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Living in the Netherlands, the light pollution saddens me [1]. There are no dark places anymore. I tried astrophotograpy with a modest telescope from an inner c

Living in the Netherlands, the light pollution saddens me [1]. There are no dark places anymore. I tried astrophotograpy with a modest telescope from an inner city. With some success [2], but it requires a stunning amount of technology [3]. Still, being able to know that the night is still out there ... even if it's invisible to the eye, is simply amazing. These days however, I remote control a telescope in Southern Spain. The difference is well, night and day [4]. But sometimes, when the clouds move ... I still setup the scope at home. Just to remind myself that the stars are still there, hiding behind the curtain of industrialization. [1]: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2170422/Revealed-The-stunning-images-Europe-wastes-energy-pollutes-light-Africa-South-America-Asia-darkness.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2170422/Revealed-The... [2]: https://www.flickr.com/photos/joelkuiper/31870578431/in/album-72157665715893171/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joelkuiper/31870578431/in/albu... [3]: https://www.flickr.com/photos/joelkuiper/37078179733/in/album-72157665715893171/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joelkuiper/37078179733/in/albu... [4]: https://www.astrobin.com/users/joelkuiper/collections/598/ https://www.astrobin.com/users/joelkuiper/collections/598/

js2 9y ago
That's quite an investment. I started in amateur astronomy with a C8, film, and manual tracking via the spotting scope. It was good enough for the Orion nebula, moon and planets, but not much else. I still have that equipment and recently pulled my scope out for the first time in more than a decade for the recent solar eclipse. I really should upgrade to modern equipment some day. But I decided I was happy just looking through my scope and leaving the photography to the pros. What is it that's mounted above the secondary mirror of your tube? Also, is that a C11?
- anon1253 9y ago
  Yep! Hobbies I guess. It's a C8 EdgeHD, with the secondary replaced by the Hyperstar [1] which transforms the Schmidt-Cassegrain into a Schmidt camera like system (in my case 425mm f/2.1), in that configuration it's easier to trade sky noise for read noise since the sub exposures can be very short. I might one day trade it for the RASA (Rowe-Ackermann Schmidt Astrograph), but I already have a 12" Newton to maintain in Nerpio! [1]: https://starizona.com/acb/hyperstar/whatis.aspx https://starizona.com/acb/hyperstar/whatis.aspx
  - js2 9y ago
    Thanks, I had just found the description of your setup. In case others are curious: - Imaging telescopes or lenses: Celestron C8 EdgeHD, Starizona Hyperstar 3 - Imaging camera: ZWO ASI 1600MM-Cool - Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G (HEQ5) - Guiding telescope or lens: Orion Mini Guide Scope 50 mm - Guiding camera: Orion Starshoot AutoGuider - Software: Adobe Lightroom , Pixinsight PixInsinght 1.8 - Filter: Baader Planetarium H-Alpha 2" Highspeed - Accessory: Starizona Microtouch Autofocuser If I can get your opinion on something. I have a C8 on a wedge mount with early 1990's era electronics. Do you think it's worth re-mounting that tube to upgrade to modern guiding electronics, or would you just sell the whole thing and start over? Assuming I wanted to capture deep sky objects and moderate light polution.
    - anon1253 9y ago
      I'd probably swap the mount for an equatorial mount (Sky-Watcher EQ6 or similar), and use an off-axis guider, with a modern CMOS like the ZWO-ASI or one of the QHYs as imaging camera (much cheaper than the CCDs, and just as good if not better). At prime focus (i.e. without a focal reducer or Hyperstar-like system) getting pinpoint guiding with a secondary guidescope is tricky, but an OAG does wonders...starlight express makes the best in my opinion. Optically the C8 is still fine, you might want to re-collimate it, but that's a bit of an after thought. Calculating the backfocus for your optical train might be tricky. But once you have it set-up on a computerized mount (getting plate solving to work would probably also help, I can recommend Sequence Generator Pro) then you're good to go!
      - js2 9y ago
        Thanks for the advice!

js2 9y ago

That's quite an investment. I started in amateur astronomy with a C8, film, and manual tracking via the spotting scope. It was good enough for the Orion nebula, moon and planets, but not much else. I still have that equipment and recently pulled my scope out for the first time in more than a decade for the recent solar eclipse. I really should upgrade to modern equipment some day. But I decided I was happy just looking through my scope and leaving the photography to the pros. What is it that's mounted above the secondary mirror of your tube? Also, is that a C11?

anon1253 9y ago
Yep! Hobbies I guess. It's a C8 EdgeHD, with the secondary replaced by the Hyperstar [1] which transforms the Schmidt-Cassegrain into a Schmidt camera like system (in my case 425mm f/2.1), in that configuration it's easier to trade sky noise for read noise since the sub exposures can be very short. I might one day trade it for the RASA (Rowe-Ackermann Schmidt Astrograph), but I already have a 12" Newton to maintain in Nerpio! [1]: https://starizona.com/acb/hyperstar/whatis.aspx https://starizona.com/acb/hyperstar/whatis.aspx
- js2 9y ago
  Thanks, I had just found the description of your setup. In case others are curious: - Imaging telescopes or lenses: Celestron C8 EdgeHD, Starizona Hyperstar 3 - Imaging camera: ZWO ASI 1600MM-Cool - Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G (HEQ5) - Guiding telescope or lens: Orion Mini Guide Scope 50 mm - Guiding camera: Orion Starshoot AutoGuider - Software: Adobe Lightroom , Pixinsight PixInsinght 1.8 - Filter: Baader Planetarium H-Alpha 2" Highspeed - Accessory: Starizona Microtouch Autofocuser If I can get your opinion on something. I have a C8 on a wedge mount with early 1990's era electronics. Do you think it's worth re-mounting that tube to upgrade to modern guiding electronics, or would you just sell the whole thing and start over? Assuming I wanted to capture deep sky objects and moderate light polution.
  - anon1253 9y ago
    I'd probably swap the mount for an equatorial mount (Sky-Watcher EQ6 or similar), and use an off-axis guider, with a modern CMOS like the ZWO-ASI or one of the QHYs as imaging camera (much cheaper than the CCDs, and just as good if not better). At prime focus (i.e. without a focal reducer or Hyperstar-like system) getting pinpoint guiding with a secondary guidescope is tricky, but an OAG does wonders...starlight express makes the best in my opinion. Optically the C8 is still fine, you might want to re-collimate it, but that's a bit of an after thought. Calculating the backfocus for your optical train might be tricky. But once you have it set-up on a computerized mount (getting plate solving to work would probably also help, I can recommend Sequence Generator Pro) then you're good to go!
    - js2 9y ago
      Thanks for the advice!