Time to get serious on my hobby

[shirox]

Greetings everyone!

After a search thru the internet i got to know that singapore actually have alot of people who is really into astronomy! I'm so happy to join this forum cos i myself have a strong interest in astronomy.

It all started with a book my grandpa left for me. "Life"
There was a bunch of books on earth, animals, Physics bla bla all Science stuffs.
but the only one that caught my eye when i was 10 was the universe and the solar system.
Every since i really looked forward to seeing programs on discovery channels and discovery science that covers astronomy.
Am making plans to seriously go into this tiny hobby into my major one haha...
love to meet u guys sometimes when there's a meet up
Till then, may the stars shine upon you.

lol

[Gary]

Hi Shirox. Welcome to Singastro! I am curious how arrrive at the conclusion that there are a lot people in Singapore who are into astronomy.

In any case, this is great hobby. Ironically, if you want to be seriously into this hobby, you have to less serious and have more fun with it.

[Airconvent]

Welcome to singastro Shirox!
A hobby is about enjoyment so don't let it become too serious. Hardcore maybe ..but not serious
In anycase, may you have a lifelong love for the stars and planets.

[cloud_cover]

And don't forget the nebulas!
Welcome

[shirox]

hihi haha thanks for the warm welcome. I'm like everyone, who has alot of questions about the sky we see everyday. lol
people around me since i was young was never into astronomy.
When i started to chat with them about Stars, Galaxies, supernovas, the topic won't last long so i kinda got lonely and got this hobby into supression mode haha.
Just a quick question. Cos i'm a noob in most of the stuffs.
I wanna start capturing images thru a telescope with cameras.
I wonder which step should i start with.
about a decade ago i had this retractor telescope i bought like $200 Aus from Darwin.
After reading alot i thought maybe i wanted to get a reflecting telescope with some auto com hooked up to it and it will automatic goes to the celestial object that i wanna see.

Any good brands for DSLR and reflecting telescope to recommend?

[cloud_cover]

Hi Shirox,
I'd suggest binos to start before purchasing telescopes They allow you to see much more stars than the naked eye as they amplify light and increase contrast, exactly what you need to overcome the bright skies (light pollution) of Singapore

I started out with a pair of Nikon Action Ex binos. Because Binos are generally hand-held, they also help you to learn the location of major celestial objects since you have to manually pan the skies. They're also a good tool to learn the basics of star hopping
I also suggest you download Stellarium - its a very good, very FREE software that simulaes the night skies

Incidentally, I'm just purchasing 3 Meade 12x60 binos from optcorp.com - they have a USD$10offer today - I'm going to sell them for SGD$35-$40 (no profits, just economy of scale to offset shipping )
Binos are a good place to start although 12 x 60 may be a bit overpowered for hand held use. The Meades are by no means top of the line (maybe low-average, I guess) but the price is nice (which is why I'm getting a set for myself )

Naturally binos cannot do photography.

When you're talking about astrophotography, probably of even more importance than the telescope is the mount. You can pick up a "cheap" telescope (e.g. kochu has a $500 Meade 80mmAPO telescope for sale) and with the right accessories you'll be able to start imaging. However, if you don't have a tracking mount, your exposures will become very short before the stars start forming trails, thanks to the earth's movements.
The "auto com" kind of mount you're referring to is called a GOTO. There are many, many models of goto mounts available. generally they come in 2 flavours: German Equatorial mounts GEM) and Alt-Az (or up-down/left-right) mounts. GEMs rely on you to point to the celestial pole (near true north) and the mount will rotate. Alt-Az mounts merely require you to reasonably level the mount and it will track your object. The downside of alt-az for photography is that it tracks only 1 object (your target) so all other starts will seem to form circular trials around your target, with long enough exposure time.

Most DSLRs are fine although Nikons have an issue with the median blurring filter that cannot be disabled. It markedly reduces noise and is unnoticable during conventional photography but will "eat" dimmer stars. Although I'm a nikon fanboy, youreally might want to try canons or pentaxes

Having said that, almost all DSLRs are insensitive to Hydrogen-Alpha (Ha), a very important wavelength of light (emitted during a change in the electron excitement state of hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe), due to the IR blocking filters in almost all DSLRs. If you want a camera dedicated to astrophotography, you might be better served with an astro CCD instead.

Anyway, that's a lot for one post. Do join us during some of our causal outings or monthly Punggai trips to see the scopes and just yak about stars. I've only had time to go on one (yep, I'm a newbie) but the folks were VERY friendly and also let me use their stuff to try out

Hope it helps!

[Bergkamp_]

Nice introduction cloud cover =)

[cloud_cover]

I think I too much.....

[Gary]

@cloud_cover: Binos can do moon photography

@shirox: I sugggest you read this 3 books if you have not already done so:

(1). The Backyard Astronomer's Guide (http://www.backyardastronomy.com)
(2). Star Ware
(3). Introduction To Digital Astrophotography: Imaging The Universe With A Digital Camera - Robert Reeves

(2) and (3) are available in the national libraries. (3) only 1 copy in library. (1) latest 3rd edition available at Kino@Taka.

Then, start observing and learning the skies before you attempt any serious non-Moon photography. If you are into widefield astrophotography, you may not even need a telescope, camera with manual controls on tripod will do.

There may be some interesting development in DSLRs in the coming year. You may not want to rush into purchasing a DSLR now.

[shirox]

Thanks cloud and gary for the advises, Think i will make a trip to the library tomorrow to borrow the books.