New Astrophotographer in Utah

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JSBach1801 United States of America
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New Astrophotographer in Utah

#1

Post by JSBach1801 »


Hello all!

After wanting to get into the deep sky imaging game for years and years, I have recently purchased some intro level gear and started what I hope will be a long time hobby. (Specific gear listed below.) I live in Northern Utah, and have pretty decent access to dark skies, Bortle class 4 mostly. Although there are class 3 and 2 nearby, I just need to find a place that will allow me to setup. I have a background in photography. Some landscape work, portraits, architecture, nature. All primarily amateur/hobbyist in nature, but I did get paid to do it professionally once.

I have managed to get my gear out in the field twice so far with decent results (I think). I will post those for any instructive feedback soon.

Anyhow, looking forward to learning what I can from all you experienced folks. Cheers!

My gear:
Sky Watcher EQM-35i
William Optics Zenithstar 73 III APO
William Optics 73A Field Flattener
Sony a7IV Mirrorless
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Butterfly Maiden Great Britain
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Re: New Astrophotographer in Utah

#2

Post by Butterfly Maiden »


Hello and welcome to the Forum.
Vanessa

Nikon D82 Fieldscope with 30x/45x/56x angled eyepiece.
Olympus DPS-1 10x50 binoculars.
Leica 8x32BN binoculars.
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JSBach1801 United States of America
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Re: New Astrophotographer in Utah

#3

Post by JSBach1801 »


Butterfly Maiden wrote: Sun Mar 19, 2023 7:33 am Hello and welcome to the Forum.
Happy to be here!
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Greenman Great Britain
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Re: New Astrophotographer in Utah

#4

Post by Greenman »


Morning looking forward to your Tocatta & Fuge; seriously though, welcome on board and enjoy the forum.
Cheers,

Tony.

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Smart Scope: Dwarf II - Club and outreach work.

AP Refractor: Altair 72EDF Deluxe F6;1x & 0.8 Flatteners; Antares Versascope 60mm finder. ASIAir Pro.Li battery pack for grab & go.

Celestron AVX Mount; X-cel LX eyepieces & Barlows 2x 3x, ZWO 2” Filter holder,

Cameras: main DSO ASI533MC; DSO guide ASI120MM; Planetary ASI224MC; DSLR Canon EOS100 stock.

Filters: Astronomik IR cut; Optolong L-Pro; Optolong L-Enhance.

Binoculars: Celestron 15 x 70.

Latitude: 52.219853
Longitude: -1.034471
Accuracy: 5 m
Bortle 4 site. https://maps.google.com/?q=52.21985,-1.03447

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Juno16 United States of America
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Re: New Astrophotographer in Utah

#5

Post by Juno16 »


Welcome JSB!
Very nice to have you here!
Looks like you have some nice gear and even better than that, beautiful skies.
Have you done any work yet? Looking forward to hearing of your adventures!
Utah sure sounds beautiful. I’ve only been there once and that was just a layover at the Salt Lake City airport.
Jim

Scopes: Explore Scientific ED102 APO, Sharpstar 61 EDPH II APO, Samyang 135 F2 (still on the Nikon).
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro with Rowan Belt Mod
Stuff: ASI EAF Focus Motor (x2), Orion 50mm Guide Scope, ZWO 30 mm Guide Scope, ASI 220mm min, ASI 120mm mini, Stellarview 0.8 FR/FF, Sharpstar 0.8 FR/FF, Mele Overloock 3C.
Camera/Filters/Software: ASI 533 mc pro, ASI 120mm mini, Orion SSAG, IDAS LPS D-1, Optolong L-Enhance, ZWO UV/IR Cut, N.I.N.A., Green Swamp Server, PHD2, Adobe Photoshop CC, Pixinsight.
Dog and best bud: Jack
Sky: Bortle 6-7
My Astrobin: https://www.astrobin.com/users/Juno16/
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messier 111 Canada
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Re: New Astrophotographer in Utah

#6

Post by messier 111 »


welcome home .
I LOVE REFRACTORS , :Astronomer1: :sprefac:

REFRACTOR , TS-Optics Doublet SD-APO 125 mm f/7.8 . Lunt 80mm MT Ha Doublet Refractor .

EYEPIECES, Delos , Delite and 26mm Nagler t5 , 2 zoom Svbony 7-21 , Orion Premium Linear BinoViewer .

FILTER , Nebustar 2 tele vue . Apm solar wedge . contrast booster 2 inches .

Mounts , berno mack 3 with telepod , cg-4 motorized , eq6 pro belt drive .

“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in.”
― Isaac Asimov

Jean-Yves :flags-canada:
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Makuser United States of America
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Re: New Astrophotographer in Utah

#7

Post by Makuser »


Hi JSB. It's great to have you join us here on TSS. Welcome to the forum JSB and the best of wishes on your astrophotography adventures.
:text-welcomeconfetti:
Marshall
Sky-Watcher 90mm f/13.8 Maksutov-Cassegrain on motorized Multimount
Orion Astroview 120ST f/5 Refractor on EQ3 mount
Celestron Comet Catcher 140mm f/3.64 Schmidt-Newtonian on alt-az mount
Celestron Omni XLT150R f/5 Refractor on CG4 mount with dual axis drives.
Orion 180mm f/15 Maksutov-Cassegrain on CG5-GT Goto mount.
Orion XT12i 12" f/4.9 Dobsonian Intelliscope.
Kamakura 7x35 Binoculars and Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 Binoculars. ZWO ASI 120MC camera.
>)))))*>
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Re: New Astrophotographer in Utah

#8

Post by smp »


Hi JS, and welcome here to the Forum!

smp
Stephen
- - - - -
Telescopes: Questar 3.5 Standard SN 18-11421; Stellina (EAA)
Solar: Thousand Oaks white light filter; Daystar Quark (chromosphere) Hα filter
Mounts: Explore Scientific Twilight I; Majestic heavy duty tripod
Local Club: New Hampshire Astronomical Society
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Re: New Astrophotographer in Utah

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Post by helicon »


Welcome to the Forums JSB!
-Michael
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50
Eyepieces: Various, GSO Superview, 9mm Plossl, Celestron 25mm Plossl
Camera: ZWO ASI 120
Naked Eye: Two Eyeballs
Latitude: 48.7229° N
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Re: New Astrophotographer in Utah

#10

Post by Bigzmey »


Welcome on board JSB!
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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JSBach1801 United States of America
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Re: New Astrophotographer in Utah

#11

Post by JSBach1801 »


Thank you for the warm welcome, all! I fell at home already.
Juno16 wrote: Sun Mar 19, 2023 12:08 pm Welcome JSB!
Very nice to have you here!
Looks like you have some nice gear and even better than that, beautiful skies.
Have you done any work yet? Looking forward to hearing of your adventures!
Utah sure sounds beautiful. I’ve only been there once and that was just a layover at the Salt Lake City airport.
Yes, Utah is a beautiful place. Quite a variety of natural landscapes from the south to the north. A little of everything you might say. :D
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Re: New Astrophotographer in Utah

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Post by Ylem »


Welcome to TSS, JSB!
Thanks for joining us 🙂
Clear Skies,
-Jeff :telescopewink:


Member; ASTRA-NJ



Orion 80ED
Celestron C5, 6SE, Celestar 8
Vixen Porta Mount ll
Coronado PST
A big box of Plossls
Little box of filters
:D



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Re: New Astrophotographer in Utah

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Post by Unitron48 »


Hello and welcome to the group!

Dave
Unitron (60mm, 102mm), Brandon 94
Stellarvue SVX127D
http://www.unitronhistory.com

"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better." Albert Einstein
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AstroBee United States of America
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Re: New Astrophotographer in Utah

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Post by AstroBee »


Welcome to the forum and the hobby. The best advice I can give you is to take it slow as you fall down the rabbit hole! There is lots to learn and it looks like you have a great kit to start with. Don't get discouraged if your first works are not "hubble" quality.
Greg M.~ "Ad Astra per Aspera"
Scopes: Celestron EdgeHD14", Explore Scientific ED152CF & ED127 APO's, StellarVue SV70T, Classic Orange-Tube C-8, Lunt 80mm Ha double-stack solar scope.
Mounts: Astro-Physics Mach One, iOptron CEM70EC Mount, iOptron ZEQ25 Mount.
Cameras: ZWO ASI2600mm Pro, ZWO 2600MC Pro, ZWO ASI1600mm
Filters: 36mm Chroma LRGB & 3nm Ha, OIII, SII, L-Pro, L-eXtreme
Eyepieces: 27mm TeleVue Panoptic, 4mm TeleVue Radian, Explore Scientific 82° 30mm, 6.7mm , Baader 13mm Hyperion, Explore Scientific 70° 10mm, 15mm, 20mm, Meade 8.8mm UWA
Software: N.I.N.A., SharpCapPro, PixInsight, PhotoShop CC, Phd2, Stellarium
https://www.nevadadesertskies.com
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Re: New Astrophotographer in Utah

#15

Post by JayTee »


Hello Lyle,

Welcome to TSS. Glad you joined us. Some of my favorite memories are from when I lived in South Ogden. That gave me access to explore most of Northern Utah. Also, my brother lives in Logan.

Cheers,
∞ Primary Scopes: #1: Celestron CPC1100 #2: 8" f/7.5 Dob #3: CR150HD f/8 6" frac
∞ AP Scopes: #1: TPO 6" f/9 RC #2: ES 102 f/7 APO #3: ES 80mm f/6 APO
∞ G&G Scopes: #1: Meade 102mm f/7.8 #2: Bresser 102mm f/4.5
∞ Guide Scopes: 70 & 80mm fracs -- The El Cheapo Bros.
∞ Mounts: iOptron CEM70AG, SW EQ6, Celestron AVX, SLT & GT (Alt-Az), Meade DS2000
∞ Cameras: #1: ZWO ASI294MC Pro #2: 662MC #3: 120MC, Canon T3i, Orion SSAG, WYZE Cam3
∞ Binos: 10X50,11X70,15X70, 25X100
∞ EPs: ES 2": 21mm 100° & 30mm 82° Pentax XW: 7, 10, 14, & 20mm 70°

Searching the skies since 1966. "I never met a scope I didn't want to keep."

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Thefatkitty Canada
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Re: New Astrophotographer in Utah

#16

Post by Thefatkitty »


Hi JSB and welcome to TSS! Nice intro and I'm looking forward to your results :D

All the best,
Mark

"The Hankmeister" Celestron 8SE, orange tube Vixen made C80, CG4 & AZ-EQ5 mounts.
Too much Towa glass/mirrors.

H/A - PST stage 2 mod with a Baader 90mm ERF on a Celestron XLT 102 (thanks Mike!)
Ca-K - W/O 61mm, Antares 1.6 barlow, Baader 3.8 OD and Ca-K filters with a ZWO ASI174mm.
W/L - C80-HD with Baader 5.0 & 3.8 Solar film, Solar Continuum 7.5nm and UV/IR filters with a Canon EOS 550D.

Oh yeah, and Solar Cycle 25 :D
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Re: New Astrophotographer in Utah

#17

Post by JSBach1801 »


AstroBee wrote: Sun Mar 19, 2023 8:45 pm Welcome to the forum and the hobby. The best advice I can give you is to take it slow as you fall down the rabbit hole! There is lots to learn and it looks like you have a great kit to start with. Don't get discouraged if your first works are not "hubble" quality.
Sage advice. Thank you.
Lyle In Utah

Telescopes: William Optics Zenithstar 73 III APO, ZWO 30mm f/4 Mini Guide Scope
Cameras: Sony a7IV Mirrorless, ZWO ASI120MM-MINI
Mount: Sky Watcher EQM-35i
Control: ASIAIR Plus
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Re: New Astrophotographer in Utah

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Post by JSBach1801 »


JayTee wrote: Sun Mar 19, 2023 10:31 pm Hello Johann,

Welcome to TSS. Glad you joined us. Some of my favorite memories are from when I lived in South Ogden. That gave me access to explore most of Northern Utah. Also, my brother lives in Logan.

Cheers,
Oh, nice! Logan is a pretty nice place to live if you like virtually instant access to the Great Outdoors, which, surprisingly enough, I do.
Lyle In Utah

Telescopes: William Optics Zenithstar 73 III APO, ZWO 30mm f/4 Mini Guide Scope
Cameras: Sony a7IV Mirrorless, ZWO ASI120MM-MINI
Mount: Sky Watcher EQM-35i
Control: ASIAIR Plus
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Re: New Astrophotographer in Utah

#19

Post by MrShorty »


Welcome to the group, from the southern ends of the Wasatch Front.
telescopes: XT6 and XT12 Dobsonians
binoculars: 15x70
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