#1  
Old 08-05-2008, 04:29 PM
Brian W's Avatar
Brian W (Brian)
The Wanderer

Brian W is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Dumaguete Philippines
Posts: 757
another rookie question

Hi all, I have been enjoying visual astronomy for @ 1 year. Presently I am using an Orion short tube 4.5" reflector and am awaiting the arrival of our Meade 8" LightBridge. I have reached the point where 'sketching' what I am viewing would be an aid to help me see and record what I am looking at. However my fine motor skills are about shot due to M.S..

I am hoping that there will be a digital camera set up that I can piggy-back on my scopes to take basic snap shots of what I am observing? Any suggestions?
Brian
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 08-05-2008, 06:28 PM
iceman's Avatar
iceman (Mike)
Sir Post a Lot!

iceman is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Gosford, NSW, Australia
Posts: 36,760
Hi Brian

A basic digital camera just won't be able to capture the faint details you can see with your eye when observing faint deep space objects.

You'd really need to get serious about imaging, and then it's not really observing anymore

I'm not sure what other options you have..
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 08-05-2008, 07:18 PM
coldspace's Avatar
coldspace
Registered User

coldspace is offline
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 506
Brian,
Why don't you have a look at video astronomy. Far easier to get going than conventional imaging if you are after a quick fix to aperature fever. The G-star Ex is very good value and would display objects upto 4 mags better than through the eyepiece and in near real time. You could use this with the light bridge but would be hard without tracking to keep the object centred, so tracking is best but because it only uses 2-3 sec exposures you will not have to worry about polar alignment. You can record your sessions onto video or DVD or capture images onto a laptop via capture software. Check out Steve Massey's home page on video astronomy, there is a link on this site, or go to My astro shop web site, I think there is a link on this site as well, there are a few other video systems around but for the money these represent good value. This may be one other option you could look at with assisting you with your observations.

Matt.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 08-05-2008, 08:42 PM
Brian W's Avatar
Brian W (Brian)
The Wanderer

Brian W is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Dumaguete Philippines
Posts: 757
That indeed is the crux of the problem... to enhance my visual observing I need an astrophotography / real time video set up which in either case replaces my eye with the camera lens and my eyes enjoy looking through the eye piece. I did take a look at the almost real time video set up and it is intriguing but as was pointed out it needs a tracking mount and for now that is not in the finances. I guess for now taking a snap of the Stellarium page will have to do.

But thanks for pointing out some options.

Brian
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 09-05-2008, 02:25 PM
coldspace's Avatar
coldspace
Registered User

coldspace is offline
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 506
Brian,

Why don't you look at mounting that short tube refractor onto a cheap alt/az goto mount like the new ioptron cube from sirus optics then you could mount the video system to this and use your 8 inch light bridge for visual, just another thought for you .

Matt.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 09-05-2008, 03:37 PM
Brian W's Avatar
Brian W (Brian)
The Wanderer

Brian W is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Dumaguete Philippines
Posts: 757
Quote:
Originally Posted by coldspace View Post
Brian,

Why don't you look at mounting that short tube refractor onto a cheap alt/az goto mount like the new ioptron cube from sirus optics then you could mount the video system to this and use your 8 inch light bridge for visual, just another thought for you .

Matt.
And a good thought it is. Except that would not give me a record of what I was seeing in the 8 which is where this thread started with me trying to find a photographic way to replace hand sketching.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +10. The time is now 11:53 PM.

Powered by vBulletin Version 3.8.7 | Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Advertisement
Bintel
Advertisement
Testar
Advertisement