Camera Labs

The other night just as I was getting in bed, the news channel was on and he was showing that Saturn and another star were near and just to the right of the moon. I went outside and wow, it was so so so clear (odd around here) So I busted out the telescope and WOW, I've never seen it so well. I could see the space between the ring and the planet. I but my Barlow X2 in and, then moved it before the angle piece which gives me 3 times. It was just spectacular. Got me motivated again to use the telescope.

Question: Here is my Scope: StarMax 102mm EQ Compact "Mak"

102mm Aperture and 1300mm Focal length. My eye pieces and angles, and 1.25 inch not the big 2 inch ones.

Does anyone know what I can get to mount my 40D on this scope? It looks nothing like gordons scope so I don't think that idea will work. Any Ideas. I'd like to try to get a few pictures of things like this. thanks

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Canon 40D kit Lens 28-135mm IS, Canon 50mm F/1.8, 10-22mm, 100 2.8 macro, 580 Ex.

Here is a page from a UK retailer detailing the sort of adaptors you need. The kit shown in Gordon's Canon EOS 40D Astro-photography video demonstration is just as applicable, with the tube size appropriate for your telescope with the eyepiece holder removed. You might want to check your telescope manufacturer's website to see if they make, or recommend, an appropriate adaptor. Does that website host a forum? An email to the technical team might also be useful.

An unrelated question, but does your mounting come with a motorised R.A. option, either as standard or as a retro-fit? A motorised drive will add tremendous flexibility to what you can accomplish.

Bob.

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OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

thanks for the reply, I'm not sure about the website hosting a forum, I just found the picture. It actually doesn't have a motor on it, I know that's going to limit things with long exposures. I kinda knew that, I'd like to get a motor for it some day, but not sure when. I'm not actually that good with astro stuff, its another hobby all in itself. I'll check out your recommendations. Do you think without a motor that I will still have some success? With my 26mm eyepiece and my barlow in the 3x position, I think it give me about 156x magnification? Optics are supposed to be decent on the scope, not walmart but but celestron either.

thanks again.

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Canon 40D kit Lens 28-135mm IS, Canon 50mm F/1.8, 10-22mm, 100 2.8 macro, 580 Ex.

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I'm sure it will be fine for the Moon etc but dimmer objects like stars will be a problem without a motor drive.

I'll try some sums, but it's pretty late here so fingers crossed I get them right. You can work out maximum exposure times by remembering that celestial objects, to a first approximation, move across the sky at 15° per hour which is 15 seconds of arc per second. The pixel size on the 40D is about 5.7µm which means that each pixel is about 1 second of arc across on a 1300mm focal length telescope. Thus, to keep motion blur down to 1 pixel you would have to operate at an exposure of 1/15 of a second or less if the telescope is unguided. Given that capturing some stars like the Pleiades is going to involve an exposure time of tens of seconds with your 'scope (my guess) you will be lucky to get anything crisp even if you try and turn the R.A. wheel at roughly the right rate.

Don't despair, though. If you use an ordinary lens on the camera and piggyback the camera on top of the telescope you can get some "big sky" shots while manually tracking a guide star through the telescope. A motorised drive is worth saving for, though, and they don't have to be too expensive. I added a very basic dual axis drive to my cheap and cheerful mount for about £100 ($200) so hopefully you can do the same for your own mount for the same money, or less if you opt for a single axis drive. It makes a huge difference to visual observing as well. These drive units are obviously custom made to fit each scope.

Bob.

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OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=917863&l=42d06&id=522656494

Taken with Panasonic FZ18 at full EZ Optical & Digital Zoom - 115X

FYI - The bright star was in the constellation of Leo the Lion:

The brightest star of this constellation, alpha Leo, called Regulus (meaning: the little king), is a blue-white star (spectral type B7 V) of 1.35 mag.

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Mark C.

wow that's awesome. Pretty neat you can see color. I feel like I could see it larger, but its hard to tell really comparing it on screen to what your eye can see squashed up against the eye piece. But I couldn't see any color other than white. So I would just assume you were closer. I'll have to look into getting my camera mounted on my scope after my wedding/trip.

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Canon 40D kit Lens 28-135mm IS, Canon 50mm F/1.8, 10-22mm, 100 2.8 macro, 580 Ex.