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Old 23-06-2009, 07:25 PM
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toryglen-boy (Duncan)
Scotland to Australia

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Quote:
Originally Posted by ghsmith45 View Post
It all works on f number. Two scopes with the same f number need the same exposure for extended objects. As an example take an 8" f5 (40" focal length) and a 4" f5 (20" focal length). The 8" gathers 4 times as much light as the 4", but because the image scale is doubled this light is spread over 4 times the area, so the extra light is exactly cancelled by the extra area over which it is spread.

The general result is this: If you take an exposure of length t1 with a scope of focal ratio f1 and then you go to a scope of focal ratio f2, you will need an exposure t2 given by

t2=t1*(f2/f1)^2

So just work out the focal ratios of your two scopes and plug into this result

many thanks for that, but its far too much like hard work !!

can you post a practical example?
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