8" Celestron Deluxe Computerized SCT
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Shown below is my original typical setup for astro-photography. The telescope is a Celestron Celestar Deluxe Computerized 8" SCT, vintage 1997. I used the Taurus Tracker III off-axis guider and an Olympus OM-1 camera. The "recycled" blue paint-tub lid in the tripod is what I fabricated to use as an eyepiece and accessory holder. I also made use of MASSIVE amounts of Velcro. Note the Kendrick anti-dew system in use. This keeps dew off of the SCT corrector plate, the Telrad, and the guiding eyepiece. It's an ugly mess of cables, but it's indispensable. My observing friends and I joke that "I will NEVER, EVER be troubled by dew again!" (Except, of course, if I don't bother to install it or turn it on...) | Here's a close-up of the Taurus Tracker III off-axis guider. This is a wonderful piece of equipment, providing fail-safe focusing after a one-time focus calibration to the camera chosen, in this case the Olympus OM-1. The eyepiece at 9:00 is the find/focus eyepiece (high-power 7mm), and the assembly it's in must (repeat, MUST -- and don't forget!) be pulled out to the position shown after focusing if you don't want to shoot 45 minutes of black nothingness. The eyepiece at 12:00 is the guiding eyepiece (12.5mm Celestron Micro-Guide illuminated-reticle eyepiece) that is mounted over a small pickoff mirror in Tracker body. Note the Kendrick anti-dew strip around the guiding eyepiece. I can also have one on the find/focus eyepiece, but normally I just keep the cap on it since I used it only occasionally during a photography session. | ||
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