Is it possible to image two different targets at once on the same mount? - Forums

Topic starter

Oct 29, 2020 · Edited: Oct 29, 2020

Hi all,

My current setup is a 10" Newton on a EQ6-R mount which works perfectly well. Now, I'm wondering if it would be possible to attach my widefield setup (Samyang 135 + Nikon D3300) to the scope as well. So, instead of mounting only the guide scope onto the main scope, I could attach the Skywatcher L-bracket (that came with my Sky Adventurer) that could then in turn hold both the guidescope and the widefield setup. Even with that I would not exceed the 20 kg weight limit of the mount (but only by a few grams

).

Assuming I had two cameras, could I (as an example) point the scope and the guidescope at the Orion Nebula, while my widefield setup images the heart & soul nebula region. Guiding should actually work for both objects and the Orion region should be the better target for the guidescope as it has a lower declination than the Cassiopeia region. So, one could image two targets in parallel like that.

Is it that easy or am I missing anything?

CS

Steve

Erlend Langsrud

Oct 29, 2020

It is that easy.

Jeffbax Velocicaptor

IOTD Staff

Oct 29, 2020 · Edited: Oct 29, 2020

It is that easy as soon as you are very well in station on the pôle. If not, the field of the second target could rotate, specificly if you take long exposures. But with a few attention to this, no problem IMO.

Jf

Stefan Böckler

Oct 30, 2020

Would the exposures on the two cameras be synchronized? Or would you dither on Orion while collecting light on the heart and soul? That might be a problem and you might have to dismiss some of your widefield frames.

CS
Stefan

David Redwine

Oct 31, 2020 · Edited: Oct 31, 2020

Synchronizing the dithers is not a problem if you use APT. The biggest problem would be cone error which would cause field rotation. I have a piggy-back set-up with an Apertura 60ED on top of an 8" Edge. The 60ED has about 20 arcmin more cone error than the Edge, and that is with both scopes polar aligned on premium quality rails (Primalucia).. You can shim that out but it is a pain.

You would have to create a system that would move one scope relative to the other with the huge range you suggest. Any small non-orthogonality between the the main pointing system and the offset mechanism could potentially cause several degrees of cone error.

dkamen

Nov 1, 2020

The biggest problems I see are physical. Operating so close to your mount's weight limit. and aligning both targets accurately, especially the narrower one.

Usually people with 2+ cameras point them at the same object and image 2+ filters concurrently.

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