Trying out a new setup

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avid.astronomer United States of America
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Trying out a new setup

#1

Post by avid.astronomer »


All the dedicated APers out there are going to be shaking their head at my antics, but as many on here know, I'm really enjoying the journey of seeing how much of the night sky I can capture using a smartphone.

Last week, I was able to get ahold of a Celestron Nexstar 60 SLT telescope in working condition for a measly $50. I picked it up because of its (granted, somewhat limited) tracking abilities. Another plus was that it came with a dovetail mount already equipped, so my Meade AdventureScope 80 (a slightly cheaper version of the Orion ST80) should have no trouble attaching to it.

Last night, the sky was relatively clear, so I decided to put it to the test. I ended up fiddling with the controls for quite a while, learning how to set up my location and time, etc., and then getting it aligned. Finally, that was done. I scrolled down to "Moon" on the hand controller, and *WHIRRRRRR* and a few seconds later, I was looking at the Moon, nearly centered in the eyepiece. Great!

My target tonight wasn't going to be the Moon, though. I can get him easily enough with my unguided Dobs. I wanted to try for something easy that still took a few seconds of exposure time, so I could see how well the tracking handled. I decided on M42.

I connected the smartphone adapter to the AS80, put in my phone, lined up the camera lens to the eyepiece, then selected my target: M42. *WHIRRRRRRR* *GRUNT* *WHIRRRR* *GRUNT* *GRUNT* *WHIRRRR*

The telescope moved towards the target, but it finished well short of Orion. I used the hand controller to manually slew the telescope the rest of the way and tried a 30 second exposure. Lots of star trailing. The gears couldn't keep up with the unbalanced scope. I tried for a 6-second exposure instead and ended up with this:
m42_20200103_201740_01.png
A little better, but I'm going to have to figure out a way to better balance the scope when the phone is attached. Also, the achromat's color aberrations really come through in the image - something that is nearly invisible when looking through it visually.

More experimentation needs to be done, but I'm still happy with my first results.
Tom Campbell (astro.tomandjul.com)

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SCOPES: Sky-Watcher 300p f/4.9, Discovery DHQ-8 f/6, Meade DS-2080AT 80 f/10, Meade AS80 f/5
BINOS: 10x50, 16x50, 10x70
1,124 Observations, 603 Objects (97 Glxy, 185 OC, 58 GC, 17 Neb, 39 PN, 171 Dbl)
AL Awards: Messier, Double Star, Bino Messier, Planetary Transit
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Re: Trying out a new setup

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Post by Gordon »


You're on your way!

Congratulations!
Gordon
Scopes: Explore Scientific ED80CF, Skywatcher 200 Quattro Imaging Newt, SeeStar S50 for EAA.
Mounts: Orion Atlas EQ-g mount & Skywatcher EQ5 Pro.
ZWO mini guider.
Image cameras: ZWO ASI1600 MM Cool, ZWO ASI533mc-Pro, ZWO ASI174mm-C (for use with my Quark chromosphere), ZWO ASI120MC
Filters: LRGB, Ha 7nm, O-III 7nm, S-II 7nm
Eyepieces: a few.
Primary software: Cartes du Ciel, N.I.N.A, StarTools V1.4.

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Re: Trying out a new setup

#3

Post by Lady Fraktor »


Stranger on the forums!! :lol:
A nice image Tom, the SLT mounts are a fun little mount for these smaller telescopes once set up.
Enjoy the experimenting with it. :)
See Far Sticks: Antares Elita 103/1575, AOM FLT 105/1000, Bresser BV 127/1200, Nočný stopár 152/1200, Vyrobené doma 70/700, Stellarvue NHNG DX 80/552, TAL RS100/1000, Vixen SD115s/885
EQ: TAL MT-1, Vixen SXP, AXJ, AXD
Az/Alt: AYO Digi II/ Argo Navis, Stellarvue M2C/ Argo Navis
Tripods: Berlebach Planet (2), Uni 28 Astro, Report 372, TAL factory maple, Vixen ASG-CB90, Vixen AXD-TR102
Diagonals: Astro-Physics, Baader Amici, Baader Herschel, iStar Blue, Stellarvue DX, Takahashi prism, TAL, Vixen flip mirror
Eyepieces: Antares to Zeiss
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Re: Trying out a new setup

#4

Post by ARock »


Great shot !!

And since you are headed towards the rabbithole :lol: , I remember JT made a wedge for his SLT.
viewtopic.php?t=3129

I have been using my Adventure 80 with a DSLR and a $100 EQ mount, slowly adding/refining AP features to it like guiding.
AR
Scopes: Zhumell Z8, Meade Adventure 80mm, Bushnell 1300x100 Goto Mak.
Mount: ES EXOS Nano EQ Mount, DIY Arduino+Stepper drives.
AP: 50mm guidescope, AR0130 based guidecam, Canon T3i, UHC filter.
EPs: ES82 18,11,6.7mm, Zhumell 30,9mm FJ Ortho 9mm, assorted plossls, Meade 2x S-F Barlow, DGM NPB filter.
Binos: Celestron Skymaster 15x70 (Albott tripod/monopod), Nikon Naturalist 7x35.
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Re: Trying out a new setup

#5

Post by bladekeeper »


Pretty darn awesome, Tom!
Bryan
Scopes: Apertura AD12 f/5; Celestron C6-R f/8; ES AR127 f/6.4; Stellarvue SV102T f/7; iOptron MC90 f/13.3; Orion ST80A f/5; ES ED80 f/6; Celestron Premium 80 f/11.4; Celestron C80 f/11.4; Unitron Model 142 f/16; Meade NG60 f/10
Mounts: Celestron AVX; Bresser EXOS-2; ES Twilight I; ES Twilight II; iOptron Cube-G; AZ3/wood tripod; Vixen Polaris
Binoculars: Pentax PCF WP II 10×50, Bresser Corvette 10×50, Bresser Hunter 16×50 and 8×40, Garrett Gemini 12×60 LW, Gordon 10×50, Apogee 20×100

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Re: Trying out a new setup

#6

Post by avid.astronomer »


bladekeeper wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2020 5:09 am Pretty darn awesome, Tom!
Thanks, everyone! I went out and tried again. My tracking was a bit better and I've been doing a lot of reading about Photoshop techniques to try to "hide" a lot of the inherent noise and artifacts from my afocal setup. Here's my latest attempt at M42. Quite an improvement over just a couple of nights ago, I think.
m42_20200104_234859.png
Tom Campbell (astro.tomandjul.com)

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SCOPES: Sky-Watcher 300p f/4.9, Discovery DHQ-8 f/6, Meade DS-2080AT 80 f/10, Meade AS80 f/5
BINOS: 10x50, 16x50, 10x70
1,124 Observations, 603 Objects (97 Glxy, 185 OC, 58 GC, 17 Neb, 39 PN, 171 Dbl)
AL Awards: Messier, Double Star, Bino Messier, Planetary Transit
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Re: Trying out a new setup

#7

Post by avid.astronomer »


Here's my latest results, and a dilemma:

First, an original, single raw image (converted to jpg for faster uploading) taken with my phone attached to my 80mm f/4 refractor and 9mm eyepiece:
20200104_234859.jpg

And here's my results after cropping and spending several hours in photoshop, attempting to remove severe vignetting, noise, etc.
m42_20200104_stacked_ps_01.png

Now for my dilemma: I showed both images to my wife and she said that both were nice, but visually, she preferred the original, even though it wasn't quite as clear. So I stared at both images, side-by-side on my dual-monitor setup, and I have to admit that she's right.

Perhaps I just need a lot more practice at processing astrophotos, but the original looks a lot less artificial to me. What do y'all think?
Tom Campbell (astro.tomandjul.com)

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SCOPES: Sky-Watcher 300p f/4.9, Discovery DHQ-8 f/6, Meade DS-2080AT 80 f/10, Meade AS80 f/5
BINOS: 10x50, 16x50, 10x70
1,124 Observations, 603 Objects (97 Glxy, 185 OC, 58 GC, 17 Neb, 39 PN, 171 Dbl)
AL Awards: Messier, Double Star, Bino Messier, Planetary Transit
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Re: Trying out a new setup

#8

Post by Lady Fraktor »


Your wife is a smart lady ;)
Good images though Tom.
See Far Sticks: Antares Elita 103/1575, AOM FLT 105/1000, Bresser BV 127/1200, Nočný stopár 152/1200, Vyrobené doma 70/700, Stellarvue NHNG DX 80/552, TAL RS100/1000, Vixen SD115s/885
EQ: TAL MT-1, Vixen SXP, AXJ, AXD
Az/Alt: AYO Digi II/ Argo Navis, Stellarvue M2C/ Argo Navis
Tripods: Berlebach Planet (2), Uni 28 Astro, Report 372, TAL factory maple, Vixen ASG-CB90, Vixen AXD-TR102
Diagonals: Astro-Physics, Baader Amici, Baader Herschel, iStar Blue, Stellarvue DX, Takahashi prism, TAL, Vixen flip mirror
Eyepieces: Antares to Zeiss
The only culture I have is from yogurt
My day was going well until... people
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