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Nice job though you appear to be a bit blue to my eye? I've been in the south of France on holiday for a couple of weeks with the family, I did manage to get a couple of nights out though and got the following pictures. All taken with my modified Canon 1000D and 50mm EF Lens at F3.5 on my Vixen Sphinx mount.  Cygnus Central Region by tmarkuk, on Flickr 33 x 5 minutes. The bright central star is Deneb with Sadr to the right.  Cassiopeia by tmarkuk, on Flickr 14 x 4 minutes, a cloudy and annoying night, framing could have been better on this.  Saggitarius & Scutum by tmarkuk, on Flickr 9 x 5 minutes and very low on the horizon as it took ages for the clouds to finally clear. The data is a mess and so is this image, but it does have a lot to find.
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Aug 30, 2011 09:41
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Wow, your pictures are amazing dude! Your Flickr is packed full of awesome images, hopefully someday I will be that seasoned. You are correct on the blueish tint, I was really tweaking to bring out the comet. I am still learning the ropes of pix-insight (program is insane) and astro-photography. I may come back to that stack and try again someday.
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Aug 30, 2011 14:11
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So I've been reading this thread for a while, and started watching ebay for a couple of weeks ago for a scope (had money sitting in the bank, but wasn't in a hurry to spend it), and today I won a skywatcher explorer for £62 (comes with all the retail bits). Guy says he thinks it's a 150mm, but even if it's 130mm it's still a great deal. Going to pick it up tomorrow, I pray for clear skies but I doubt I'll have any luck (yay rainy Wales).
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Aug 31, 2011 23:30
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I've started sketching my observations recently. It's been great and I love how much more I get from my nights but I'm having a hard time figuring out how to label N,S,E,W. Am I labeling true north celestial north? After the image is flipped upside down and backwards by my reflector, or whatever my finder scope is doing, whatever is labeled in my star charts. It gets very confusing. Any pointers?
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Sep 1, 2011 07:07
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Took a shot at M33 - Triangulum Galaxy. Ok results for first try I guess. Stack of 30second, 1 minute and 2 minute exposures shot with a Nikon D90, 80 ED. I keep getting a ton of grain and can't seem to smooth things out. Not sure if it is light pollution, thin clouds or my Nikon causing the issue, but hopefully I will iron it out soon. Just can't seem to get those nice smooth images like the the vets, I always come out grainy. M33 - Triangulum Galaxy by elimisel, on Flickr Edit: ^^ Ohms, you should post up some of your sketches, I have been thinking about giving that a try myself.
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Sep 2, 2011 05:58
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Here you go. My hopes are to get better at labeling N,S,E,W and to improve on my distinctions between magnitude with larger/smaller dots for stars.
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Sep 2, 2011 21:16
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Man, I am definitely going to start doing that. I never considered keeping a journal along with the sketch, great idea. I am definitely picking up a sketch book to start doing this during my next session. Not only could I sketch and keep a journal, but I can start logging what settings I am using during my AP sessions.
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Sep 3, 2011 01:05
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I've been doing that too, if you can call a single session 'doing that'. It was clear 3 nights out of the week my mount was away being replaced and I haven't been able to see a single star since  I caught a glimpse of Jupiter last night through a gap but that's it. At this rate I'm gonna miss my chance to see the supernova in the Pinwheel if I haven't already.
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Sep 3, 2011 01:35
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Yea I would really recommend it. I feel like I get more out of it all. Does anyone here work at finishing the lists for the observing clubs by the astronomy league? I'm starting to work on the simpler lists. Gonna get me some nerd pins. It's nice to have a goal with my observations though. Instead of just randomly looking things up.
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Sep 3, 2011 03:29
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Neeeerrrrrddds! I usually set out with a goal in mind, but then end up like a kid in a candy store when my A.D.D. kicks in. There are so many things to see I just can't stay on task. I think keeping a log might help me stay focused, if nothing else I will have all my settings to refer back to. Took a shot at M81/M82 galaxies, turned out OK I guess. Still a noob at the AP stuff and especially PixInsight. Stack of 30second/1minute exposures. Shot with my D90 through an SV80ED, piggy backed on my CGEM800.  M81 (Bode's Galaxy) - M82 (Cigar Galaxy) by elimisel, on Flickr Choicecut fucked around with this message at 05:19 on Sep 3, 2011 |
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Sep 3, 2011 05:00
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Nerrrrrds!! http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/LevelObservingClubs.html
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Sep 3, 2011 05:54
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Ohms posted:Nerrrrrds!! Looks pretty cool, some of the clubs don't have lists on there. I might work through some of the lists, just to add some focus to my sessions. I probably won't join the league since it requires going to a local club. I cringe at the thought of moving my gear somewhere other than the side yard. I would like to have some of those pins though!
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Sep 3, 2011 14:10
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Choicecut posted:Looks pretty cool, some of the clubs don't have lists on there. I might work through some of the lists, just to add some focus to my sessions. I probably won't join the league since it requires going to a local club. I cringe at the thought of moving my gear somewhere other than the side yard. I would like to have some of those pins though! I don't think you'd have to bring your gear to a local club? I haven't joined yet but I plan to. You get a pretty good discount on Sky & Telescope too. I'm working through a bunch of the beginner lists. I'd like to tackle the harder ones but my viewing conditions here in Brooklyn make most of it next to impossible.
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Sep 3, 2011 14:15
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Ohms posted:I don't think you'd have to bring your gear to a local club? I haven't joined yet but I plan to. You get a pretty good discount on Sky & Telescope too. I'm working through a bunch of the beginner lists. I'd like to tackle the harder ones but my viewing conditions here in Brooklyn make most of it next to impossible. That's true, I could always take the nocs instead of the big rig. Membership prices are extremely reasonable too. I might contact one of the groups near me and meet up with them soon.
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Sep 4, 2011 01:26
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I was thinking about purchasing a Dobsonian as I grow out of my binoculars and Galileoscope, in my slow trudge to astrophotography. I had pretty much settled on a an 8 inch, when I came across this refractor on craigslist for 400 dollars. http://www.celestron.com/c3/product.php?ProdID=431 Is this scope good enough to take me from stargazing to beginner astrophotography? In the immediate time frame, I would just use it for viewing. But, if I can avoid spending 400 dollars on a reflector and jump right into a refactor I could eventually use for photography, well that seems a bit smarter to me. Thoughts? Octoduck fucked around with this message at 03:14 on Sep 5, 2011 |
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Sep 5, 2011 03:07
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Octoduck posted:I was thinking about purchasing a Dobsonian as I grow out of my binoculars and Galileoscope, in my slow trudge to astrophotography. I had pretty much settled on a an 8 inch, when I came across this refractor on craigslist for 400 dollars. The refractor might do some AP, but it is a achromatic refractor so you will get som CA in your images. I don't think the mount will cut it for AP at all. I think you can purchase drives for the CG-4 (assuming it comes with this, since that is what you linked), but I am not sure you can guide with them. If it were me I would pass if your ultimate goal is AP. If you already have the DSLR equipment, pick up a CG-5 and just use your camera and the mount for awhile. I have seen some pretty bad rear end shots with just a 50mm/35mm prime and a good mount. Look at Jekubs wide fields a few posts up with just a 50mm prime. You can get a CG-5 for what you are going to pay for the scope you found on craigslist. The biggest component in an AP rig is the mount. Get the best mount you can afford and then just add the other poo poo as you go along.
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Sep 5, 2011 04:51
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Choicecut posted:The refractor might do some AP, but it is a achromatic refractor so you will get som CA in your images. I don't think the mount will cut it for AP at all. I think you can purchase drives for the CG-4 (assuming it comes with this, since that is what you linked), but I am not sure you can guide with them. If it were me I would pass if your ultimate goal is AP. I do have a DSLR. That actually sounds like a much better plan. You say get the best mount I can afford, and money isn't really a factor, but I am hesitant spending a boat load of cash on an awesome mount and just let the hobby fall by the wayside. Still, if I were to invest in a CG-5, would it 'last' far enough into the hobby, or should I pick a little higher jump in point? Thanks for the help.
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Sep 5, 2011 05:50
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I think the CG-5 would be roughly equivalent to the HEQ5 which seems to be the lightwieght entry level mount of choice over here. The scope and mount you have linked is only liable to lead to endless frustration. Start with a good mount designed with AP in mind and build up from there, also start with a short tube APO widefield refractor before moving up to longer focal lengths. Taking images with a 50mm prime lens is way easier than taking images with my 66mm f5.9 scope. Jumping up to my 250mm F4.8 reflector makes everything far more difficult yet again. It's all down to focal length and how well your mount can handle the weight really, the longer the length the more critical your mount becomes. So start with a good mount and your frustration will be limited. My sphinx mount is a perfect photographic match for my ZS66, but put my reflector and all the associated guiding equipment on it and it rapidly becomes impossible. New image from the weekend, sneaked in through gaps in the clouds on Friday and Saturday nights, the Elephants Trunk nebula in IC1396 in Cepheus.  Elephants Trunk / IC1396 (Second Edit) by tmarkuk, on Flickr There is a another edit on Flickr which is a bit brighter if that one looks to dim. Every screen I look at it on shows it completely different. Jekub fucked around with this message at 11:48 on Sep 5, 2011 |
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Sep 5, 2011 09:26
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Man, that's a great shot! I definitely need to get a guide camera. I was able to go 4 minutes unguided with the CGEM last week, but it was hit and miss with star trails. Been sticking with 2 minutes and under for the most part. Octaduck: Since you already have the DSLR equipment, I would definitely consider getting a good mount. If money isn't a factor, I would honestly get something a little more high end. That's what I did. I knew how much I liked being outside studying the sky and how much I wanted to do AP, so I wasn't afraid of having a failed hobby. I jumped right in with a CGEM800 and bought an 80MM ED to run piggy back and learn how to image on. I have been doing AP for about 7 months or so now and have yet to image through the 8inch, but have been pretty successful with the 80mm. I think I am about ready to give imaging through the 8inch a try though. I really think I avoided a lot of frustration by purchasing a good rig right off the bat. Plus it handles a decent weight load, so my options are plentiful in what type of scope I am able to run. I think Jekub runs a pretty large reflector and guidescope on his CGEM. The CG-5 would be a great mount, but as you gain experience and decide to jump up to bigger scopes, weight will become a factor. I would look into either a CG-5 or go a step up and look at CGEM, ATLAS and Losmandy GM8/11 (pricey) mounts. You could image through your DSLR to start or grab a 66-80mm to image through. The Orion 80mm ED is a well liked imaging scope and can be had for around 500 I think. I honestly don't think you will have a failed hobby if you enjoy the sky already. The hobby is extremely challenging and rewarding. If I can get my lazy rear end off the couch today, I will take some pictures of my imaging rig and post here.
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Sep 5, 2011 15:05
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Cassini took an awesome shot of a solar eclipse behind Saturn: NASA posted:In the shadow of Saturn, unexpected wonders appear. The robotic Cassini spacecraft now orbiting Saturn drifted in giant planet's shadow for about 12 hours in 2006 and looked back toward the eclipsed Sun. Cassini saw a view unlike any other. First, the night side of Saturn is seen to be partly lit by light reflected from its own majestic ring system. Next, the rings themselves appear dark when silhouetted against Saturn, but quite bright when viewed away from Saturn, slightly scattering sunlight, in this exaggerated color image. Saturn's rings light up so much that new rings were discovered, although they are hard to see in the image. Seen in spectacular detail, however, is Saturn's E ring, the ring created by the newly discovered ice-fountains of the moon Enceladus and the outermost ring visible above. Far in the distance, at the left, just above the bright main rings, is the almost ignorable pale blue dot of Earth.
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Sep 5, 2011 19:28
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If I were to jump in with the CG-5, is the GOTO feature a must? At the current stage I am at, I'm not looking forward to having a computer find stuff for me.
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Sep 5, 2011 19:51
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Wow, that image of Saturn is amazing. The outer ring is insane! Octaduck, you would want to get the computerized model as it will have the ability to track objects while you are imaging. I suppose you could manually guide the scope with knobs, but I would not even want to attempt that. AP is pretty difficult as it is. If you keep your eyes glued to cloudy nights classifieds, you can get the CG-5 with GoTo for 400 bucks used. Alot of guys sell them as they upgrade over there. They sell quick though, so you have to be ready. Here is a picture of my Astrophotography rig that I bought early 2011. I did try some stuff with my old Meade ETX90PE, but got pretty frustrated. This was a great purchase and has made learning the ropes much, much easier. Now I just need to talk the wench into an observatory!  Astrophotography Rig by elimisel, on Flickr This was the first image I ever took with it, no prior AP experience. It isn't a great image of M42, but I think it shows that investing in good gear will make things easier.  M42 - Orion Nebula by elimisel, on Flickr
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Sep 5, 2011 21:04
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That all looks pretty awesome. Thanks for the help, sorry if I ask some stupid questions. That said I will probably keep bugging you.
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Sep 5, 2011 22:52
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Ha, no question is stupid man and keep asking away. I bugged people over at cloudy nights forums to death before I bought stuff. Good resource if you haven't been over there.
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Sep 5, 2011 23:24
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I've finally decided to get back into looking at stuff in the sky instead of just reading about it.  MY GIRLFRIEND'S dad gave me a 114x500mm Tasco reflector he picked up at a garage sale a while back. I know, I know, Tasco is evil, but it was free and better than no scope at all. It came with 25mm, 10mm lenses. Well, also a crappy 3x Barlow and 4mm lens too but I'm pretty sure that they're both completely useless. I'm trying to figure out some basic improvements to make the best out of what I've got.
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Sep 7, 2011 06:47
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Someone is selling an Orion XT8 on Craigslist for $275. The telescope seems up my alley as I just have binoculars right now and would like something more. Does this seem like an all right deal? Anything I should look out for if I go to check it out?
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Sep 7, 2011 16:35
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Last Christmas I got an Orion Spaceprobe 130st equatorial, as a "Hey I thought you would like this" unannounced gift. I'm actually quite ashamed to say I haven't used it yet. I was thinking today at work that, you know what? Having a telescope owns, outer space owns, and my inner child would murder me in cold blood if he could know that I would ever have a telescope that A) isn't beat to death and junk, and B) I have owned for the better part of a year without using. So I've resolved to use my telescope and get re-excited about the night sky. Its assembled, but that's about it. Are there any good guides on how to actually use a telescope out there? Like "telescopes for dummies"? I don't know which eyepieces to use for what, or how to aim it or anything like that.
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Sep 7, 2011 23:12
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Getting my first telescope tomorrow, an 8" Orion dob, the sky is scheduled to be overcast for the remainder of the week, but it still feels like the day before Christmas!  Got some cheap eyepieces (17 and 10 mm) to complement the supplied 25 mm, got a moon filter. Did I do good? What star charts should I look in to? Spotter scope, binoculars? My first idea is to start going through the Messier objects and so I have started to learn where to find the most obvious ones through Stellarium. I hope that wasn't too incoherent, I'm really excited and have so much to learn.
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Sep 7, 2011 23:19
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Inept posted:Someone is selling an Orion XT8 on Craigslist for $275. The telescope seems up my alley as I just have binoculars right now and would like something more. Does this seem like an all right deal? Anything I should look out for if I go to check it out? Figure out why the person is selling it. If it's an amateur astronomer looking to upgrade to a bigger scope, it's likely to be better maintained than someone who bought it as a Christmas gift, and never really used it. For Dobs, collimation is a big thing - the proper alignment of the big mirror in the end with the little mirror in the front with your eyepiece. Almost all Dobs have screws or knobs that allow you to collimate. You might have to collimate yours when you buy it if the user hadn't.
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Sep 7, 2011 23:38
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Xipe posted:Getting my first telescope tomorrow, an 8" Orion dob A 9x50 RACI finder would be a great first investment. Also, Sky and Telescope's pocket sky atlas is great. I pretty much use it for everything. If you have an iPhone, get Star Map Pro.
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Sep 7, 2011 23:39
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INTJ Mastermind posted:Figure out why the person is selling it. If it's an amateur astronomer looking to upgrade to a bigger scope, it's likely to be better maintained than someone who bought it as a Christmas gift, and never really used it. He said he was selling it to get a smaller refractor telescope BUT he also said he got it for Christmas 2 years ago. He does have everything for it except the box though. I'll probably check it out, thanks.
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Sep 8, 2011 00:09
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I am still in my early days of astronomy and don't have an DSLR yet but I was thinking about having a crack with a webcam. I saw this and was wondering if is a good move? I know I could probably knock something together slightly cheaper myself but this looks like a nice easy solution. I have a Celestron NexStar 102SLT at the moment along with a few lenses, filters and a barlow. Just wanted to add another toy.
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Sep 8, 2011 16:44
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SoylentCola posted:I am still in my early days of astronomy and don't have an DSLR yet but I was thinking about having a crack with a webcam. You can get the individual parts for about half that price or less ("morgan" computer sales used to have the webcam for £9 and the adapter for £8 when I built mine), and it only takes about 2-3 mins to take off the old lens and screw in the adapter. Word of warning, with many smaller scopes it is hard to get the CCD of the webcam close enough to the focal plane of the telescope to get a clear image. I had to get a custom adapter (with no lip) and remove the case and use a custom one to get a clear image with mine. Have not had a serious session since I put the new camera together, but the image quality is very good for under £20 of parts from what I can tell.
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Sep 8, 2011 18:51
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Seems like a good deal on an SPC900 to me. Here in the states they usually go for a lot more, sometimes over 100 bucks. I was looking at getting that camera but figured for the same price I could just buy a new Neximage. I have only used it a few times, but it works pretty well. I think webcam imaging is a fun cheap way to get started. I did quite a bit on my old ETX90PE.
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Sep 8, 2011 19:48
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INTJ Mastermind posted:A 9x50 RACI finder would be a great first investment. Also, Sky and Telescope's pocket sky atlas is great. I pretty much use it for everything. Thanks, both look good, will do. Just had my first light, it's been awfully cloudy around here but it broke up for about an hour after I got everything put together. Saw the Pleiades, Jupiter and played around with the eyepieces and tried learning how to use and move the scope. Also need a chair and to figure out how I get all this and camping gear on my touring bike. :S
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Sep 9, 2011 00:36
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Starting tonight you are supposed to be able to see type 1a supernova PTF 11kly in the Pinwheel galaxy with low power binoculars. Some Astronomers are saying you can see it with your naked eye in dark skies. I am loaded with cloud cover tonight, hoping tomorrow will be better! Probably a once in a life time opportunity and it's cloudy.
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Sep 9, 2011 02:04
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Choicecut posted:Starting tonight you are supposed to be able to see type 1a supernova PTF 11kly in the Pinwheel galaxy with low power binoculars. Some Astronomers are saying you can see it with your naked eye in dark skies. I am loaded with cloud cover tonight, hoping tomorrow will be better! Probably a once in a life time opportunity and it's cloudy. Yeah, tonight is supposed to be the peak and it's cloudy as gently caress. Terrible weather predicted in the UK for the next couple of days at least too
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Sep 9, 2011 02:07
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Tufty posted:Yeah, tonight is supposed to be the peak and it's cloudy as gently caress. Terrible weather predicted in the UK for the next couple of days at least too I just stepped out with my 20x80 Celestrons and got a glimpse. It is EXTREMELY hard to see right now with binoculars. Actually, if you didn't already know where m101 is located it could be a real bitch to see. I couldn't see it looking directly, but if I looked slightly off I could pick it up. Wish I didn't have to go to work tomorrow, I would setup and try to catch some images in between cloud cover.
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Sep 9, 2011 03:00
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I promise not to do this on a regular basis, but first time is special. Moon, meet dobsonian, meet mobile phone.   Amazing clarity in the eyepiece that the phone obviously lost, and still the surface of the moon was boiling from all the moisture in the air. I also found Andromeda on my first try, though 'she' was only a smudge of light. This is way more amazing than I anticipated. I will now try to calm down, start taking all this for granted and contribute more calmly. But, gently caress. This is some poo poo.
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Sep 10, 2011 00:08
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I think I'm going to make this winter my "astrophotography or bust" winter, after seeing everyone get such a kick out of it. I made a webcam that didn't turn out as well as I had hoped, so I'm going to modify it a little and see if I can't get better performance out of it. It really doesn't help that my Nexstar 8i is missing a focus knob and shakes for way longer than I would like each time I adjust the focus the tiniest bit. I wish motofocus kits weren't so expensive (or that my budget wasn't absolutely tiny).
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Sep 10, 2011 05:04
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