NightSky

[dogs32]

Orion from my back garden....Set on Bulb with ISO 200,F/8.0...Exposure 60sec

I know you lot can do better..but not bad for my first attempt at the night sky.....slight star trails spoilt it...will try less than a minute next time

[Stuart]

nice pics :smiliz19:

[dogs32]

do you know the constellation???

[Osbourne One-Nil]

That's Auriga (Charioteer) and the brightest star is Capella.

[Icer]

Nice picture!

[dogs32]

thanks Ozzy.. star bottom was Mars....top ones Capella yea is that right....ps anyone know a good place to buy a camera adapter for

6" MATSUKOV REFLECTOR ...for a canon rebel camera?

Are they all standard T rings ..strange Im returning to Astronomy after all these years..wich I left many moons ago

Are the Auto GOTO tracking star system any good

Which one to buy 6" INCH NEWTONIAN REFLECTOR TELESCOPE..or

6" MATSUKOV REFLECTOR.....both for motorised photography

[Osbourne One-Nil]

Here you go

As for autotracking mounts, Celestron's Nexstar mounts are pretty accurate, but the image would rotate in the eyepiece as you track because they're not equatorially mounted.

The two telescopes you mention would do very different things. The Newtonian would give nice, clean, wide field views, but the Maksutov would give higher magnifications and be more suited to planets and the Moon. I love reflectors though....can't go wrong with them really.

[dogs32]

Here you go

As for autotracking mounts, Celestron's Nexstar mounts are pretty accurate, but the image would rotate in the eyepiece as you track because they're not equatorially mounted.

The two telescopes you mention would do very different things. The Newtonian would give nice, clean, wide field views, but the Maksutov would give higher magnifications and be more suited to planets and the Moon. I love reflectors though....can't go wrong with them really.

thanks for that Ozzy.....the Newtonian as Heavy duty German equatorial mount...so I take it if I buy that then it will be Ok to track thing across the sky

these are the two I am interested in I think they both have Heavy duty equatorial mounting...I basically wont to photo star clusters ,globualr,nebs ect....

I have a chance to buy Auto GOTO tracking star....might seem a stupid question but can you buy any motorized system...thanks for the link about adapters

[Osbourne One-Nil]

If those are the excat models you're going after, the mounts look a bit flimsy, but you're right to go for an equatorial mount.

Personally, I'd use these people as their optics are first class and they're serious mounts which can easily be motorised.

http://www.orionoptics.co.uk/EUROPA/europarange.html

[dogs32]

Excellent will look into it..cheers

these telescopes look real good.....Slight concerned about the price...I thought it would be more expensive...I can get everything for 459)motor

beca8use of price might go for a 8inch

thanks ozz...thats the one Im going with

[Osbourne One-Nil]

You're worried because they're not expensive enough?!

Trust me - I've had lots of telescopes and my son's Orion Optics 6" Newtonian with a proper mirror blows an old 10" Chinese-made telescope out of the water. They're value for money but excellent telescopes.

[dogs32]

You're worried because they're not expensive enough?!

Trust me - I've had lots of telescopes and my son's Orion Optics 6" Newtonian with a proper mirror blows an old 10" Chinese-made telescope out of the water. They're value for money but excellent telescopes.

Ah dont get me wrong Ozz....Im not knocking it at all....just was surprised at price.....I'm thinking of waiting now for a while checking out these monsters

Celestron Advanced C11-SGT (XLT) http://www.buytelescopes.com/product.asp?m...1804#gallerynav

Meade LXD75 SN-8AT 8" Schmidt-Newtonian with UHTC http://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/detail.php?id=1371

I wont to find out all the differences on something like these two compared to the Orion.....I know the aperture makes a difference sometimes...

I might still get one of them Orion......it all depends on where Im playing this spring...(the monies you see)this will have a difference on how much I can get together

ps thanks Jurgen...was looking at the same scope earlier

[Osbourne One-Nil]

You'll not use an 11" telescope - trust me. They weight a ton and you'll never be bothered.

[0000]

Nice photo of my favorite contellation(I take it as Winters coming when I see it)Love the horsehead nebulae in there too.I agree with Oon the 8ins nice for specific light capture capability but I use the 6ins for convenience(both Newtonians by the way)

[dogs32]

yes I know what Ozz is saying...but I'm after Excellent Astrophotography....Realy not sure what to do at present......I do like the Orion telescopes...

at the end of the day I wont to get into taking first class pics of neb ect..

[rossco89]

is there any way you can motorise a dobsonian?

[0000]

yes I know what Ozz is saying...but I'm after Excellent Astrophotography....Realy not sure what to do at present......I do like the Orion telescopes...

at the end of the day I wont to get into taking first class pics of neb ect..

Excellence as I'm sure you're more than aware will be rather pricey I fear..Have you thought of perhaps grinding your own lenses to at least save on the telescope side.The photography side of it.........well i am just starting to dabble hence the interest.Even a small observatory/shed B) may help...at least you'll be more comfortable.Motors etc check Ebay they're good online shops that sell mirror blanks etc VERY reasonably.

[dogs32]

lol....I dont wont a shed to observe..lol....Ozz as mentioned something important about the bulky side of things....Will take that intio account

[0000]

lol....I dont wont a shed to observe..lol....Ozz as mentioned something important about the bulky side of things....Will take that intio account

B) It will be one of the main concerns-especialy if you travel out to 'black' skies to do any observing/photographing

[Osbourne One-Nil]

yes I know what Ozz is saying...but I'm after Excellent Astrophotography....Realy not sure what to do at present......I do like the Orion telescopes...

at the end of the day I wont to get into taking first class pics of neb ect..

But to take first class pictures...it's SOOOOOOOOO difficult. Really - it's not worth the effort or the money. You need cooled CCDs. equatorially mounted optics, high precision drives, periodic error correction....it's only for the rich and retired I think. Anyway, if you're talking about long exposure photos, aperture doesn't make much difference - only to the resolution of the image being viewed. You can take some stunning shots with little 3" refractors, and you can pick them up with one hand.

is there any way you can motorise a dobsonian?

You can...you can place it on a tracking plate, but then you might as well mout it equatorially as to my mind, the whole point of a Dobsonian is that you have no wires or motors or gadgets - you just point it where you want.

[0000]

Wish i'd invested the extra to get refractors.............the moisture at this time of year is a pain as far as protecting the mirror on a reflector goes

[Osbourne One-Nil]

10 times worse with a refractor - at least a mirror is tucked down the end of a tube. My refractor is useless on all but the driest nights here.

[0000]

10 times worse with a refractor - at least a mirror is tucked down the end of a tube. My refractor is useless on all but the driest nights here.

I see what you mean.I've always had reflectors (given the light gathering capability/size as opposed to pricey refractors,prohibitively so as size increases) with my interests being neb's,clusters and fainter objects I just presumed the grass was greener.Mind apart from mid summer it's never much cop realy.

[dogs32]

Yes I know Ozz....Ive seen some great pics yesterday with CDD....But Also with a Canon 350d....

yesterday I found a site out with suberb pics all done with a Canon...yes but most are done with Cdd's

This is going to be a difficult desicion........Im glad you mentioned the size as most look small but when a human stands next to one they are huge...

Alot to consider here.......Im going to take my time before I part with any dosh...

check this out....not massive teles here but lookat pics

http://www.cheapskate-astro.net/equipment.html#miscellaneous

and pics................http://www.cheapskate-astro.net/galaxies.html

some through a Celestron C102 refractor I think..Canon camera 400D

Also you have to have a excellent mount to track

[kippure]

Nice