The Astronomy hobby thread

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Eric Hahl

So I got a new program for astro imaging and re-processed my Orion shot. I dig it.

Wow, very nice!

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Eric Hahl

Got a couple new scopes and astro camera for Xmas.

Good grief that spotter scope is as big as my very first telescope!

[Eric Hahl]

LOL, that's my wide-field imaging scope.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Eric Hahl

LOL, that's my wide-field imaging scope.

oh...

[Eric Hahl]

OK, haven't updated this in a while as, you know, its been really cloudy and rainy here in the Pacific Northwet.

Anyway, I've been slowly getting my gear together and built an observatory.


We had one somewhat clear night recently so I took advantage of it and went out to capture some data M42, The Orion nebula before it sets for the rest of the year.

Telescope mount used is a Parallax Instruments HD200
Imaging scope used is a Stellarvue 70T
Camera is a QHY183C, one shot color, 16mp, cooled camera.



This 160 sub frames exposed for 15 to 45 seconds each and then stack and processed.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

You guys are into astronomy?
That's totally awesome. I'm a Scorpio on the Sagittarius cusp ......
What's your sign?

When Mrs WD asks that I tell her my thumb is moving into Uranus with Penis rising.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Eric Hahl

OK, haven't updated this in a while as, you know, its been really cloudy and rainy here in the Pacific Northwet.

Anyway, I've been slowly getting my gear together and built an observatory.


We had one somewhat clear night recently so I took advantage of it and went out to capture some data M42, The Orion nebula before it sets for the rest of the year.

Telescope mount used is a Parallax Instruments HD200
Imaging scope used is a Stellarvue 70T
Camera is a QHY183C, one shot color, 16mp, cooled camera.



This 160 sub frames exposed for 15 to 45 seconds each and then stack and processed.

Some might say that's pretty good for backyard astronomy but day-um Eric that is just a great image, period! Do you have a dark sky? If not do you use a light filter?

[Eric Hahl]

Thanks. I'm in a rural area about 30 miles from Portland Oregon. There's a huge light dome to my West from Portland but my skies are fairly dark. I can see the Milky way just looking up.

Yes, I used a 2" LPR (light pollution reduction) filter.

[flatbutt]

While I have your attention I'd like your input on alignment if you are willing. I have Celestrons CGEM mount with a GOTO library. But I haven't been able to get this sucker to track properly. I tried polar alignment but tracking is not good. Any tips?

[Eric Hahl]

For portable setups I recommend the Polemaster camera and appropriate adapter for your mount.
The polemaster attaches to the polar axis and the software does its magic. Takes about 5 minutes to complete and polar alignment will be very, very close.

If you need better tracking after that you can drift align (tutorials on the interweb).

For astrophotos one needs a guide camera that can follow a star and give instructions to the mount to move to keep it centered.

[Eric Hahl]

When tracking, is your mount set to sidereal? Not sure if that's an option on your mount but mine has no tracking, sidereal tracking, solar tracking, solar system tracking, etc.

Make sure yours is set to what you are viewing as everything tracks at slightly different rates.

[flatbutt]

It is s'posed to be sidereal able but I've never had any luck. A guide camera is something I need to research, thanks!!

[Eric Hahl]

Some more shots of the observatory as requested. Its roughly 7.5' in diameter.

[Scott Douglas]

Thanks Eric!
That is way cool.

[masraum]

[vash]

I have zero clue. What’s the advantage of having an observatory? Comfort?

And that is bad ass! More zero clue; why are they all white? The ones a see are white.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by vash

I have zero clue. What’s the advantage of having an observatory? Comfort?

And that is bad ass! More zero clue; why are they all white? The ones a see are white.

Large aperture scopes are a pain to keep moving in and out. The dome gives it a permanent home. And scope lenses and mirrors do not like heat. White is cooler (I think).

[masraum]

What he said. Astronomy is all about catching very faint light. You are trying to gather more light and focus it into your eye. The bigger the telescope, the more light you get. My old scope was an 8" Newtonian tube on a dobsonian mount (about the lightest and simplest of mounts). The tube was 4' long and a little over 8" around. I think the whole thing weighed 40ish pounds. It's also a somewhat delicate piece of equipment, so you don't want to knock it around a bunch (the lenses have to be in alignment, and can be knocked out).

It's not unusual for folks to have 12" or 18" tubes (vs my old 8"). The weight can really start to add up, and even if it's not that heavy, it's large. If you aren't using a dobsonian mount, but you are using a GEM (German Equatorial Mount) which has large legs, large counterweights and a tracking motor, then the mount is probably the bulk of the weight. Then there's the act of having to set those things up (align them) every time you take them out so their tracking is accurate.

By having an observatory, everything is sitting there and ready to go (and at the ambient temp).

Yeah, things need to be at ambient temp. If your scope/mirror/lenses are different than ambient temp, then you don't get a good image and you can get condensation (which can happen at ambient temp too if it's late and the dew has started). Think about the heat rising from a hot road in the summer and how looking through that makes things shimmer/wavy when looking through the hot air. Having aspects of your scope at different temperatures makes the same thing happen on a much smaller scale, but when you're trying to see something that's really faint and you've just catching a few photons of light here and there, then that can cause an issue.

[vash]

whoa..

that is awesome. that first pic in the first post is ridiculous.

[Eric Hahl]

Yep, what they said. In my case the mount itself is over 300 pounds and capable of holding 200 pounds worth of equipment. Its a real pain to break it down and set ip up every night you want to use it.

Set up and tear down isn't all the work either. There is polar alignment to perform so the scope can track correctly. This takes time.

So, having everything set up in the observatory cuts about an hours worth of time out. I can just go out there, open it up, turn it on and go.