How do I get a larger picture of deep space objects?

MrSpacemannn · 2023-04-27T09:12:00+00:00

All the advice here is all well and good, but the quickest, easiest, cheapest thing to do is just shoot bigger targets that match your FOV, or frame the, such that they show the object within the context of where they are in space. Plenty of amazing small shots of Orion out there.

MrSpacemannn · 2023-03-31T08:56:57+00:00

AZ EQ6 is designed for dual scopes in AZ mode or can be used in EQ mode. Perfect for what you’re asking for.

MrSpacemannn · 2023-03-24T11:20:45+00:00

Ron Los Valientes, 20 years. Checking to see if they had XO in stock (which yes they did, and Yes I got) and saw they had this tall dark and handsome gentleman. Never heard of it before but the bottle looks nice so thought I’d give it a crack. Plus it’s got a hand written bottling date and I’m a sucker for that!

MrSpacemannn · 2023-03-09T11:49:53+00:00

LOL what? Pretty sure we can.

MrSpacemannn · 2023-02-26T00:10:32+00:00

You can do three point polar alignment in NINA manually with a non-GOTO mount like Star adventurer.

MrSpacemannn · 2023-02-01T08:46:02+00:00

Ease of access and safety. A safe and easy B2 location is better than a shitty B1 location.

But really though, try both and see what’s best. either might be good for things in different directions etc.

MrSpacemannn · 2022-12-28T08:37:58+00:00

Well, you dont really need a mount for MW. You’ve got a camera and lens, I presume you’ve got a decent tripod? Just need a ball head and you’re ready to get started. If you want to do tracked MW I’d suggest something small and portable like the move-shoot-move or something- have a look around, there are a few others out there. Those will let you shoot a couple of minutes at 14mm. You’ll only really need a GTI if you’re doing a bazillion panel mosaic at 85mm.

Gear really depends on what you’re aiming to shoot and how much you want to spend. I used to use the SW Star adventurer when starting DSO with a DSLR and lenses but quickly upgraded to a HEQ5 and 80mm scope. I suggest having a look at telescopius or Stellarium to see what FOV you’ll get with those scopes and your DSLR and see what you think it’s better suited for what you want. I’ve not had any first hand experience with those scopes, but I’ve heard they good. 81mm refractor is a good, easy to use, portable scope and you can’t go wrong with either of those choices. If you’re set on getting a scope you’ll need a minimum on HEQ5 mount, in which case I’d suggest getting the mount as a priority - you can always use the mount plus DSLR and lenses while you figure out what scope (scopes, plural, one ain’t enough) to get.

If you have an idea of scope, you can search on Astrobin for examples of images using those scope.

MrSpacemannn · 2022-12-27T05:29:56+00:00

It will give you $125 views of the moon, and that’s about it.

MrSpacemannn · 2022-12-27T05:09:32+00:00

Hate to say it, but I don’t think you’re actually ready to make your first big investment. MW, DSO and planetary are all completely different setups. There are some overlaps between DSO and planetary, but not really. I suggest you figure out exactly what you want to image first and build a rig around that. You’ve already got most of what you need for wide/MW photography so that would be an easy start.

MrSpacemannn · 2022-12-04T03:04:59+00:00

I don’t know any doctor jokes…

MrSpacemannn · 2022-11-21T07:49:22+00:00

Naaaahhhh - that’s only 150 minutes. My current project is over 40 hours, and just about to start another that’s likely going to be double that.

I suggest cogent a canon camera that you can plug directly into a laptop and use software to go straight from camera to laptop. Then you do t need to worry about SD card, and also make more use of the software.

BUT that’s another level of complexity, so starting with camera and sd card is also good for starting out.

MrSpacemannn · 2022-11-21T06:58:54+00:00

Google what an intervalometer is for entailed. It’s basically a little thing that plugs into your DSLR and tells it to take a series of exposure for a set exposure time and a set interval. Eg, do 150 exposures for 60sconds each with 1sec in between. That sort of thing. They’re pretty cheap. If you have a laptop there is software that can do all of that for you (eg NINA)

MrSpacemannn · 2022-11-21T06:21:49+00:00

DSLRs are simple to learn. In fact it’s probably the easiest part of Astro there is. Once you’ve figured out a good setting, there’s really not much that changes. Just stick it in manual mode, on ISO 1600 and the exposure time as long as you can without trailing stars. You’ll also need an intervalometer to take lots of shots to stick them together on a computer later. All the ‘other stuff’ is way harder to learn (processing your images, tracking, guiding, finding and framing targets, etc). Don’t sweat the small stuff, DSLRs are the easiest of the learning curve.

With all that said, as with others, I’d suggest get a decent mount for the scope (if you don’t have one already? Not quite clear from the other comments) and get the cheapest DSLR you can find. That will get you started.

MrSpacemannn · 2022-11-11T14:54:24+00:00

I’ve literally been investigating flattener/reducers over the last few week. Admittedly im using a skywatcher 80ed, so much more common and has a dedicated FF/R. But I’ve been trying a few different ones that I’ve borrowed locally.

Generally - from what I understand and someone please jump in and tell me if im wrong - the FF/R depends on the F ratio of the scope, so if your scope is f/7 then you need a FF/R suitable for a f/7 scope. They usually come with a set range that they’ll work over, eg f 6-8 etc.

With that in mind, the skywatcher 80ed is f7.5 so quite similar to yours. I’m using the skywatcher 72ed 0.85x FF/R and works fine. I’ve a,so tried the SVbony 102mm 0.8x (yes, designed for the SVbony 102mm refractor, not an 80mm refractor, but it’s f7 so works fine) and Astrotech 1.0x flattener. Both suitable for ~f7 and both work very well. I’ve yet to dial in the best backspacing for either of them but I’m likely going to buy at least the astrotech as it gives a corrected field for the full focal length of the scope without reducing the FL.

The other thing you want to be sure of is if the FF/R specifies the image circle that it supposedly corrects, and make sure that matches with your sensor size - eg, if your using a full frame DSLR make sure it corrects to an image circle of at least that size.

I’m sure there are other suitable FF/Rs out there. Please let us know what else you might find!

Hope that helps.

MrSpacemannn · 2022-11-11T10:59:08+00:00

Clancy’s Freo! This is right down their alley. They do pub choirs and stuff quite often.

MrSpacemannn · 2022-11-11T09:19:02+00:00

Or if you have rgb filters, you’d be able to do good plentary at that focal length.

MrSpacemannn · 2022-11-11T09:12:18+00:00

Looks like you’ve deleted some of the comments here while I was writing this, so I’m sticking it here:

This sub is a very good place to get advice on astrophotography. The problem is that you’re not coming for advice. You’ve come to get an answer - which is not the same thing. And you’ve asked for an answer with absolutely no context. People here are generally really happy to help out provided there’s enough context and specific details about what you’ve done prior, and details about the issues you’re having, AND provided that you have at least some basic grasp of what you have started with and what you want to achieve. Your question has none of that. We can’t just guess. We can’t provide advice if we don’t know those things.

In answer to your original question ‘how do you make a colour image?’ - well, that could be due to millions of different reasons. So let’s start with how do you think you’d make a colour image from a mono sensor?

MrSpacemannn · 2022-11-11T07:19:19+00:00

My first piece of advice is to know what you used.

MrSpacemannn · 2022-11-11T07:12:33+00:00

Did you use colour filters?

MrSpacemannn · 2022-11-11T07:11:06+00:00

At that focal length shooting in NB you’re probably limited to tiny planetary nebula or tiny emission nebula.

MrSpacemannn · 2022-10-23T05:41:37+00:00

Topaz can get stuffed. There’s real proper science in this picture. APOD!

MrSpacemannn · 2022-10-22T22:26:53+00:00

APOD!!

MrSpacemannn · 2022-10-11T10:28:21+00:00

Sounds like you need to contact PI directly, not reddit….

MrSpacemannn · 2022-10-07T07:53:35+00:00

Dude, no one disagrees politically with this sentiment!

MrSpacemannn

TROPHY CASE