Stepping up to Astrophotography

[Matthias (Matt)]

Hello hello everyone!

I have a question (a common one, i bet ) in regards to getting started with astrophotography. Specifically about the large selection of hardware available to choose from!

For a bit of background i currently own a 12'' lightbridge dob which gives me pretty enjoyable views of the moon, planets and the brightest DSOs. After getting a grasp on focusing and locating DSOs quite easily (and wanting the family to see why i trek out in the middle of the night) i've decided i want to take the step into astrophotography for mainly DSOs (but not forgetting planets from time to time)!

I'd love to know what equipment/telescopes/cameras you guys would recommend for getting into snapping some beautiful shots of the skies.

For the software side of things i'm quite confident in using both Photoshop and GIMP for processing i just don't want to make the wrong first choice!

Thanks in advance fellas!

[kens (Ken)]

Astrophotography gear covers a huge spectrum. I'd recommend to look at the pics in this and other forums to see what you think you'd like to produce then check out what equipment was used and what it costs. Then use that as a guide for follow up questions as everyone has a different setup.
Apart from that, the common answer is: start with a decent mount.

[glend (Glen)]

As Ken said a good tracking mount is essential for all but the brightest objects that can be shot with short exposures. It is possible to photograph through your dob, others have. However for DSOs you will need an equatorial goto mount that can handle the weight of the scope your using plus the imaging gear. Diving right into CCD camera, filters, etc can get expensive and frustrating, most people start off with a DSLR camera that is suitable for astrophotgraphy (not all are). There are a number of intro to astrophotography articles on the web that would be good to read. Be prepared for a learning curve and be patient.

[elken2004 (Australia)]

Also look into the post processing too, taking the photos is only half of it all.
I have spent hours trying different ones. but once you have a handle on it it produces some fantastic results.

[ZeroID (Brent)]

As Ken & Glen say, start slow and build up. It is not an easy 'jump in and go' path.

Your 12" DOB is not a good photographic starting point. Better is a smallish refractor and DSLR and T.Ring. 10 second avi movies of the moon, Sun spots ( Baader filter required of course) and Planets. Any of these can be accomplished with a decent tripod for short videos that can be stacked and processed although better of course is an EQ mount. My first was a little EQ2 with a brick hanging underneath to steady it.

High ISO might give you acceptable Globulars in single frames through the DOB.

Nebulae and Deep Skly Objects require a mount, the bigger the better. Minimum would be EQ5 but an EQ6 is better. And from there still continue with the smallish refractor. My 80mm f11 Skywatcher Achro actually produces quite good planetary videos although my main imaging scope is 102mm ED f7 Lunt. The 80mm f11 is normally my visual checking scope.

After that comes guiding, connectivity, AND THEN you better have gotten processing under some control because you will have heaps of images and need a bigger PC.

The DSLR, Refractor, tripod\mount will get you going. Get a T-Ring and try the globular single frame suggestion.

[Slawomir (Suavi)]

Originally Posted by ZeroID

My first was a little EQ2 with a brick hanging underneath to steady it.

My first setup was a 6" Newtonian 1200mm focal length on EQ3 without motors...shooting at 1.2 arc seconds per pixel...what was I thinking!

Originally Posted by ZeroID

The DSLR, Refractor, tripod\mount will get you going. Get a T-Ring and try the globular single frame suggestion.

I totally second that. The smallest possible refractor (a triplet if money allows it) coupled with a DSLR and a decent tripod (or even better motorised mount) will certainly provide with a lot of fun.

[cometcatcher (Kevin)]

DSO photography is the more expensive option. Planetary you can do right now with your present scope if you have a camera. Maybe start with that first?

Take a look in the beginners photography forum for what people use to start out with.