My entry level pics through a dobsonian

[Larry 1969]

Hello all!

I entered into this hobby completely unknowing and unaware.......
I bought a 10" Skywatcher collapsible dobsonian telescope...... Then a few quality eyepieces.......
Then I fabbed up a web cam to take some pics..... Then I bought a Revolution Imager R2 to take better pics.....
Then I bought a full spectrum astro-modified Canon T3i and an Astronomik CLS-CCD filter.......
And here I am! Happy as Heck!

There are hurdles to overcome for sure! This isn't a anywhere "ideal" imaging rig!

I've been at this for almost 1 year. I bought the scope in September of last year.

Thanks to some free software and some patience on my part, I have been able to consistently get decent results with relatively quick exposures (15 sec) and high ISO ( 800 - 1600 ).

I have no post processing skills..... I stack them in DSS and process i GIMP........
Here's a few though.....[image][/image]

[Lady Fraktor]

Very nice Larry, do not forget to enter the Beginners Astrophotography Contest

[Thefatkitty]

Those are really good Larry, IMO!! 15 second exposures with a dob? I'm assuming you track the target manually? That's impressive!
Hope you manage to do some more

All the best,

[Larry 1969]

Very nice Larry, do not forget to enter the Beginners Astrophotography Contest

Thanks Lady Fraktor!
I am unaware of a "Beginners Astrophotography Contest"
How might I register?

Larry

[Larry 1969]

Those are really good Larry, IMO!! 15 second exposures with a dob? I'm assuming you track the target manually? That's impressive!
Hope you manage to do some more

All the best,

Actually I have a goto tracking Dob so it's much easier.

I'm hoping to get on some galaxies soon (weather permitting ).........

Larry

[Lady Fraktor]

Here you go
Down near the bottom of the board index.
viewtopic.php?f=92&t=1344

[KingNothing13]

Wow - great images for a dob - consider me very impressed!

[Larry 1969]

Thanks! I'm pretty excited!

[Larry 1969]

I can't seem to forward this to the other thread.........

[Don Quixote]

These are very nice images Larry. Well done, and thank you !

[Tim456]

Wow, with a dob? I'm impressed, very nice work!

[helicon]

Looks great Larry - great image captures with a Dob.

[Larry 1969]

Thanks for the replies!
How about some suggestions to improve on this?
If I zoom way in it looks a bit out of focus.
Here's what I do:
I do a 2 star alignment, then I slew to a bright star and zoom in 10X and focus until the star mass is as small as I can get and I get a single set of diffraction spikes.
Is there a better way to focus for the evening? I understand that temperature and focus correlate but I'm only out there for an hour and a half or so.

I'm using a 10" collapsible goto dob, a Canon T3i full spectrum astro-modified dslr and an Asrfonomik CLS-CCD clip-in filter.
I use Astrophotography Tool (APT) and Stellarium.
Also DSS and GIMP.

My main concern is focus....... How can you tell it's right?

Thanks !

Larry

[JayTee]

It doesn't sound like you are using a Bahtinov focusing mask. If this is true, then that is your first need for acquisition. Getting focus as perfect as you can get it is job one.

Cheers,
JT

[Graeme1858]

My main concern is focus....... How can you tell it's right?

Hello Larry

As per JayTee, if you get a Bahtinov mask you'll wonder how you ever manager without one!

This

to this

Regards

Graeme

[Juno16]

Great images!

Very impressing work with such short exposure time. Nice camera and fine job with the dob.

Thanks,
Jim

[Larry 1969]

Looks like a Bahtinov mask is in order then!
Thanks for the pics Graeme1858!

[Larry 1969]

Any suggestions on a mask? Brand? Scope-specific? Where to get?

Thanks!

Larry

[Graeme1858]

Any suggestions on a mask? Brand? Scope-specific? Where to get?

It goes over the front of the telescope so you'll need one that fits a 10" tube. Mine was a cheap one and it works a treat, so I think any will do but others might not agree.

Regards

Graeme