Widefield Astrophotography - Milky Way

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Yes, an EQ mount is the better option.
Welcoming you to the dark side.........

[pmrid (Peter)]

Mick, I have sent you a Personal Message.
Peter

[h0ughy (David)]

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ight=astrotrak some ideas in this thread

[dugnsuz (Doug)]

Originally Posted by jones

That's not true. At 50mm, if you're polar aligned well, you can definitely get longer times, especially if you don't shoot to far from the pole.

This picture was done with that 50mm f/1.8 lens you've been recommended, closed at f4. It's the stack of 51 pictures of 2 and half minutes each. I can probably go up to 3 or 3 and a half, but I've got pretty bad light pollution.

Note: my polar alignment could be improved!

Here's the pic: http://i.imgur.com/gxdtS.jpg

PS: my mount is a HEQ5.

I stand corrected!
nice shot

[luigi]

Originally Posted by niko

Luigi,

Interested to know more about your Astrotrac experience. What did you pay for it? What's the length of exposures you can get? Would you recommend it? They seem expensive for what they are.

cheers

niko

I paid around U$S 500 something, can't recall the exact number. Shipped by DHL international arrived quickly and safe to Argentina.

With very very rough alignment using just a compass and setting the declination I could get around 30 seconds at 200mm or around 2 minutes at 14mm. I'm positive you can expose for up to 5 minutes with proper alignment without any trails.

Some days my alignment is better than others. The Gods of astronomy gave us the Milky way, Eta and the Magellan Clouds but no polar star. Ok Ok...

With my 14mm I used to use 15'' or 20'' exposures before the stars near the celestial equator showed trails, now with the AT I can go up to 1 minute and stars are perfectly round.

I'd highly recommend it to a photographer because of what you get and portability.

This is an example I did with the Astrotrac, not sure if it's similar or not to what you plan to do.
http://www.luisargerich.com/night/haf83126#haf83126

[Draconis (Mick)]

Originally Posted by pmrid

Mick, I have sent you a Personal Message.
Peter

Thanks Peter, PM sent in return. Mick

[Draconis (Mick)]

Originally Posted by jjjnettie

Yes, an EQ mount is the better option.
Welcoming you to the dark side.........

Originally Posted by desler

Mick, Take Peter up on his offer.

We all start somewhere, and yes those widefield shots are just amazing. Don't be afraid to ask?

I've had more help in this hobby than I've ever had at work. The assisatnce I have recieved is second to none!

Keep at it, keep having fun and you'll be surpised how fast you pick up the terms and the skills to have some pretty pictures on the wall.

Darren

Thanks Peter, JJJ and Darren and everyone else who has replied to my querey, íts been a fantastic response and very helpful. The ''pretty pictures on the wall'' is the ultimate aim, I dont have delusions of grandeur and getting to the levels of some of the brilliant imagers on this site but i just want to achieve some sort of result for my own self satisfaction. Hopefully i'll get some decent results in time. As Humayun mentioned earlier in the thread i just want to 'dip my toe in' and see where it leads.

Cheers, Mick

[that_guy (Tony)]

I started out in "real" AP with widefield with my 30D on tripod at 30sec ISO1600, the first image was okay, but the real magic happens in the processing.