This is part 2 of a series of blogs about filters and narrowband astrophotography. Bill explains how filters work, why you might use different filters and what a photo taken through a filter looks like. In the previous blog, I went into a bit of my own history: how from DSLR photography, I gradually moved […]
Category: Astronomy
This is part 1 of a series of blogs about narrowband photography. In this introduction part, Bill talks about how – and why – he moved from taking astrophotographs with a plain DSLR to a monochrome CMOS camera with filters. It’s all about how you want the hobby to develop Astrophotographers aren’t normally wealthy people. […]
This guide is suitable for all telescope owners of Synta computerised go-to EQ mounts, such as Sky-Watcher and saxon. In a previous blog, I explained how to polar align a simple manual equatorial mount. However, the benefit of a computerised EQ mount is its much higher level of accuracy. It’s definitely worth the extra effort […]
Part two of the Celestron NexStar series. This guide is intended to help first time users and those who are experiencing difficulty with the Celestron SkyPortal (previously known as Celestron SkyQLink) Wifi module. Introduction In our previous blog we reviewed Celestron’s top-selling Celestron NexStar Evolution 8 Computerised Telescope. Now, this blog will go through the ins and […]
Jump Straight to the Verdict The Celestron Nexstar Evolution 8 Computerised Telescope The Celestron NexStar Evolution 8 Computerised Cassegrain telescope is a large Schmidt Cassegrain. It’s got a gaping 203.2mm (8″ aperture) and 2032mm focal length. Basically, it’s a bucket full of light. With these specifications, this telescope is capable of reaching high magnifications (480x highest […]
The International Space Station (ISS) regularly flies over Melbourne (and all parts of Australia). It appears like a bright dot, travelling quietly and without any flashes and can take more than five minutes to travel from horizon to horizon. You can use smartphone apps or websites that will alert you when it’s going to go […]
This blog shows you two different types of finderscopes. It describes what a finderscope is, how it’s useful, how it attaches to your main scope. Not all new astronomers know that they have to align the finderscope with the main scope. So most importantly, the blog shows you how to adjust your finderscope to help […]
The awful choice in astrophotography For astrophotography, some things in the sky, like nebulas, are surprisingly large but incredibly dim. These need telescopes with lots of light gathering ability but low magnification. On the other hand, planets are tiny objects which shine very brightly. Of course, they need the complete opposite, telescopes with masses of magnification […]
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See the mysterious Lunar X
The Lunar X is a relatively-unknown feature that comes and goes on the surface of the Moon. It’s visible for about an hour each month when light from the Sun is at a very particular angle. The X (as well as a nearby V) happens when shadow fills valleys between craters with steep walls, meaning […]
This is the second part of my blog on telescope mounts, and concentrates on the equatorial mount. I look specifically at how to set up an equatorial mount and align it for the Southern Hemisphere. Equatorial mounts are designed to help you track stars. That is, you can keep what you’re looking at in the […]