A few nights ago I was experimenting with polar alignment with my newly purchased copy of Alignmaster after I made some adjustments to my C6 SGT scope to minimize poor backlash. Alignmaster is best used in conjunction with a webcam for accurate alignment, although it can be done visually if no webcam is available. Anyway, [...] Read more »
Fairly recently I’ve started using EQMOD software with EQASCOM to control my Synscan Goto Upgrade Kit for my EQ5 telescope mount with my C6-SGT scope. There are various advantages to using EQMOD. It’s free for a start, but don’t let that fool you into thinking this is average quality software. EQMOD has quite a few [...] Read more »
A couple of nights ago I had another go at learning to use my un-modified Canon EOS 600D DSLR to hone my techniques in astrophotography with my C6-SGT scope. Now I’m starting to feel like I’m actually getting somewhere!
Even so there were a few things wrong with trying to get this image…..
For instance both the [...] Read more »
Here is another image I took while at the Kelling Heath Star Party 2012. Sorry! It’s a bit disappointing. I chose NGC 6888 The Crescent Nebula as a possible try with my Canon EOS 600d DSLR after reading the September issue of Sky at Night magazine, where one of the observing articles showed this as [...] Read more »
Finally I’ve got round to posting up my images taken at the Kelling Heath Star Party 2012, using my new (un-modded) 600D camera. I chose a well-known and common target for my first image; the Ring Nebula is a good bright object. (Click the image to view full size, then click Back)
It took me quite [...] Read more »
So we’re back from our short caravan break to Kelling Heath in North Norfolk this weekend just gone, where the 2012 Autumn Star Party took place. I enjoyed 3 good nights of clear skies and stargazing, using a combination of my EQ mounted Celestron C6-SGT scope, my Orion XT10i and my 20×80 big binos, while [...] Read more »
For my 50th birthday my wonderful wife got me a brand new Canon EOS 600d DSLR camera. We’ve been making do with a basic compact camera for a few years now, for holidays, and use it for some simple astrophotography, and also using my LX-modified SPC900NC webcam for planetary and DSO photos.
But we are booked [...] Read more »
The Great Orion Nebula (M42) is probably the most popular and brightest target nebula in the Northern hemisphere for astrophotographers.
Click the picture for a larger version, then hit Back when done.
This image taken with my LX-modded SPC900NC on my C6-SGT XLT scope on EQ5 mount is far superior than I have taken of M42 in [...] Read more »
Many times I have tried to view the Flame Nebula by eye with my Orion XT10i Dobsonian, but without success (I keep thinking “It must be there, surely I should be able to see it!?”).
In professional photographs The Flame looks reasonably bright when compared to very faint nebula like the Horsehead, and it doesn’t look [...] Read more »
I have a Philips SPC900NC PC webcam that I use for astrophotography with my Celestron C6-SGT XLT SCT Goto telescope. I have modified it with the Steve Chambers LX (Long Exposure) mod and wanted to try out a fairly good easy starting target to experiment on its capabilities.
Pleiades seemed to be a good choice, but [...] Read more »
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