Astrophotography is hard… I'm still figuring out. (Yes, total n00b!)
The moon shot I posted in #0 of this series was 1 out of 20-something. For those keen enough to notice, the upper right hand side of the moon is actually clipped off by the FoV limit of my scope.
Here are a few more shots:
The rest of the moon. >=( Chromatic aberrations?!
Saturn and its rings. Woah.. fuzzy...
Jupiter and a few of its moons. Zing! So bright!
Why so difficult? There are many reasons for this but to keep it simple:
Some things are very bright and others are very dim. Our eyes are very good at compensating but cameras not so much. Shutter speed is everyone's best friend here. Newer Android phones now allow manual control.
Taking pictures with low lighting is challenging. (Not really applicable to the moon but will be for deep space objects and at higher magnifications.)
The Earth is always moving. Therefore, the sky will appear to be moving in a corresponding way if we consider ourselves as the ones standing still.
The higher the zoom, the faster the object will appear to "run away" from the scope's view. Planets move in their own orbits around the sun and because they are much closer to us than the other stars, they tend to drift out a bit faster.
A tiny bit of vibration is A LOT especially when photographing at higher zoom. The press of the capture button or a gust of wind is enough to throw off the image.
My telescope has a narrow field of view (max. 1.7 degrees at the lowest zoom). Some objects simply will not fit.
My equipment is about 3 pounds over the weight limit of my mount after adding the clamp, adaptor plate, and camera assembly. Although strong enough to hold everything up safely, I should really be using something sturdier.
Given all these reasons, how can I resolve this in the most economical sense? Reduce the zoom. I have a cheap 0.5x focal reducer coming in the mail. Bought it for $10 off Aliexpress because, let's face it, how can I justify paying $120 for the one on Amazon for one moon shot? Let's hope I can get away with it :D
As time goes on, with some improvement, I will try to provide you guys with better pics.
Notes:
FoV = field of view