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Old 30-12-2013, 12:07 PM
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acarleton (Aidan)
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GSO rc 8 vs 10" skywatcher Newtonian for astro

Hi all

I am looking to get into astrophotography with the ambition to photograph as many galaxies as I can. I have a Neq6 pro go to stand, a 600d canon dslr and a small refractor I will use as a guide scope. The next question is what reflector scope I want to get. I want a reflector because of the large aperture and lower f ratio (hence shorter exposures). I can't decide between the GSO rc 8 and the skywatcher 10" newtonian which are the best that I can afford. I live in the north of Sydney and will be getting a fair bit of light pollution. Any help would be great.

Aidan
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Old 30-12-2013, 01:40 PM
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cometcatcher (Kevin)
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Welcome to the forum Aidan.

Where's Mike... Galaxies, small faint little buggers for the most part except for a handful of bigger brighter ones. Not easy to see and a challenge to photograph. You picked a hard target!

Probably the best combo for your DSLR would be the 10 inch. You may find the RC8 at F8 a bit slow with a DSLR. For galaxies the weakest link in your above equation is your camera.
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Old 30-12-2013, 01:48 PM
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acarleton (Aidan)
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Thanks for the advice, I expect to upgrade my camera to a bespoke monochrome astrophotography ccd in the future but that will have to wait as it is a significant investment
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Old 04-01-2014, 11:56 PM
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acarleton (Aidan)
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skywatcher 254 vs bt 250

so looking into this a bit more, i am tossing up between the bt 250 and the skywatcher 254. the sw has a slightly longer fl and maybe a better build quality, but i am not 100% sure that this is set up for astrophotography out of the box. The bt scope looks like it has a better focusser and is faster. Like i said before i want to shoot galaxies as much as possible but i will probably start by getting a few pics of the planets. Thanks for the help iis'ers
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Old 05-01-2014, 09:52 AM
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cometcatcher (Kevin)
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Oh crap, I did a big write up and lost the lot!

Adding a mono CCD to the equation changes a lot. In that case the F4 newts may not be the best choice.

If I was to start again from scratch with galaxies in mind, I'd have to increase the budget to fit in an RC 10 or 12, sturdy focuser to take the filter wheel + accessories and at least an EQ8 or paramount mount.

You can shoot galaxies with big fast newts, Mike does and does it well, but I don't think those cheaper BT and SW models have focusers strong enough out of the box for the CCD camera + accessories.

But this is a bit out of my league. I mainly shoot comets and dabble in wide field nebula. Galaxies are too hard.
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Old 05-01-2014, 10:34 AM
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Hi Aidan,

Are those scopes F5 or F4?
you might want to see how big typical galaxies might be at that focal length using the ccd calculator.
http://www.newastro.com/book_new/camera_app.php

As mentioned, you ideally need longer focal length for galaxies as they're quite small, but longer FL's require much longer exposures.

Tradeoff is a 10inch F5 or 12inch F4. The 12inch is a lot bigger overall but should help with faint galaxies.

Are you imaging from dark skies? most galaxies are mag 9 or above with just a handful below that and they really require dark skies, else a light pollution filter. the IDAS LPS-P2 is a very good filter.

How are you guiding? an OAG saves you a lot of hassle with flexure but the spacing needs to be properly considered since you'll need a coma corrector as well.

F5 and below exhibit noticeable coma. the Baader MPCC mark 3 is a good choice. You'll need to maintain 55mm from the sensor to the Coma corrector and you just need the EOS to T2 adaptor.
The adaptor uses 10mm and the sensor to camera body is 45mm giving you 55mm.

if you're using an OAG, look at the teleskop express TS9OAG with an EOS adaptor on the camera side. that will help maintain the 55mm to the Coma corrector.

Finally, you will need a cheshire to collimate. you could start with a laser, but the cheshire is a lot more accurate and is the only tool you'll need to get it decently collimated.

Cheers
Alistair
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Old 05-01-2014, 08:42 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by acarleton View Post
Hi all

I am looking to get into astrophotography with the ambition to photograph as many galaxies as I can. I have a Neq6 pro go to stand, a 600d canon dslr and a small refractor I will use as a guide scope. The next question is what reflector scope I want to get. I want a reflector because of the large aperture and lower f ratio (hence shorter exposures). I can't decide between the GSO rc 8 and the skywatcher 10" newtonian which are the best that I can afford. I live in the north of Sydney and will be getting a fair bit of light pollution. Any help would be great.

Aidan
In my opinion go the GSO 8inch F5 it is best balance for viewing and astrophotography. Either way its a start you will find later on you will move to a refractor telescope, but if money is a issue get the Newt. Also it is important not to exceed 60% of your mounts carrying capacity, as it will impact your guiding for astrophotpgraphy. Beware the 10",12" Newts they are big and heavy not a good choice for Photography.
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Old 06-01-2014, 12:22 AM
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blink138 (Pat)
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dont be too quick to get rid of dslr imaging!.............. i have learned so much about my scope and its capabilities, not to mention exposures, iso, histograms and stacking!
thanks to my dslr i know i want to pursue this discipline a lot more vigorously
my 60da is the first dslr camera i have ever had
pat
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Old 06-01-2014, 12:51 AM
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Screwdriverone (Chris)
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Hi Aidan,

I would go with the 10" Skywatcher, good bang for your buck.

With a 10" on the EQ6, you should get some good shots with the DSLR.

I have an 8" on an HEQ5 Pro and shoot from Kellyville Ridge which has some horrendous light pollution from Blacktown, Parramatta and Parklea.

Here is a link to some of my photos, most of which were with an Atik 314L+ through the 8" but some were with a Canon 1000D (standard).

It is possible to get galaxies in Sydney, you just need LOTS of exposures and good light pollution filters, I use a EOS Clip CLS filter in the Canon to remove a lot of the sludge, although you have to white balance it first as it makes everything go a bit blue which is tricky to rebalance later.

One reason the aforementioned Hutech IDAS-LP is better, as it keeps a natural tone to the photos and is all round I think a better filter.

Give it a bash, the 10" F5 will be more forgiving and easier to get started with.

Cheers

Chris
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Old 06-01-2014, 08:19 AM
swannies1983 (Dan)
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I have imaged with an RC8 + modded Canon 30D + Hutech IDAS-LP filter. The RC8 has a moderate focal length which requires good tracking. I usually did 5-10min exposures. Check my posting history to see what can be achieved under moderately light polluted skies. I think I did pretty well to capture the Horse Head Nebula. While I have since sold my RC8, I preferred imaging with this scope over my 8" Newt. The RC8 was less affected by wind, which is a problem for me in the summer months due to gully winds.
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