Is the Redcat 51 good for most galaxies or is the focal length a bit too short? I’m thinking of getting a small telescope to mostly take pictures of galaxies and maybe globular clusters, not up close NASA level pictures but not them being really small either. Sorry if it’s kind of a weird question
Redcat 51 questions
Engaging
250mm is getting close to what people might call "wide field" astrophotography. It would be good for Andromeda and M33 but aside from that not much else in terms of galaxies unless you are looking to do galactic clusters.
Here is an example of the Redcat51's take on galaxies: https://www.astrobin.com/fab4u1/
Here is an example of the Redcat51's take on galaxies: https://www.astrobin.com/fab4u1/
Helpful Concise
Hi there TMill53
While the Redcat 51 would be good for M31 (Andromeda galaxy) or even M33 (Triangulum galaxy), you might get relative small objects in your field of view with smaller objects as the M81 (Bode's galaxy). Take into account that the size of the sensor of your camera will influence in the field of view, with a full frame camera as the surface of the sensor is bigger you will take more area of what the scope collect, therefore bigger field of view, and relatively smaller objects compared with an APC sensor, that has smaller sensor, giving smaller field of view, and objects look bigger. In any case, you can use this link to a field of view calculator from astronomy tools (https://astronomy.tools/calculators/field_of_view/), put the scope you want to use, your camera, and then the DSO you would like to see, and it will give you a good reference image of the picture you would get.
And always, for references, you can check what people got using this scope here in Astrobin.
Clear Skies
Obdulio
While the Redcat 51 would be good for M31 (Andromeda galaxy) or even M33 (Triangulum galaxy), you might get relative small objects in your field of view with smaller objects as the M81 (Bode's galaxy). Take into account that the size of the sensor of your camera will influence in the field of view, with a full frame camera as the surface of the sensor is bigger you will take more area of what the scope collect, therefore bigger field of view, and relatively smaller objects compared with an APC sensor, that has smaller sensor, giving smaller field of view, and objects look bigger. In any case, you can use this link to a field of view calculator from astronomy tools (https://astronomy.tools/calculators/field_of_view/), put the scope you want to use, your camera, and then the DSO you would like to see, and it will give you a good reference image of the picture you would get.
And always, for references, you can check what people got using this scope here in Astrobin.
Clear Skies
Obdulio
Helpful
I have a Redcat 51and use it almost exclusively for widefield images, I have an APS-C size sensor and even that isn’t that suitable for Galaxy work at 250mm focal length. There are, of course, some Galaxy targets that it is good for such as Andromeda but I would not buy the Redcat 51 just to do Galaxy imaging…
Here is an example of widefield on Orion with the Redcat 51 to give you some idea of the FOV
https://www.astrobin.com/7sekxe/
Whatever you decide on…
Clear Skies‼️
Olly
Here is an example of widefield on Orion with the Redcat 51 to give you some idea of the FOV
https://www.astrobin.com/7sekxe/
Whatever you decide on…
Clear Skies‼️
Olly
Helpful Concise
It's a good scope. But perhaps not the best for galaxies, because it is so wide field.
Like others say, it's great for the galaxies that are close, but for most others it will lack the range.
You can get some interesting shots though: this
a shot of mine with the Redcat. A wide field of an area of galaxies.
definitely an interesting view, but it isn't where the strength of the scope lies.
Like others say, it's great for the galaxies that are close, but for most others it will lack the range.
You can get some interesting shots though: this
a shot of mine with the Redcat. A wide field of an area of galaxies.
definitely an interesting view, but it isn't where the strength of the scope lies.
Helpful
Great image Steve 👍🏻
Is the Redcat 51 good for most galaxies or is the focal length a bit too short? I’m thinking of getting a small telescope to mostly take pictures of galaxies and maybe globular clusters, not up close NASA level pictures but not them being really small either. Sorry if it’s kind of a weird question
Agree with everyone here, personally this is a wide field scope. I don’t know what your looking for in imaging “galaxies” but if your looking for something that will give you a “portrait” style image you can do some nice work with a limited budget with an 80mm. Here are a couple of not great processing examples. BTW these were shot with an 80mm TMB and an .8 fr so these are actually more “wide 384mm fl” field even with this scope.
https://www.astrobin.com/kl05or/
https://www.astrobin.com/kl05or/
Here is an image shot with my CF 80mm with just a FF for scale. Again not the greatest processing but it will give you a sense for scale and this would give you the native 480mm focal length.
M33: https://www.astrobin.com/9zsyny/B/
I’d say you could do some “portrait” type work with an 80mm but you will need a good amount of integration time to get enough SNR so that you can zoom/crop in and do the work in processing.
If your looking for more of a closer look I’d say get into the 600-800mm fl range (at the very minimum) and you would probably like the results with that. Unfortunately I do not have examples on my page to help you with that. Maybe others can chime in with images in that range or just search them out here on AB.
Dale
Helpful
I use a RedCat 51. I agree with everyone here, it's very good optics for wide-field, but would be limited for close-ups of any but the largest galaxies.
If you're interested, there are images of galaxies on my page. I'm still very much a rookie at this (got to get my integration times up) but it should give you an idea of what the RedCat is - and isn't - capable of, both with an APS-C and a Zwo ASI178
If you're interested, there are images of galaxies on my page. I'm still very much a rookie at this (got to get my integration times up) but it should give you an idea of what the RedCat is - and isn't - capable of, both with an APS-C and a Zwo ASI178
Helpful Concise
I'm actually thinking of buying this telescope some time now. And this topic helped a lot.
I'm more into DSO (nebulae etc) and wide field photography, so I think is a very good option right? I'm also a cat lover so the logo on the telescope and its name, is a plus 😅.
I'm more into DSO (nebulae etc) and wide field photography, so I think is a very good option right? I'm also a cat lover so the logo on the telescope and its name, is a plus 😅.
Nikolas Konstantinou Kakopsitos:
I'm actually thinking of buying this telescope some time now. And this topic helped a lot.
I'm more into DSO (nebulae etc) and wide field photography, so I think is a very good option right? I'm also a cat lover so the logo on the telescope and its name, is a plus 😅.
Its an excellent scope for this type of imaging for sure!
Dale
Wow, I didn’t really expect to get that many in-depth helpful replies. Thanks everyone for all the information!
Well Written Respectful
It's a good scope. But perhaps not the best for galaxies, because it is so wide field.
Like others say, it's great for the galaxies that are close, but for most others it will lack the range.
You can get some interesting shots though: this
a shot of mine with the Redcat. A wide field of an area of galaxies.
definitely an interesting view, but it isn't where the strength of the scope lies.
Awesome picture!
Wow, I didn’t really expect to get that many in-depth helpful replies. Thanks everyone for all the information!
Welcome to the AstroBin forums 😉 Next time, when posting about a specific equipment item, post on its dedicated forum by finding it in the equipment database: you will notify users of that equipment item and get very relevant responses. Sorry about the off-topic.
Well Written Concise
Hi there TMill53
While the Redcat 51 would be good for M31 (Andromeda galaxy) or even M33 (Triangulum galaxy), you might get relative small objects in your field of view with smaller objects as the M81 (Bode's galaxy). Take into account that the size of the sensor of your camera will influence in the field of view, with a full frame camera as the surface of the sensor is bigger you will take more area of what the scope collect, therefore bigger field of view, and relatively smaller objects compared with an APC sensor, that has smaller sensor, giving smaller field of view, and objects look bigger. In any case, you can use this link to a field of view calculator from astronomy tools (https://astronomy.tools/calculators/field_of_view/), put the scope you want to use, your camera, and then the DSO you would like to see, and it will give you a good reference image of the picture you would get.
And always, for references, you can check what people got using this scope here in Astrobin.
Clear Skies
Obdulio
That calculator is actually really helpful, thanks man!
Salvatore Iovene:Wow, I didn’t really expect to get that many in-depth helpful replies. Thanks everyone for all the information!
Welcome to the AstroBin forums 😉 Next time, when posting about a specific equipment item, post on its dedicated forum by finding it in the equipment database: you will notify users of that equipment item and get very relevant responses. Sorry about the off-topic.
I’ll make sure to do that next time lol