Idle question while I’m waiting for to change targets when Orion moves behind the tree in my backyard: Does anybody actually set up identical telescope/camera imaging trains and combine the data from the two setups? Or do the tiny differences in tolerances between scopes, cameras, and even spacer tubes render this approach unviable?
Are two telescopes better than one?
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This does work as far as I know. People combine images from different telescopes in cooperative projects as well. Stacking algorithms just line up the stars, so you can combine images captured in different scopes just fine. (Disclaimer: I’ve not done this myself.)
Whether this approach is actually a good idea is debatable; simply buying a larger scope may be a better, more convenient, investment.
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I have combined images from 2-3 disparate telescopes using Seti Astro’s excellent YouTube tutorial
It’s easy to do on Pixinsight and gives reasonable results.
If you mean shooting concurrently with two telescopes - that’s a more involved process. I haven’t done it myself, but NINA allows you to do this, I believe.
Cheers,
Kartik
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John Tucker · Feb 22, 2026, 02:57 AM
Idle question while I’m waiting for to change targets when Orion moves behind the tree in my backyard: Does anybody actually set up identical telescope/camera imaging trains and combine the data from the two setups? Or do the tiny differences in tolerances between scopes, cameras, and even spacer tubes render this approach unviable?
I don’t John. I did entertain side-by-side with my 80mm and my 130mm for wide and narrower imaging.
Two identical imaging rigs would lead to many frustrations for the reasons you already stated.
I’ve done parallel runs from one night to the next to collect LRGB and Ha, OIII, S2.
Cuiv has his Franken Scope and ran into troubles (I had already imagined he would) with aligning them physically.
I have read where others have combined data from two telescopes, but it seems to be an exercise in futility.
But nothing ventured, nothing gained. Not for me.
Maybe some giant binoculars with cameras in the Eyepiece holders?
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John Tucker:
Idle question while I’m waiting for to change targets when Orion moves behind the tree in my backyard: Does anybody actually set up identical telescope/camera imaging trains and combine the data from the two setups? Or do the tiny differences in tolerances between scopes, cameras, and even spacer tubes render this approach unviable?
This is very doable. I have a local friend who used to run an FSQ 106 and AP Stowaway side by side on the same mount imaging the same target. Alignment is critical of course, but quite doable. Another ran a side by side with a TOA120 and FSQ 85 on one mount. Acquisition software like Voyager array and NINA has the capability to synchronize dithering. PixInsight has no issues calibrating and rescaling these images to a common image scale.
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