,nt try for deep space objects as the moon did wash out a good proportion of the sky.

I have tried to image with my main scope and view with another,but the pitfalls of imaging often kept me busy,so was,nt always a success.

I will continue to image,but i do realise what i am missing,so hats of to the visual guys,as they are really seeing the sky first hand.

Mick. 

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I've been an observer up until now but just assembling my AP equipment to start on that adventure, so this is an interesting topic to me. 

I plan to attempt observing whilst my AP routines are underway. No doubt I'll need to get to a point where I'm confident enough to leave the AP gear 'doing it's thing', so it's interesting to see your comment about AP keeping you busy.

I hope I can do both but I'll find out soon if that is unrealistic.

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I concentrated on imaging for a few years, with the intention to observe as well, but I didn't end up observing as much as I wanted to! So in my case, I found it hard to do both.

These days I have retired from imaging but still get to have fun processing data (SDO and Hubble and my old data), which is what I enjoyed most about the whole imaging thing anyway.

For some folks it is critical to capture the data but I have to admit I did not enjoy that part of the process much at all. It felt like a pain I went through in order to get some data.

It is stunning though what is possible from the humble back garden and I can understand why it has so much appeal!

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I wish i could give up AP...it can be very frustrating spending hours on imaging with sometimes very little  to show for it.

Now i am still learning,but for some reason i say thats it, im done,but still seem to keep going back to imaging,probably as there are so little good nights and really want to capture something, and miss whats really going on in the sky above me.

The thing is i have a set up in the obsy,inc what i have in my sig,so i have plenty go enjoy visual with.

As @astro mick says,i recently bought a SW 127 mak on an AZ4 mount and took it out a couple of nights ago and really enjoyed just looking around the sky,at doubles,the moon,even Mars,and it brought back the real pleasure i had when i didn't have any AP tech or goto.

Edited by paul mc c
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I like sharing my images with family and friends, it works better than trying to convey in words what can be seen (people's eyes glaze over as I drone on...). So AP feels less of a solitary activity.  With my bad memory, AP gives me tangible mementoes of the sessions, while visual sessions are soon forgotten. I also enjoy putting together the equipment and gathering the data - in an imaging session i just sit and tweak the scope and focus so it is relaxing, but visual sessions are quite manic involving weird contortions to get at the eyepiece. But visual can be very rewarding too.

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I agree that just observing, compared to imaging, can be very rewarding and virtually free from frustration. The thing that keeps me going in astrophotography is that the end result is a permanent reminder of the beautiful objects in the night sky, many of which are almost invisible even through the scope.

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As a lifetime visual observer I have often found myself wondering the opposite - am I missing something by not doing some imaging as well ? :icon_scratch:

I think the main reason that I have not done more than some very, very basic stuff is that I much prefer using telescopes with little or no tech attached to them. Undriven alt-azimuth mounts, no GOTO, no electric apart from the batteries in my torch and my RDF.

But I do enjoy looking at the outputs from those who do image so I sincerely hope you all keep doing it, despite the challenges :smiley:

 

Edited by John
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2 hours ago, paul mc c said:

I wish i could give up AP...it can be very frustrating spending hours on imaging with sometimes very little  to show for it.

Now i am still learning,but for some reason i say thats it, im done,but still seem to keep going back to imaging,probably as there are so little good nights and really want to capture something, and miss whats really going on in the sky above me.

The thing is i have a set up in the obsy,inc what i have in my sig,so i have plenty go enjoy visual with.

As @astro mick says,i recently bought a SW 127 mak on an AZ4 mount and took it out a couple of nights ago and really enjoyed just looking around the sky,at doubles,the moon,even Mars,and it brought back the real pleasure i had when i didn't have any AP tech or goto.

 

I'm also just starting out on the imaging journey - although only two nights since I bought my camera early September due to weather. At the same time I bought a pair of 20x80 binoculars to keep me entertained while the camera was doing its thing. They've seen a lot more use as they've enabled me to nip out for the odd 10-15mins of clear skies we've had.

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Yup bino's are the way to go if you're imaging as well.. no fussing about. Before I built my automated obsy 😏... Back when I used to actually go out dragging all that gear about.. Bino's were brilliant for just looking about without distracting from the imaging kit. Still are.. very handy for looking out of the window at the clear skies in middle of night on those err.. increasingly frequent visits to the.. bathroom ;) 

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43 minutes ago, Tiny Clanger said:

😀  Virtually free from frustration ?  :clouds2:

 

Comparatively speaking of course because nothing to do with astronomy is free from frustration, even if it’s only the weather causing it.

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As somone who got hooked on imaging a few years ago I'm finding this thread interesting, it's not that I've lost my passion for imaging but the perpetual days, weeks, even months of cloud is getting to me.  Of course observing requires clear skies too (unless its radio astronomy!) but a lightweight set-up that can easily be set up and used for an hour or so seems appealing.

From an observer's point-of-view, what sort of set-up would you recommend for such a task, without breaking the bank?

Graham 

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52 minutes ago, groberts said:

As somone who got hooked on imaging a few years ago I'm finding this thread interesting, it's not that I've lost my passion for imaging but the perpetual days, weeks, even months of cloud is getting to me.  Of course observing requires clear skies too (unless its radio astronomy!) but a lightweight set-up that can easily be set up and used for an hour or so seems appealing.

From an observer's point-of-view, what sort of set-up would you recommend for such a task, without breaking the bank?

Graham 

For me, with a decent size back garden in a Bortle 4 area and very little light pollution, the answer was to buy a shed with double doors. This means I am able to leave my gear set up and ready to go at a moment’s notice, I only have to lift it out onto the concrete base, place the tripod legs in the painted circles and get starting on pa and focus, that takes only 10 minutes, and I can then get started.

I appreciate the shed cost as much as many scopes do but without it my astronomy days would be virtually over. It’s something to budget for in the future perhaps?

Edited by Moonshed
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54 minutes ago, groberts said:

From an observer's point-of-view, what sort of set-up would you recommend for such a task, without breaking the bank?

 

AZ-GTi, C6, 6.3 reducer, berlebach tripod - works for me 😀

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I've always been impressed by the quality of images that can be produced with affordable amateur gear and also by the perseverance of imagers who I think have to endure greater challenges and setbacks than us visual observers do.

 

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Thanks everyone,some really good reading here.As i said i am an imager,but it is full of frustrations,never mind the endless big hole in the wallet.

Precious clear skies trying to sort a prolem,can waste nearly a whole night.

Mick.

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All I know is that if I had tried imaging I wouldn’t be in the hobby any more. It’s been tough enough continuing visual astronomy through three children and a divorce! To me, astronomy is about relaxation and relieving of stress; the physical act of sitting at the scope and observing and object actually slows my breathing and heart rate down, something that would not happen if I were struggling with technical issues.

Although I’ve had many different scopes and mounts, including Goto, my most used kit is a 4” refractor on a manual alt az mount. This is easy to setup quickly or take away on holiday with me. Even a quick 15 minutes on the Moon is enough to keep my interest going.

I do think that even if I did do imaging, I would still have a Dob on standby for when the AP gear is snapping away, to maintain the connection with the skies which is what it’s all about at the end of the day.

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Hi Stu

I know how you feel. I started out in astronomy when I was 14, 60 years ago, with a very cheap 4” reflector with a table top tripod, it was a special offer from Sky at Night with Charles Frank of Glasgow, I managed to somehow fix it to a post in the garden. On the first clear night I pointed my scope straight up, I had no idea where to look or what to see, and by chance it was somewhere in the midst of the Milky Way, I was astonished! Never had I seen so many stars, they filled my entire field of view with so many stars they seemed to reach back and back until they became tiny sparkling dots in the vastness of space, I was so truly awed by such an amazing spectacle it literally took my breath away.

That feeling has never left me, even after all these years, so whenever I get frustrated with trying to image a DSO I remove the camera and replace it with a wide angle eyepiece, my favourite is my Hyperion 24mm, and sit back and marvel at how beautiful the universe really is.

Edited by Moonshed
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