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I recently had an opportunity to join the Dublin astronomy society for a night barbecue. Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it but it pique'd my interest enough that I'd like to join them on their next night out.

Only thing is I know very little about astronomy. Given that I'll probably be borrowing an adapter and only have a short time with a telescope I'd like to make the most of it.

Can anyone recommend any good resources on how to shoot photos with a telescope. Wouldn't mind reading up on how telescope optics work as well...

Thanks, ~Eoin C

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Check http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/Cat/0 or stargazerslounge.com

You need: - a scope or just a DSLR with a lens - motorized equatorial mount (that can move in the same direction as stars/sky) - if you want to photograph with a scope: smal CCD camera for lunary/planetary imaging, bigger CCD or DSLR without a lens for Deep Space imaging (prime focus imaging).

Lunary/planetary imaging is easy and rather cheap. Deep Sky imaging requires very good mount, guiding for the scope (steady for 10 min exposures for example), very good CCD (or cheaper but weaker DSLR) and dark sky :)

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I found this site Astropix a while ago when I was doing some research into the idea. Sadly, not a really good option if you're a Pentax owner due to the camera forcing dark frame subtraction on every long exposure shot.

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cheers John, looks like a good starting point. – Eoin C Feb 2 at 1:09

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