Celestron 114gt Nexstar

Just on the topic of gotos and deep sky photography.

The goto and drives are really just for finding and tracking objects visually and doing short (less than a minute) exposures. The better your polar alignment the longer you can get away with.

For long exposure work you really need to have the controller and drives capable of doing accurate guiding and correction, and thats expensive.

The only deep sky photography I've ever done (and I havent done much) is with a regular SLR, though my Fujica camera doesnt have a lock up mirror which is tricky to work around. Focusing is also tricky and exposures of more than a minute begin to show trails, but its ok for the brighter objects.

If you want tracking but not necessarily the goto, someone may be able to advise of a scope and mount that only has the motors and basic controls, this would probably save a few euro to put into a bigger mirror. I dont actually use the goto on my meade to find objects, just to move the scope!

Cheers,
~Al

A friend of mine has an Optrons 8" reflector. He is in Limerick though so I cant see it. I have never heard of this make before. His Father got it for him, but I dont thimk he has the interest anymore. Has anyone seen or used one of these. Thanks for the advice, I will look into the dobsonians.

Hi Stephen,
I had a look on the web for the 114g nexstar and in the space of about 2 minutes found it in the US for $338.14 dollars, and givin the current exchange rate, that work out as 279.04 euros, not including shipping. the site is

www.afolders.com/cameras/Computerized/af...11p1.htm?n=281063cat


Dont get ripped off. !!! I'd seriously advise that you try and meet up with someone who has this scope already, otherwise you might be greatly dissapointed.

As for the optron, try and get a look through it at a star, if you can get a sharp focus then its worth seroiusly going for.

Good hunting.