Got my new telescope today!!!

[Tycho Brahe]

Yay, got my new telescope today!!! Its an Infinity 76, and its ACE... Go down sun, go down, I'm going to look at the moon tonight and then find and name a comet! I'm going to call it something really silly and laugh when you all have to say it!

Its really well balanced and at 30x is fine hand held. Thats pretty awesome cause I struggle to hold my 15x 50's steady enough to view stuff... been scanning the town all day! Been getting funny looks of everyone, walking round with my blue penguin!

[wulfrunian]

Congratulations, have a great time with it! Make sure you're the first to report your comet so it doesn't get named after someone else

[michaelmorris]

Congratulations on the telescope Tycho. I have a question - don't you pre-date the telescope?

[H2IKXF]

I hope ALL your wishes come true tonight.

My first telescope arrived 67 days ago. There's not been ONE night since without at least 2/3rd's cloud cover. Indeed, there's only been something like 4 days where you've actually been able to see daylight streaming through the clouds.

[Tycho Brahe]

I found a comet!!!!! At least I thought I had till it landed... It was a bit harder than I thought, I might have to practise a few months before I get to name anything, but hey, gives me more chance to think of a cool name! I saw the rings of saturn though, that was AMAZING, I needed something like that after finding out you cant see pretty nebulae with your eyes and a telescope... I felt lied too. It was incredible, how it looked like a star, then just focused into a ringed ball... I really thought they were lying on the box when they said you could see them with it!

I tried taking some photos through the eyepiece with my camera... one of the moon came out okay, but I wish I had thought to ask you first, can you damage the light sensing chips in cameras by concentrating light through a telescope at them?

[H2IKXF]

can you damage the light sensing chips in cameras by concentrating light through a telescope at them?

Yes, no and maybe.

The following answers assume that the camera is mounted on the telescope in one of the following manners;

a) piggyback (e.g. on top of the telescope)

prime focus (e.g. on the telescope focuser).

TELESCOPE USE AT NIGHT:

The answer is no. You've no cause for any worry.

TELESCOPE USE AT DAWN AND DUSK:

The answer is a bit more complicated. The possible answers are yes, no and maybe. Answering in reverse order...

The "maybe" answer:

No matter which way the camera is mounted if you accidently cause the optics (i.e. objective lenses and eyepieces) for the telescope (or camera) to point directly at the sun then it's possible for you to damage the optics of the telescope and the camera. The longer the duration of exposure to direct sunlight the more likely it is you will damage the optics. Finally, it's only possible to damage the sensing chip of the camera if you also accidently happen to trigger the shutter at the same time you've accidently exposed the optics to direct sunlight.

The "no" answer" actually has three parts:

No matter which way the camera is mounted if you are ONLY pointing the telescope away from direct sunlight then you've no worries.

If the camera is mounted "piggyback" and you've put solar filters on BOTH the camera and the telescope then you've no worries.

If the camera is mounted "prime focus" and you've put a solar filter on the telescope then you've no worries.

The "yes" answer is obvious. Don't use solar filters and point the telescope/camera directly at the sun. Instant paper weights.

TELESCOPE USE DURING DAYLIGHT HOURS

The "no" answer comes in two parts:

If the camera is mounted "piggyback" and you've put solar filters on BOTH the camera and the telescope then you've no worries.

If the camera is mounted "prime focus" and you've put a solar filter on the telescope then you've no worries.

The "yes" answer is obvious. Don't use solar filters and point the telescope/camera at the sun. Instant paper weights.

[Tycho Brahe]

Ahh, does holding the camera in front of the eyeport count as piggyback or prime focus? Here, I'm starting to think theres more to this astrophotography than I thought too! This was my first nooby attemp! Its really hard to get the scope aperture and camera lens in line... The misty moon pic was tonight as the clouds came in. The dot was saturn last night but the rings didnt come out , they you could see them...

[H2IKXF]

Ahh, does holding the camera in front of the eyeport count as piggyback or prime focus?

Prime focus.

And the photos are really nice. :-)

[Tycho Brahe]

Thanks, it was a right pain to get the camera in line of the lens so it didnt blurr all the detail... I think that was a fatal error though, I told my darling wife, dont worry, for the first time ever I have a new hobby and I'm only interested in the cheap side, ie the viewing... I'm not interested in photos... Just spent all day thinking about the best cheap way to get better photos... hmmm....