Hi guys,
After quite a lonnggg.. hiatus, I've decided to get back into astronomy.
A little bit of background on me, I live in Rockhampton QLD (Anyone else from there, let me know, would be keen to catch up with some like minded ppl).
My first telescope was a 114mm reflector on a very shaky EQ mount. But it still got the job done and definately helped peak my interest in space.
Unfortunately said reflector has seen better days and had to be retired. (Although I have repurposed the mount for my DSLR).
I have however been out and about throwing my hand at some astrophotography with just a 1200d Dslr and a small tripod.
I've found just taking a few second snaps of the constellations and trying to stack and edit the photos to be quite fun even though I have not had a lot of success. Although I am still quite happy with the photos I have gotten and how they've turned out, they can be better. I have snapped the pleaides, M42, the cluster M41 and even the andromeda galaxy.
Now my reason for this post is to get some sage advice on astrophotography and what is possible on a budget.
I am looking for a scope but seen as I've had a taste of a small scope, a nice big 10-12 inch dob sounds like that is the next step for me. However astrophotography also grabs me as something I'd like to try. (If only for the purpose of having some way to record what I see and show my kids who are 2 & 4 years old. My daughter loves coming out to the see the stars and I would like to be able to show her alot more of what is actually hiding in the sky.
So I am in the market for a telescope (If any one is selling let me know) and any advice around what would be best for viewing or photography or a mixture of both.
But I would also like to know what kind of objects would be good targets for photographing with just the DSLR in the mean time. I've tried to look at lists based on magnitude of the DSO's, and just going after the brightest objects. Mag 5 & higher. The camera is a 1200D with the standard 18-55m lens F3.5. so I don't get alot of magnification.
What lens would you recommend for a beginner in this field to get some half decent shots of the brighter objects?
Also what would be the faintest objects you would attempt to photograph? Bearing in mind, my mount is not able to track. (At this stage anyway. I;m working on a little project to try and motorise it currently. one of my other many hobbies
Anyway, this post has gotten a bit out of control but would appreciate any feedback on the above. Thanks in advance.