Telescope – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The Sidereal Trading Telescope (FAQs) blog page provides answers to commonly asked questions that customers might have about telescopes.
Tutorials
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A caution about USB-C power supplies
USB-C is becoming an industry standard in astrophotography as it can use fewer cables by sharing power and data. However, some components need higher voltages through that USB-C cable. If you plug a 12V cable into a component that needs 5V you can cause damage. Please be careful!
Getting wide field Milky Way images – powering your camera and dew heater
Getting deep images of the Milky Way can take a lot of power from your DSLR’s battery. Using a dummy battery to power your camera means you can leave it running all night and you won’t have to change batteries. You power the dummy battery with a PegasusAstro DSLR Buddy, and that means you can also run a dew heater strap from the mains, or a big battery.
What’s an infinity corrected objective, and why use it in macrophotography?
An infinity corrected objective is a lens used for macrophotography. It looks very much like a microscope lens, and when you pair it with a tube lens it has quite a few advantages over more traditional macro lenses.
How to attach your phone to a telescope using a saxon ScopePix
Having a telescope is awesome. You can look at all manner of things astronomical and wonder. For many people, though, just seeing the Moon isn’t enough. To quote my millennial…
Read MoreUsing Lunt Telescopes to look at the Sun
With the Australian Solar eclipse coming in 2028, it’s time to get familiar with solar telescopes. With Lunt telescopes you can see the surface of the Sun using white light, or Hydrogen alpha and Calcium-K filters. These all show different aspects of what’s happening there. If you want to photograph it as well, there are cameras for that too.
Getting an image of a comet using the Benro Polaris
Bill used the Benro Polaris tracking mount to get images of comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS. This post tells the story of the expedition. He also reviews the Polaris.
What on earth do the numbers on the Pegasus adapters mean?
There are lots of different adapters available for all sorts of different jobs. PegasusAstro adapters have a consistent way of defining what’s on either ends, so you don’t end up scratching your head.
Saturn opposition on 8 September 2024
Saturn’s 2024 opposition will be on 8 September. Around that time, its rings will appear to glow brighter than usual due to retroreflectivity. Soon afterwards, however, the rings will be edge-on and become entirely invisible.
Building a truss telescope using truss blocks
Getting a good truss system together is hard. The carbon fibre rods have to be held rigidly, but they also have to be able to change the angle they’re sitting at. These truss blocks and ball joints do all that.
Using the WeMacro Rail to photograph the Sundew, an insectivorous plant
A plant that eats animals Drosera capensis is an insectivorous plant native to South Africa. Sundews thrive in low-nutrient soil because they’re able to gather their nutrients from “other sources”…
Read MoreAutoguiding: how much is good enough?
Autoguiding has revolutionised astrophotography. While your main imaging camera is off doing its job, a second camera keeps an eye on a star – any star – in the telescope’s…
Read MoreTesting a dome diffuser on the WeMacro Rail (arachnophobes might want to skip this one)
Macrophotography with a WeMacro Rail provides the depth of focus normal macro lenses can’t achieve. But managing lighting is still a difficult process, especially in such a cramped area. This article shows the effect of a couple of gadgets that help you see while posing your subject and diffuse harsh lighting during the exposure run.
The (mathematical) wonders of a solar eclipse
Eclipses have been seen as an omen by nearly every civilization. Being able accurately predict an eclipse would give a leader immense persuasive power. Ancient astrologers noticed that solar eclipses followed a pattern. Get it right and you’re in for a promotion. Get it wrong and things might not be so good.
Building a wide field deep sky imager for long exposure times
In this blog we put together a deep-sky, cooled camera and lens rig for wide-field autoguided imaging. We used components that fit together without having to drill new holes. This will go onto a go-to equatorial mount and give us long exposures with any camera lens. It also provides extra mounting points for autofocus motors, computers, or other components.