[Leica] Astronomical images from Australia

[Howard L Ritter Jr]

Thanks, Paul. I went the robust commercial route and bought an iOptron Sky Guider. It really amounts to a mini-equatorial mount w/o the declination axis, but a ball head takes care of that. It will actually handle a small refractor.  Simpler guiders are available but I wanted one that would handle the D810 plus the 80-400mm Nikkor zoom.

Here at home it’s easy to set up and use because Polaris is so easy to identify in the polar-alignment scope and to place right on the reticle where the smartphone app says to. But in the Southern Hemisphere, the nearest star to the pole is Sigma Octantis, a 4th or 5th-mag star that I never could identify, so I never got the tracker well aligned. But by setting the latitude on the scale and aiming the apparatus south by compass, I got good enough alignment for nearly round stars in a 3-minute exposure at 85mm. My focus technique needs refining, I think. I hope to go back to the OzSky event in a year or two, once I’ve got good technique down pat.

Back home now, I’m going to put my M8 (for H-alpha sensitivity) on the guider with a 180mm Tele-Elmarit and an R-to-M adapter and see what I can do this summer with the Cygnus region, especially the North America nebula. I’ll be posting results.

—howard


> On May 10, 2017, at 3:00 PM, Paul Roark <roark.paul at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Howard L Ritter Jr <hlritter at twc.com> wrote:
> 
>> ​...
>> 
>> 
>> My first view of the southern Milky Way
>> ...
>> Nikon D810A (the one with the sensor glass that better passes deep red)
>> ​...
>> with a tracking device that offsets the Earth’s rotation for the longer
>> shots.
>> ​...
>> <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/hlritter/Gallery_001/>.
>> 
>> 
> ​Very nice.
> 
> What tracking device did you use?  I was going to make one last year and
> didn't bother.  Sadly, my milky way shots are compromised for large
> printing by the star movement.  So, some compact and light tracking device
> might be in my future.
> 
> Paul
> www.PaulRoark.com
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information