Anyone interested in Astronomy?

Those are cool pictures Paul, well done. Are you able to see the places on the moon where the astronuats have landed? Is it possible to even pick up such detail from earth?

Paul

Nice photos. Never got into the photography bit but I have been observing for about 15 yrs. The CCD has certainly revolutionised things. A few minutes before I read your post, I was looking at both Jupiter and Saturn using my 4″ refractor (achromatic) which is all my budget allows.

The 10 inch Meade is a nice machine. Owned a C8 for about 10 years. I agree with you opinion about Cloudy Nights. A great site.

Regards

Sauron

The smallest telescope shown in the picture is the Meade ETX70. With that you can see Saturn with no problems (which is smaller and further out than Jupiter). I can post some images I took through the small one if you would like to see them. Retail price for the ETX70 is I believe $299. It may be more in Europe though. I got mine factory refurbished for $129 which was too good to pass up.. To get started with basic astro-imaging I would certainly recommend this telescope. For purely visual observing, I think a Dobsonian Reflector would be better because you will get a much larger aperture for a similar investment. I was interested in taking some images, so I needed a telescope that tracked (The ETX70 has a computerized tracking system).

The images I already posted were taken using the larger LX200. I picked it up second hand with a number of accessories for $1800 which was a great buy. The new LX200 GPS 10 inch would cost about $2700. That is for the telescopes.. but that ends up being the cheap part because you soon start buying accessories (and there are a lot of very neat things you can buy). It soon adds up. It is a great hobby though.. truely fascinating.

As for ease of use, well, both scopes are computerized. I have to align the telescope with two known stars so that the computer can get it’s bearings, and then all you have to do is call up the object you want to look at and press the GoTo button. The telescope then automatically slews to the correct position. I usually find I have to fine tune the position, but it is never far out. You have cursor keys on the keypad for fine adjustment.

wow, that small telescope can get that image of something as far away as Jupiter? How much did your telescope cost and how difficult is it to use?

Steve, my cameras are marketed for astroimaging. I have a Meade Deep Sky Imager (DSI) which is used for the deep space objects that require longer exposures.

For planets and bright objects I use a Celestron NexImage camera .

Both of these cameras use the same basic technology as a webcam. A lot of people use the Phillips TouCam Pro webcam. It does need some basic modification (it needs an adapter to fit the camera to the 1.25 inch eyepiece holder and I think the focusing lense is usually removed too). The NexImage I have is basically a Toucam with the required modifications already done. If you are confident fiddling with electronics, you can further modify the Toucam to take long exposure shots. I was not that confident, so I bought the purpose built DSI. The DSI has a few extra bells and whistles including a very nice integrated software suite. I am still learning how to get the best out of it.

Paul, thanks very much for posting that. Please could you explain how you go about converting a camera for use with the telescope? How difficult is this?

best regards, steve

Used to love astronomy but never had a big enough telescope…only had the 2″ refractor and it was always ‘iffy’…living in the mountains of Evergreen, Colorado afforded some nights skies that were nice enough (just a little light pollution from nearby Denver), Ialways wanted a 4 1/4 inch reflector tele but never got one….the best thing I ever saw in the night sky was Saturn through the University of Denver’s 20″ inch refractor at a star party once, the planet was about as big as my hand…VERY cool…

Maybe someday I’ll get back into it again…and take nice photos like you have…

Mark

Thanks Paul, i’m definitely going to take a look at that web site. Thanks again, Chris

I am glad you like them 🙂 I had a lot of fun taking those shots.

Der, I would recommend you visit www.cloudynights.com and get on the forum there. It is a great forum with lots of friendly people to help out at all levels. I spend a lot of time there :).

Chris, there is evidently quite a bit of ‘space junk’ in orbit. That rocket body was visible with the naked eye (which is how I tracked it). Visit www.heavens-above.com and do the free registration. You can then browse there for full details of objects that will be visible to you at your location. It is an interesting website.

Bored us, Not at all 🙂 They are absolutely stunning, extremely interesting pictures!! Although they are all great, the piece of an old Russian Rocket caught my eye, is that a common sight to see such things in orbit??

Tremendous work Paul.
My son is interested in astronomy and I got him a Celestron telescope recently.
We dont have great visibility where we live, but are keen to learn more.
Do you know any good websites for beginners?
Der

Great pictures! Thanks so much for posting them- I love astronomy!

They are fantastic Paul! great work

I have a telescope myself and i am also interested in Astronomy 🙂 my telescope is not as good as yours but it serves me well and i had intended to buy a better telescope but since then i have become more hooked on aviation and that has been more the focus of my attention.

Regardless i still bring my telescope out and find it fascinating to look up at the night sky 🙂 😉 especially Jupiter 😀

Wow!! Those are impressive!. I do like to look at the sky at night, but living in the city makes it a bit tricky to see anything with all the light pollution 🙁