Astrophotography

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Posted by Neonnoodle on April 15, 2008 at 10:43am in ABQ Stargazers

I'm still a little ways away from getting my telescope (btw TAAS has some nice ones for sale in their classifieds section) but I'm already thinking about taking some pictures of the night sky. Sky & Telescope has a nice article about getting started in astrophotography and piggy-back photography.

I can already see how this can become an expensive hobby :P

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Permalink Reply by Karen Keese on April 15, 2008 at 2:42pm: FYI, if you join TAAS (for $30 a year), you can take advantage of their loaner scope program, one of the best benefits, IMHO. This enables you to check out different telescopes to try them out, so you can make an informed decision before you buy. That's what I did when I was getting started, and as a result I made the right choice for myself when I bought my low-tech telescope, a mint-condition, classic 10-inch Coulter that I call "Red Dwarf" (because its small, red, and very cool--pardon the nerdy stellar humor).

If you don't want to join TAAS, you can also go to the monthly meetings on the UNM Campus and schmooze with the members during the social hour. There is a wealth of equipment expertise and experience in the club. The meetings are free and open to the public.

As far as expense, like most hobbies you can spend a modest amount or go hog wild on astrophotography. The key is being clear on your imaging goal(s) before you select equipment, e.g. do you want to shoot planets? deep-sky objects? star trails and ISS passes? itsy bitsy nebulae or big clusters like the Pleiades? Do you want pretty pictures or do you want to search for supernovae? I know a number of passionate, seasoned astrophotographers who could advise you when the time comes. Just let me know and I'll hook you up.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Neonnoodle on April 16, 2008 at 10:54am: Cool. Thanks, Karen. I didn't know about their loaner program.I have been looking at some of the higher range entry level scopes from Orion, like the SkyQuest XT6, but I've a lot more research to do.

Ultimately I'd like to try photographing the deep-sky objects, and I think right now I'm more interested in starting out taking really nice pics.

Once we finish getting our garden in, I'll have to make my over to one of those TAAS meetings :); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Karen Keese on April 17, 2008 at 6:31am: I'm a big Orion fan. Lots of bang for the buck and affordable, high-quality products.; ▶ Reply to This