Re: Best option for photography on my Newtonian

Nothing that you have, except maybe the fuji for some quick and dirty
lunar shots is really useful for anything but fustration. The number
one item you need to have for doing astrophotography is a robust and
precise mount, something that doesn't come standard with a bresser
telescope. Plus you need guiding which means that on top of the
telescope you need an additional smaller scope so that you can correct
for the errors the inevitably will creep in for any exposure worth
doing, that is at least 30min. And you need to provide for a mounting
arrangement that is stiff enough to support both of them without the
tiniest of deflections. Additionally, most if not all of the cheaper
newtonians have very short backfocus and when you apply a camera to it
most of the times you cannot reach focus (not enough travel). This
limitation can be worked around by modifying the telescope or the
focuser (or both) but it is not for the faint of hearts. In summary:
don't do it unless you're keen on spending money and loads of time
learning how to do it. There is another option, however: get a decent
webcam (Philips Toucam III), an adapter and a decent barlow lens
(ideally 4x or 5x but the good ones are expensive) and with your setup
you can image the planets, the moon and with a suitable filter even the
sun. As for the laptop suffering from condensation this has never ever
happened to me in over 6 years, so you need not to worry. As for
sitting in the warmth and doing webcamming you can forget it.

Andrea T.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Webcam vs. Camcorder
    ... to keep the telescope balanced enough for good tracking. ... physically are the easiest thing on the telescope, ... transferring the camcorder output to the computer if you have enough ... It's easier to hook a webcam up to the telescope with the adapters readily ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)
  • Re: Webcam Telescope how to
    ... > Philips Toucan webcam and a cheap £150 at most telescope i did say cheap ... to perform the long-exposures and to control the telescope (guiding and so ...
    (uk.sci.astronomy)
  • Re: QC 3000 pro modification
    ... A webcam is just a camera, although tiny, and you can use the objective lens ... of your telescope to form the image instead of using the lens that came with ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)
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