Some advice please. Dob, photos and solar.

[iwatkins]

Hi All,

My first post here so Hello and be gentle.

I've had smaller refractors for years then got into astrophotography with DSLRs and wide angle lenses. Got the hang of taking lots of short exposures and then combining them after referencing them and stacking them.

I've been looking to get a larger telescope for a year or so and its main use would simply be for viewing. Would also like to attach my DSLR for stills and video, mainly the moon and dso. My main interest now is viewing planets and dso. Also have a side interest in solar viewing.

So my current favorite option is the SW 250p Flextube auto. Never really been interested in gotos.

Few questions I have.

1. All reviews say its a good value system, but interested to hear real reviews.

2. Tracking of the auto, good enough for mutiple short exposures and then stacking? Is it good enough for long single exposures? In both cases i mean prime focus.

3. How would you use this scope for solar viewing? In the past I've always used refractors and projected onto card.

Thank you in advance.

Cheers

Ian

[ollypenrice]

OOOh, be very careful using a big scope on the sun. Front filter only. Anyway you don't need big aperture on the sun.

Alt az mounts can track but can't do long exposure because the field rotates. Think of Orion as a stick man; he starts the evening leaning over to the left. On the meridian he is about vertical. As he sets he is leaning to the right. There is your field rotation. An alt az mount ignores this, an equatorial allows for it.

You can do fast frame webcamming with alt az but not long deep sky exposure.

Olly

ollypenrice's Photos

[iwatkins]

Thanks Olly.

Your example about the field rotation makes a lot of sense.

I guess astronomy is like photography. No one single tool will do all the jobs

Cheers

Ian