Astronomy photography

[dorsetman]

In the choosing of my new camera one thing that occured to me is that i can mix my passion of stargazing through my lovely telescope with my photography.

Having never mixed the two before i am wondering if there are others on here that have done this and their experiences. Also if you have any pics i would really appreciate seeing them.

[postcardcv]

You should be able to attach a DSLR to a telescope quite easily - most telescope manufacturers make adapters for this though depending on brand the price of them can vary greatly (from £40-£500)! Being honest though the only thing you will acheive decent photos of in this way is the moon and that it probably easier to shoot with a longish lens (as you will have to use manual focus when shooting through a scope). Everything else out in the sky is just so far away that even if you manage to acheive focus it will still just be a speck of light on a dark image. I did attempt to take a photo of Jupiter and the Galilean moons but the hugh focal length needed and the lack of light (hence slow shutter speed) left me unable to overcome the problems of shake.

If you are keen on astro photography then a decicated camera eyepeice is the best way to go (effectively an eyepeice with a senser chip in it). The amazing shots that you see on the web tend to be composites of hundreds (if not thousands) of images taken with one of these cameras and then merged into a single shot using a specific bit of software.

[dorsetman]

Now ill have to disagree with you there. When it comes to Astronomy i know my stuff and my telescope i am very lucky. I have a Meade LX800 10' with many filters which is a serious piece of kit and i can see many wonderful things including planets a lot closer than many would expect. But i have never attached a camera before so this will be a first. I have been looking at what Nikon attachment i will need and will order it tonight. Once i have some pics ill let you know and post them. My friend does much the same but has his telescope connected to a seriously powerful computer with some amazing software which i might borrow to further enhance the experience.

[postcardcv]

Originally Posted by dorsetman

Now ill have to disagree with you there. When it comes to Astronomy i know my stuff and my telescope i am very lucky. I have a Meade LX800 10' with many filters which is a serious piece of kit and i can see many wonderful things including planets a lot closer than many would expect. But i have never attached a camera before so this will be a first. I have been looking at what Nikon attachment i will need and will order it tonight. Once i have some pics ill let you know and post them. My friend does much the same but has his telescope connected to a seriously powerful computer with some amazing software which i might borrow to further enhance the experience.

that's cool - I was only going from my experience of trying this with cheaper astroscopes... I look forward to seeing some of your images.

[petrochemist]

The various Astrophotography books I have all suggest a web cam generally outperforms a DSLR for astro photography (using video mode & image stacking the resultant frames - Deep sky stacker is one of the recomended software packages IIRC).
More modern DSLRs with movie modes might have changed this.

My own attempts have been disapointing, mounting my camera onto a zoom eyepiece, with a 6" reflector. I managed to get photos of Jupiters Galilean moons, but the overexposed image of Jupiter itself (in particular) show what I think must be Chromatic aberation from the eyepiece.

I've since got several other options for connecting my camera. I seem to remmember the prime focus approach didn't work as the telescopes focus control had too little movement.

Unfortunatly my Parents moved last year so I no longer have access to the fairly dark skies around their house. Perhaps I'll find somewhere local to play with it all again (and the time/energy...)