Hi Mitchell,
to IceInSpace!
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Originally Posted by Lumen Miner
~ Is there anyone in the Hornsby, Sydney area that wishes to start a viewing group on a regular basis? Is one already started that I could join?
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There's the North Sydney Astronomical Society, and also one in the west hawkesbury area (the name elludes me at the moment).
We also have a viewing group on the central coast that meets up monthly for observing (no formal meetings or anything, it's not an astronomical society, just a group of friends that get together through IIS).
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~ The celestron scope I purchased has an Azimuth mount. Either i'm just being a total noob, or are they just shocking on viewing control? When trying to lock onto a star etc, by tightening the vertical axis, it "drifts" off the objects dramatically. To the extent that I need to tighten the axis a couple of light years away to compensate for the slack on the assembaly.
Is this normal... I mean, if focusing on the moon, I literally need to view above the moon, in the sky/dark, tighten the axis, then let go, to compensate, as the slope "slumps" down. It just seems odd that I would have to, I can't believe they can't machine that style of mount to be accurate. I would expect that there would be a bit of slack, yet at minimal magnification, I still can never see the object I want to view when tightening the screw to set the axis. Is this normal?
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Yes, this is normal for those cheap alt/az mounts. They're absolutely terrible, and incredibly frustrating.
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~ Given the above, I am rather adaptive and can compensate for my minimal scope. I wish to however, acheive some sort of astralphotography. I have sitting in front of me, a webcam and a ccd security colour video camera.
In your opinion, if I wished to do some photography which method would achieve best results. I know this question has many variables, yet I would like your ideas. Hack the webcam, or use the security camera? What would provide the best quality images?
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It will be a frustrating experience but I guess if you're happy to try.. what type of webcam is it?
The security camera is likely to be more sensitive.
I guess just try them both!
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Oh, by the way is anyone else getting some great shots of the waxing moon from Sydney? Awesome colours through the clouds, make the best of it I guess!
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Clouded out here!
Keep asking questions!