Pinwheel Galaxy M101 imaged with an 8 inch SCT at 1140 mm focal length, an ASI 533MC astronomy camera with UV-IR filter, DIY reducer, and tracked with a restored Vixen Great Polaris mount. M101 has a very low surface brightness. Use the stars near Alcor and Mizar of the Big Dipper to find M101.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Night Sky in Focus © Anthony Urbano | Bacoor, Philippines
Eagle Nebula M16 imaged with an 8 inch SCT, an ASI 533MC cooled astronomy camera, and dual band H-alpha and O-III filter. I used a restored Vixen Great Polaris tracking mount and an off-axis guider with ASI 174MM guide camera. Use the bright stars of Sagittarius as pointers to find this target.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Night Sky in Focus © Anthony Urbano | Bacoor, Philippines
Sombrero Galaxy M104 imaged with a Celestron 8 inch SCT at 1140 mm, and an ASI 533MC astronomy camera. I used a restored Vixen Great Polaris mount and an off-axis guider with ASI 174MM guide camera. M104 is in the constellation Virgo, near the bright stars of Corvus. This galaxy is relatively bright and easy to find.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Night Sky in Focus © Anthony Urbano | Bacoor, Philippines
M13 Globular Cluster in Hercules imaged with a Celestron 8 inch SCT at 1140 mm, and an ASI 533MC astronomy camera. I used a restored Vixen Great Polaris mount and an off-axis guider with ASI 174MM guide camera. This target is bright and easy to find with just a finder scope.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Night Sky in Focus © Anthony Urbano | Bacoor, Philippines
Trifid Nebula M20 imaged with a Celestron 8 inch SCT, an ASI 533MC cooled astronomy camera, dual band H-alpha and O-III filter, with an ASI 174MM on an off-axis guider. The dark dust lanes that divide the nebula into three sections are visible in this photo. This photo was imaged and tracked using a restored Vixen Great Polaris mount.
Related link:
OnStep DIY Go-to Telescope Controller
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Night Sky in Focus © Anthony Urbano | Bacoor, Philippines
Omega Centauri (NGC 5139) imaged with a Celestron 8 inch SCT at 1140 mm, and an ASI 533MC astronomy camera. I used a restored Vixen Great Polaris mount and an off-axis guider with ASI 174MM guide camera. This target is bright, easy to find, and should be visible even in the finder scope.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Night Sky in Focus © Anthony Urbano | Bacoor, Philippines
Dumbbell Nebula M27 imaged with a Celestron 8 inch SCT at 1140 mm focal length, OIII and H-alpha dual band filter, and an ASI 533MC astronomy camera. I used a restored Vixen Great Polaris mount and an off-axis guider with ASI 174MM guide camera. To find M27, use the bright stars of Aquila and Cygnus as pointer stars. This target is bright, easy to find, and should be visible even with small telescopes.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Night Sky in Focus © Anthony Urbano | Bacoor, Philippines
Whirlpool Galaxy M51 imaged with an 8 inch SCT at 1140 mm focal length, an ASI 533MC astronomy camera with UV-IR filter, DIY reducer, and tracked with a restored Meade LXD75 mount. M51 is relatively bright and may be visible through a small telescope. Use the stars of the Big Dipper to find M51.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Night Sky in Focus © Anthony Urbano | Bacoor, Philippines
To find the Crab Nebula, locate Auriga first and then scan the region south of Auriga, near the bright star in Taurus. A narrowband filter helps in increasing the contrast between the nebula and the sky (such as using a 12 nm OIII for visual use, or 6 nm dual-band OIII and H-alpha for photography). Due to the nebula’s small angular size, a telescope with 4 inch aperture or larger with relatively long focal length is recommended for this target.
Crab Nebula M1, unguided image with an 8 inch SCT at 1140 mm focal length on a DIY reducer, an ASI533MC cooled astronomy camera, dual-band H-alpha and O-III filter, and a Meade LXD75 mount.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Night Sky in Focus © Anthony Urbano | Bacoor, Philippines
The moon imaged with an 8 in SCT with 0.75x DIY reducer and a Canon 50D camera. Registering and stacking done in SIRIL.
For a complete list of astrophoto images, click here.
Night Sky in Focus © Anthony Urbano | Bacoor, Philippines
I have built a DIY focal length reducer (focal reducer) by inserting a converging lens from an old telescope along the optical system of a Sky-Watcher Equinox 100ED . The telescope’s native focal length is 900 mm at f/9. With the DIY reducer, the focal length is reduced to 608 mm at f/6.08 using the objective lens of a Vixen 90 mm f/14 achromat.
Focal reducers are optical elements (usually a convex lens or lens group) that converge light from a telescope’s objective. It shortens the focal length and in effect, produces a faster telescope (lower f/ratio) and widens the field of view (larger portion of the sky is imaged). Any decent quality converging lens should work as a focal reducer (in this use case, a lens from another telescope). It works opposite to a Barlow lens which increases the focal length by using a concave lens or diverging lens. DIY focal reducers may introduce aberration and must be considered when attempting this modification.
To reach focus, I had to shorten the optical tube by about 200 mm, and then reattach the focuser. The focuser’s draw tube was also shortened by 55 mm to prevent it from obstructing the light and stopping down the objective lens when the draw tube moves inward. The telescope’s optical tube has an inner diameter of about 100 mm which has enough space to accommodate various lenses.
Related link: View all home-brewed DIY astronomy equipment
Night Sky in Focus © Anthony Urbano | Bacoor, Philippines
Night Sky in Focus 