7 replies to this topic

[dvmweb]

Hello.

 

I have a 1990’s (5,6?) Celestron Ultima 8 inch SC that I bought new to see the Hale Bopp comet. It still works fine. I did some Film pics back then with a nicer Minolta SLR.

 

And now, enter the grandkids.

 

So, I want to have “moving pictures” on a laptop to show them after eyeballing.

 

I’ve used my iPhone with a lens attachment. Ok, …. However.

 

What to do? Nothing way fancy, but, not bottom budget either.

 

I have a bid on one of these on eBay:

 

https://www.celestro...cts/skyris-236c

 

Celestron Skyris 236C (95506)

 

Is there something newer, easy to use and set up, modestly priced that can do what I want?

Thanks!

Edited by dvmweb, 15 January 2022 - 11:39 AM.

[Sacred Heart]

I'm guessing that 8"SCT is f10,  2000MM focal length.    For EAA as they call it now,  you will need a large APS-C  sensor camera  for a good FOV.    Does your scope have a finder scope??   Can an astro camera be fitted to it??  Another option is  a dovetail plate on top of the 8" scope and a small refractor 60MM or large finder scope that can accept 1.25 eyepieces. Put a ZWO 178 or similar camera in back.

 

Typically, what you want to do is done with smaller equipment. A 60MM to 115 refractor and an astro camera, uncooled.  a little Ioptron Sky tracker mount.   Or full blown,  nice scope, refractor / RASA,  nice HD mount and camera to match.

 

I do not know how stable your mount is, this is why I recommended the large finder scopes and a ZWO 178 camera.   You may be able to do eyepiece projection with an astro camera.  I have never done that so I do not know if you would need a large or small sensor camera.

 

Go to Astronomy Tools and check out their FOV calculator.     Lots of cameras and scopes to choose from.

 

Back in that day aperture was king,  it still is, but with the new cameras of today you do not need big scopes to see anymore.   I was there, two maksutovs and a C14.   Now two refractors, 92MM and a 76MM.  I have a ZWO 178 mono camera that I do Live stacking with.   In a few images you can see galaxies, nebula, anything that is a smudge in the eyepiece comes to life in a camera.  I'm still old school, you can see the Moon and planets through the camera, but I like my eyepieces better.  

 

I'm sure a lot of people will chime in.        Joe

 

https://astronomy.to.../field_of_view/

[Tfer]

The FOV of that Skyris, even with a .63 reducer, is pretty small.

 

If your mount can track, I’d suggest a wider FOV camera and a .63 reducer. You can get very satisfying results with a C8 if you purchase the right camera.

[GazingOli]

The C8 SCT is perfect for EAA with a x0.63 reducer and a modern CMOS camera, like the ZWO ASI 294. You will need a notebook with a live-stacking software like SharpCap and a little exercise to learn how to use it. 

 

CS.Oli

[alphatripleplus]

And now, enter the grandkids.

 

So, I want to have “moving pictures” on a laptop to show them after eyeballing.

 

 

What exactly do you mean by "moving pictures"? EAA captures typically involve live stacking many short, i.e. several second, sub-exposures over time, and watching the view build over a few minutes.

 

If you are looking for something that appears as a final image in a second or two, EAA is probably not going to provide that.

 

The camera you mentioned is an old (and  not very sensitive) planetary camera that is unlikely to work well for capturing DSOs. As others have mentioned, a more modern and sensitive camera would be much better for EAA.

[dvmweb]

“Moving pictures” or live views of the moon, planets, maybe comets on a laptop. For instance.

 

Yes, there is a dedicated spotting scope.

I have a Celestron Regal M2 100ED spotting scope that I can piggy back on the C8. There is a bracket. I used to put the camera there with a 400 mm telephoto lens in the past.

 

Thanks for all of the suggestions.

Edited by dvmweb, 15 January 2022 - 12:09 PM.

[alphatripleplus]

Okay, you can certainly get snaphots of the moon in a fraction of a second. However, comets - like Deep Sky Objects - are going to take several minutes using EAA live stack techniques while the scope tracks the comet.

 

As for the brighter planets, you can take single exposure snapshots, but they tend to be blurry if you are doing EAA  - i.e. no post processing of the pics. If you are happy with that, then EAA can get you something to look at.

 

If you want to go beyond somewhat blurry single snapshots of the planets, you have to move outside the scope of the EAA forum, which is limited to live views that haven't been post-processed.  Most people who are interested in getting sharper pics of the planets  will take a video of many short images and use post-processing software tools to extract details from the many images in the video after they have saved the video to their computer. For information on how that is done, you may want to visit the major and minor planetary image forum.

[SchoolMaster]

A system needs a bunch of things.

 

1.  OTA/Telescope.  You have one and it can be made to work.  It will work better with a 0.63 focal reducer ($120 ish used) which will give you more Field of View and make life a lot easier.

 

2. Mount with tracking.  Pictures take time and you need to keep on your target.  Alignment and GoTo helps.  If not, you need to be fluent in finding interesting things in the sky and getting the scope pointed at them and focused for both visual and camera (which will often be different)

 

3. Camera.  If the price on e-bay was fine, a SVBONY 305 Pro for $200 is a decent, inexpensive camera as is the ZWO 224, but the both cover a small part of the sky, but you will get planets, the moon, and many simple Deep Space Objects which will inspire the kiddos. Many of us started with cameras like that.

 

4.  Computer and software.  Any half-decent modern laptop with USB3 will do, and the rest of the software can be free, like SharpCap.

 

Do you have an existing DSLR camera body of any sort?  That can be used too.