Starting off in Astrophotography...

Iancar29

I dunno how your suppose to align the polar scope with polaris if I cant see anything through the polar scope in the first place... ha

ZeRoY

Iancar29 wrote: »

I dunno how your suppose to align the polar scope with polaris if I cant see anything through the polar scope in the first place... ha

I had the same problem on first night I tried that but last night was fine.

Tzetze

That's a fine shot of The Pleiades there Zeroy!
Not bad tracking at all for 60s with a rough polar align.

Dirk Gently

Would there be much point in someone based in Dublin investing in decent equipment for the purpouse of astrophotography. I'm assuming with the light pollution I'd probably have to travel everytime if I wanted to get any decent shots. Are there any users here on the forum who get good results from their suburban Dublin homes?

ZeRoY

Dirk Gently wrote: »

Would there be much point in someone based in Dublin investing in decent equipment for the purpouse of astrophotography. I'm assuming with the light pollution I'd probably have to travel everytime if I wanted to get any decent shots. Are there any users here on the forum who get good results from their suburban Dublin homes?

Im not in Dublin but Dundalk and there is quite some light polution too, typically I have to wait until 1-2am so a lot of house lights are off by then. There are various things you can do to reduce this, for instance you can get Light Polution filters that helps. Some even fit directly on Canon DSLR.

I would think that despite light polution you should still be able to do some observing and photography but it wont be as good as it can be. It really depends on the lights directly around you as well (street lights, buildings).

DubOnHoliday

I'm in North Wicklow and have some decent clear skies, depending on which neighbours forget to turn off their lights!

Nerro

ZeRoY wrote: »

ldeally I should get either a low profile focuser or a very low profile T2 ring.....

ideallyi would recomend baader MPCC.works wounders on fast newts and dobs for astophotography and visual use.you will get nice flat field and focusing aint going be an isue as it slots directly into your 2" focuser.

ZeRoY

Nerro wrote: »

ideallyi would recomend baader MPCC.works wounders on fast newts and dobs for astophotography and visual use.you will get nice flat field and focusing aint going be an isue as it slots directly into your 2" focuser.

Yep - its on my [LONG] list of must-buy items -- A low profile focuser will probably be the first step for me as the image shift on the Stock Focuser i have is terrible!!

Dirk Gently

sorry, a bit off topic, but around 5:30am this morning there was a spectacular bright moon low in the sky over dublin. There was some great cloud formation lit up around it and for a few minutes the cloud also looked like rings around the moon. It was one of those rare moments where everything seemed just right for a great pic.

If anyone was shooting pics in the early hours and managed to capture it I'd greatly appreciate seeing it. Was gutted I've no decent camera to get a shot myself.

Iancar29

Hey Folks ,

Anyone know where id get a car adapter lead that will work with my CG5 mount?

Heres the plug here...



Dying to get outside of the dublin lights to see what the difference is like!

Cheers

ZeRoY

Iancar29 wrote: »

Hey Folks ,

Anyone know where id get a car adapter lead that will work with my CG5 mount?

Heres the plug here...



Dying to get outside of the dublin lights to see what the difference is like!

Cheers

ANY adapter providing its 12V of course and the plug end is the correct one. Also would recommend one with fuse in it but they all do normally (in the tip)

Note that the plug you are showing isnt the original one - looks like a multi-voltage adpater to me.

Iancar29

Thanks Zeroy , i'll have a look in Maplins 2moro so.

Yeah , had a feeling it wasnt the original when i bought it off the guy but ye... it works anyways .

Tzetze

One of these?

Iancar29

Tzetze wrote: »

One of these?

Ah brilliant , but Zeroy pointed out would that have a fuse inside ? , would the fact that its running off a car engine mean the voltage would be fluctuating slightly ? ... me no electrician ... ha


Was out the back again tonight but sadly not with our beloved 500mm F4 ... it had to be sent to blanch for repairs on the focus ring ... please say a prayer for it tonight . lol

Had to use a borrowed 70-200 F2.8 lens with a X2 converter at F5.4 then ... not good at all for andromeda , just looked way too blurry ... so just went again for M42... shall see what the result is like shortly.

Tzetze

Yep, it's fused inside the plug. No need to worry about fluctuating current, it's a smooth direct current. Be very careful that you don't drain the battery. Car batteries aren't designed for long operation without the car running.

You might be better off gettig a small powertank. Like this 9Ah in Mapin
http://www.maplin.co.uk/5-in-1-jump-starter-with-digital-air-compressor-388125
It would be plenty to run just the mount for a night.

Nerro

Iancar29 wrote: »

Dying to get outside of the dublin lights to see what the difference is like!

Cheers

Hi,
Any ideas where you are going to head out from dublin?I am planing to go to sugar loaf tonight (weather permiting) if you want you could join me?There is always more fun when you are not on your own...

Iancar29

Hi Nerro , sadly i dont have a car of my own . I live in the Northside so we would usually go up somewhere around St.Margarets ( near the airport ) , pretty decent skies there and its only a ten min drive from here. Would love to get up the Sugar loaf for a view some night though.

TOnights cloud forecast not looking so good with a thin layer of cloud due this evening coming in from the east.

YOu can see it on Sat 24. http://www.sat24.com/


Very dissapointed with my results last night , no where near as good than with our 500mm lens. Even when i got better alignment this time round.

Saw 2 nice high based meteors though that went across a good portion of the sky .

Hopefully the 500mm comes back all fixed and like new or ill be looking into purchasing an ED-80 probably .

Nerro

well it only shows till 2pm. hope it will be clear after...there is cloud almost on all of the europe tho
what exacly went wrong with your pictures?mount only eliminates star trailing,it has nothing to do with quality.

Iancar29

Nerro wrote: »

well it only shows till 2pm. hope it will be clear after...there is cloud almost on all of the europe tho
what exacly went wrong with your pictures?mount only eliminates star trailing,it has nothing to do with quality.

Ah sorry I forgot to mention I was also looking at the weather models too (that's where my true passion lies :rolleyes: ) there might be a short clearance around midnight but I wouldn't risk going just for that especially that late .

Ah no it wasn't the mount that I wasn't happy with . See usually I use the familie's 500mm F4 prime lens but the focus locked up on that so its off for repairs . In the mean time I've been using a 70-200 F2.8 and added a cheap
2 X converter to that last night . The quality of that was the bad thing . Couldnt make out much even through the viewfinder .

So yeah seeing as I don't actually have a proper telescope to view with I said I'd probably get one for a few 100 and I think the ED-80 would fit my budget nicely and it's not that big either . Unless anyone has any other reccomendations? ..

Tzetze

I would recommend using the 70-200 f2.8 at 200mm without the converter.
Oh, and get the ED80 too.

ZeRoY

Tzetze wrote: »

I would recommend using the 70-200 f2.8 at 200mm without the converter.

I tried a 1.5X teleconverter myself (albeit a TV camera one) on a Sigma 80-300mm and the degradation was very high too

Iancar29

Tzetze wrote: »

I would recommend using the 70-200 f2.8 at 200mm without the converter.
Oh, and get the ED80 too.

I tried that the previous night but just couldn't get any detail with 30 second subs (best I can do from my back without orange blowout ) .

Haha don't worry man , I'm sure I'll be getting one sooner than later . :cool:

I must route out my old telescope . Of what I remember it was great for looking at the moon and that .think it was a Skywatcher. I'm sure a t-ring adapter would be available for it . I'll do that 2moro so .

Iancar29

ZeRoY wrote: »

I tried a 1.5X teleconverter myself (albeit a TV camera one) on a Sigma 80-300mm and the degradation was very high too

Apparently it's about €300 for a decent one . Don't think id pay that much for one .

ZeRoY

this is the one i used, 52mm Sony Teleconversion x1.5 from the 80s or something, adds some weight to the camera!!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SONY-VCL-1552C-VCL1552C-Teleconversion-lens-1-5x-52mm-BRAND-NEW-BOXED-/220977152447

Iancar29

Finally rooted out my old scope from when i was in secondary , wonder if i could do a diy job to attach it to my camera and mount ?....

Wonder if its any good for AP...

ZeRoY

Iancar29 wrote: »

Finally rooted out my old scope from when i was in secondary , wonder if i could do a diy job to attach it to my camera and mount ?....

Wonder if its any good for AP...

Somehow I doubt it.... The Moon using Afocal yeah

Iancar29

ZeRoY wrote: »

Somehow I doubt it.... The Moon using Afocal yeah

......




Ah sure as i say the other day im nearly done saving up for an ED-80 so ill be just messing about until then

Iancar29

Heres one of my shots from this evening , only got 40mins or so in but was great to get out !

Apparently the Rosette nebula is in there somewhere.... Dying to get out of a city lights! , hopefully i can do so soon!

ZeRoY

Not an easy one, I tried once i got the same. TzeTze got nice results however if im not mistaken

You got 2 nasty spots on that pic, dirt on Chip?

Iancar29

ZeRoY wrote: »

Not an easy one, I tried once i got the same. TzeTze got nice results however if im not mistaken

You got 2 nasty spots on that pic, dirt on Chip?

Yeah , i had a feeling i wouldnt see anything as i check photos of it and they all seem to have subs of over 2 mins each !
But ye, was nice to imagine it lol. Thats only one 15sec sub anyways.

Yeah , its oil , a problem the D7000 hav with the mirror shutter , its grand taking it out with PS. I'll clean it soon anyhow which usually gets most of it off.