I had my first imaging session with my new Altair GPCAM2 IMX224 last Friday – until then I had only used it for guiding. Since I was going for the moon with a small sensor, I would have to do a mosaic, even with the relatively wide field Skywatcher 130PDS. But I thought I’d go even […]
Lunar mosaic in UV, L, IR with an Altair GPCAM2 IMX224
April 9, 2017 // by ecuador
Review: Inexpensive Solomark 50mm Guide Scopes (same as Orion, Starguider, TS etc)
December 18, 2016 // by ecuador
A popular guiding solution is the 50mm guide scope, often by converting an existing 9×50 finder scope. It has the advantage that it is light, it can fit on your existing finder shoe, it is very fast giving you many stars at low exposures and it can be quite effective at short and medium focal lengths. […]
Processing a (noisy) DSLR image stack with StarTools
November 20, 2016 // by ecuador
Using a DSLR camera for astrophotography has you dealing with quite noisy data, and the issue is compounded if you are shooting from the city under light-polluted skies. Noisy data gives you a hard time when processing, so it would initially take me quite some time and effort to get to pleasing results, even with dedicated […]
Starguider 2″ Field Flattener (TSFlat2) on SkyWatcher Equinox 80 ED
March 2, 2016 // by ecuador
I’ve already tried this refractor Field Flattener on a SkyWatcher Evostar 80ED in a previous post. To sum it up, it did perform well on the Evostar and the best value was the Starguider 2″ Field Flattener sold by Sky’s the Limit on ebay.co.uk, which is identical to the TSFlat2 from TS (but the TSFlat2 […]
28/9/2015 Lunar eclipse photos & time-lapse
December 24, 2015 // by ecuador
I finally had time to process my photos from my “Supermoon” lunar eclipse photo session at Salford Observatory. It was a very cold and humid night, 4 people showed up, 3 stayed until at least after the eclipse maximum, but it was the best lunar eclipse I’ve observed (large moon and very nice red color […]
2015 Solar Eclipse @ Heaton Park, Manchester
March 20, 2015 // by ecuador
Well, that’s it for Europe until 2026. We had a nice gathering with a lot of people of all ages at Heaton Park, Manchester today, however the weather was not favorable. We did lose the sun completely near the maximum (and I don’t mean the moon covered it – it was due to thick clouds) […]
Planetary Shootout: Jupiter with Refractor, Maksutov, Newtonian, SCT
March 18, 2015 // by ecuador
Update 2016/04/27: As I get some questions, comments and even criticisms about a particular aspect of this article, I thought it was time to do an update to try and clarify some things, and also add images from my newest OTAs. So, some people tell me that images are not a good indication of the […]
Starguider 2″ Field Flattener (TSFlat2) on SkyWatcher Evostar 80ED
February 19, 2015 // by ecuador
The lowest cost field flattener / corrector that I could find for my SW 80ED refractor was the Starguider 2″ Field Flattener sold by Sky’s the Limit on ebay.co.uk. They have a £124 buy it now price currently. According to the seller (who is well-trusted in the UK) this is the same as the TS […]
DIY: Reducing DSLR Vignetting of 1.25″ Filter On 2″ Focuser
February 10, 2015 // by ecuador
We know how even with APS-C sensor you need a 2″ focuser to avoid significant vignetting. However 2″ filters are significantly more expensive (which can translate to quite some money for some nice AP filters that were recommended to me), and not as many options available (even fewer are available as clip-on and usually even […]
Budget Astrophotography In The 1990’s
January 31, 2015 // by ecuador
I’ve had an interest in astronomy since I was a kid. In ’88 my uncle gave me my first “telescope” (a small 40mm refractor called Halleyscope – although it was a decidedly unsuitable instrument to watch a comet) and I finally managed to get a “real” telescope in 1991. Telescopes were expensive back then. In […]