Uhhh, Ya-yuh.

ED80 APO, for guiding with an Orion SS Autoguide Cam; sitting on top of an ED127 APO Triplet, Using either my Canon 450D/XSi or an Orion SSDS Color Imager for most DSO imaging.
All this on an Altlas EQ-G mount.

Control is handled with "PHD Guide", "MaximDL" (for focus,imaging, plate resolution) , "The SkyX" or "Cartes du Ceil" for calibration and sync.
I use a Dell Laptop to bring it all together.

Both scopes are great for photography; the 80 is either for Guiding or does a fine job on wider field work. The ED127mm APO/Trip is my primary imaging Refractor.

http://s1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/Tex2024/Tex2024%20AstroPhotos/

Regards,
Jim

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His photos are fin good and he has already mentioned that they are composits of many
shots .Thats the way N.A.S.A. does it.

I wish I had the money and the clear skies, Even if one thing changes,the other never will.

john3760

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m

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His photos are fin good and he has already mentioned that they are composits of many
shots .Thats the way N.A.S.A. does it. ...

That's a good alternative to using adaptive optics to counter the atmospheric distortions. Still, don't underestimate the effort that goes into connecting all that lot together.


Still impressive stuff! (Says he who spent two years of lunch-times grinding 4" mirrors to shape and nearly falling to sleep mapping out Focault tests!)

Keep searchin',
Martin

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See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Me again,

Actually, I built my first scope from a kit when I was 13(1957).
I had to grind and polish the primary and assemble the eyepieces.

It was a 4" Reflector on a swivel mount that had screw-in legs.
The kit came with a 40mm, a 10mm, and a tiny 3mm.

I bought it through an ad in "Mechanics Illustrated" for $40.00.
That was a LOT OF $$$ back then! But, then again, I had a very large "Paper Route".

Took me about six months to finish it all and I remember to this day, the thrill of my own "First Light".
I could actually see the rings of Saturn.


.Now, I'm lookin' fer a "ET" to phone us.


.

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Damn budgets, always getting in the way of progress!

500 years ago, it was the Catholic church holding us in the stone-age, now it's accountants!

We were supposed to be inhabiting Mars and exploring the heavens by now. Not sat here on our little rock saying "oh it's too expensive".

It's only TOO EXPENSIVE because the Military-Industrial complex controls the US now...has for a long time....

If there was a military necessity to control Mars, we would have been there a long time ago...Lt

In 1952, 70% of all US government spending was for national defence - that was the time of the Cold and Korean wars.
Net interest payments accounted for 10% and 15% was paid to individuals in the form of health and social security
payments.
The end of the Korean War and then the Cold War helped the cost of national defence to eventually decline to about
20%; payment of net interest, because of today’s much lower interest rates, is still about 10%. However, payments to
individuals are much higher; nearly 2/3rds of all spending.

The above copied from a current Investment analysis report gives one the notion
that when military spending is very high so too is the investment in space
research. So perhaps the reason why the USA is cutting back on space
research funding is because it's social spending has increased vastly over the
years so eating into any spare cash for space work etc. All very reminiscent of
how the UK went post WW2 with social spending becoming a severe drain on the
governments purse, as it still is today.

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The Kite Fliers

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Kite fliers: An imaginary club of solo members, those who don't yet
belong to a formal team so "fly their own kites" - as the saying goes.