(Part 3) Best products from r/astrophotography

First issue you'll have will be in getting it focused right. The lenses can focus past infinity so that the AF feature can operate. What you're going to be doing is roughly akin to doing shots of city streets for car-light streaks but with the iris wide open. Not moving the camera at all is very important.

Try not to use ISO over 1600 as it generates heat and messes with image quality.
Get a true black-cap for the lens so you can do a couple bias shots while taking each set of pictures - this helps with noise and hot pixels. Remember to turn the camera off and on between shooting segments to save on battery charge. If you have some kind of remote timer control for the camera that can be used for shutter duration you'll want it. Also check to see if you can get a copy of BackyardEOS on trial to use over the weekend. It can help with focus etc but requires a laptop/computer to use - which may be a complication considering battery life on a laptop.

That 50mm f/1.4 looks interesting tbh it produces http://www.lonelyspeck.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/ian-norman-orion-processed-1400.jpg (not mine) images when used with a tracking mount. ( http://www.lonelyspeck.com/astrophotography-101/ scroll down to "What Is Astrophotography" ) and is likely the go-to lens of your kit for 16 to 20s exposures that are then stacked.

This shot http://www.alexnail.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/f4-stars.jpg was made with the 16-35 f/4 at 16mm at ISO6400 for 30 seconds. It has star streaks you can see but produces a beautiful amount of detail.

What you should do to start with is go for the beauty of it, see what you like to see.
Right now we have a mean and nasty moon up in the evenings 8( Which may make the whole deal a problem.

If you end up getting a sky tracking mount I can see you using the 16-35 f/4 a lot. Its overall image quality all the way to the edge of field is excellent but that big 50mm f/1.4 is your stronger light gathering lens. For the most part you'll be operating in the 14 to 24s range of exposures depending on which lens with a fixed mount BUT you don't have to spend a lot of money to get a simple tracking mount. A used german equatorial mount from a garage sale, the kind you have to turn by hand, with a simple telescope on it can be used as a reliable guiding mount. Many of the old ones can be had for $25 or so and come with an attached piggy-back screw in place. For even the 50mm lens a 40 second exposure with simple polar alignment will produce stunning results and the coolest thing is you can get a little "tangent head" to mount on the garage-sale toy which lets you aim at bright stars while the camera is aimed elsewhere. Time is money, a little old tasco EQ mount is light and easy to move around.

https://www.amazon.com/Orion-9055-Tabletop-Equatorial-Telescope/dp/B0000XMX8O/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1465991481&sr=8-3&keywords=manual+equatorial+mount and https://www.amazon.com/Orion-7826-EQ-1M-Electronic-Telescope/dp/B0000XMWBW/ref=pd_bxgy_421_img_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=BDGVXK5F7TQPJ47R0PN9 combined can give you good 90s tracks for the 50mm. You can find equipment like this used for very very little cash.

Hey guys, I've had a problem with focusing on my Orion 8" Astrograph f/4.9 that has plagued my astrophotography experience for over a year now. I'll get right to it.


I have an Orion 8" Astrograph f/4.9 that I use on top of a Dual-Axis Motor Controlled Atlas mount. It's NOT a GoTo mount, but rather just has a controller that allows me to move the scope. There are no plug-ins for anything besides the power cable and controller. I use a Canon T3 DSLR for taking photos.


Here are some pictures: http://imgur.com/a/raItu


I have done pretty well considering I only paid $270 for this setup, in total. It's worth much more than that. I have managed to get some very cool photos, as you can see if you look through my history.


Here's the catch, as well as the problem:


Most of these photos have been taken using a 3x Barlow. The 3x Barlow allows me to get up close and personal with objects such as Saturn and Jupiter. Without the 3x Barlow, I cannot achieve focus.

http://imgur.com/a/A847K


This album shows my problem. When removing the 3x Barlow, I cannot find a point where I can focus my camera. I have tried a number of low-profile adapters, as well as extension tubes and still cannot achieve focus. Here's an example of my frusturation:


http://imgur.com/a/ijGju


Using the extention tubes showed no signs of hope. I wasn't able to see ANYTHING using the extension tubes, not even a sign of focus.

However, using the low-proflie adapters, I could see that I was very close to achieving focus. As my camera moved closer and closer to the focuser, the view was more clear.


If I complete remove all the adapters from my Crayford focuser and strip it down completely, I can achieve focus my holding my camera right up to the focuser. It blurs around the edges, but it works.

If you look at the last photo in this album I just posted, this is what the focuser looks like completely stripped down. Holding my camera up to that with no lens, I was able to take photos like this and this.


What adapter/focuser/corrector do I need so that I can achieve focus without using a Barlow on this telescope/holding my camera by hand up to the bare focuser?


Thanks for all the help that numerous people have offered me over the past while. Though it has been unsuccessful, I have appreciated it so much. Perhaps it is time for me to move onto a GoTo mount and a more modern, adaptable scope.

Edit: Here are some adapters I have tried:

Orion 2" Zero Profile

Orion 5117 Prime Focus Adapter

I'm a beginner to astrophotography and I'm wondering about scopes, mounts, and guiding. I have a Canon T5i with a 18 - 55mm kit lens and a cheap thrift store tri-pod. I also have a Meade Infinity 60mm refractor telescope. The scope hasn't really been useful for anything other than photos of the moon, but I've been able to get some nice shots of Orion with M42 with my lens at 55mm untracked at 4" with no star trails. I'm interested in DSOs, but would also like to observe along with imaging.

Is this a good choice for a Mount? And would this be an aceptable motor and finder for polar alignment? Also is an auto guider necessary if I take the time to set up the polar alignment properly? I saw that the EQ5 is recommended in the wiki, but that is beyond my budget and I don't really care if I don't have a Go-To tracker built in.

I haven't looked too far into scopes yet, but I have a feeling that asking for one that is good for imaging and observing is asking to have my cake and eat it too. Is it best to get something like an 80mm refactor scope for imaging and a 6" or 8" reflector for observing? Could I switch them out and use the same mount?

This is great info. It makes me realize that what I'd hoped to do is probably impossible, but makes me excited for the other possibilities that exist. Even if I just use the telescope for viewing, but can use a camera and tripod separately to recreate an image similar to the stacked M42, I would be incredibly thrilled.

Would getting a telescope like this one potentially help alleviate the focal length issue, or would it still limit me to exposures that are too short (if I were to try the same methodology of stacking): http://www.amazon.com/Orion-09007-SpaceProbe-Equatorial-Reflector/dp/B00D05BKOW ? I know it wouldn't be as good for viewing the DSOs, but if it gave me more of an opportunity to try astrophotography on them, it might be worth the trade off.

A budget CCD/CMOS camera, is it worth it?

Hey all, this is my first post on Reddit, hope everything goes well...

I desperately want to get into astrophotography, but as you know being on a budget makes everything harder. I have a couple entry level scopes: Celestron Powerseeker 80eq and Orion Starblast 6/6i. I'm using a phone mount to align my smartphone with an eyepiece and take photos.

Now i'm thinking about getting a budget CCD camera, something like: Astromania SGCMOS, ZWO ASI120MC, Celestron NexImage 10, or something in this price range. is it worth it or will i be incredibly disappointed with the results? I mean budget scope + budget camera... i'm not expecting incredible results i just hope it will be better than using my smartphone.

Should I go for it? can you recommend something else in this price range? (200$ +-) Thanks for any feedback.

Cheers!

Quick video that shows it operating, and the basic interface modes (single-button operation):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mPij7eHOmo

I'm super happy with how well it worked on its very first test, considering how rough the polar alignment was (Polaris went behind my roof when I squatted to sight down the hinge line, so I made a educated guess at where it was). I'm currently living in the LA metro area, so light pollution here is about as bad as it gets, but at least it doesn't impact my ability to do star tests. Can't wait to head out to the desert and see what I can capture.

I posted a few months ago when I just had the mechanical components completed, and it goes into a bit more detail about the design I used [LINK]. The stepper motor is microstep-driven at 16 microsteps per full step, and 200 full steps per rotation of the drive shaft. 1 rotation of the drive shaft moves the camera platform by about 0.25 degrees. Therefore, each microstep rotates the camera platform by about 0.3 arcseconds. Step rate is approximately 50 Hz.

This past week I did all of the electronics:

• figuring out a reliable power supply (big battery)
  
• getting a breadboard setup that can safely deliver power to the motors and logic boards
  
• programming microcontroller to issue timed pulses that drive the stepper motors (via a driver interface board), and handle other minor operations like electronic range limits, pausing, and rewinding
  
  The microcontroller board I'm using is a Sparkfun Arduino Pro Micro (5V, 16 MHz), which is based on the Atmel ATmega 32U4. I chose this for ease of breadboarding and the ability to program over USB.
  
  To calibrate the mount, I used a digital angle measuring cube to record the elevated angle of the mount as a function of turns of the threaded rod driveshaft (logged 138 points with a precision of 0.1 degrees). After deriving the ideal kinematic relationship between driveshaft and mount rotation angle (an arcsin function of driveshaft rotation), I did a curve fit to the data I'd recorded. What I ultimately wanted was a function that would generate a time value for when a pulse should be sent to the stepper motor. This was accomplished by adding in a sidereal tracking rate factor (360 degrees every 23.93 hours, or 7.292 * 10^-5 rad/sec), and accounting for the conversion from microsteps to drive shaft rotation angle.
  
  I then took the trigonometric equation and fit a 3rd-order polynomial to it for quick (~100 µs, much faster than I actually need) evaluation on the MCU, which isn't really made for hefty floating point arithmetic. The polynomial approximation theoretically will accumulate no more than 10 arcseconds of error at any time, so it should be an insignificant factor compared to polar alignment error.
  
  Using a timer on board the microcontroller, an outer loop sequentially calculates the time when each step should be made, while an inner loop waits for that time to arrive before pulsing the motor. The outer loop then calculates the next step time, and the process repeats until the preset step limit is reached. Some additional logic provides the ability to pause and resume tracking from a button input, and also reverse and "rewind" the mount upon request, returning it to its initial state.
  
  Here's a link to the Arduino code it's running:
  https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/31090145/Step_Driver.zip
  
  And a calibration spreadsheet for tuning the mount:
  https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/31090145/step_cal.xlsx

With $100-150 you could probably either (1) get a nice tripod and try to take some wide-field shots of the Milky Way or certain constellations from a dark location (i.e. very far from Chicago) or (2) Get yourself an okay-ish telescope and take lunar and planetary shots. I took this and this with a ~$120 telescope + $35 barlow lens + $10 camera adapter and a very similar camera, and while they're definitely far less impressive than what most people on this sub can do, they were a lot of fun to take and (imo) a great way to get into the hobby. I'd recommend paying a bit more for a better telescope since this one is definitely not ideal, even for this price range. Unfortunately, AP gets expensive really quickly, so you'll most likely have to shell out at the very least a few hundred dollars to get some nice and crisp space shots. It's probably better to pay more now to avoid later feeling the need to upgrade your equipment immediately, especially if budget isn’t a big issue. I say this as someone who’s been using the same cheap equipment for several years, though, so it definitely depends.

Edit: The t3i also has a really great crop video mode that’s perfect for planetary photography, if I remember correctly.

If you’re trying to photography the Milky Way or galaxies/nebulae/etc, going for a sturdy tripod (and then eventually getting a sky tracker for ~$300 to really kick up your shots, if you enjoy the hobby) might be the move to get your feet wet without breaking the bank. Check out the “What Telescope?” page on the wiki for more info, but I’m not sure how recently it was updated. Hope you can find the equipment that’s right for you

Hey guys. So since I've gotten my new CMOS Camera, trying to run software on my Mac/Windows BootCamp has been a nightmare. I am thinking about just pulling the trigger and getting a PC strictly for acquisition, mainly to run SGP. Processing will still most likely be done on Mac with Pixinsight.

So I am no PC expert, but I believe I would need around 4-8 GB RAM (For fast download) and at least one USB3 port. I found these two cheap options. Please let me know if you think either of these would work, or maybe suggest something else. Also, I am using a ZWO ASI1600MM and a ZWO ASI120MC for my guide cam. Both use USB3, but I guess I could connect my guide came to my main cam. But maybe I need 2 USB3, but I guess I could also use a hub, correct?

First option, 8 GB RAM, 1TB, but 2 USB2 and only one USB3, do I need more than one USB3? I know I can use hubs too - https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01CGGOZOM/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491789626&sr=1-1&refinements=p_n_feature_five_browse-bin%3A7817224011&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=hp+laptop&dpPl=1&dpID=41Yv8ZhfQbL&ref=plSrch

Second option, cheaper, only 4GB RAM, but 2 USB3 and 1 USB2 - https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B06XSLZR69/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1491790009&sr=8-2-spons&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=hp+laptop&psc=1&smid=AV5VC8NZQFXC6

Edit, third option: 8 GB RAM, 256 SSD, 3 USB3 (One C port, what does that mean?) and one USB2. Seems like this might be the best option actually. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01DT4A2R4/ref=cm_cr_arp_mb_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8

Thanks for your help.

A car adapter? Mine came with one. As for the power supply id recommend this


Here is what i bought to track with it.
PC interface Cable
Serial Adapter
And finally this, but this is optional to you. Youll probably eventually want to image from your backyard, and if you do youll want this. AC Adapter

Another thing, Unluckily for me and for you, the mount does not come with a polar scope. Do some research to what kind you want, but I got this one

Other than that, Good luck! If you ever want some real time advice come check out the chat room under the useful links tab on the side of the subreddit! Chances are I'll be there, or one of the AP gurus.

> 263CT

My rule with AP is that the sturdier the mount, the better. Things like ground vibration and wind can really affect your results, especially at long focal length and long exposures.

I wouldn't worry too much about vibration if you're planning wide field, high ISO, short exposure photographs. But if you're planning to add a tracking mount with any amount of zoom for long exposures, I would suggest going with the sturdiest mount you can carry/afford.

You may already know this, but there are several hockey puck-like products that do a great job dampening vibration. I use the ones by Celestron (https://www.amazon.com/Celestron-93503-Vibration-Suppression-Pads/dp/B0000665V7) with my large AVX telescope mount and love them, and they may help dampen vibration in the aluminum tripod without having to spring for carbon fiber. Just a thought.

 Ok, here is my 2 cents.

• $300 budget, weight matters = Really Right Stuff TP-243 If I was starting over and only using the tripod for my Astrotrac this is what I would get. Slightly over your budget at $375. But very small and light (2.5 lb.) for plane travel. It is also very low to the ground, which is what you want for astrophotography anyways because of wind. Wouldn't make the best light stand though because max height is 17" which works for the Astrotrac.
  
• $300 budget, weight does not matter = Manfrotto 055 Aluminum This is what I use with my Astrotrac, just barely fits in checked bag, very strong, but fairly heavy at 6 lbs.
  
• $500 budget = Gitzo Carbon Fiber, something like this Light, strong, compact, etc.
  
  You might already know this, but in addition to the tripod legs, you will need a strong wedge between the legs and the astrotrac and a strong ball head between the astrotrac and the camera/lens.

Equipment Used

Fuji XT-30 and Rokinon 12mm F2.0

Stacked 5 pictures (Exposure from 8 seconds to 20 seconds) using Sequator and Edited using Lightroom. Mostly used a gradient filter because there was lot of light pollution near the ground level.

Shot this picture around 9:00 PM. Forecast was for an almost clear sky but it was little cloudy to start with and then more than half of the sky was cloudy in few minutes after dark.

Please be harsh in your criticism. I would like to improve.

These are not shot in RAW, they are shot in JPEG. My friend was shooting RAW on a Sony A7R3. What I felt was Fuji XT-30 post processing in JPEG was much better than editing a RAW file for a newbie like me.

Awesome, sorry to bug you one last time but is this the one you're referring to? This one seems to be on sale atm so it would really fit my budget better if it is. Again thanks so much.

This image is the actual size perspective of the Moon and Jupiter as seen from Earth on April 23rd. During the capture, there was a conjunction between the Moon and Jupiter. This is not the actual distance of the conjunction as the image is a composited image of both objects.

If you zoom in, you can see Jupiter with it’s 4 Galilean moons: From the left to the right: Callisto, Io, Ganymede, & Europa

Processing:

The Moon: 

9 images. Imported to Lightroom. Cropped and removed chromatic aberration. All images selected. Right click —> Edit in: open as layers in Photoshop. In photoshop: Edit—> autoalign layers (remove vignetting and distortion correction checked), select all layers, convert to smart object —> Smart object —> stack mode: Mean. Increased clarity and sharpness.

Jupiter:

1 min video capture. Extracted the best 1200 frames in PiPP, stacked 80% of them in Autostakkert3, did the unsharp mask and chromatic aberration removal in Photoshop. 

EXIF:

Moon:ISO 100 / 1/200 sec / 910 mm / f/7.0

Jupiter:

ISO 800 / 1/30 sec / 4550 mm / f/35

Gear:

Capture was done with a Canon t6s camera body. Meade Instruments.130 mm refractor series 6000 and a 5x Televue Optics powermate

Capture time/date: 4/23/2019 at 5:40 AM.

Distance of the Moon from earth during the capture: 384.663 Km

Distance of the Moon from earth during the capture: 692 million Km

For further details about zoomed in captures and actual distance, refer to the original post I made on IG

Edit: Location: Richmond, VA

Equipment;

• Telescope: ED102CF
  
  
• Mount: Celestron Advanced VX
  
  
• Guide Scope: Meade ETX80 with a cheap mono-cam off of Amazon (It's not being sold anymore at the price I got it at, around $60)
  
  
• Camera: Canon Rebel T5i with a Explore Scientific 2" Field Flattener
  
  This is just 10 frames taken at 120 seconds.
  
  
  This was captured with Astrophotography Tool and stacked in Deep Sky Stacker. I edited this with Photoshop and used the Astronomy Tools bundle and GradientXTerminator. After that, I uploaded the image to google photos and used their slider labeled ‘pop’ to bring out the edges a bit more.
  
  This is the first real deep sky object I’ve taken. I’ve practiced on the Orion Nebula to get used to the equipment, and stacking software. I live in a HEAVLY light polluted area, at about a bortle 8. This photo was taken at a beautiful camp site near Tampa, FL called Peace River Campground in Arcadia. This area is a bortle 3.5 area, and truly took my breath away as I looked up into the sky. Coming back to my home, at an 8, made me realize just how bad it is.
  Now, sadly, because this was the first trip I took with all my equipment, I wasn’t very experienced with breakdown and setup. It took me quite a few hours to find a good spot, get everything built up and get aligned. By the time I was ready, it was about 50^f out, and the ground all around me was covered in a layer of thick fog. Tip: don’t browse r/nosleep when everything is pitch black outside, and you’re alone in an unfamiliar area.
  
  I still need to purchase dew heaters. Because of that, I only got 20 minutes of exposure before everything got unmanageable. Still, one of the most breathtaking nights I’ve had so far. It really hit me, got me excited, after the first frame and I could clearly make out the galaxy.

Hey all! I want to get my dad some sort of intro to wide-field astrophography gift for Christmas.
Is this thing a good idea? http://www.amazon.com/9055-Min-EQ-Tabletop-Equatorial-Telescope/dp/B0000XMX8O/ref=sr_1_6?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1449868135&sr=1-6&keywords=star+tracker

I know this a pretty expensive hobby, but I'd like to keep the gift $100 or less.

He has a DSLR camera, a nice tripod, and a telescope... Not sure about the specs (or lenses) on any of them, though!

If you created your own t-ring for the hasselblad, I bet you'd get great results. I took 6 shots, the entire time shotting them and developing them I was 100% I had junk shots. Lo and behold every single one came out usable...film is very forgiving exposure wise (for the moon anyways...stars are another story).

here's the t-ring adapter i used, for reference: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LW8CST3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Hello everyone. I want to start taking pictures using my DSLR and telescope now that I've moved out to the country side. I currently have the following:

• Orion Apex 90mm Maksutov-Cassegrain Telescope<br />

• Orion T-Ring for Canon EOS Camera
  
• Canon EOS Rebel XTi
  
  I plan on 3d printing a Bahtinov mask to help setup up the camera. Currently have a basic camera tripod but am hoping to get a GEM in the near future. Is this combo any good or should I up the budget for something like this? Any other things I may need to start taking pictures with my setup? Thanks in advance.
  

Mine was $15 shipped from amazon.



Ordered this one and ended up getting a Canon one. Mine is from amazon.ca so if you're in the states you could probably find one much cheaper.

Time lapses are done with a little gizmo called an intervelometer. Also ordered mine off amazon.

Pretty easy, you set up your camera settings, plug this bad boy into the side of your camera, set the timer and your camera will keep taking consecutive photos until you stop it based on your settings (or until the battery runs out).

You can then compile the photos in a program like Adobe Lightroom or something similar, I'm sure there may even be a free option out there.

Any lens enthusiasts out there? I was wondering if I would be better off getting the [Tamron SP AF 70-300 VC USD] (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tamron-70-300-4-5-6-Lens-Canon/dp/B003YUBTIU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1453385125&sr=8-3&keywords=tamron+70-300mm) (300€ where I am) than the [Tamron 70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di LD Macro 1:2] (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tamron-AF-70-300mm-4-5-6-Macro/dp/B000HDZAUA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1453385125&sr=8-4&keywords=tamron+70-300mm) (100€ where I am) For my Canon t3i/EOS 600D. This is strictly for astrophotography. Would the first one be significantly better in terms of, let's say coma, chromatic abbrevation, sharpness etc. or would it not matter as I won't be shooting birds and stuff? Other lens recommendations are welcome.

Correct. The camera was attached to the mount from this telescope kit with the optional tracking motor added on. I made a plate that lets me attach the camera right to the equatorial mount. I hardly ever use the optical tube from the scope, but its optics are really quite good. It's just that the mount is way too bouncy to do photography at high magnifications. I will probably still use the optical tube for astrophotography when I get a more stable mount.

This worked for me on an Orion Sirius/HEQ5:

RS232 male to USB: https://www.amazon.com/TRENDnet-Converter-Prolific-Chipset-TU-S9/dp/B0007T27H8/

This cable goes from synscan controller to the RS232 male: https://www.amazon.com/Celestron-Nexstar-232-Interface-Cable/dp/B0000665UZ

So you plug the trendnet RS232 male to USB into your laptop or PC, install the driver, plug the Celestron RS232 cable RJ11 bit into your synscan controller, then connect the trendnet RS232 male to the Celestron RS232 female. Viola! For me, the RJ11 bit was incredulously easy to become dislodged from the controller even if the RJ11 was clipped in properly. Even if you pulled the cable out just a centimeter, the connection between the mount and PC would be dropped. I solved it by shoving the RJ11 in as far as I could then taping it in place. Of course, YMMV, but I was on the brink of just getting an eqdirect cable until I figured it out.

Hope it helps!

> https://www.amazon.com/Celestron-93503-Vibration-Suppression-Pads/dp/B0000665V7

Oh, those are great! I had no idea. Thanks!

If I can find a good deal on it I'm leaning towards the carbon, but at sticker price, it's a heck of a markup. Those pads might be a good compromise.

Thank you very much for all the information! It looks like the first thing I'll be buying is the polar alignment scope. I was also looking at getting an illuminated reticle for drift alignment but it seems I won't really need that unless I want very precise tracking.

You mentioned the images being out of focus. This was the adapter I was going to use along with a T-ring for my Canon DSLR. Would this be low profile enough to help with reducing the focal distance or would I need to make further modifications? Is there any way around the focus issue besides modifying the focuser?

You want something like this. Basically you need a dovetail that hooks up to your mount (that one is a vixen dovetail, which is popular), then the 1/4" screw for your camera (same as you'd use with a tripod).

I don't think you need to be aware of anything in terms of alignment. The mount will track the stars regardless of the orientation of your camera. Just don't point it at the ground and you should be good to go.

If you have a huge lens (like a big telephoto), then in theory you want to hook up the telephoto to the mount directly instead of the camera (for balance).

I have an Orion 130ST with a cheap Orion drive. I mount my camera on the tripod for photography but when I mount it to the telescope, I get that ugly coma issue stuff.

I understand that a coma corrector corrects coma issues but I'm wondering if it would help on such an inexpensive scope like I have. I'm considering putting some money into a new mount and I'm wondering if I can get away with using my current scope.

I would probably need a new focuser as well. Is it worth the upgrades or do I just get a new scope?

The camera has Bulb (B) exposure mode. Maybe your app can use it for longer exposures? Or get a cheap intervalometer. For AP you will do better with a tracker and the lenses you have. For Northern Lights short (5-10) second exposures are good. They move, so fine detail gets blurred after a few seconds.

​

I am at 51°N so darkness will be gone shortly until late July.

Looks like a good choice! I was also looking at this laptop: also backlit, 1920x1080 screen, 8 GB memory, Intel Core i5.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DT4A2R4/ref=psdc_565108_t1_B01CGGOZOM

(Solved)

I'm looking to autoguide with my Canon 7D. I could be wrong but I think I need this adapter to connect the camera to the side by side plate and would the guidescope fit right in the other dovetail rail? All going on a Sirius mount.

Taken using a Celestron NexImage Burst Color set into the eyepiece of a Celestron 114 LCM using the software iCap and a Gosky solar filter. This is a collage of ten 1280x920 image stacks, manually stitched in Photoshop CS6.
This was my first attempt as I'm hoping to get a decent image of the eclipse tomorrow.

The cable you linked won't work. You will need the Celestron serial to rj12 cable then use a 232 to USB cable to plug into your laptop.

https://www.amazon.com/Celestron-Nexstar-232-Interface-Cable/dp/B0000665UZ

I cannot find a cg-5 anywhere, but what about a CG-4 with a motor?