ASTRONOMY PHOTOGRAPHY

New to astronomy and thinking about astrophotography

If you do not know the depth of the water, you might want to check first before you leap,especially when you do not yet know how to swim. What the heck does that have to dowith astrophotography? Well read on and see.

You look up in awe at the night sky and realize you want more from it than the merenaked eye views you are limited to currently. You want to venture into a new hobby thatcan introduce you to the many wonders of our Solar system and beyond the stars into thedeep space of the Universe. You want a telescope so you start shopping around andreading magazines. Then you are finding an overwhelming abundance of information onthe Internet. All the while you are exposed to beautiful images of various nebulae, distantspiral galaxies, dense star clusters, all in the colorful glory. Then the light comes on inyour head, you want to see objects that look like that; Surprise! You cannot see objects intheir full colorful glory like those pictures in magazine or throughout the Internet. To thehuman eye, the universe is mostly black and white with various shades of gray. Somebrighter objects when under the right conditions can reveal very subtle colors. However,in reality it is not much and definitely nothing like those pretty pictures reveal. Nowwhat? You want to capture images on your own so you can keep and share with yourfamily and friends what you see out there beyond the stars. Be Prepared! If you have asmall limited budget, you might be in for a shock. However, do not despair.

So are you ready to venture into the wonderful hobby of amateur astronomy?

If you are then you are in for a wonderful adventure that will never end. As long as youare prepared with a little knowledge, you should be good to go. Knowledge that you willfind many more experienced amateur astronomers are willing to share with you. All youhave to do is ask.

Now I ask you this: Are you considering starting this new hobby with the intention ofjumping right into astrophotography so you can capture some nice pictures of what yousee through a telescope? Yet you have no idea of what to get, or how to get yourselfstarted do you? If so then please sit back, relax and enjoy; read all this and you shouldhave a better idea of what to expect and what you will need. At least I hope you will be alittle better prepared when you are done.

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If you are aiming to capture those nice colorful images of deep sky objects, or the moonand planets, you are not alone. Astrophotography is a wonderful hobby to occupy yournights. I must warn that it can be quite lonely out there in the dark by yourself.Nonetheless, just getting started in amateur astronomy itself can be quite overwhelmingwhen trying to decide on what kind of equipment to purchase. There is a lot you will needto consider before taking that first big leap. So many different kinds of telescopes,mounts, and much more. So many different accessories are needed, accessories you aregoing to want just because they might be useful and so on and on. There are so manychoices to consider with so much available and so many experienced people telling youwhat their experiences are with their favorite equipment, or not so favorite. InformationOverload! Stop, I have a headache!

To top it off, you want to jump directly into a more advanced and complicated area ofamateur astronomy. Well, like I said already you are not alone, and it can beaccomplished. Although there are many different methods or techniques used, levels ofexpertise and/or proficiency to achieve varying results; as long as you are properlyprepared you can achieve some wonderful results yourself.

Be careful, you may find or see an appealing telescope setup for a reasonable cost. It mayappear as though it will work for your desires; however, not knowing any better you couldeasily get in over your head very fast. You will soon find that it is not as simple asconnecting a camera to any telescope and taking a picture. You could end up withequipment that is suitable for visual astronomy, but on the other hand, it will be veryinadequate for astrophotography, giving you less than desirable results, and causing a lotof disappointments and discouragement. You will probably want something suitable forboth. In this case, you will need to be more careful in your decisions getting somethingmore suitable for astrophotography purposes rather than visual.

You can either start out with equipment that is just adequate, and then add to it overtimeas you go. Alternatively, you can save up, put out the cash, and get a very nice proper setup that will last a lifetime, and overtime will have actually saved you money andheadaches.You might probably make a few replacement purchases, which overtime can turn out tobe a very costly investment by the time you tally it all up.

Note: You will see it is very common for people involved in both visual and photographicastronomy to have multiple telescopes and mounts with one dedicated astrophotographysetup. Alternatively, you might just learn some people once into astrophotographydedicate themselves to photography rather than the visual enjoyment many others getwith a telescope.

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Let me tell you I must admit right off hand, there are many people that are much morequalified than I am on the topic of astrophotography, However, I still wish to make a fewcomments and suggestions.

I am not going to go into all the details of exposure times etc, although related that is adifferent more complex topic. I am only going to discuss various methods and equipmentconsiderations so you become aware of the actual commitment and possible costsinvolved. At the bottom, I have provided some web links where you can learn muchmore about astrophotography. Included also at the bottom of this post are two very goodbook recommendations.

With the advent of new and ever improving technology of digital imaging, it is now moreaccessible, affordable, and, easier for the average person. More people are taking upinterests in photography of all kinds. It also seems that more people are becoming moreaware of what is above their heads in the night sky. With publicity of such things as the(HST) Hubble Space Telescope and the many wonderful images it has produced, I believethings such as that are playing a large part in the ever-growing curiosity in the personalvisual exploration further into space by people of all ages.

Be aware however, those nice looking Observatory or HST images are processed andmanipulated by technological advances in equipment and software applications for imageprocessing to bring us the colorful images we see as an end product. Image manipulationand processing can be very misleading to the average person. Some people want to, orthink, they can see the same through their telescopes that they see in those pictures. Well!Unfortunately, that is not going to happen. Those images are long exposures and/ormultiple long exposures with cameras that are many times more sensitive than the humaneye can ever be. They are also processed and manipulated to correct and enhance colorand detail within them to make them more presentable.

Once people realize and understand the facts about color in images, and what theyactually see through a telescope, they can learn to enjoy amateur astronomy much more.Many will eventually want to capture their own images such as those seen all over theInternet and in magazines. After all, who can blame anyone for wanting that? Those aresome beautiful images that can give you some very nice memories to reflect back on.Hey, that is all fine and dandy, I recommend it to anyone who can afford it, and is willingto put the time and effort involved into it. Moreover, I would also like to make a point toget people to understand there is much more to it than getting any Ole telescope andmounting a camera to it. Many people imagine themselves getting pictures similar tothose that are published in magazines or found on the Internet. No problem right? Well,we will see! Not to say you cannot do it, in fact quite the opposite, this can beaccomplished; it is done everyday by many amateur astronomers of all ages. As long asyou meet a few prerequisites first, then you will be able to create some very eye pleasingresults. You may need to, or want to, set a little more money aside than you initiallyplanned on if astrophotography is your goal.

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More often than not, I have seen people with extremely limited budgets wanting to takethe giant leap into astrophotography without taking the first learning steps. They want toget right up there where others are that did take those necessary learning steps. Mostastrophotographers with more experience took many months and possibly even years toget to the level they are at now. So hopefully everything I am about to tell you here willhelp the awareness process so you will be prepared for some of the possibilities.

Never fear though, there are different techniques or methods of astrophotography that aresuitable for all levels of experience in amateur astronomy. I will start with the easiestmethod working on up to the most difficult, briefly explaining each in the easiest way thebest that I can to include what you will need as far as equipment and accessories, and theconcerns of each method. If you want more you can refer to those web links I placed atthe end.

First couple of methods require one of two types of cameras: a 35mm SLR camera with(B) bulb setting for the shutter, and a remote cable to lock the shutter open. Alternatively,a Digital SLR camera with (B) bulb shutter setting/programmable exposure and or remoteto control the shutter.

With a 35mm SLR camera you will lock the shutter open and let it go for a long timedexposure. Time would depend on the film and how dark your skies are, and what methodyou use. With a DSLR depending on the object, you will take long and/or multiple shortto long exposures, and then stack the individual image frames on your computer with theappropriate software. You will need to learn about image stacking and the purpose for itwhich I will not be covering here.

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Method 1: all you need is your SLR or DSLR camera and a simple but stable cameratripod. With the camera on a tripod, just angle the camera toward an interesting star filledarea of the night sky and take a long or set of long exposures for a lengthy amount of timeto record “Star Trails”. These make very interesting pictures and are a great start forexperimenting with exposure times. This is the easiest and least expensive method to getyou started in astrophotography. Many people enjoy the open sky toward the celestialpoles so they get that nice circular rotation of star trails around the pole.

Method 2: is more difficult and becoming more and more popular with almost anytelescope. You can get some very nice single shot digital planetary and lunar images evenwith a simple Alt-Az Dobsonian mounted telescope. This Method is known as "A-focal".You can use almost any kind of camera for this method. The proper mounting hardwareto help hold the camera in place over the eyepiece can make it easier or more stable,although it can and has been done by hand which some people might say is easier forthem. If you try it that way, you will need a steady hand or you will get a very blurryimage.

A-focal photography is simply bringing the image to focus in an eyepiece of your choicein your telescope, then taking a picture of that image projected through the EP with yourcamera. With the object focused in the eyepiece of the telescope, if using a SLR or DSLRyou will set the lens focus to infinity and take the shot. Difficulty increases as youincrease magnification, especially with a telescope without tracking such as a Dobsonian.You can, if you have steady hands just hold the camera over the eyepiece and take theshot. Not as easy as it sounds, believe me. You will probably take dozens of shots just forthat one you will keep.

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This method is great for very short exposures of the moon or larger planets such asJupiter and Saturn using a point and shoot digital camera or digicam. If you have aDigicam or single shot point and shoot digital camera with a video mode, you can alsotake short videos then stack the individual frames into a nice crisp high-resolution image.Some people will use multiple short AVI videos then stack the frames from all the videosto combine into one single high detail image. You may have to convert the video from.MOV to AVI with any available conversion software such as RAD Video Tools. Web-cams such as the Phillip SPC900NC are becoming more popular for A-focal / planetaryimaging.

Below is an example set up for A-focal photography with a simple point and shoot singleshot digital camera.

A few examples of single shot A-focal images with a Kodak EasyShare digital cameraheld to the EP of a 10" DOB

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If you dare, A-focal could also be used for long exposure DSO photography, however Iwould not recommend it. Other than the possible intrusion of unwanted stray lightbetween the camera lens and EP, which will ruin a picture, you will need a moreexpensive mount with extremely precise tracking with very precise polar alignment andguiding. Any and all errors will be detected immediately by the camera and can ruin whatotherwise might have been a good picture. Not many people do DSO photography usingthis method; in fact, I do not know any, especially with the newer DSLR and CCDcameras. IMO it is not worth the trouble, I have tried and failed a few attempts.

Note: Unless you have a large aperture telescope with a very long focal length, (althoughit is still possible), a DSLR is not the preferred camera of choice for planetary imagingregardless of photography method used. The field of view with a DSLR is too largemaking the image scale of the planet very tiny.Additionally, Digital magnification and/or image enlarging does not produce a desirableplanetary image.

For the next few methods, you will need a good mount, preferably an equatorial mount.Although a fork mount will work with limitations, or the addition of an EQ wedge. Youwant a good hefty mount with a load capacity that is more than suitable to handle at leasttwice the weight of the telescope and all necessary accessories required forastrophotography. You do not want to approach, reach or exceed the instrument loadcapacity of a mount for astrophotography. The closer you're equipment weight is to themaximum capacity, the more undue stress and strain on the motor drives there will bepossibly compromising the accuracy of tracking/guiding, and the stability of the mountcan or will also be compromised. Tracking will be more difficult, tracking errors will bemore frequent and corrections will be slower.

I cannot emphasize strong enough the importance of a good quality, heavy duty, sturdyand accurate mount for this purpose. Preferably an (EQ) Equatorial Mount. This is oftenwhere people on a limited budget will run into problems. Their desires often overrun theirbudgets, and they may shy away from trying. That is not the purpose for what I amwriting, I am not trying to discourage anyone away from astrophotography, I only want tomake sure the expenses that can be involved are understood, and the different methodsavailable to them.

A good heavy-duty mount capable of quality Deep Sky Astrophotography can get veryexpensive. For some people it might even be cost prohibitive. The mount itself can costseveral hundreds, or thousands of dollars. Starting around $700.00 for a 35 lb capacitymount. Other than the camera, the mount is the single most important piece of equipmentrequired for astrophotography, then the telescope. There are things you can get away withon visual astronomy where the mount is concerned that you do not even want to considerfor astrophotography.

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That being said, you can take a picture through almost any telescope with the propercamera and accessories. The Field Of View, Object Size/image scale, and Resolution willbe determined by the aperture and focal length of the telescope, and the film plane orsensor chip of the camera. However, that will all be meaningless if you do not have amount good enough to meet the task.

With DSLR’s and CCD’s it is easier to manipulate the object size and detail with imagepost processing software. Provided there is the proper amount of quality clean error freeimage data collected. You can also manipulate scanned film images on the computer,although there is not as much needed, or that you really can do to film as you can withdigital image data.

At this point, I will continue with some of the equipment needs, or equipment that can beused for the following methods of astrophotography. .You will obviously need a telescope; the size of the aperture is up to you and what youcan afford. Optical quality is a great concern for photography. The better the quality of theoptics in the telescope, the better the images will be. A camera will surely pick up anyoptical defects that cannot be seen with the human eye. Achromatic refractors are famousfor Chromatic aberration / false color in images. Too much of that can leave you with lessthan desirable effects.

Anyways, as I already stated above you can take a picture through almost any telescope.Just remember this though, "Aperture rules". The larger the aperture the more you will getout of astrophotography, the deeper you can go into space capturing those faint distantobjects. You want to mount your telescope on a good sturdy mount with motor drives onthe RA and Declination axis. Additionally, do not let the fact that the mount has trackingmislead you; you will still need some way of guiding the telescope during the imagingprocess / exposure, especially if you are using film. Even though a mount has tracking,unfortunately they do not do it perfectly. There will be periodic errors (PE) in siderealtracking. There may also be drift caused by imperfect polar alignment, imperfect balanceand the wind. Many mounts will have Periodic Error Correction (PEC). You can train thedrives and it will learn to correct and track a little more precisely to allow for longerunguided exposures. However, you still want some way to make sure it is tracking theobject accurately while imaging. There are just too many variables that can cause trackingerrors that will need to be corrected.

There are a few methods of guiding for photography. Many people use a second smallertelescope mounted piggyback on the primary telescope called a Guide-scope.Alternatively, the smaller telescope can be used for photography while the main telescopeis used for guiding and carefully observing at the same time.

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Manual guiding with a Guide-scope will also require the use of an illuminated reticleeyepiece so that you can center on a star and keep it centered. This will allow you to keepan eye on the star making any necessary adjustments if you see any drift or trackingerrors.Note: The added weight of a guide scope will also be a major consideration for you whenthinking about the mounts load capacity. Everything you load onto the mount to includethe camera must be considered. In addition, trying to guide on a star in less the idealatmospheric seeing can prove to be difficult. The guide star can be shifting and jumpingall over the place due to atmospheric instabilities. It could cause you to makeunnecessary adjustments that could also be detected in the picture. Manual guiding issomething that will take practice. However, it is not suggested you try to take images inbad seeing conditions anyways.

Illuminated Reticle or Micro Guiding Eyepiece

With Illuminated Guiding and Measuring Scales

Or with Adjustable Crosshairs

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Dual refractor setup for manually guided prime focus photography.

The above setup is the Celestron C6-R GT. A 6” achromatic refractor on the CelestronASGT CG5-GT mount. The small telescope mounted piggyback is the Celestron C80 EDrefractor that is currently my primary photography telescope.

Another way of using a Guide-scope is with a mount that has Auto-guiding capabilities.This method will require a PC or laptop and/or Auto-guider to connect to, a CCD cameraor web cam. (Web cam is essentially a CCD video camera). With the CCD or web camconnect to the Guide-scope focused on a selected guide star, through the Auto-guider orcomputer with Auto-guiding software connected to an auto-guider port or the handcontrol on the mount, the Auto-guiding software on your computer will make allnecessary adjustments as they are detected by the camera and computer. This can be themost accurate way of guiding and will make your nights of imaging much easier and lessstraining on the neck. All you need to do is set up and configure everything to do whatyou want for whatever length of time and you can virtually fire and forget until it isfinished. Auto guiding is great on those long cold nights so you can head into your nicewarm house, or if you have a second telescope and want to do some visual observing aswell.

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The following is my Celestron C6 R-GT and C80ED setup for auto-guided DSLRphotography. A Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT attached to the C6 R, and PhilipsSPC900NC (ToUcam Pro III) as the CCD sensor camera for Auto-guiding attached to theC80ED.

Estimated cost of all this is about $3200.00 and this is a lightweight modest set up.

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Auto-guided image with above setup.

There are a couple more methods that do not require a guide scope. One way is with anOff-Axis Guider (OAG), another special accessory that attaches to the telescope betweenthe camera body and the focuser. They have a special built in mirror that allows the imageto be seen off axis from the camera through an eyepiece while still allowing the light toreach the film plane or sensor chip of the camera. This way you can guide and takepictures through the same telescope and focuser without increasing the load too much onthe mount.

Off Axis/Radial Guider

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Another but more expensive way and often preferred by many is with a dual chip CCDcamera. One sensor chip is for gathering all the image data and the second smaller sensorchip is used to focus on a guide star and used along with the image capture / Auto-guidingsoftware.

SBIG Dual Sensor Self-Guiding CCD Camera

At this point, you might be able to see where this can start getting expensive. Notincluding the cost of a good mount and telescope, a good quality DSLR or CCD cameracan get costly too. However CCD cameras are becoming more commonplace lately andless expensive. You can use almost any DSLR to achieve satisfactory images for areasonable cost. However, the more expensive higher quality DSLR such as the CanonEOS 20D DSLR or its successors can get expensive. Alternatively, the Canon EOS 20Dawhich was a limited edition DSLR designed for astrophotography purposes that can coston-wards of more than $2100.00 just for the basic camera body. However if you lookaround now that the 20Da has been discontinued you can find the Camera body for arelatively much lower price.

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Method 3: Piggy back photography. This method requires a 35mm SLR or a DSLRmounted piggyback on the telescope or a special mount attachment to mount the camerato the telescope. This is great for long exposure wide field images of the night sky withyour camera and its own lens system. The field of view will depend on the lens you use. Ifyou use a Zoom lens, you will want to make sure there is some way to lock thezoom/slide ring in place so it does not slip when the angle of the telescope is verticallyaiming high in the sky. A simple rubber band is often suitable for this purpose of thezoom does not have a lock.With piggyback photography you can still, although carefully, observe the object throughthe telescope while the camera is taking the picture. Be careful not to bump the telescopewhen looking into the EP.This method is the least sensitive, more forgiving, to any alignment and tracking errorsunless you use a long focal length zoom lens. With a good set up and polar alignment,and, properly trained PEC or precise motor drives you can take some very long exposuresbefore seeing any visible errors in the image.I have seen some very impressive images / panoramas of the summer milky way with ashort focal length lens such as a wide view 15-20mm lens.

Wide field piggyback image of the North America Nebula in the Cygnus constellation

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Wide field piggyback image of The Orion Constellation

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A typical piggyback mounting method

Orion Telescopes makes a little mount with tracking drives just for a camera that canachieve the same results as piggy backing on a telescope.http://www.telescope.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=296&itemIn addition, a nice simple method used to capture wide field shots with your camerasimilar to piggyback photography, without an expensive mount, is to build a Barn Doortracker, or Scotch Mount. These are excellent for entry into long exposure photography.Refer to the following link to learn more about them.http://www.astronomyboy.com/barndoor/links.shtml

Method 4: is "Prime Focus Astrophotography" in effect, you are turning the telescopeinto the Camera lens. With this method if you are using a 35mm SLR or a DSLR, youwill need an additional accessory called a T-ring. Depending on the telescope and focuser,you may also need a T-adapter to slip into the telescopes focuser.Remove the Lens from the camera and replace it with the T-Ring and if need the T-Adapter. Then attach to or insert into the focuser of the telescope. Now you have a largeand powerful prime focus lens attached to your camera. If you are using a purpose builtCCD camera designed for astrophotography then it will have a nosepiece that is alreadydesigned to be fit into the telescopes focuser. If you are using a Web-Cam such as aPhillips ToUcam Pro, then you will need a special adapter to attach to or replace the lensso that it will fit into the telescope focuser. Aka Mogg adapter

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Prime focus is probably the most common and practical method of astrophotography tocapture those (DSO’s) Deep sky objects or lunar images. IMHO, when using a SLR orDSLR camera, this is not the best method for planetary images. Not near enoughmagnification/image scale with the average amateur instruments, and it is very hard to getcorrect and even exposure without overexposing the planet. For planetary images at primefocus, you would want a purpose built CCD camera for planetary imaging such as the(LPI) Lunar planetary imagers or Solar System Imagers that are sold by Meade, Orion andCelestron. These are designed specifically for those objects and are very affordable. Web-cams such as the Phillips ToUcam are also very useful for lunar and planetary imaging atprime focus with the suitable adapter to fit to the telescope focuser.

In Primary focus photography, you will want a quality, heavy duty, sturdy mount withaccurate tracking. You will also have to ensure proper telescope balance and accuratepolar alignment. For long exposures, you will need to either manually guide or use anAuto-guider as described above.

If you attempt this method with a less than stable or substandard mount, you willprobably not be satisfied with the results of your images and soon become discouraged.

Prime focus image of the Orion Nebula complex: Unguided and you can see the trackingerrors when looking at the stars.

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Some short manually guided prime focus photos with Fuji 400asa slide film using aPentax 35mm SLR on 80mm ED refractor.

M13 Globular Cluster in Hercules Exp:12min

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M57 area of Lyra Exp: 25min (Tiny red dot is the ring nebula)

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M17 Swan Nebula in Sagittarius Exp: 15min

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M8 Lagoon Nebula in Sagittarius Exp: 22min

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M31 Andromeda Galaxy, total Exp: 90min

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Method 5: Next and final method is called (EP) Eyepiece projection. You will need anadditional accessory for this method of photography called an EP projection adapter. Thisitem threads onto the T-Ring and allows you to place an eyepiece inside it then connect tothe focuser. This method is probably the hardest and most sensitive to any stabilityproblems with the mount along with any polar alignment and tracking errors.

This is probably used more often for lunar and planetary photography than it would be forDSO’s. IMO, the exposure lengths required for many of the fainter DSO’s is often toomuch to achieve satisfactory results without too many noticeable errors. (Not unless youare willing to invest a small fortune into a premium mount capable of tracking accuracieswithin a few parsecs rather than arc-seconds).

Nevertheless, it can and has been done. It is just more difficult and the need for a stableaccurate mount is even more important. This is the least forgiving method because youare effectively increasing the focal length quite a lot, which in effect is the same asincreasing the magnification. The more you increase your focal length, the more likelyyou are to introduce visible errors into your image.

EP Projection through Celestron 6" refractor using with 25mm plössl eyepieceCamera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT / 350DSingle 1/20 second exposure, ISO 100.Converted to gray-scale.

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Equipment considerations / requirements for astrophotography dependent onmethod:

Mount:The Mount is probably the most critical component of any good astrophotographyplatform. It is the foundation of the complete set up. As a general rule of thumb, you donot want to exceed 50% to 60% of the maximum instrument load capacity of your mountfor photographic purposes. Stability issues are not the same for visual as they are forphotographic uses.

What type of mount? For some people it is a personal preference, however in my honestopinion I would say preferably a German Equatorial Mount. (GEM or EQ for short). Ifnot then a stable alt-az Fork mount, with a fork mount you will also want an EQ wedgefor prolonged exposures without detectable field rotation.Note: Newer digital technology and post processing software and processing methodscan overcome many minor tracking and other issues caused by the mount, sky conditionsand noise inherent with electronic devices.

Most mounts will come with a tripod, this is very much one of your stabilityconsideration. You definitely do not want a flimsy little tripod. There are some that youcannot even breathe on without sending vibrations through and into the telescope.You may want to consider a pier in place of a tripod. Especially with a Large telescope, orif you plan on a permanently mounted telescope in a personal observatory of some kind.

Power supply:You will need some kind of portable power supply and or an ac to dc adapter if you haveaccess to an ac power source.

Telescope:Newtonian, Schmidt Newtonian, Schmidt Cassegrain, Maksutov Cassegrain, Ritchey-Chrétien, Achromatic refractor, Apochromatic refractor.So many to choose from! That is more often a personal preference issue. Each differenttype of telescope will perform better in some ways that another may not. That is up to youand what you learn in your endeavors to learn all you can. .Guide Scope w/guide-scope rings:Usually a smaller refractor. Generally no less than half the focal length of the primarytelescope used for photography.

Guiding EP:Illuminated reticle or micro-guiding EP.You will want one of these regardless if you manually guide or not. They do come in veryhandy for other purposes, such as polar alignment, that you will find is very important.

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Attachment Accessories:T-Ring, T-Adapter, EP projection Adapter, Off-Axis Guider and/or piggyback mountinghardware.

Computer:PC or Laptop and necessary cables and cord consideration for the computer and camera.(Not necessary for manually guided film photography)Image capturing software and/or Auto-guiding software. Most purpose built CCD Camerawill include their own image capture and editing software with original purchase.Image processing and editing software. Adobe Photoshop CS is a common but expensiveprogram. It will do wonders with your images. However, you can find suitable programson the Internet for less or no cost. GIMP or Pleiades PixInsight LE are both good.A popular Image stacking program is Registax which is more useful for lunar andplanetary image stacking, and Deep Sky Stacker for Deep Sky images, both of which youcan get at no cost also. Nebulosity by Stark Labs for capture and stacking is my personalpreference but has a small cost, amount dependent on which version you want topurchase. Please remember, many of these programs might be freeware, however, if youlike the program a small contribution never hurts. These people invest hundreds of hoursof their own time developing these programs that make things easier for us. If you can,show your appreciation.

Camera:(35mm SLR, Web-Cam, Digital, DLSR or Purpose Built CCD)

35mm SLR camera with T-ring universal EP projection adapter and T-Adapter.

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Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT/350D with 2" T-Adapter attached, Remote Switch, ACPower Adapter.

A popular web-cam used for Lunar and planetary imaging.The Phillips SPC900NC

Sorry but this particular web cam has been discontinued from production. You mighthowever still be able to find one for sale somewhere or from someone.

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Adapter required using web-cam with telescope (aka Mogg adapter)

A good web-cam such as one of the Phillips ToUcam pro series web-cams can performjust as good as or even better than some of the more expensive (LPI) Lunar PlanetaryImages or (SSI) Solar System Imagers you can find on the market.

One of my Web Cam images of Jupiter

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Once again, I will emphasize to you that the Mount is the most important piece ofequipment when considering a venture into astrophotography.I will also add that many people get a smaller high quality refractor to sit piggyback on alarger telescope for use as a guide-scope. You can also use the smaller piggybacktelescope for wide field photography and use the larger telescope for guiding, dependingone the object or your desired goal.

Most important for astronomy and especially astrophotography is:Dark SkiesSturdy quality precision mountFor greater light grasp and resolution, "Aperture Rules".

As promised, a few links for more detailed information about astrophotography

http://www.allaboutastro.comhttp://www.astroimages.com/http://www.covingtoninnovations.com/astro/astrowhat.html

Books:Michael Covington Digital SLR AstrophotographyRobert Reeves Introduction to Digital Astrophotography

Another link you might want. This is a CCD calculator that will calculate the Image Scaleand FOV for your telescope camera combinationhttp://www.newastro.com/book_new/camera_app.php

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A few of my more recent images

Prime focus images using Canon EOS 50D @ prime focus on Celestron C80ED.

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Piggyback images with Canon EOS 50D w/ EF 100-400mm L IS Lens

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