Beginning in astronomy

[Scoobs]

Hi all

Recently started getting into astronomy. Other than the odd moon shot or some star trails I have no experience of this sort of photography.
Anyone have any pointers for some good reference material, resources to help a novice in this area get started. I’m not looking to buy a telescope at this time just wondering if I point my 20D and 300mm at the right position I might see ??

Also I’ve been reading about stacking images. Is this needed for everything other than star trails or can decent photos be taken without?

Any pointers would be great.
Thanks :)

[ahobden]

'Digital SLR Astrophotography' by Michael A.Covington. Superb Book.

I notice your Essex based. Check out http://www.neas.me.uk/ . Its the astronomy association I belong to. Good guy's with some excellent lectures. There is a great one coming up, being given by Nik Szymanek, probably one of the most renowned deep space imagers in the UK.

[Johnny9s]

To take images with a longer focal length such as your 300mm you will ideally need a tracking mount or you will not be able to take long enough exposures. For shots without a tracking mount then you want to use wide angle lenses such as a 10-22mm or even 50mm. The longest exposures I could get on my 50mm was 8 seconds before the stars starting showing movement.

John

[Scoobs]

Cheers

Will check out that book and link.

Looks like its time to experiment.