Smart telescope against conventional setup

It's really a pleasant surprise to see some great results with a smart telescope.  

What we could get from small aperture and the cheaper imaging sensor is probably the most surprising.

Maybe I shall try shorter exposure with a bigger telescope?

Let say by using a 8" SCT with reducer, try stacking 30s or 60s shots. 

I am thinking about those smaller targets, distant galaxies and planetary nebula.

--

Let me summarise what I have in mind after several nights of using a smart telescope:

1. It's so easy to setup.  I will set it up whenever I have clear sky, no matter the time of the day, regardless of the temperature.  Setup time is zero, laziness is no longer an issue.

2. I would use the term "superlinear" gain.  I will always set it up along with my bigger rig, so my observation time was doubled at least.  Moreover, it increases my observation time since I will always set it up even when I have no energy to setup my bigger rig.  It redefines my total observation time.

3. This is derived from (2), if the best telescope is the one that you could use most, this is probably the best telescope.

4. Paradigm shift: shorter exposure time could be compensated fairly well by extensive stacking, therefore, I am inspired to try shorter exposure with some bigger telescopes.

5. Ease of use: the prime advantage of this setup is the ease of use, so it makes not much sense for me to use it in EQ mode.  In that case, I will go for my bigger setup.

6. Entry level camera: it is good as an entry level camera, but there is a catch.  I am something to say here.  Let say if you want to try more, you will need a big jump.  I mean to invest in a cooled camera, a good equatorial mount and a pretty large aperture telescope.  Going to 80mm might not show too much improvement, for something even bigger, you will want maybe 4 incher or above?  That implies a much bigger mount.  At maybe like several times of the cost, or you won't see much improvements.

I have to speak against myself about (5) here, if you want more, going for the EQ mode will be a natural step.  It also praves a way for you to go for a bigger setup.  Staying with the simplest setting has no learning curve, you learn nothing about the night sky and you learn nothing about how to set things up, not even know how to focus!  I always say astronomy is about polar alignment, collimation of the optics, and focusing (對焦、對光軸、對極軸), so by using these smart telescopes, you virtually learn none of these.

7. Portability: I nearly missed this point.  This super portable setup means a great chance to travel, for darker skies, or for a rare event.  Bring it along with your camping trip, or even night hiking would not be a major burden.

8. Image processing: the built-in software is good enough, especially for those who really enjoy photography but not fooling around with software.  As I have mentioned above, the ease of use is a prime advantage of this little stuff, so it makes not much sense for me to process the images further.  

Having said that, it could pave the way for you to go for a bigger setup later.

9. Visual observation:  this is a very important element, if you just want the picture, you can simply download them from the internet.  There is no provision to see with your eyes is a huge downside.  Getting photons light years away hitting your retina is simply the essense of amateur astronomy IMHO.

10. Exploring different targets:  it will give some ideas about what you can expect before using a bigger setup for more serious observation.

--

Permanent mounting for my S30:

1. Feasibility test: mount it on my fence, tall enough to get biggest visible sky, and to stay away for the light of my neighbour.  

I shall see if it's stable enough first.

2. Once it's done, I shall make a small sliding roof over it.  

A solid solar panel should do the job, charge up a battery pack to be used at night.

Sliding motor powered by tuya/google home.  

A rain sensor shall be installed so that it will be closed if it rains.

Sliding roof might be tuya/google home compatible.

2024 and 2025 Exercise Time

Local folks shared that the number of clear nights were much reduced in 2024, and I got the same feeling as well.  

With a new permant pillar in the back garden, I did imaging or observation whenever the sky was clear, with a few exceptions only.  I'm still trying out and doing some exercise.

I've been trying out the Canon 200mm f2.8L with a new tiny guidescope and the result is nice.  With the small CMOS chip, this lens performs exceptionally well wide open.

 

Next up is the Unbranded semi-APO 85mm with 500mm focal length scope, the chromatic abberation was quite well controlled.  The Canon 200mm f2.8L was used as a guidescope.

Snow was an issue, I switched to use home electricity for more stable power.  But then I was fearing about the wet from the snow or condensation in the cold weather.  So far there were no problem but it does not mean it's safe.

Packing stuff inside was another issue.  The very cold equipment from outside was attracting condensations when moved inside.  I used a small fan to dry them but I need better solution.

Image processing software would be the next stuff, but then I really hate to spend time doing processing, not just about money.

Anyway, I have two consective clear nights in the beginning of 2025.  

Happy new year to you all.

Failed evening attempt on C/2020 F3 NEOWISE

We might see this comet in the evening sky, so I went to a nearby location to try.

The moment just before the sun went down behind a small hill top nearby, it was a bit cloudy.

Failed attempt on C/2020 F3 NEOWISE

I planned a day off on 9/7 in order to prepare myself to capture the comet.

I will have to find a place where we might have a clear view of the East or NE, and since it will rise very early in the morning just before dawn.  

My first plan was in the East Dam of High Island Reservoir but then I couldn't setup a tent, and transportation is either expensive or I will need to walk for two hours.  So, I gave that up.

My second plan was in Tai Mo Shan where there's a campsite nearby the potential observation spot.  Therefore, I took the plunge to calculate whether the view would be clear:

And it seems feasible, so after dinner, I packed up my stuff and went out.  The sky was a bit cloudy but it's not without hope.  I arrived the bus station at around 23:15 waiting for the bus scheduled at around 23:25.

Armed with minimal camping setup, I've a just a tent and a small stove with a titanium cup for boiling water for the cup noodle breakfast tomorrow.  I also had a small bottle of Yakult.

Summer night was not too hot up there in the campsite, but it was super hot at home.

The humidity was very high, and it was very foggy with strong wind.  My half pitched tent was blew down.  I setup the alarm clock at around 4:30 and I have prepared myself to walk around 10 minutes to the observation spot.

On waking up, I heard some stepping sound around my tent.  There's no body around the campsite, anyway, on going out, I saw a cow plus super thick fog!  So, I gave up and sleep again.

At around 7:00, the cow was still there as well as the fog.

After short breakfast, I went to the observation spot to check whether my calculation is correct or not, but then it was full of fog!

I believe that it's no good to attempt any observation on the hill, here are some more shots during my morning walk:

Packed up my stuff and caught the bus on 9:00, and then back home for sleeping.

My stuff:

Canon 70D, a 24mm f2.8 lens, a 50mm f1.8 lens plus a 200mm f2.8 lens, a simple carbon fibre tripod and a pair of Canon 10x30 IS.

Some Chinese keywords:

荃錦營地

露營

夏天

彗星

白果之旅

A new project: resuming Home@Walnut observation

It's raining today, and thus it's probably the end of the three consecutive clear nights.

Last night I setup my Nexstar + C5 in the old location where I observe indoor, and it's workable.  So, I should begin the migration, i.e. to move all my gears there.  I shall move one of the plants to my office, and then the rest of the plants will be placed on top of the dry box.

Another project is the motorize the focuser of my C5.  Previously I was thinking to sell it, and replaced it with my modified FD 300mm 2.8, but then it's no good at high magnification and so I will keep my C5 and further enhance it.

Tentatively, I will use one of those small motors, add brass gear on the focuser, and then drive it like the Sky Adventurer.  Let's see.

20160309 Partial Solar Eclipse

My original plan was dull and boring, i.e. making high resolution H-alpha eclipse shots.  But the sky was so bad earlier this morning rendered this plan impossible.  So armed with my Canon 70D with a 100-400mm lens, and a 20 years old thousands oaks solar filter, what can I do?

I did a field trip yesterday night to see whether the location is suitable or not.

And this was how it looks this morning:-

Gave up? Not yet...

At 0814 (GMT+8), I first saw a hint of the sun...

Then at 0821 (GMT+8), it was even better

Soon I realized that I could take some images which clear sky would not allow, this was taken at 0844 (GMT+8),

Another mug shot at 0835 (GMT+8),

The sun was climbing up, taken at 0844 (GMT+8),

The sky was once cleared enough so that my filter must be used, taken at 0857 (GMT+8),

More shots with terrestrial object at 0920 (GMT+8),

Another one at 0922 (GMT+8),

The last one at 0954 (GMT+8),

Something that couldn't be done with great sky...

Dedicated Guidescope?

I am thinking about the need of a guidescope which is important for astrophotography.

However, if you're going to bring several camera lens for different focal length, we might actually use them to guide each others.  For example, if you're going to bring a 200mm f2.8 and a 300mm f2.8, they might be able to serve as the guidescope of the counterpart with suitable adapters.

In case the focal lengths are quite different, say 100mm and a 300mm, a tele-extender might be added to make them close.  We know that the guiding accuracy might suffer if you use shorter focal length to guide longer, but that's what you have to live with when we want absolute simplicity.

Remember the good old days, my friend used a FS60C and Sky90 in that way with great success.

Conclusion is that, for relatively wide field imaging, and I know that 300mm is pushing the limit, we might not need a dedicated Guidescope.

When you have more barlows lens than eyepieces

When you have more barlows lens than eyepieces, that means you're more a high resolution imaging person than a visual person.

I'm forced to be so since the sky was badly light polluted, high resolution imaging seems the only thing that could be done without much traveling.

Solar, lunar and planetary...

Wide field and deep sky imaging is more like a dream.

Going outside

Some non-astronomer friends would like to go out tonight to a darker place, and I've to bring all the stove and cookset.  Thus, to reduce my burden, I decided not to bring any telescope but to use my 200mm 2.8L as a telescope!  It's a compact 70mm refractor actually and with a barlows, I can use a diagonal too.

I've brought my Nexstar mount but I've decided to go lighter, so I brought a small chair to use with the Nexstar!  It's also lighter and more compact as well.  Ugly but works.

I've also brought my Canon 10x30 IS, together with my new 70D.

My target is simple, to capture C2014/Q2 in a darker site!

--

The sky was foggy with scattering thin cloud, and with the bright moon, even M41 is just detectable.  The moon was observed with a 4mm eyepiece and I found it hard to focus, and the image is no good.

Camera lens is only suitable for wide field scanning.