best telescope for astrophotography australia

Best telescope for astrophotography australia upgrade#
Best telescope for astrophotography australia free#

Exposures were: luminance, 3 × 10 minutes RGB, 2 × 10-minutes per filter. On the right is a view of the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud, in the southern constellation of Dorado, as captured by the CHI-2/4 instrumentation. Finally, a recent addition to the site is CHI-5, a Nikon 200mm, f/2 lens and an FLI ML16200 CCD camera, optimised for ultra-wide-field imaging.įig 3.Telescopes CHI-2 and CHI-4 are two superb 500mm corrected-Newtonian reflectors with fast f/3.8 optics suitable for highly detailed wide-field imaging. For wider fields there are two superb 500mm corrected-Newtonian reflectors, CHI-2 and CHI-4, with fast f/3.8 pin-sharp optics and a focal length of 1,900mm, which is ideal for wide but detailed imaging (Figure 3). Next is what is probably the most popular telescope at this observatory, a 60mm Planewave Corrected Dall–Kirkham optical design (CHI-1, see Figure 2). Pride of place goes to the ASA RC-1000AZ behemoth (CHI-3), a one-metre telescope on a Mathis MI-1000 computerised altazimuth mount (Figure 1). This observatory features five telescopes of various sizes. Exposures were: hydrogen-alpha, 3 × 10 minutes oxygen-III, 4 × 10 minutes and sulphur-II, 4 × 10 minutes. The narrowband image was achieved using 3nm Astrodon filters. The image on the right is of the enigmatic nebula NGC 3576 in the southern constellation of Carina, taken with the CHI-1 instrumentation. The telescopes at all the observatories are equipped with Astrodon LRGB and 3nm narrowband filters.įig 2.CHI-1 is a 600mm Planewave Corrected Dall–Kirkham telescope. There are three observatories, sited in Chile, Spain and Australia, all of which offer excellent viewing of deep southern targets, as well as great views of the northern sky from Spain. Let’s start off by perusing the telescopes that are available.

Exposures were: luminance, 6 ×10 minutes red, 4 × 10 minutes and 2 × 5 minutes green, 4 × 10 minutes and 2 ×5 minutes and blue, 4 × 10 minutes and 3 × 5 minutes. On the right is the beautiful barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365 in Fornax, imaged with the CHI-3 instrumentation. CHI-3 is a one-metre ASA RC-1000AZ, f/6.8 telescope on a computerised altazimuth mount. It has opened up a new vista of the southern sky and the marvellous targets that are always below our horizon in the UK. Even as a long-standing astro-imager myself, I’ve been astonished by the high quality of the data and instrumentation supplied by Telescope Live. I’d like to share with you the many advantages of remote imaging and hope that I can convey the excitement of using such equipment to produce your own images.

Best telescope for astrophotography australia upgrade#

The platform recently underwent an upgrade to Telescope Live 2, sporting a new-look website () with many new features and functionality. While attending European AstroFest in 2019, I was introduced to a new imaging platform called Telescope Live and I spent the rest of that year using their telescopes for remote imaging.

I’ve been using remote telescopes for quite a few years now, originally with the two-metre Faulkes telescopes in Hawaii and Australia, and more recently with a shared imaging rig in various locations in Spain.

Best telescope for astrophotography australia free#

Now, though, our constantly evolving hobby has a relatively new option, which is to use remote telescopes that are located in dark locations free of light pollution and offer imaging with premium-grade telescopes. It feels like clear nights are becoming rarer, meaning our beloved astro-gear languishes unused for weeks at a time. Sadly, the one remaining constant is the bad weather. The past few years have seen amazing changes in amateur astrophotography: the meteoric rise in popularity of relatively low-cost CMOS sensors the unfortunate demise of the CCD sensor and the huge range of innovative new telescopes and mounts.