Tracking mount help

[Kagemusha]

Hello,

Was looking for advice on what to look for in a tracking mount. Hoping for a budget friendly one (lets say $500 or less).

My goals would be to get images of the Orion Nebula or some galaxies.

Thanks!

On a similar note, is it at all possible to get any images of a nebula with a static mount? (I would assume there would be image stacking involved?)

[Lady Fraktor]

If you are wanting to use the telescope in your signature I would suggest looking for a ASGT, AVX or Skywatcher EQ-5. Decent beginner gear.
You can look for used equipment in Canada here: https://astrobuysell.com/

A Az/ Alt mount does not move with the arc that objects move at so your images would have to be short (30 seconds or less) a EQ mount is required for long exposures.
You could get lunar and planetary images with video but nebula would be very difficult.

[yobbo89]

On a similar note, is it at all possible to get any images of a nebula with a static mount? (I would assume there would be image stacking involved?)

absolutely !


this was a 2min image made of 9 sec exposures on a fixed mount with a 50mm lense of the milkyway ,

you're basicly limited to short focal length if you wish to image without tracking , you can capture orion with detail using a dslr lense the object will be small but if you have a longer fl lense you will need some crude basic tracking , you can make a "barndoor tracker", it is worth a try if you already have a camera and a small fast lense and can build stuff .

https://www.instructables.com/Build-a-M ... r-Tracker/






30 sec track with a 200mm camera lense ,it should give you an idea of detail with the most minimalistic hardware

now, in terms of mount, how big/heavy is your gear that you would like to use ?

[SkyHiker]

If you are wanting to use the telescope in your signature I would suggest looking for a ASGT, AVX or Skywatcher EQ-5. Decent beginner gear.
You can look for used equipment in Canada here: https://astrobuysell.com/

A Az/ Alt mount does not move with the arc that objects move at so your images would have to be short (30 seconds or less) a EQ mount is required for long exposures.
You could get lunar and planetary images with video but nebula would be very difficult.

Actually for astrophotography on a static mount it's 1 second or less. The rule is 400 to 500 divided by focal length which is about that.

To the OP, a beginner setup for nice pictures involves a mount, scope and possibly a guide scope, typically about at least $2.5K in the US when bought new. Galaxies are smaller objects that require longer focal length and autoguiding, except our neighbor M31. The mount is the most critical piece of equipment, check the 2nd hand market, there are often good deals. You can start with the scope you have but it looks like an achromat so expect purple fringes.

[JayTee]

If you want a setup that captures longer exposures (>30 sec) and one that is very budget-friendly then check out this post. To get an Imaging set up that is cheaper than the number SkyHiker is quoting (and it's an accurate quote) means you're going to have to become creative.

viewtopic.php?f=24&t=3129