Telescopes for StarGazing?

Telescopes for StarGazing?

Author
Discussion

nellyleelephant

2,705 posts

233 months

Tuesday 30th September 2014
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Ah, that'll be it, the ability to track!

I have a 5D3 and 200 2.8 (500 f4 might be fun to try too) but no tracking.

Unfortunately my scope although big, is on a dob mount.

Moonhawk

10,730 posts

218 months

Tuesday 30th September 2014
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nellyleelephant said:
Ah, that'll be it, the ability to track!

I have a 5D3 and 200 2.8 (500 f4 might be fun to try too) but no tracking.

Unfortunately my scope although big, is on a dob mount.
Yep - anything beyond a couple of seconds will start to show trailing if you don't have a tracking mount.

I need to get my scope out and do some more this winter - I recently upgraded my mount with an equatorial wedge and a guide scope/camera - meaning longer exposures are now possible.

Edited by Moonhawk on Tuesday 30th September 13:15

nellyleelephant

2,705 posts

233 months

Tuesday 30th September 2014
quotequote all
As far as mounts go (sorry for derailing the thread!) what can you get away with for simple camera shots?...and potentially mounting my 500 on it too.....

Moonhawk

10,730 posts

218 months

Tuesday 30th September 2014
quotequote all
nellyleelephant said:
As far as mounts go (sorry for derailing the thread!) what can you get away with for simple camera shots?...and potentially mounting my 500 on it too.....
For just the camera - there are companies which make dedicated tracking equipment (e.g. iOptron Skytracker or the Astro trak TT320-AG). These can be mounted on any camera tripod - although I have never tried one.

If you want to piggyback the camera on a telescope - you'll first need a telescope/mount hefty enough to take the weight (a DSLR + L series lens can be quite heavy).

An Alt-Az mounted scope is fine for short exposures (30 seconds or less). Any longer than this and you start to suffer from something called field rotation. You can even take shots through the scope using this method (my shots of M13, M27 and M57 were taken like this).

For longer exposures you really need a driven equatorial mount which will eliminate field rotation. With proper alignment - you can probably get shots up to a couple of minutes depending on the focal length you are shooting at.

For even longer exposures - you are then talking about off axis guide cameras or a dedicated guide scope and camera attached to a laptop to enable auto-guiding.

Edited by Moonhawk on Tuesday 30th September 13:44

HereBeMonsters

Original Poster:

14,180 posts

181 months

Tuesday 30th September 2014
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OK, think I'm decided on this one then:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatc...

To be able to see Jupiter and Saturn like that would be amazing, and I'm sure my six month old son will love visiting his Grandad if he gets to see stuff like that!

Moonhawk

10,730 posts

218 months

Wednesday 1st October 2014
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HereBeMonsters said:
OK, think I'm decided on this one then:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatc...

To be able to see Jupiter and Saturn like that would be amazing, and I'm sure my six month old son will love visiting his Grandad if he gets to see stuff like that!
I think that's a good option. It'll be more than adequate for a starter - easily showing detail on Saturn (the rings etc) and Jupiter (the spot, cloud bands and the moons etc). You'll also be able to see the martian polar ice cap using this scope, as well as the phases of Venus. You can even take a look at Uranus and Neptune. You won't be able to see any detail - but will see them as small pale blue disk, very different in look to a star.

Looking at the Skywatcher website, this scope can also be upgraded in the future with motor drives, polar scope - which will give the ability to to tracked astrophotography like those I posted above - and according to one website I read, it can even be upgraded to have go-to capability.

http://www.skywatcher.com/products.php?cat=20

jmorgan

36,010 posts

283 months

Wednesday 1st October 2014
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That is a cracking one of Mars. Got to see Mars through the scope at Greenwich once but it was not recorded, only observed, I should have taken a sketch at the time.

Moonhawk

10,730 posts

218 months

Wednesday 1st October 2014
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jmorgan said:
That is a cracking one of Mars. Got to see Mars through the scope at Greenwich once but it was not recorded, only observed, I should have taken a sketch at the time.
Thanks - I took that using an old philips webcam. I have recently upgraded to a DMK camera - haven't have much time to use it so far - but did get a shot of Mars in B&W to try it out. This camera has a much higher frame rate so I was able to freeze out more detail on the surface.



Also got one of Jupiter.


jmorgan

36,010 posts

283 months

Wednesday 1st October 2014
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Jupiter in my 200 is great, Mars is just a red blob (not always red!). Through the 28" (?) at Greenwich at the time I could make out a few details and a bit of a cap, but could not spend long at the eye piece. Saturn is also interesting especially the first time you look in a while and the rings have moved........

jmorgan

36,010 posts

283 months

Wednesday 1st October 2014
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I am still amazed at the planets through a scope and I do not have a motorised mount. Even looking into something when I got lost in the sky and realised the range of colours on a group of stars, from blue to red and various in-between, it was stunning. All with the Mark I eyeball.

Edit. Damn. Jupiter is early am at the moment.

Edited by jmorgan on Wednesday 1st October 09:26

Moonhawk

10,730 posts

218 months

Wednesday 1st October 2014
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ash73 said:
Those pics are fantastic Moonhawk, but do you think it's setting the right expectations for the OP? A camera set to long exposure on a motorised mount will pick up a lot more detail than the human eye, I took these with a point-and-click camera looking through the eyepiece of a 200P:

Jupiter


Saturn


Mars
The OP did mention photography as a possible route - but you are right - you have to bear in mind that the detail in some of these pictures is above what you should expect visually (I did kinda mention that in an earlier post). Although that said - the first three pics I posted M13, M27 and M57 are similar to what you will see visually in an 8" scope (aside from the colour - which yo wont see).

The images of the planets you have posted are closer to what you should expect to see visually (except your Mars one - I can usually pick out a bit more detail than that).

The images of the planets I have taken are using a webcam to capture many frames - then stacked and processed to bring out the detail. Whilst you won't see this kind of detail visually - these types of images can be captured using quite modest kit (a basic webcam with a suitable telescope adapter - and some free software).

Edited by Moonhawk on Wednesday 1st October 10:21

HereBeMonsters

Original Poster:

14,180 posts

181 months

Sunday 5th October 2014
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OK, this has put the cat amongst the pigeons. Local camera shop has this:



114mm telescope, equatorial mount with motor, two eyepieces and a Barlow thingy. £69. All looks in good nick, all bits there. And I can take it back within 14 days if it's not the right thing.

I know it obviously won't be as good as the 200mm one, but for the money...what do we think?

HereBeMonsters

Original Poster:

14,180 posts

181 months

Sunday 5th October 2014
quotequote all
ash73 said:
catadioptric = combined mirror and lens at the base of the eyepiece tube. I think the lens is meant to correct for the shortcomings of the mirror but the optics won't be great. Why set a budget of £300-400 and then buy some tat like that?
Brand new it was around £300. Getting it second hand means an epic saving so we can put the rest of the budget towards something else he might like, or some good accessories for this. Are they really that bad?

Moonhawk

10,730 posts

218 months

Sunday 5th October 2014
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ash73 said:
£100 new more like, see here
Yep - have to agree. The Skywatcher 114 (and the Celestron astromaster equivalent) are both around £100 new.

You can pick Celestron astromaster 114s up for around £50 (or less see below) second hand.....so £70 for a Skywatcher (which seems to be a cheaper brand) probably pushing it for a second hand scope that only costs £100 new.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Celestron-Astromaster-Te...

Functionally the scope will be ok. It's right at the bottom end of what will be useful if observing DSOs are the goal - and the mount/eyepieces will be relatively cheap. It won't be very upgradeable either.

Something like this may be worth a punt if he's not sure he'll be into astronomy - but if he is serious, then this is probably a little too "low budget".


Edited by Moonhawk on Sunday 5th October 17:53

HereBeMonsters

Original Poster:

14,180 posts

181 months

Sunday 5th October 2014
quotequote all
OK, cheers lads. Will stick to the original plan then. Although I am tempted to get it for myself, just for moon gazing (no stars around here - middle of the city!)

thatdude

2,654 posts

126 months

Wednesday 8th October 2014
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HereBeMonsters said:
OK, cheers lads. Will stick to the original plan then. Although I am tempted to get it for myself, just for moon gazing (no stars around here - middle of the city!)
Get away from any immediate lights (street lights, garden lights) and you can see a lot!

In a couple of months you should start being able to see the constellation of orion - orions belt is very noticeable (3 stars in a line). And with a little hunting around, you might be able to find Pleiades


Moonhawk

10,730 posts

218 months

Wednesday 8th October 2014
quotequote all
thatdude said:
Get away from any immediate lights (street lights, garden lights) and you can see a lot!

In a couple of months you should start being able to see the constellation of orion - orions belt is very noticeable (3 stars in a line). And with a little hunting around, you might be able to find Pleiades
If you need to 'hunt' for the Pleiades - I suggest a trip to the optician - it's an easy naked eye object even from light polluted area winkbiggrin

The Pleiades rises before Orion - so should be easy to find - just look for a small grouping of stars above the V shape of Taurus's 'head' (it kinda looks like the bowl part of the big dipper - only much smaller)



jmorgan

36,010 posts

283 months

Wednesday 8th October 2014
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Take it you have Stellarium?
http://www.stellarium.org/en_GB/



Celestia is interesting as well but not what Stellarium is.
http://www.shatters.net/celestia/

RegMolehusband

3,959 posts

256 months

Wednesday 8th October 2014
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HereBeMonsters said:
OK, think I'm decided on this one then:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatc...

To be able to see Jupiter and Saturn like that would be amazing, and I'm sure my six month old son will love visiting his Grandad if he gets to see stuff like that!
That's the one I bought last year and here are some photos I took just by holding my mobile phone camera to the lens smile

It gave me my own "wow" moments which I'm sure your Dad would have too.







A bit over-exposed but you could see the bands by eye.

HereBeMonsters

Original Poster:

14,180 posts

181 months

Wednesday 8th October 2014
quotequote all
RegMolehusband said:
st the bed.

Wow!

Can't wait for it to arrive now!