Do you need a tracking mount to take long exposure images? and other questions

[StrainHardening (Jock)]

Hi

I've tried googling this question but I read a lot of things that I don't understand.

Do I need a tracking mount/electronic mount which tracks objects in order to take long exposure photographs?

Also, would this sensor be suitable for astrophotography? http://store.sony.com/interchangeabl...ollections-ifa
You can tell it to take a photo using your phone so you dont bump the telescope, if i'm reading the specifications correctly then it has up to 30 second exposure time?

I'm a very begginer astronomer. I've done some planetary viewing lately, saturn, jupiter@4am and the moon (I know it's not a planet ). I've seen some stars but they all look like bright dots. I was hoping to see a bit more detail with photography.

The telescope i'm using is the sky watcher sw102 100/500.
Do I need a better telescope if I want to take picture of deep space objects?

Thanks for any help

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by StrainHardening

Hi

I've tried googling this question but I read a lot of things that I don't understand.

Do I need a tracking mount/electronic mount which tracks objects in order to take long exposure photographs?

Also, would this sensor be suitable for astrophotography? http://store.sony.com/interchangeabl...ollections-ifa
You can tell it to take a photo using your phone so you dont bump the telescope, if i'm reading the specifications correctly then it has up to 30 second exposure time?

I'm a very begginer astronomer. I've done some planetary viewing lately, saturn, jupiter@4am and the moon (I know it's not a planet ). I've seen some stars but they all look like bright dots. I was hoping to see a bit more detail with photography.

The telescope i'm using is the sky watcher sw102 100/500.
Do I need a better telescope if I want to take picture of deep space objects?

Thanks for any help

This is pretty much a Sony NEX camera without the usual camera shape body. It has no memory card and transmits the images to your phone. It should be fine. You will need a T-mount adapter to attach it to the scope. I recommend the ones by http://www.telescopeadapters.com/

They have a specific one piece E-mount adapter. In fact I'm waiting for one and a clear filter to be delivered for my a7s.

• T2NEX - T-Minus Adapter for Sony NEX Cameras
• T2FLT - 48mm Clear Filter for True-2

I don't have any experience with Skywatcher scopes, but at 500mm you will either have to restrict yourself to 1 sec images or get a tracking mount.

[raymo]

You can take wide angle images with just a camera and a tripod, with exposures up to around 2 minutes, depending upon the lens you use, and where in the sky you point it.
To take worthwhile images through any telescope you do need a tracking mount. It can be fairly basic, with just a simple drive
motor.
The camera is almost certainly not good for astrophotography, firstly
because 30 secs is not long enough. Secondly, smartphones are really
not up to to the task, if you are looking to take decent quality pics.
For less than the price of that camera you can get a Canon 1100D
DSLR, which is much more versatile and suitable.
Your present scope will do the job, but will suffer from chromatic
aberration [violet and/or yellow, fringes] around bright stars and the
moon.
Quality deep sky images are not easy to produce; I suggest that you
get a book on the subject. It's a long, steep learning curve, and can be
very expensive. Start simple, and persevere.
The Sony camera will do for basic phone camera use, but I think that
you will want to move up a step before too long. If you only want to
dabble, the Sony would do.
raymo