Beginner Astrophotography

[pin3appl3]

Hey guys, I'm relatively new to astrophotography and since christmas have purchased the following equiptment:
* Skywatcher ED80 Pro
* HEQ 5 Pro go-to Mount
* Canon EOS 50D
I guess down the track ill eventually use the ED80 as a guide scope, and as I don't have a laptop (yet) I don't yet have a auto-guider...but this is all ahead of me! I just want to be able to align my scope correctly and get some imaging results!

My first issue is that of drift alignment: Ive had a bit of a play around with the CCD or DLSR alignment method, but am thinking it would be worth it to invest in an illuminated eyepiece instead?...the reason being I then have the versatility of observing before I decide to take some snaps and also as 600mm through the ED 80 isnt much its hard to keep track of the reference star when making adjustments in drift aligning.

As for aligning correctly http://www.petesastrophotography.com/ gives a really good description, the only part that troubles me is when im happy with alignment in azmith do I then rotate in DEC 90 deg to face the telescope either East or West (to find a guide star 15-20 deg above horizon)? Here I just get confused as when aligning it always states "0 DEG DEC".

Another problem I'm having is location. I live in brissie and Its hard to find anywhere that has bright stars for alignment both looking towards the SCP and East/West horizons. I was wondering if anyone knew of good locations around Brisbane that are ideal for stargazing. Im looking for a place I can drive to and stay out till late all in the one night (can return to possibly each week). Obviously it will be hard with the light pollution but I just want to practice aligning the scope and getting a few photos, then once I'm happy I can venture further out for weekends away where I can really focus on gettin some decent photos.

Finally if anyone in/around Brisbane is already doing this and regulary and wouldn't mind showing me a few of the ropes let me know because I would be more than happy to! I know once I get the basics it won't be a problem setting up and then I can concentrate on actually taking photos and viewing the universe and not fumbling around with equiptment! Cheers guys

Darcy

[jjjnettie]

:D You've come to the right place Darcy.
We're here to help.
There are regular star parties held all over SEQ.
Where about's in Brissie are you located?

[pin3appl3]

Thanks for the reply! I'm out at Tingalpa near Carindale.

[jjjnettie]

Ahhh, there's a few members that live over your way.
I'm sure it won't be long before they make themselves known.
Check out the Star Parties, Club and Community section for local get togethers.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=16
If you only get to one star party a year, it has to be QLD Astrofest. www.qldastrofest.org.au

[Bolts_Tweed]

Gday Darcy

You have quite a few astrophotographers around you at Tingalpa. The only problem is that every weekend with no (or little) moon - most of them are going to be at dark sky sites (I am at Banora Point near Tweed Heads - but originally from Grassdale road off Belmont Road at Tinny).

I have a dark sky site at Leyburn (about 40 mins SW of Toowoomba) that you are welcome to attend if want to interact and get some basic instruction - there are 10 observatories on the site now and every new moon there also a bunch of guys in the paddock taking images / observing. There is limited accommodation (pretty primitive) of the site in a caravan for visitors - you would be welcome to use it. All you need is bedding and food (kitchen on site). You will also need some form of portable poawer for your mount / camera - A few deep cycle batteries will suffice. I can help you out with some power at the start but if you want to continue dark sky imaging I would suggest you get some (power is usually a precious commodity on the site - smile).

With the mounts and imaging gear these days, we have spare time, after we set up an imaging run, to spend some time and get you going - we are happy to do it.

PM me if you are interested - I am going out this afternoon (Sat night looks ok for narrowband) so you wont get me again until Monday. The best time to meet the guys is the last quarter moon weekend (a few keen guys go then) and the new moon weekend.

So if you can handle a drive to Leyburn let me know and I will send you instructions on finding the site. The website in my signature below will show some info regarding the site.

Good luck with it - hope you've got plenty of hair because you are about to start pulling it out ;).Also Eddie Trimachi is giving a talk at the Southern Astronomical Society this month on suburban imaging. Eddie is a well known Australian astrophotographer (see http://astroshed.com/). You are welcome there as well. Directions to the meeting can be obtained from www.sas.org.au (http://www.sas.org.au) - meeting is at Ormeau on 29 May i think. If i'm not there (im going to try to be) ask for Ray Suckling or Peter Marples - tell them we were talking and they'll sort you out.

Mark Bolton

[pin3appl3]

Thanks so much for the responses nettie and mark! Mark I have left you a PM, I am very interested...and will definitely attend the info night. I have a 32 Ahr Urban battery pack so power shouldnt be a problem - I also have camping gear! Thankyou for getting me in the right loop! I will be shaving my hair soon to prevent pre-mature hair loss :lol:

Darc

[[1ponders]]

And don't forget up the coast Darcy. There a few of us this way with lovely skies as well. Keep an eye on the Star party forum, they are usually announced

[Adelastro1]

Hi Darcy,

To quickly try to answer your question, when you rotate your scope from aligning azimuth to point to a star 20 deg above the horizon it will indeed still show near 0 deg on the dec scale because you will be looking at a star on or near the celestial equator, just a different RA. Thus the only difference with the azimuth aligning is that you are pointing at a point on the equator that is almost overhead (depends on your latitude, ie. where your meridian intersects the equator). By pointing the scope east or west to align altitude it keeps the azimuth error to a minimum so that you can see any altitude error more clearly, and vice versa.

Wayne

[Bolts_Tweed]

Gday Darcy

I bought a wireless modem this afternoon so i am on the web (saves me stealing my wife's - she suffers anxiety attacts when disconnected from Facebook).

The other ones to check out the web sites for are BAS (Brisbane Astronomical Society) and SEQAS (Sth East Qld - obviously) - they also have active astrophotgraphy groups if you dont feel like driving to Dreamworld area - although i would at least reccommend the Eddie Trimachi presentation.

As Paul also points out dont forget the North Coast guys as well - they have a very active group up there with Paul, Nettie, Alex etc etc (most of who you will see on this forum). I am pretty sure anyone you talk to in this community and at the dark sky sites will be only too happy to help - once we were all exactly where you are now.

If you are ever in the Underwood area area on a Saturday morning call in at Sirius Optics. Peter Marples works there on a Sat and there are often a bunch of guys the informally get together there for hot chips and a chat (and a fair amount of bs) - Jeremy Moser is usually there and he does some great stuff from suburbia (Loganholme) - he is also worth catching up with

Anyway there are a plethora of resources around that you probably dont realise when you first get into this frustrating pass time of ours. I dont have the Leyburn pdf map out here but will email it to you when I get back on Sun night. Can you PM me your regular email address for that

Good Luck

Mark