Another Astrophoto Amatuer

I bet everyone has been anxiously waiting another post from someone who just
got their first small telescope and wants to take pictures of Saturn with it
that rival those from the Hubble. Wait no longer.

I've done a fair amount of research on my own, but without experience I
don't know which is the best way for me to proceed. I realize that my Orion
StarMax 90 (1250mm f14 Mak-Cass) is very limited in power, but if I am able
to record anything recognizable as Saturn I would consider that a victory.
I ordered the tele-extender from Orion, but it connects a Schmidt-Cassegrain
to a T-Ring and as I found out that doesn't fit on the back of my scope,
which also has threads that fit a T-Ring. I guess what I need is a tube
that has T-ring threads on both ends, I hope this exists and is a size that
will keep my camera close enough to the eyepiece. Assuming that I plan to
borrow a Canon Rebel Digital SLR for this experiment, use a 25mm (50x)
eyepiece, figure out how to focus and hope for the best. I'm guessing that
setting the Canon to 1600ASA will assure exposure time less than 1 second.

If the T-ring extender doesn't exist then perhaps the Universal Camera
Adapter sold by Orion will do the trick as it fits into the focuser and has
T-threads on the other end.

Am I on the right track or should I be trying afocal or something else
instead? Or is my telescope simply too small to get anything recognizable
as Saturn? Thanks.

JK

Afocal is by far the easiest, and you can put the camera on a separate
tripod (which looks stupid but does a marvelous job of isolating the
telescope from the vibration of the camera shutter). Have you read any
books about astrophotography yet?


--
Clear skies,

Michael Covington -- www.covingtoninnovations.com
Author, Astrophotography for the Amateur
and (new) How to Use a Computerized Telescope

Afocal is by far the easiest, and you can put the camera on a separate
tripod (which looks stupid but does a marvelous job of isolating the
telescope from the vibration of the camera shutter). Have you read any
books about astrophotography yet?


--
Clear skies,

Michael Covington -- www.covingtoninnovations.com
Author, Astrophotography for the Amateur
and (new) How to Use a Computerized Telescope

I'm very close to buying your book (are there others?) as it looks great,
I'm just afraid that after I read it I'll figure out that I won't be able to
record more than a fuzzy smudge because my telescope is simply too small.
If I don't have a chance I'd rather find out sooner rather than later. I'll
look into afocal some more, I thought Saturn would be too dim having to go
through both the eyepiece and the camera lens. Thanks for the advice.

"Michael A. Covington" wrote
in message ...
Afocal is by far the easiest, and you can put the camera on a separate
tripod (which looks stupid but does a marvelous job of isolating the
telescope from the vibration of the camera shutter). Have you read any
books about astrophotography yet?


--
Clear skies,

Michael Covington -- www.covingtoninnovations.com
Author, Astrophotography for the Amateur
and (new) How to Use a Computerized Telescope

I'm very close to buying your book (are there others?) as it looks great,
I'm just afraid that after I read it I'll figure out that I won't be able to
record more than a fuzzy smudge because my telescope is simply too small.
If I don't have a chance I'd rather find out sooner rather than later. I'll
look into afocal some more, I thought Saturn would be too dim having to go
through both the eyepiece and the camera lens. Thanks for the advice.

"Michael A. Covington" wrote
in message ...
Afocal is by far the easiest, and you can put the camera on a separate
tripod (which looks stupid but does a marvelous job of isolating the
telescope from the vibration of the camera shutter). Have you read any
books about astrophotography yet?


--
Clear skies,

Michael Covington -- www.covingtoninnovations.com
Author, Astrophotography for the Amateur
and (new) How to Use a Computerized Telescope

How does one Amatu? or is it Amatue??
Clear, Dark, Steady Skies!
(And considerate neighbors!!!)

How does one Amatu? or is it Amatue??
Clear, Dark, Steady Skies!
(And considerate neighbors!!!)