Astronomy / Space VY Canis Majoris for real in a small telescope

[talshiarr]

Small being an 11" Celestron with a Mallincam video camera. As I put in the Youtube description, don't get excited, it's just a small orange dot. Thinking about what that little dot represents is what imagination is for. 5,000 light-years away, as big as Saturn's orbit, it's just awesome despite its humble appearance. The faintest stars at the end are about magnitude 15, fainter than Pluto. It's not being resolved as a disc, it's just bloom on the camera since it's so much brighter (relatively) with longer exposures

[video=youtube;OafESEBDYgI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OafESEBDYgI[/video].

 

[Slo-Mo-Shun]

Big star and a long way off but still only sub 5% of the way across the galaxy. Is the scope an SCT? Whichever type it is Celestron make very nice instruments.

 

[talshiarr]

It's getting long in the tooth now, one of the old Nexstar GPS models. I got it back in 2002.

Here's the whole setup:

 

[Slo-Mo-Shun]

The scope looks great but I don't like the look of the snow. My last scope/s where a 120mm and an 80mm apo refractors mounted side by side on an equatorial mount. Thinking about a Lunt or Coranado solar scope atm, we'll see.

 

[talshiarr]

Nah, snow's great! The current weather chills that camera right down and makes for a much less noisy image. I sit comfortably inside at the desk regardless. I've never owned a refractor, but in my dream world I'd love to try wider field imaging with one, a Televue NP127is perhaps.

 

[Slo-Mo-Shun]

Know what you mean with the temp. I haven't messed with ccd's for some years, I guess the first one I had wouldn't even make a guider nowadays

 

[Rhonda]

Here's the whole setup:
View attachment 16011

I got a telescope as birthday present from my mom when I was 13 or 14 (20+yrs ago). I haven't used it in a while (for 10+yrs) and it was quite bare without any auto-tracking or a camera module. But ED pushed my interest back to those old days. Now, that I'd be able to afford (and handle) a more sophisticated setup, may I ask how much would one have to spend on such a setup?

 

[Slo-Mo-Shun]

I am sure Talshiarr will be along to answer on this specific instrument but here are a couple of pointers from my point of view.

1. Don't buy one yet, read up, buy some magazines and have a think about which aspect of astronomy that you are interested in. It does make a difference.
2. Decide on a budget and stick to it, you can spend anything from a couple of hundred pounds/dollars to, well, something based up a mountain and costing many millions. Its is very easy to allow costs to creep.
3. Buy a copy of either Patrick Moores (UK area) yearbook or the equivalent of which there are several. This will tell what is available to view and when. Once you get your telescope a more comprehensive catalog may be of use, I used to love my old copy of Burnhams celestial handbook. There are several computer based catalogs, a quick google search should pick them up.
4. Do not rush out to buy CCD's etc. Consider what you want to do with it.
5. Magnification is NOT of primary interest. There are many adverts for telescopes with such statements as "Magnifies 220 times", leave these alone all you will get is distortion and an inability to follow anything. Trust me, I would give most people an hour with one of these offerings before they kicked the astronomy hobby.
6. Enjoy what you are interested in. If you want to look at the moon and the moon only, thats fine. Its not the be all and end all to be able to split a very faint binary or get a good view of all the members of Stephans Quintet.
7. Amateurs can and do make a contribution to the science of astronomy. Have look here for how many comets have been discovered by amateurs (Oh and you do get those named after you) and it seems the number is increasing, I guess with the increased sophistication of amateur instrumentation. http://www.cometchaser.de/discoverystories/Comet-discoverers.html

Whatever you choose have fun, its not a chore.