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andyrud
member
Reged: 05/21/07
Loc: Philo, California
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Explore Scientific 127 ED Apo OK for Astro Photo?
#5547085 - 11/30/12 12:15 PM
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Hi everyone,
I am about to buy an Explore Scientific 127 Apo for visual, but before I do, I thought I should ask you guys if this scope is OK for AP in my future. I have never done any AP but now that I am retired I thought I might give it a try. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Andy R
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jsines
super member
Reged: 09/06/11
Loc: Berkley. Michigan
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Re: Explore Scientific 127 ED Apo OK for Astro Photo?
[Re: andyrud]
#5547219 - 11/30/12 01:23 PM
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Yes, it's an excellent scope for astrophotography - because of it's size and because it's a triplet apochromatic. I wish I had it, but I was limited to buying an 80mm triplet.
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Zad
super member
Reged: 01/05/08
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Re: Explore Scientific 127 ED Apo OK for Astro Photo?
[Re: jsines]
#5547368 - 11/30/12 03:07 PM
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I do not own one, but many folks have gotten excellent results using this scope. If you do get one and are interested in AP, make sure you have enough mount to handle the weight and length of the scope. Remember that the mount is the most important part of AP, and you will need more mount for AP than you would for just visual work.
Another thing to think about if you decide to do some AP work with this scope is a focal reducer/field flattener. This will allow you to shoot your subs in less time (since you have a lower f/#), and reducing the focal length also makes the scope more forgiving to tracking errors. Plus flattening the field will give sharper stars in the corners of you images. Since this scope has a moderate focal length to start with, you may be able to get away without a field flattener if your imaging chip is small. But most focal reducers for refractors come with a field flattener built in anyway.
But as far as optics, I have seen many great images that folks a created using this scope. Not to mention, for visual work, this scope excells as well. I would love to have one myself. But we can't have everything...
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plav1959
sage
Reged: 05/10/07
Loc: Central Florida
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Re: Explore Scientific 127 ED Apo OK for Astro Photo?
[Re: Zad]
#5547939 - 11/30/12 09:57 PM Attachment (44 downloads)
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I bought mine mainly for visual, but with the option of trying AP in the future. After a year i figured I'd finally give it a try. Here's a first shot taken last month. Single shot with Canon T3i at 30 seconds and no processing. It's great for visual and I think the scope has very good potential for AP.
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SKYGZR
sage
Reged: 08/14/09
Loc: Planet Earth, Milky Way Galaxy...
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Re: Explore Scientific 127 ED Apo OK for Astro Photo?
[Re: plav1959]
#5548190 - 12/01/12 01:59 AM
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My Es 102 ED Trip is vunderbaugh..so will the 127. An Atlas will be perfetomundo..
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Mike Wiles
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 02/04/09
Loc: Goodyear, AZ
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Re: Explore Scientific 127 ED Apo OK for Astro Photo?
[Re: SKYGZR]
#5551924 - 12/03/12 12:12 PM
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Andy,
I've had some good success with the 127ED as an imaging platform. Someone mentioned that a flattener might not be necessary with smaller chips. I think it'd have to be a pretty small chip. I had hoped to get away without a flattener on my ST-8300, but the chip was still too big. I added the Ho-Tech SCA flattener to the mix and it's worked wonderfully. If you look at my Astrobin page, all but one of the images from 2012 was shot with the 127ED.
My personal favorites:
Melotte 15 - Hubble Palette
Abell 85 - Supervnova remnant in Cassiopeia
M65, M66 & NGC 3628 in Leo - Shot with a QHY8PRO color CCD camera
I think that the 127ED is a great imaging platform. At its price, I don't know of a better scope for imaging. My only minor complaint about the scope was the focuser, but I had the intent of swapping it out for a motorized MoonLite focuser when I bought the scope, so it wasn't a big deal. I understand that newer versions of the scope have a much improved focuser as well as a retractable dew shield.
Mike
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SKYGZR
sage
Reged: 08/14/09
Loc: Planet Earth, Milky Way Galaxy...
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Re: Explore Scientific 127 ED Apo OK for Astro Photo?
[Re: Mike Wiles]
#5552277 - 12/03/12 03:32 PM
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Quote:
My only minor complaint about the scope was the focuser, but I had the intent of swapping it out for a motorized MoonLite focuser when I bought the scope, so it wasn't a big deal.
JMI makes a moto focus for it..also worked on my 102, and the stock focuser is fine!
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jerr
sage
Reged: 02/03/08
Loc: Czarny Las, Poland
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Re: Explore Scientific 127 ED Apo OK for Astro Photo?
[Re: SKYGZR]
#5552380 - 12/03/12 04:44 PM
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Andy,
I can only repeat that ES 127 ED and its clones are excellent scopes for AP. One thing however needs to be mentioned. This is a heavy piece of the equipment, most likely the heaviest one from among scopes comparable in size. If Santa could afford going for CF version of the tube I would suggest getting it and saving 4lbs of the payload. This will be needed for other extras necessary to take deep sky images.
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