Pictures through my telescope...

[Footbag]

Originally Posted by RGD.

Always been fascinated with space photography! Thanks so much for sharing. Questions - you stated that you have several exposures. What determines your exposure times and the amount of? Also is there a correction in the scope between exposures - or is the distance between points A and B so great that none are required.


Ron

Good questions... The exposure length is determined by the brightness of the object. That said, light pollution can play a big factor in determining exposure length. The more light pollution, the shorter the exposures have to be otherwise the image gets overexposed. It's really a battle finding the sweet spot, but you can use the histogram on the camera to give you an idea.

As for correction, the scope itself tracks the object with its built in motor. This tracking is good enough for visual observing or short exposure photo's, but not for long exposure photography. For long exposures, I use another telescope mounted on my primary scope. This scope has a second camera which locks onto a star and sends corrections to the mount as the scope moves.

Only five years ago, this process was completely manual meaning you had to watch the same star through your telescope while making the corrections yourself. I've said it a few times already, but the technology is amazing.