New Hobby

[exy]

Hi Every,My name is Tony but all my Mates call me Exy,I am new to this site but have had a keen interest in Astronomy for many years,I am just starting in Astrophotography as a new hobby,i have a Canon eos 1000d camera and an orion XX12G Scope i realize that the Dobsonian mount is not ideal for long exposures but i am hoping it should be o'k for 30 seconds or less,does anyone have any advice for me regarding the use of my equipment to get the best quality images.

[Hans Tucker]

Hi Exy (I'm sure there is a story behind that nick name), Ok I will be the first of many whom will welcome you to IIS and the hobby of amature Astronomy.

If you look through the Projects & Articles section in the left hand menu you will find some articles that may assist you in particular one by Mile Salway titled Astrophotography with a Dobsonian.

[exy]

Hey Hans,Firstly there is a story behind the nickname so i'll get it out there now,lol,i got the nickname from when i was in the Army,i used to do a lot of extreme sport and other stuff so Exy is short for Extreme,lol.
Anyway thanks for the tip on the post,i am still working out how to navigate around this site,lol,i will check that out now,i'm sure i'll get a lot of usefull info from it.

[madbadgalaxyman]

Hi Exy, and welcome.

We all love astronomy at IIS and we all 'do our own thing'; the good thing about astronomy is that there is always something new to learn and that there are so many different ways to practise the hobby.

I suggest that you repeat your post requesting advice about astro-imaging in the astro-imaging forum.
You will probably get more advice that way.

cheers,
Robert

[Starless]

Exy,
g'day from a fellow south aussie.:hi::welcome:
Manum hey, you must have something akin to dark sky.
Envy from us city dwellers.:)

[cfranks]

Welcome Exy, you should do well here. They are a great bunch of people.

Charles from just up the road.

[rustigsmed]

g'day exy,

I've got a goto dob, and have got some nice deep space pics from short exposures. http://www.flickr.com/photos/80336656@N07/ check out the pics.

I'd recommend keeping the exposures to 20 seconds, and going no higher than iso 3200, get as many subs as possible and use deep sky stacker (free download) to reduce the noise. you'll also want to get something like photoshop to process the images. don't forget to take dark's (same exposures with the lens cap on).

i'd recommend getting a coma corrector, the baader MPCC is a good one.

best of luck!

cheers

rusty

[exy]

Hi madbadgalaxyman,I did see the Astro-Imaging Forum a couple of hours after i posted it here,Hindsight is always good,lol,Everyone has been awesome so far,it's good to be so nicely welcomed to a new site.
Hey Starless,we love the dark skies at Mannum,you a very welcome to come here anytime and have a viewing session with me.
Hey Charles,Tunky hey,5 minutes away,we'll definately have to do a viewing session,What scope are you using.
rustigsmed,Just been to your site and all i can say is WOW,i am so impressed with the quality and clarity,i must say some of the best images i have seen,Thanks for the advice and software recommendations,i will install the stacking software but will have to learn how to use it as i haven't done stacking before.

[Starless]

Exy,
Thanks for the offer, I will have to take you up on it some time.:thanx:
We are busy doing some home renovations so it could be a while.
I'll PM you with contact detail when I am able to get some time to
observe and we can make rrangements then.

I am planning to start experimenting with some astrophotography
with my ED80.:camera:

[exy]

Hey Brian,Home reno's,i know what thats like,doesn't really leave a whole of time but like i said Mate you're welcome anytime,here is my mobile 0403484251 for when you get some free time.

[PCH]

Exy,

welcome to the forum mate. But not a good idea to place your mobile number on a public forum. We do get the ocasional crackpots on here ;)

Send him a PM with private info - much better :)

Click at top right where it says 'Private Messages'.

Cheers matey,