70mm reflector photos

[tamer]

Hello all.

I have recently brough a 70/700 refractor telescope and so far havent been able to locate anything interesting to look at. I got to see the M45 cluster, but it really doesn't seem to look unique in any way, just looked like a bunch of stars. Tried locating the Andromeda Galaxy but couldn't, even though it is spose to be rather large. One of the reasons (I'm guessing) for the unsuccesful observations that I had so far is maybe because of the amount of light polution here in London.

Also I am planning on getting a cheap camara in order to be able to start astrophotograpy. Does anyone know what kind of a camera I can buy, the telescope cost 60GBP, so I plan on paying considerably lower than that. Any ideas on any interesting things that I may be able to take pictures of?

Also, if anyone has any pictures taken with a similar scope, it would be extreamly great (and helpful) if you can post it so that I can see what sort of pictures I can take, as well as figure out what I might be able to see with such a telescope.

Thank you.

[Manchurian Taikonaut]

Some use web cams for pics or normal digi cams,
the Moon would be a great target



http://www.raezersharp.net/uu.JPG

70mm-refractor with Webcam

http://www.jfmto.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/juptext.gif

Small refractor might be able to show dark belts & bright zones of Jupiter

[seeker372011]

I suppose you do not have any form of tracking so you are probably going to be limited to lunar and planetary imaging, as Taikonaut Dongfang Hong has suggested.

The cheapest option may be to to buy a cheap webcam take off the lens, glue a sawn-off film canister to the front of the webcam and use the webcam thus modified for imaging.

Check out the QCUIAG site

http://www.qcuiag.co.uk/

go to the FAQ section and also to the "research and downloads" section for more information on how to do this.

Here is a link to a site that gives some examples of what can be achieved with a 60 mm refractor..of course some of the pictures were taken with some very expensive equipment by an experienced astrophotographer even if refractor aperture was only 60 mm .

http://www.astrosurf.com/l60/en/deep_sky_o..._observing.html (http://www.astrosurf.com/l60/en/deep_sky_observing.html)

and perhaps before you do anything else it may be worth checking out "Turn Left at Orion" if you havent done so already, it is a really helpful book.

By the way I think the Great Orion Nebula should be visible for you at this time and should be easy enough to find as a first target

hope this helps

[gavwvin]

I too have a 70mm refactor (Meade ETX-70) and although its not very good for taking photos through (as in using it as a long lens) there are other methods I've had a bit of success with... here are some pictures (http://www.astronomyforbeginners.com/myimages/) that I have taken, the vast majority with my 70mm telescope. Have a look at the astrophotography articles (http://www.astronomyforbeginners.com/astrophotography/) as well for more on astrophotography with inexpensive equipment

If you want to get a camera I would say go for film rather than digital. You want an SLR but don't get a new one (like me) because they have an electronic shutter and drain the (very expensive!) batteries very quickly on long exposures. Try to find one as basic as possible- it doesn't even need a light meter, just an old mechanical one as long as it works!