By early 2012 I had researched enough information on Astrophotography to almost scare me away from this hobby. The equipment was so expensive. There are special CCD cameras, high-tech tripods, telescopes, & tracking software, etc. Luckily I came across a website that talked about a low budget technique used for Astrophotography called Digiscoping, also referred to as Afocal photography, which is the activity of using a digital camera to record distant images by coupling it with an optical telescope. I had just received a Nikon CoolPIX S6000 - 14 megapixle digital camera for Christmas a few month before. All I needed now was an adapter to mount the digital camera to the telescope. I found a few online, but after the bad purchase choice I had made with the Flip-Mirror, I didn't want to spend money on this mount until I was sure it would work. I decided I would make one myself. I easily made it out of scrap wood I already had, and it actually worked pretty well. It was very adjustable and able to hold the camera in place.
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| 90% Full Moon |
The first couple of pictures I took with this set-up came out very fuzzy because the whole thing would shake every time I pushed the shutter button on the camera. The good thing is that this camera came with a self-timer feature, which does away with the fuzzy picture problem. The pictures it was able to take were much better than the webcam's, but I still couldn't capture the dim stars I wanted. I learned to adjust the ISO and Exposure Compensation settings to get better photos.
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| M43 Great Orion Nebula |
After several attempts I finally learned which setting worked best with this setup, and I was able to take some decent pictures. I took these images on a beautifully clear and dark night when I was visiting
Fort Stockton, Texas. There is no light pollution there. The moon image still looks a bit out of focus but you can clearly identify craters and surface lines. The M43 Great Orion Nebula is visible along with some of its brighter companion stars. The less bright stars were not visible to this camera. Like I mentioned above, these images are better than the ones taken with the webcams, but still not the quality that I am looking for. I will need to buy a better camera to obtain the quality of images
that I am trying to capture. Need to do some research!
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| Venus Transit of the Sun 2012 |
So by mid 2012 I started to do on-line research for a better quality camera for Astrophotography. I quickly found out that this was going to be a very expensive hobby. High quality cameras can cost over a thousand dollars, not to mention the software and equipment used for tracking and processing images. I decided I would buy a mid range DSLR camera that could be used for both Astrophotography and normal everyday photography. After all, I was only a rookie at this, and I was not ready to invest thousands on this hobby. Not yet. I chose to purchase a
Canon EOS Rebel T3i camera kit. I found it at Fry's Electronics for $649 dollars (tax included). This camera was perfect for what I needed. One of the key features was it's Live View 3" LCD swivel screen that makes it easy to see while attached to the telescope. I will explain more in detail in my next page
DSLR Astrophotography all the settings & equipment I use with this camera setup.
Proceed to page 2 - Click Here
By mid 2011 I had started looking for a better and bigger telescope. I didn't want a low quality scope, but I also didn't want to spend thousands of dollars on this hobby. At least not yet. I wanted to convince myself that for me this was a serious hobby first, so I set a spending limit of $500. I researched telescopes for a couple of months before finally deciding on one. By October of 2011 I had chosen to purchase a Celestron 130SLT Computerized Telescope. This is a Newtonian type telescope with a 130mm aperture & 650mm focal length. This one comes with a computerized "Go-To" tripod mount that tracks objects automatically. The best part is that I found it for $425 (tax included) at Fry's Electronics, and I just happen to have a Fry's credit card. There was no turning back now. I'm committed to this hobby now. I had just passed the point of no return.
One night I was trying to look at the full moon but it was way to bright to see through the eyepiece. So bright that I could not look at it for more than half a second before having to turn away. I had to purchase my first of many accessories. A set of eyepiece filters. I found a 7 piece on Ebay for $35. I then bought a $20 yellow case to store them in along with the 2 eyepieces and old 2x barlow. I also purchased a storage trunk at Walmart for $20 to store the telescope, tripod, and accessory case in. The Go-To tripod uses 12 AA batteries, which get expensive to replace after a couple of times, so I also purchased an Celestron 115v AC adapter for the tripod at $36. I think all these accessories are essential to protect the investment I have put into this hobby.
By early 2012 I had researched enough information on Astrophotography to almost scare me away from this hobby. The equipment was so expensive. There are special CCD cameras, high-tech tripods, telescopes, & tracking software, etc. Luckily I came across a website that talked about a low budget technique used for Astrophotography called Digiscoping, also referred to as Afocal photography, which is the activity of using a digital camera to record distant images by coupling it with an optical telescope. I had just received a Nikon CoolPIX S6000 - 14 megapixle digital camera for Christmas a few month before. All I needed now was an adapter to mount the digital camera to the telescope. I found a few online, but after the bad purchase choice I had made with the Flip-Mirror, I didn't want to spend money on this mount until I was sure it would work. I decided I would make one myself. I easily made it out of scrap wood I already had, and it actually worked pretty well. It was very adjustable and able to hold the camera in place.
