Messier 42 on Celestron 5 SE Alt-Az and 5sec Exposures with No Guiding
Messier 42 on Celestron 5 SE Alt-Az and 5sec Exposures with No Guiding
While my other gear are small APO refractors, I recently got a small Celestron Nexstar 5 SE Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope with the included lightweight ALT-AZ mount. I can literally carry the telescope/mount assembly with one hand if needed. I take it and my small Jackery Power Station and a lunchbox-size case with a few eyepieces and small, uncooled cameras ... and I'm ready to drive off to some quiet site.
I replaced the included small finder scope with a $50 cheap finder with a non-illuminated crosshair, aligned it to the telescope tube, and controlled the whole thing with an ASIAIR Mini ($180 new) from my iPhone. I also got a Celestron .63 reducer ($179) and set it up to the required 105mm backfocus distance to the ZWO ASI183MC non-cooled ($200 when I bought it) camera. I saw that the small Celestron SCTs with the ALT-AZ mounts were getting a bad reputation for any astrophotography attempts, and I was curious as to what could be done to encourage others with this scope.
So I set up the scope and ALT-AZ tripod mount with no polar alignment, little regard to North, did a basic level, did a two star alignment, slewed to M42 and started a series of 5 second exposures with no guiding and not even touching the mount to keep the object centered. I knew that field rotation could be a problem. That's why I kept the exposures short. The whole setup and startup took about 15 minutes. I was very surprised with the results. It's not quite the same quality as my APO refractor on EQ mount images, but I had fun, took the challenge, and found a small rig and unorthodox exposure plan method that gave me a satisfying night under the stars and a fun little image. I could have filled out the whole Messier 42 object just by adding a bunch more 5 second exposures. This little piece of gear kept the object centered in the field of view the whole time, It took me about 3 minutes to pack it up and start back home. A total fun rig that I could literally carry in two hands without being a weight lifter. And I spent time under the stars instead of under pressure to get things setup. Lots of fun! It was so easy, it will probably now double my nights under the stars.
Processing was done in Pixinsight
Messier 42 on Celestron 5 SE Alt-Az and 5sec Exposures with No Guiding
Messier 42 on Celestron 5 SE Alt-Az and 5sec Exposures with No Guiding
While my other gear are small APO refractors, I recently got a small Celestron Nexstar 5 SE Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope with the included lightweight ALT-AZ mount. I can literally carry the telescope/mount assembly with one hand if needed. I take it and my small Jackery Power Station and a lunchbox-size case with a few eyepieces and small, uncooled cameras ... and I'm ready to drive off to some quiet site.
I replaced the included small finder scope with a $50 cheap finder with a non-illuminated crosshair, aligned it to the telescope tube, and controlled the whole thing with an ASIAIR Mini ($180 new) from my iPhone. I also got a Celestron .63 reducer ($179) and set it up to the required 105mm backfocus distance to the ZWO ASI183MC non-cooled ($200 when I bought it) camera. I saw that the small Celestron SCTs with the ALT-AZ mounts were getting a bad reputation for any astrophotography attempts, and I was curious as to what could be done to encourage others with this scope.
So I set up the scope and ALT-AZ tripod mount with no polar alignment, little regard to North, did a basic level, did a two star alignment, slewed to M42 and started a series of 5 second exposures with no guiding and not even touching the mount to keep the object centered. I knew that field rotation could be a problem. That's why I kept the exposures short. The whole setup and startup took about 15 minutes. I was very surprised with the results. It's not quite the same quality as my APO refractor on EQ mount images, but I had fun, took the challenge, and found a small rig and unorthodox exposure plan method that gave me a satisfying night under the stars and a fun little image. I could have filled out the whole Messier 42 object just by adding a bunch more 5 second exposures. This little piece of gear kept the object centered in the field of view the whole time, It took me about 3 minutes to pack it up and start back home. A total fun rig that I could literally carry in two hands without being a weight lifter. And I spent time under the stars instead of under pressure to get things setup. Lots of fun! It was so easy, it will probably now double my nights under the stars.
Processing was done in Pixinsight