That would be very doable, and the software is designed for that exact purpose. I like to be a little more hands on though. You can make some very complex sequences, or just have the basics where you still need to participate. Yes, the mount is computer controlled and I use auto-guiding for fine adjustments to compensate for tracking error during the imaging run.
At the moment I am using a Celestrom C-GEM DX mount (it’s about 10 years old and a little out of date now electronically. The scope itself is a 6 inch Ritchey-Chrétien (pretty much the smallest you can get).
Awesome. Next you will be like a neighbour when I lived back in the burbs. He was into stellar photography and built his own observatory in the back yard (shed with a sliding roof) with a 2 cubic meter block of concrete he bolted his mount to (in order to eliminate vibrations from passing cars).
He would quite often ask me to turn off the lights in the backyard… and the streetlamp out the front of his place mysteriously failed all the time
Have to link a web page of a local pro astrophotographer, whose observatory was located in the city centre (about 300m from my place). Despite all the light pollution he managed to capture magnificent images of deep space.
I always wondered wether the writers didn’t know that a parsec is a measure of distance, not time or they knew and it simply means that it’s a newly discovered route that shortens the trip significantly
In Solo: A Star Wars Story , Solo’s Kessel Run is depicted in detail, providing an explanation for the “twelve parsec” boast. Solo has to make many calculated jumps to avoid killing the crew. After integrating the memory module of Lando’s damaged L3 droid into the ship’s navigation, Solo is able to take a “shortcut”[28] (which is dangerously close to a black hole). Chewbacca indicates the real distance was closer to 13 parsecs, but Solo insists, “Not if you round down,” implying that the claim of “less than twelve parsecs” is slightly exaggerated.
Ha, been there, done that. When I lived in Ohio my wife and I had a roll off roof observatory in our yard. She enjoyed visual observing while I gravitated toward imaging. It was great to have a shared hobby even though we were into different aspects of it. Here was my rig from back then.
12 years ago we moved to Texas and of course, had to leave the observatory behind. I still have the telescope but its electronics are very outdated now. We never got around to building another one at our current house.
It’s a lot to set up each time. I have made some improvements since that photo was taken, especially with the cable management!
Here is another shot from the other night. It didn’t come out as well as the NGC 7331 shot. Auto-guiding was having a hard time keeping the tracking errors of the mount under control…
Paul, this is the most amazing thing on Mudspike right now. (Until @Victork2 and son take their Hummer on the British monster truck circuit). I can’t believe that a private citizen can capture images lime that. We see lots of clear night sky with our jobs. It’s easy to see how you got into it.
Thanks Eric, it feels really good to be getting back into the hobby. Things have changed quite a bit in the time I was away from it. The cameras are more sensitive and easier to use, the software has improved a lot, you no longer have to use a laptop computer (I now have a mini-PC strapped to the tripod and I use Remote Desktop to connect to it).
An exciting development in the hobby is the rise of the so called “Smart Telescope”, which is a complete imaging rig in one device that you control with your phone or tablet.
I have one of these on order. Some of the images I have seen taken with it are simply amazing for such a small device. For $500 it would be a fantastic way to get into the hobby.
My $150 budget reflector with manual equitorial mount now sucks even harder and if I hadn’t (literally) bought a new (Used/2nd Hand) car today I would have probably bought one of those
Well, I wouldn’t worry too much, there is a large backlog of orders for them to fulfill. By the time local retailers have some in stock, maybe you will be in a position to feel good about purchasing one. I am not sure I will get mine this year, and I ordered at the end of July.
I did a thing last night while I was stuck in a hotel watching YouTube reviews of astronomy gear (always dangerous)… I pulled the trigger on my new mount….
Not a cheap mount by any means, but the reviews are extremely positive. I am really looking forward to getting it. I think it might mean I will have to forego my Rhino FFB stick base, but you know, 1st world problems…
Last night’s capture… Another attempt at the Elephant’s Trunk. I haven’t spent a lot of time processing this, but I think it is a massive improvement from my earlier version (first image posted on this thread).
These images just keep getting better, please keep them coming.
It is nice to see that it is possible to get these incredibly detailed and vivid images with relatively compact telescope. Reinstates my faith in hobby astro-photography.
You mentioned above the “smart telescope”, how would it differ from the current setup in terms of the image opportunities? Do you think it could reach this level of quality we are seeing with the current images?
The SeeStar smart telescope won’t be able to match the clarity of the images I have posted above. The advantages of the SeeStar are that it is very portable, takes very little time and effort to set up and it performs very well when you consider the price point. At $500 USD, you are getting a tracking telescope, built in camera, built in light pollution (actually dual narrow-band) filter, IR-Cut filter, dew-heater, planetarium software (part of the app). It’s an incredible package at that price. It won’t match my current rig when it comes down to the quality of the images though.
And then see how far he was able to take the images using full featured astronomy image processing software (which costs as much as the SeeStar itself). I have seen some nice results just processing with the image tools on a smartphone.
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