What telescope do you own?

[Charles_McG]

Celestron C8.
Celestron 11x80 binocs.

 

[Michael L]

Not to divert too much, but I have a cheaper Nikon consumer super zoom (P610) with a 35mm equivalent max focal length of 2000 mm and I can't get anywhere close to images like you'd posted! Of course, the dumb thing won't let me make time exposures, but if you shot Saturn at 1/100 and f/4, well, this dumb Irishman must be doing something wrong. Or said camera just isn't that capable.

The 600 f4 is the workhorse and for what I paid for that thing you can get a really nice scope and mount (but I can't do bird and wildlife photography with a telescope). The camera's I use are 1 series Canon (aka holy crap you paid that much for a camera, cameras). I can push an extra 1/2 stop out of an exposure in Photoshop.

Some astronomers are doing amazing things with video cameras. As I understand it they shoot video, stack frames in free software (to accumulate the light), and they make really nice images that way. Way better than anything I posted.

If I let the camera choose exposure the moon, stars, etc will be overexposed. I shoot manual mode, eyeball the exposure down 2 - 2.5 stops... things like that. I focus on the moon or whatever I can that is at infinity. I have very dark skies at my house. I'm a member of the Houston Astronomical Society and their dark site (darker than at my house) is about 10 miles away in the general direction of the photo below. I'm closer to a couple of small towns so even though the site is closer to Houston it's darker there than it is here, but not by much.

A wide angle lens can do some nice things. This was from my back yard with with the 21mm Zeiss lens I mentioned earlier and a 5D MKIII. Looking south, Houston is 100-ish miles out of frame on the far left.

Side note: I had to replace the lens this weekend. I was photographing a storm in West TX a few days ago, wasn't cautious when I opened the door of the pickup, and when it and the camera fell out it hit the ground hard, camera attached. It bent the lens hood and there's an outer ring spins now. It still works but the lens hood is necessary in bright daylight. There were no lens hoods available so I found a lens on eBay. It and the 70-200 f2.8 are the only two lenses I have that I would replace. The 600 is expensive enough that I like to think I'd just live without it.

I almost forgot, Rokinon makes really good, really cheap lenses. They are manual focus and they don't have an infinity stop but if you're camera has Live View (or the equivalent) their wide angle lenses are very sharp and have good optics.

Yes, it's pushed a little in Photoshop but not much. Mostly in contrast. Manual focus, 21mm Zeiss. ISO 1600 f2.8 20s (you can get away with longer exposures with wide angle lenses). There are meteors, Messier objects, planets, and at least one black hole in this image.

 

[prfesser]

Back in the old film days it was common to use "High Contrast Copy" film for lunar pictures. Actually intended for photographing text, it was extremely fine grained, the equivalent of ISO 5. With a mirror alone as the "lens" and a camera in place of the eyepiece, jiggle-free photos were taken via the "Hat trick". Hold a black hat or piece of cardboard over the end of the scope, open the shutter at the B setting (stays open as long as the shutter button is held down) using a shutter cable. Quickly as possible, flick the hat to one side to allow an exposure, and just as quickly cover it again. Gives about 1/5 to 1/10 second exposure.

Pictures of the planets were often an exercise in frustration. Need a HUGE f/number to get a decent sized image, which then required an exposure of a few seconds. Any shake or atmospheric disturbance would blur the image. Usually I'd take a full roll of 36 shots, have them developed, and throw away 35.

 

[gna]

I tried an inexpensive eyepiece camera, the Svbony SV105. I mostly take pics of the moon. I tried one of the software programs, but I mostly just use the camera app on my Chromebook. The power seems to be about equal to a 10mm eyepiece.






I do use a moon filter most of the time.

I'm waiting for Jupiter and Saturn to become easier to observe later this summer.

 

[Five]

I received my phone mount adapter for my telescope from amazon today and I would like to say “it sucked bigtime”. I had to use so much force to fit it in the clamps(no screws to loosen it). If I wasn’t careful I could have damage the telescope. The phone did not lay flush on the eyepiece either. Im better off just trying to hold it in my hand. It cost about $12

 

[RICHARD COLARCO]

The 600 f4 is the workhorse and for what I paid for that thing you can get a really nice scope and mount (but I can't do bird and wildlife photography with a telescope).

I user a T-mount on my astro scopes to mount my Canon cameras and do terrestrial photography. Works fine. The 90mm Mak is quite handy.

 

[RICHARD COLARCO]

I also just got a Revolution R2 video camera for use with my 8" Schmidt. Still learning to use it. The picture on the included TFT monitor is not great, but I'm going to try piping the video to a laptop. I think the CMOS sensor will produce better resolution than the monitor can show.

 

[Five]

The moon hasn’t been visible for a couple days but when I’m able to see it ill post dome pics

 

[Five]

I tried an inexpensive eyepiece camera, the Svbony SV105. I mostly take pics of the moon. I tried one of the software programs, but I mostly just use the camera app on my Chromebook. The power seems to be about equal to a 10mm eyepiece.

View attachment 466478


View attachment 466477

I do use a moon filter most of the time.

I'm waiting for Jupiter and Saturn to become easier to observe later this summer.

I ordered a moon filter. I wonder what the difference will be.

 

[prfesser]

I ordered a moon filter. I wonder what the difference will be.

You should be able to look at the full moon without blinding yourself. Full moon isn't the best for viewing anyway; the terminator between light and dark shows the best contrast. A composite image of the moon constructed by digital combining of the terminators shot each day over two weeks (new moon to full moon) shows far more detail than the actual full moon.

Best -- Terry

 

[RICHARD COLARCO]

I ordered a moon filter. I wonder what the difference will be.

Depends on what kind of "moon filter" you ordered. A plain old neutral density filter will reduce brightness and improve contrast. That is what I use.

Some filters advertised as "moon filters" have a green or blue tint. They do what a neutral filter does, but impart a color cast that some observers say improves detail visibility. You can tell your neighbors, "see, the moon is made of green cheese."

 

[Five]

I recently purchased a Orian 15mm eyepiece, which was decent. A lot better than the 10mm and 20mm that came with the telescope. Then I bought a Celestron 8-24mm zoom. This eyepiece is way better than the few I already have, the images are more clearer, crispier, and a wider field of view. I have been wondering which manufactures produce good quality products and it seems like celestron is one of them.

 

[RICHARD COLARCO]

I recently purchased a Orian 15mm eyepiece, which was decent. A lot better than the 10mm and 20mm that came with the telescope. Then I bought a Celestron 8-24mm zoom. This eyepiece is way better than the few I already have, the images are more clearer, crispier, and a wider field of view. I have been wondering which manufactures produce good quality products and it seems like celestron is one of them.

Celestron and Meade are the big guns in amateur telescopes. Their middle price to high price scopes are very good values. However, they also make low price optics which are essentially junk for astronomical use.

The scope field is very complicated, and essentially you get what you pay for. Celestron and Meade eyepieces are OK, but there are better (more expensive) choices. I suggest you subscribe to a good magazine like Sky & Telescope and read it for a year before you commit large bucks. Joining your local astronomy club is also a good idea.

 

[prfesser]

I recently purchased a Orian 15mm eyepiece, which was decent. A lot better than the 10mm and 20mm that came with the telescope. Then I bought a Celestron 8-24mm zoom. This eyepiece is way better than the few I already have, the images are more clearer, crispier, and a wider field of view. I have been wondering which manufactures produce good quality products and it seems like celestron is one of them.

I hope the zoom eyepieces have improved since I had one from University Optics. It was more like a digital zoom; exact same view at 8 mm as at 24, just that the 8 mm view was spread out farther. IOW the apparent field of view was different, the absolute field was identical. Felt as though I'd been robbed.

 

[Five]

Celestron and Meade are the big guns in amateur telescopes. Their middle price to high price scopes are very good values. However, they also make low price optics which are essentially junk for astronomical use.

The scope field is very complicated, and essentially you get what you pay for. Celestron and Meade eyepieces are OK, but there are better (more expensive) choices. I suggest you subscribe to a good magazine like Sky & Telescope and read it for a year before you commit large bucks. Joining your local astronomy club is also a good idea.

I think might look into it .

 

[Michael L]

Nova in Hercules. It's supposed to be a binocular object

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/775526-bright-nova-in-hercules-tcp-j185730951653396/

 

[Five]

I decided to upgrade my scope and go from a four inch aperture to a five inch. Zhumell Z130 Portable Altazimuth Reflector. It should be delivered Friday.

 

[Titan II]

A C5 of 1976 vintage

 

[Five]

Finished putting together my 6 in. And next to it is my 100mm.

 

[caveduck]

I have a 1975 Cave Astrola 8" Model B Deluxe that I've been restoring this year with major upgrades. Seriously I've probably done more on that this year than rockets. Restoration thread over on CloudyNights at https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/742954-cave-astrola-8-f7-model-b-deluxe-restoration-upgrade/

Here's the completed OTA. That's an AstroTech ED80 in the side rings. Working on the mount now. I did get a new TeleVue 19mm eyepiece along with the ED80 - it is drastically better than any of the vintage eyepieces I have.

 

[Five]

I have a 1975 Cave Astrola 8" Model B Deluxe that I've been restoring this year with major upgrades. Seriously I've probably done more on that this year than rockets. Restoration thread over on CloudyNights at https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/742954-cave-astrola-8-f7-model-b-deluxe-restoration-upgrade/

Here's the completed OTA. That's an AstroTech ED80 in the side rings. Working on the mount now. I did get a new TeleVue 19mm eyepiece along with the ED80 - it is drastically better than any of the vintage eyepieces I have.
View attachment 470052

 

[Five]

I took these pictures from my cell phone. It is somewhat difficult to take a steady picture with a cell phone.
This is the first time I seen something other than the moon and it was incredible to actually see another planet. Its amazing how fast they move out of the field of view.

 

[teepot]

Here is the conjunction from Dec 16, 2020. I shot this with my Samsung 10s+ thru my 8" dobsonion.

 

[Nathan]

I've had a Meade ETX 125 for about 20 years but I haven't used it in a long time.

 

[DRAGON64]

This would seem to be the perfect time of year to revive this thread. The night sky here of late has me researching for a telescope to purchase.

 

[BigMacDaddy]

I never shared any pics from my Zhumell Z130 (hand-held phone aimed through scope). Nothing like the scopes many of you have but much better than what I had as a kid.



Jupiter...


Bit of daytime moon viewing...



and 3D printing a moon lamp...

 

[Alan15578]

I have a small 10X telescope that I use for rocket recovery. It saves me from long walks only to pick up trash.

 

[Blast it Tom!]

I have a 6" mirror, 1000 mm focal length, that I have to turn into a telescope... Gee, it's probably a 150 mm mirror...

 

[alexzogh]

I opted to sell my large Newtonian telescope (here on RF), and went with a much smaller, automated digital telescope, the unistellar escope.

From this to this

Since this is a totally digital telescope, what is looses in light-gathering, it gains using computational photography. Capabilities like automated light pollution reduction, autonomous field detection, timelapse, long exposures, photo stacking, etc... Also, I can put the telescope out on the deck, and sit inside my house by the warm fire and view everything and control it from my iPad. The result is I take it out much more often, and have been able to get photos that aren't as nice as the 8" Newtonian, but with much less effort.

 

[Five]

I opted to sell my large Newtonian telescope (here on RF), and went with a much smaller, automated digital telescope, the unistellar escope.

From this View attachment 491355 to this View attachment 491356

Since this is a totally digital telescope, what is looses in light-gathering, it gains using computational photography. Capabilities like automated light pollution reduction, autonomous field detection, timelapse, long exposures, photo stacking, etc... Also, I can put the telescope out on the deck, and sit inside my house by the warm fire and view everything and control it from my iPad. The result is I take it out much more often, and have been able to get photos that aren't as nice as the 8" Newtonian, but with much less effort.


View attachment 491360View attachment 491361View attachment 491362
View attachment 491364View attachment 491365View attachment 491375
View attachment 491376

Amazing pics!