G'day all!
New to the forums and to astronomy. I'm planning a long, round Australia motorcycle trip for next year.
The last little trip I was on, I found myself camping outside of Buchan in Victoria. Spent the night sitting in my hammock and watching the moonrise over the hills, which was a pleasant surprise as I was thoroughly confused as to what was causing the brightening of the horizon, my first thought was a 4wd or spotlight shooters, but it became too bright... anyway I had plenty of time sitting in my hammock that evening to ponder the stars.
The iphone app 'starwalk' has also piqued my astronomical curiosity.
So now I've begun trawling forums to put together a kit for moto-astromomy, I want to start with a pelican case because they are fantastic as motorcycle luggage and offer great protection.
I'm currently looking at tripods, maybe a manfrotto 190cxpro, it's 1.3 kg and supports up to 5kg. Looks like a good compromise between sturdy-ness and weight.
Obviously weight and durability are going to be crucial factors in anything I buy, also size, needs to be compact!
I also want to do some photography on this trip, both celestial and terrestrial. Hence the need for equipment to serve multiple purposes.
Would a Manfrotto 405 geared head work as a mount for astronomy?
This brings us to the big question - What would you recommend for astronomy? Binoculars, Telescope (what sort?) or a spotting scope?
It needs to be relatively small and light, and able to withstand life on the often bumpy road. What can be used for basic astro-photography?
Yet another question, what camera's do people use as I'll be looking to add a DSLR to the kit, but it also needs to work for regular photoghraphy. My point and shoot doesn't cut it for much of anything.
Thanks in advance for all advice as I know little about this subject. In the meantime I'll keep trawling and gleaning!
