Satellites?

[sidebite252]

We’ve been watching it every night. Pretty cool.

 

[Younggun]

Went out again last night for about an hour and took a bunch of long exposure pictures. I suck at it, but will stack them up this evening and see what I get. Doubt it will be anything like the great pictures posted by those with more experience.

I let some of the exposures run a little too long. 10sec wasn’t bad but 20 gave a distinct oblong shape to the comet.

Was able to finally see it with the naked eye. I guess my night vision is lacking these days. It still seems to be lower magnitude than ~2. Maybe it gains a lot more from the tail than I expect. Tend to only pay attention to magnitude at the lower ends when trying to spot something through the telescope.


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[jordanmills]

Went out again last night for about an hour and took a bunch of long exposure pictures. I suck at it, but will stack them up this evening and see what I get. Doubt it will be anything like the great pictures posted by those with more experience.

I let some of the exposures run a little too long. 10sec wasn’t bad but 20 gave a distinct oblong shape to the comet.

Was able to finally see it with the naked eye. I guess my night vision is lacking these days. It still seems to be lower magnitude than ~2. Maybe it gains a lot more from the tail than I expect. Tend to only pay attention to magnitude at the lower ends when trying to spot something through the telescope.


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A guy I know got this last night or the night before. He's been taking pics for a while though.

 

[Younggun]

I’m having trouble getting the tail to show.

Part of that issue is with the camera. It was a mid tier DSLR back in the day (Canon T3) but is a little outdated. Still takes great photos, but when the ISO is cranked up the noise really comes out. It’s also got a lot of pixels that like to light up in random ways under those conditions creating the appearance of lots of extra white, red, and blue stars. Of course, someone who really is serious about it will have lenses with bigger objectives and better glass to help out too.


Still fun to try though and sometimes I manage to get results that surprise me.


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[Younggun]

I do a little better with planets. Managed to get this shot of Saturn Saturday night.

 

[jordanmills]

I’m having trouble getting the tail to show.

Part of that issue is with the camera. It was a mid tier DSLR back in the day (Canon T3) but is a little outdated. Still takes great photos, but when the ISO is cranked up the noise really comes out. It’s also got a lot of pixels that like to light up in random ways under those conditions creating the appearance of lots of extra white, red, and blue stars. Of course, someone who really is serious about it will have lenses with bigger objectives and better glass to help out too.


Still fun to try though and sometimes I manage to get results that surprise me.


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My in-laws have a house up in the mountains and have wanted a telescope. They had some junky 2" refractor from 1992 that they wanted to use but they can't find the eyepiece. I looked for some telescopes in the area on craigslist, and found an 8" Newtonian reflector for $250, apparently in good working order. That should get you some tail pictures... I won't get my hands on it until well after this comet is out of easy range. It's estimated to be at mag 10 by mid next month, so I might get a hint of it. Oh well.

Any way, I might have to get some photography gear if I get my hands on that. What kind of telescope are you working with?

 

[thequintessentialman]

I do a little better with planets. Managed to get this shot of Saturn Saturday night. View attachment 220811

So what lens you use for that. That's a nice capture.

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[Younggun]

My in-laws have a house up in the mountains and have wanted a telescope. They had some junky 2" refractor from 1992 that they wanted to use but they can't find the eyepiece. I looked for some telescopes in the area on craigslist, and found an 8" Newtonian reflector for $250, apparently in good working order. That should get you some tail pictures... I won't get my hands on it until well after this comet is out of easy range. It's estimated to be at mag 10 by mid next month, so I might get a hint of it. Oh well.

Any way, I might have to get some photography gear if I get my hands on that. What kind of telescope are you working with?

I use a 10” reflector on a Dobsonian mount. It’s not ideal for photography with the lack of tracking. I manage planetary imaging using a small CCD camera and constantly adjusting the telescope with one hand while working the laptop with the other. Long exposure photography is out until I put back enough money for something on a tracking mount.

If you’re serious about photographing anything that requires more than a couple seconds of exposure I’d recommend an SCT on a tracking mount. But most of the low end mounts barely handle the weight of the scope so hanging a DSLR off the back would probably kill them fairly quick.

I have a Celestron 5” Jones Bird on an equatorial mount that is fine for a small telescope. Not amazing, but it’s an ok rig that’s light. The mount is fairly worthless as an equatorial. They sell a small motor that in theory would follow stars and DSOs, but setup would be tedious and nearly impossible to achieve perfect alignment to begin with and the gearing isn’t precise enough for smooth movement. I recommend avoiding something like that if you plane to use it for any more than just looking around. And the 5” was just enough to make me was a 10”, lol.

Kind of rambling. But happy to help where I can. Oohrah would be the real expert though if you want something specific. His imaging telescope is in another league.

If you really get curious, consider joining Central Texas Astronomical Society. Really friendly group. Their meets meetings and open houses are shut down right now due to the Covid mess but I’m sure many would be happy to provide tips and advice.


https://www.centexastronomy.org/


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[jordanmills]

I use a 10” reflector on a Dobsonian mount. It’s not ideal for photography with the lack of tracking. I manage planetary imaging using a small CCD camera and constantly adjusting the telescope with one hand while working the laptop with the other. Long exposure photography is out until I put back enough money for something on a tracking mount.
View attachment 220826

If you’re serious about photographing anything that requires more than a couple seconds of exposure I’d recommend an SCT on a tracking mount. But most of the low end mounts barely handle the weight of the scope so hanging a DSLR off the back would probably kill them fairly quick.

I have a Celestron 5” Jones Bird on an equatorial mount that is fine for a small telescope. Not amazing, but it’s an ok rig that’s light. The mount is fairly worthless as an equatorial. They sell a small motor that in theory would follow stars and DSOs, but setup would be tedious and nearly impossible to achieve perfect alignment to begin with and the gearing isn’t precise enough for smooth movement. I recommend avoiding something like that if you plane to use it for any more than just looking around. And the 5” was just enough to make me was a 10”, lol.

Kind of rambling. But happy to help where I can. Oohrah would be the real expert though if you want something specific. His imaging telescope is in another league.

If you really get curious, consider joining Central Texas Astronomical Society. Really friendly group. Their meets meetings and open houses are shut down right now due to the Covid mess but I’m sure many would be happy to provide tips and advice.


https://www.centexastronomy.org/


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Nice. That 8" Newtonian I was rambling about has a DC azimuth motor so it should do well enough at automatic tracking. I'll have to check that out. I don't really think I'll get that deep into imaging though. Radio, house renovation, and languishing cars (not to mention wife and kids) keep me plenty busy enough.

 

[Younggun]

Nice. That 8" Newtonian I was rambling about has a DC azimuth motor so it should do well enough at automatic tracking. I'll have to check that out. I don't really think I'll get that deep into imaging though. Radio, house renovation, and languishing cars (not to mention wife and kids) keep me plenty busy enough.

Assuming the motor moves at the right speed, or can be set to do so:

When you set up you will need to get the telescope aligned as nearly perfectly north as possible, then it will have to be set for your latitude as closely as possible. The further off you are when setting up, the worse the tracking will be. It might allow slightly longer exposures than no tracking at all. It’s also not going to track planets since they track on a slightly different plane and speed than the rest of the galaxy/universe from our perspective.

I’m not saying it’s totally useless, but expect to put in a lot of work to get any benefit. And don’t expect the benefits to be close to those that a computerized tracking mount would give.

I’m stubborn and play that kind of game every time I go out with my Dob to shoot planets so don’t take this as “you’d be wasting money”, but expect a challenge.

Those equatorial mounts just aren’t large enough to be as precise as you really need to be. I’m making a lot of assumptions based on the price alone so it may be a better kit than I’m giving credit for.

I did get use from the

Do you have a link or picture of it?

Either way, you’ll be amazed at what you can see through an 8” reflector. Lots of star clusters, Andromeda is amazing through a telescope, several of the brighter nebula, etc. but those are also the things that are going to be nearly impossible to photograph without very good tracking.

I started with a little 2” or so refractor similar to what Walmart sells. Upgraded to a 5” that was still box store quality but gathered far more light, and then jumped to the 10” Dob setup. I hope to someday get a 14-16” computerized telescope and build a small observatory in the pasture out back. Big dreams and a small wallet...




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[jordanmills]

Assuming the motor moves at the right speed, or can be set to do so:

When you set up you will need to get the telescope aligned as nearly perfectly north as possible, then it will have to be set for your latitude as closely as possible. The further off you are when setting up, the worse the tracking will be. It might allow slightly longer exposures than no tracking at all. It’s also not going to track planets since they track on a slightly different plane and speed than the rest of the galaxy/universe from our perspective.

I’m not saying it’s totally useless, but expect to put in a lot of work to get any benefit. And don’t expect the benefits to be close to those that a computerized tracking mount would give.

I’m stubborn and play that kind of game every time I go out with my Dob to shoot planets so don’t take this as “you’d be wasting money”, but expect a challenge.

Those equatorial mounts just aren’t large enough to be as precise as you really need to be. I’m making a lot of assumptions based on the price alone so it may be a better kit than I’m giving credit for.

I did get use from the

Do you have a link or picture of it?

Either way, you’ll be amazed at what you can see through an 8” reflector. Lots of star clusters, Andromeda is amazing through a telescope, several of the brighter nebula, etc. but those are also the things that are going to be nearly impossible to photograph without very good tracking.

I started with a little 2” or so refractor similar to what Walmart sells. Upgraded to a 5” that was still box store quality but gathered far more light, and then jumped to the 10” Dob setup. I hope to someday get a 14-16” computerized telescope and build a small observatory in the pasture out back. Big dreams and a small wallet...




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"8" Mead newtonian reflector on 3 leg pier mount. Comes with Magellan II go-to system with DC drive system and motorized declination corrector"

I'm going to be in this house for a long time, so there isn't much point in going for a big expensive telescope.

 

[Younggun]

If it’s all functional that’s a hell of a deal. And it is a full tracking mount, I didn’t expect that for $250.

So long as there’s no hidden flaws it will be an excellent setup. Looks a little dusty. If the mirror is dirty on the telescope do not wipe it with anything. Blow it off.

Too bad there’s no pic of the actual telescope. It didn’t mention eyepieces, you might end up spending $50 on some really cheap ones, or pick up a few good mid tier eyepieces for about a hundred bucks used if they aren’t included. But it still looks like a great deal.


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[jordanmills]

If it’s all functional that’s a hell of a deal. And it is a full tracking mount, I didn’t expect that for $250.

So long as there’s no hidden flaws it will be an excellent setup. Looks a little dusty. If the mirror is dirty on the telescope do not wipe it with anything. Blow it off.

Too bad there’s no pic of the actual telescope. It didn’t mention eyepieces, you might end up spending $50 on some really cheap ones, or pick up a few good mid tier eyepieces for about a hundred bucks used if they aren’t included. But it still looks like a great deal.


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Oh I missed the eyepieces. 9 mm, 12 mm, 25 mm. No barlow, but that should be easy enough.

But yeah if it's in decent shape, I could buy the eyepieces and still wind up way ahead.

 

[Dougw1515]

https://theskylive.com/sky/constellations/ursa_major-constellation

It's near theta ursa majoris (closer in from Talitha). It's in a line from several stars in the handle of the big dipper and the star almost at the end (alcor, alioth, megrez, and merak).

Is that kind of language allowed on this site??????