Some of my astro pics

[Petrol]

Orion Nebula

3 hours worth of exposures

[Clouder_sx]

Just about to order myself my first bits of gear

Skywatcher Skyliner 200p Dobsonian
Premium Cheshire collimeter
Barlow 2x eyepiece

Just for observing planets/deep space... if I decide to go down the astrophotography route one day I will probably get an EQ5/6 GOTO etc... but at the mo I just need to observe and learn the sky

£339.80 delivered from FirstLightOptics... quite excited!

[Petrol]

Just about to order myself my first bits of gear

Skywatcher Skyliner 200p Dobsonian
Premium Cheshire collimeter
Barlow 2x eyepiece

Just for observing planets/deep space... if I decide to go down the astrophotography route one day I will probably get an EQ5/6 GOTO etc... but at the mo I just need to observe and learn the sky

£339.80 delivered from FirstLightOptics... quite excited!

Nice choice of kit

[Clouder_sx]

I have so much to learn it's unreal I've spent all weekend reading on the stargazers lounge, which is actually a fantastic forum. It's very friendly, and replies to questions are quick and informative, which is very useful

Is there a way of hooking up a camera that can be cabled live to the computer to give real-time video, that isn't a webcam? I'm guessing it's not possible without a DSLR. Not for taking pics, just to see a large version of what I'm going to see through the eyepiece?

I dream of taking pics like yours, they are totally mega, the latest one is unbelievable one day, one day...

[CamInHead]

Andromeda Galaxy

It's easy to forget but the scale of what that picture shows is absolutly mind boggoling. If that were the Milkey Way Earth wouldn't even be a pixel. How far away is Andromeda ?
Sweet work, dude.

probably a repost but http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/525347

[Clouder_sx]

Andromeda is about 5000 light years I think, could be wrong though. And that's the beauty of it all to me, thinking about that light travelling for 5000 years to end up in a camera it's just an inconceivable distance.

[shogun]

I am very impressed with all the pictures you managed to take. Very nice with great quality. I'll invest in some new stuff soon and will probably choose the following combination:

Skywatcher BKMN 190 Maksutov Newtonian on a NEQ6 Pro SynScan.
I think it is a rather good combo.





SR Timothy Tréville
Chairman, Nissan Owners Group Sweden
`SHOGUN´ Project +700BHP CA18DET

[fozzie]

I saw Mars in the sky the other night around 3am, Have you got any shots of that i wonder?

[StanTM]

Is there a way of hooking up a camera that can be cabled live to the computer to give real-time video, that isn't a webcam?

There are astro ccd cameras, but they tend to cost a bit! I have an Atik monochrome - http://www.atik-cameras.com/ - but I got that a while ago so a comparable one might be a different price

Andromeda is about 5000 light years I think, could be wrong though. And that's the beauty of it all to me, thinking about that light travelling for 5000 years to end up in a camera it's just an inconceivable distance.

Then the real distance of around 2.5 million light years will make your brain go

[Petrol]

Clouder SX, the bigger the chip in the camera, the wider the field of view (FOV) So, put a modded VGA webcam in a scope and will have more magnification than a DSLR with a big chip in it. More is not always best. For imaging planets, which are relatively bright but very small, a small chip (VGA) is the preferred bit of kit.

For deep sky objects like planets and nebulas, a much longer exposure is needed. Long exposures with webcams is not a good idea. I use an old Canon 300d for some of my pics. The chip is smaller than the latest DSLR’s so it gives me a good FOV with the scopes I have.

Talking of scopes, the Skywatcher 190 Maksutov is best suited for planetary imaging. It has very poor light collecting capabilities. Remember planets are bright but distant galaxies are very dim. It’s not about magnification, it’s about how bright the image appears on the CCD. The NEQ6 Pro SynScan however is a fantastic piece of kit shogun, if I were you, I would buy a Skywacher 200P Newtonian reflector to go with it.

Fozzie, I don’t tend to do much in the way of planets. My kit is best suited to deep sky objects.


It might be worth a mention that if you want to take long exposures (more than say 60s) through a telescope, the tripod, or mount, as it is known will have to be guided. This will require an additional scope, laptop and cam like this….



And that




It kind of gets a bit complicated Also remember there are not that many clear nights in the UK which limits when you can use the kit. Add to that light pollution and the filters required to try to reduce it.... You need to be enthusiastic to say the least! It was -10C when I took this pic



Good fun though and interesting to understand how vast the universe is I have always been interested in Physics, I am now reading books on it The thing is, it puts into perspective what a microscopic dot we are on the grand scheme of things.

We think we know but we don't....I hope science will educate us all

[shogun]

Photos taken with MN190 DSPRO
This Maksutov Newtonian is excellent for DS objects



[IMG]http://i395.photobucket.com/albums/pp38/backyardscope/ASTRO/190MN/denebalbumsskywatchermn190m33fin***xc1200.jpg[/IMG]

[Petrol]

Apologies for the duff info The Maksutov Newtonian does indeed collect about the same amount of light as a conventional Newtonian reflector (F/5) It’s the non Newtonian Maksutov that are best suited to bright objects as they are around F12. Those images are superb Worth pointing out that they were taken from a dark site and it makes a huge difference. If you live in a built up area then light pollution can be a real problem as it limits the exposure time and the images end up washed out.

This is what can be done with no light pollution and the right gear

http://ollypenrice.smugmug.com/Other...982273&k=yZHnW

[shogun]

Wow! That picture is excellent. I wish I could manage to take photos like yours. They are amongst the best ones I have ooked at. Time will tell how well I will manage. Thanks a lot for all your advices. They are worth everything. Please continue posting more of your lovely creations.

I will use the gear at our cottage. It is in the rural area and it is pitch black in the evening/night.

Thanks mate and keep up your excellent skills.

[shogun]

Ps.
I like the mount, scope and camera gear you have. Must have cost you a fortune.
What oculars do you use?

[Clouder_sx]

Well I've had my Dobsonian for a few days, and used it a couple of times, it's awesome Seeing Jupiter very clearly on Thursday night was unexpected and very cool. The only issue is at 200x it tracks out of view every 15-20 seconds or so, so hard to keep up with. The moon just looks amazing

Can't wait for Saturn to make an appearance at a decent time of day

[Petrol]

It’s cost me quite a bit but for me, it’s worth every penny. The way I look at it is once you have the gear, there are no running costs, unlike cars
I don’t have much in the way of oculars as I never do any observing. The light pollution is pretty bad where I live and the only way I can “see” anything is through imaging.

shogun, that cottage looks like an ideal location for anything astro, rural and dark skies are good!

Clouder_sx, Saturn is an amazing sight and you will not be disappointed.

As they say on astro sites.....
Clear skies!

[Petrol]

Couple more pics

M82, this is an end on galaxy




M1, the Crab nebula

[Petrol]

This is M51, two galaxies colliding!

[IMG][/IMG]

[Clouder_sx]

Wow, that's pretty nice no clear sky here for the past 2 weeks now

[Petrol]

Added some more data to the M51 pic, now about 15 hours worth. Don't think I can get any more out of this target



Time to move on to something else