newbie enquiry

[Chris-P]

Hi folks, i'm new to this community, please can i pick your brains??  I love taking pics of the night sky with my DSLR mounted on a tripod and i'm looking to jump in with two feet and purchase a new telescope so i can get better images of the planets and delve in to deep space. I have very limited experience with using a telescope, i've got a old Skywatcher Explorer 200P gathering dust in the garage which i found a bit big and numb. So i'm looking for something with an autoguider and also possibly a dedicated camera so i don't have to astro mod my DSLR. I was thinking of treating myself to something along the lines of a Celestron Advanced VX 9.25" EdgeHD + StarSense Autoguider + a camera (open to suggestions). Looking expensive but i want something i can grow in to. OR.... do i go down the lines of a Smart Telescope as by the time i add on the autoguider and camera to the VX 9.25", I'm getting towards the cost of the forthcoming Celestron Origin or Unistellar eVscope 2. Upside of the latter is that as a newbie think i'd be able to master them quite quick but downside is 1- with the Origin, don't think it has an eyepeice..i want to be able see what i'm looking at with the naked eye and 2- not sure about the quality of image of the eVscope2 compared to something like the VX 9.25". I'm interested in imaging the planets and deep space. What do you think, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...Thanks 

 

 

[Elp]

A smart scope is an easy cost of entry into AP, the ZWO Seestar is the current budget champion (maybe also the Dwarf2), but all will be limited in imaging the planets due to their short focal lengths.

You'd need to decide what your priority is, imaging planets, emission nebulae etc, on the one extreme you need long focal length (this also applies to most galaxies, closed clusters but we'll come onto this point in a bit), on the other you need shorter focal length (less than say maybe 400-500mm, even camera lenses work well for framing). Rarely can one setup do all, though I do kind of have one that does.

Onto the galaxies point, for DSO targets you'll need an equatorial tracking mount, not necessarily goto but most tracking mounts also goto these days = more money. Don't stump for the default alt azimuth goto mounts that come with most Celestron SCTs, you'll be limited in the exposure duration you can take per image, equatorial is what you need. The Origin works because it's a fast F2 scope, I also have a 6 inch SCT F2 capable scope, and it didn't cost 4000, but add in the astro camera, goto mount, tripod, computer controller, all eyepieces accessories etc etc and the cost will likely be close or a lot more. Ill tell you now, it isn't a cheap hobby if you want good quality results.

I'd suggest as you already have a camera body, try that with a decent lens (fixed primes work best, I even use 50 year old lenses but note most lenses (like the ones reviewers wax lyrical about online) fall flat when imaging astro if you're particular about a star distortion free image across the entire frame). Purchase a star tracker or small class goto mount, use a shorter focal length lens, intervalometer if the camera doesn't have one built in and you'll be good to go. Or you can DIY your own barn door tracker as people have been doing for decades. The cheapest commercial tracker I've used is an Omegon LX, you'll need to rig up some pieces like an EQ wedge to make it equatorial.

Trying to jump in via telescope imaging without experience is quite difficult (and not necessarily cheap), unless you attach a phone above an eyepiece and image like that, fairly simple. Also long focal lengths can also make it difficult. Though be sure it's on a very sturdy tripod and mount, vibration is the main enemy to imaging, even when doing visual observation.

[Chris-P]

thanks Elp, that's really useful and i think i need to do a bit more homework before i make any decisions. My camera has a built in Intervalometer which i'm used to using, to stack images using sequestor and also create night timelapses. And I've got a couple of good lens's for astro, a Rokinon 24mm prime and Canon 10-22mm lens and also used a Vixie Polarie star tracker but this struggles with the larger lens's. I've got quite a bit of experience with wide view star scapes, capturing the Northern Lights and Noctilucent clouds etc but now i'd like to get up and close with the planets and see nebulae and galaxies in detail...without an astro-mod camera i'm not getting the Nebula and Andromeda is still a bit of a smudge for me. But that's great, thanks for your advice which has taken me one more step closer

[Elp]

Are you using FF? You can always crop. The Samyang 135mm F2 is one of the best pieces of equipment for astro, it frames Andromeda well but the larger the sensor makes it look smaller in the FOV. The smudge turns into a feature rich object with longer imaging time and a few hours of post processing (you need the PP skills, I'd say it's 20pc imaging, the rest is PP skill).

The only thing I'd image on a fixed setup is open star clusters and Orion nebula, the rest needs tracking.

Planets you'll need focal length and that's where a scope, or a scope+Barlow lens comes in.

[PhilB61]

If you haven't already go to the Astronomy.tools website and look at their field of view calculator. Input your camera and telescope options and choose a target to see how big or small it will look. There is a massive difference in size between many of the popular nebula and distant galaxies, planets etc and a telescope/camera combination to suit one almost certainly won't be suitable for the other.