[Cosmic (Daniel)]

Hi guys,

I’m about to jump into the deep end as many of the old school astronomy enthusiasts mite say…. without going down the right path first.(visual/knowing the night sky properly with simple means) But honesty with three under three, spare time is important to me. So im looking for full proof and relatively easy way to take pictures of DSO and learn the night sky as I go. Is there anything more that I would need or should purchase for astrophotography other than the list below before the clouds depart shortly and the late nights begin J ?

Equipment

Mount: NEQ6 PRO
OTA: Newton 200mm f/5
Canon 550D EOS T-ring T-Adapter
(will make shutter cable at some stage DIY)
Laptop-EQMOD-wii controller

Running setup

-Alignmaster with eqmod and wii controller for polar alignment.
-Canon 550D with backyardEOS in conjunction with starry night pro.

Imaging software:
I haven’t got there yet.

How many people out there use only just prime focusing? From what I can work out from my focal length, the zoom for Prime Focus would be 37x ish. Am I really limited by only using this method of astrophotography or is there enough out there to keep me busy for some time to come? For example will the 18mp capture more distant objects for processing, or will I need to do afocal to open the door to a vast array of objects in the future?

Many thanks,

Dan