how do you do that!!!!

[astrocookie (Molly)]

hello,

I am new to astronomy and I just had a look at some of your photos. they are all amazing!!!!! It got me thinking, how do you take those photos? is it as simple as putting a digital camera up to the eye piece of your scope and getting the object to say cheese!!!!

[renormalised (Carl)]

H Molly

OMG no!!!!!. Although you can do that (camera to eyepiece...it's called afocal imaging). Instead of rambling on like a prat here, I'll point you to some books you can buy and read which will show you how to take astropiccies...

Introduction to Digital Astrophotography

Introduction to Webcam Astrophotography

(Jut go to the Books section of the link...they're on page 2)

Deep Sky Video Astronomy

Digital SLR Astrophotography

Also, something important you should do....join an astronomy club. If you go to one of their obs nights, you'll learn a lot about the equipment you need to take piccies, as well as what scopes is best for what and you'll get the chance to look through the scopes, meet new friends and learn a lot

Just to give you an idea, here's a shot of the Moon I took a number of years ago through my 8" SCT....All I did was grab my little point and shoot (Canon A460) and held it up to a 26mm eyepiece in my scope.

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Afocal astro imaging is how most of us started Molly.
You can capture some very nice images of the Moon, the Sun and the brighter planets ie. Jupiter & Saturn.
It involves minimal cost, but will give you a taste of things to come if you decide you want to go further.

Give it a go.
It's great to have another astro chick on the forum

[leon]

Molly, it takes lots of practice, tears and joy, it is an art in itself, however very expensive.

Leon

[renormalised (Carl)]

Originally Posted by leon

Molly, it takes lots of practice, tears and joy, it is an art in itself, however very expensive.

Leon

That can be very true, Molly. Those really great piccies you see many of the IIS members take, have been done with very expensive telescopes, cameras and other equipment. Plus it takes some knowledge of image processing to get the piccies looking great. But, you can take piccies of the Moon and planets on a relatively cheap budget.

Your little scope is OK for looking through and maybe taking piccies of the Moon, but the mount is too flimsy for much else. If you want to take piccies of other objects like galaxies, nebulae etc, you will need a good scope and mount.