Introduction

This site is an attempt to display some of the astrophotography I have done using rather meager equipment :

Mounts :

Celestron NexStar 80GT, Celestron NexStar 5i, Celestron Advanced Series

Telescopes

Short Tube 80 (both Tasco and Celestron labeled), Celestron 5" SCT

Cameras

Sony Mavica FD-92, Modified Vesta 675 (SC2), Starlight-Xpress MX916 with STAR2000

Background :

I haven't been in astronomy too terribly long (since 2001, I think - when my daughter asked for a telescope for Christmas). But I've learned a lot and have had a really great time with it. I even took a college astronomy course last Winter (2004) to allow me to better understand the objects I was viewing and/or imaging.

Imaging is one of those things that you either like or you don't like. It comes with a cost both in terms of $$ and in the devotion of time. But somehow I grew to believe that unless I had a camera on the scope, I was wasting my time. My opinion is becoming more moderate especially since the camera can get in the way at times. And perhaps the lousy images I've been producing lately (Summer 2004) have something to do with it, too.

My first images were simply a matter of holding the Mavica up to the eyepiece of the NexStar 80GT and snapping away. It was pretty clear that I wanted something better all the way around, so I jumped at the opportunity to get a modified webcam (see the QuickCam and Unconventional Imaging Group for more information on long exposure modifications.) This camera allowed me to do long exposures, only limited by the mount's ability to hold an object still (track), and the camera noise and hot pixels introduced from the exposure itself. That sounds great, and it would be were it not for the lousy tracking of the N80GT! The best I ever managed were a few 7 second exposures. Of course I was thrilled at the time, but it didn't take long to get frustrated with the 80's short comings.

Solution? Celestron announced the introduction of the i Series of telescopes and were offering an incredible package at an introductory price of $899 for the mount, i Comp hand controller, C5 optical tube assembly, and tripod. Since I was already looking to spend some more $$ on a larger scope, I changed gears and went with the N5i. (Everyone told me to get the 8" N8i and I balked due to the extra weight. Turns out, my balking was right just not for the right reasons. It seems that the extra size of the 8" SCT on the mount combined with the longer focal length make it more difficult to image with.) Compared to the N80GT, the i Series was like a dream. Everything about it screamed "higher class." Its GOTOs are excellent and on a wedge, I can track well enough to do "track & stack" of up to 2 minutes (though 60 seconds gets a higher number of keepers) depending where in the sky I'm pointing. And popping a short tube 80 (like the N80GT) on it is even easier to use. To learn more about my "state of the art" for that setup, visit my N5i page.

Oh yeah, and somewhere in there I got an incredible deal on a Starlight Xpress MX916 USB with the STAR2000 self-guiding dongle. So while it is difficult to include the MX916 with the other equipment under the adjective "meager", the price I paid for it was certainly so.

The N5i served me very well and I'm sure there is more to be done with it. However, Mother's Day 2004 found me with a present of an Advanced Series GOTO mount (AS-GT), and it turns out that the dovetails that came with Ray's Brackets allowed me to mount my current tubes. So I have begun playing with the advanced series, which is a German Equatorial Mount.

I've taken a few images with it, but they've suffered from a variety of ailments including but not limited to : vignetting, gradients, and dust motes. (see M81) The AS-GT is more difficult to set up than the N5i, it weighs more, has a few "issues" which are being addressed by Celestron, and takes a bit of time to get one's head around. However, it should be possible to autoguide the mount in all orientations of the sky, and this should allow for more keeper images, and a greater depth in my images. And with the updated firmware, the mount's performance seems very stable.

All that said, some of me wonders if a GEM is really all it is cracked up to be. Why anyone would choose one for purely visual work is beyond me. And I wouldn't recommend one as a first mount to anyone when a nice ALTAZ NexStar 8i would be easier to use.

If I had a an observatory, a nice NexStar 8GPS would be my first choice. Of course, a N8GPS requires a heavy duty wedge and tripod or a pier and costs quite a few more dollars than my present setup. So at this point in my life, I'll either make the ASGT work, go back to the N5i and sell the ASGT, or get out of astronomy completely. Maybe.