#NEWTONIAN REFLECTOR HOW TO#

The 3 Step Process outlined by Sky and Telescope‘s Nils Olof Carlin really helped simplify the process. (I am a visual learner – go figure!) The diagram below was an integral part of my collimation success: Thankfully Sky and Telescope have an extremely helpful tutorial on their website, with the necessary diagrams for my brain to fully comprehend the ordeal. The hardest part is learning exactly what you are looking at when you position your eye over that open focuser tube. The process of collimation is actually quite a simple process, once you know what you’re doing. Not to mention that this telescope has a focal length of 800mm compared to the wider 480mm in my Explore Scientific ED80. That being said, once tuned in, the light-soaking power of that fast 8″ mirror is hard to ignore. The process of constantly collimating a Newtonian reflector is a big reason I generally prefer to use my apochromatic refractor. While the sun was still up, I carefully collimated my Orion Astrograph to the best of my abilities. M51 – The Whirlpool Galaxy Collimating a Newtonian Reflector Orion 8″ f/4 Astrograph Reflector

#NEWTONIAN REFLECTOR HOW TO#

On a positive note, I learned a little more about my equipment, and how to deal with the challenging and sometimes frustrating scenarios that come with deep-sky astrophotography.Įxample photo using my Newtonian Reflector for Astrophotography: The clouds finally broke (to a certain degree) last Saturday night, and being the die-hard night-sky photographer that I am, I skipped out on all of the fun social activities taking place that night in exchange for a lonely time by myself under the stars.ĭon’t get me wrong, there is nowhere I would rather be, but when things go horribly wrong, you begin to question your decision to stay home. My Newtonian Reflector is Ready for Spring With a proper alignment of the mirrors in this reflector, I should be able to capture a new portrait of the galaxy with my DSLR camera. My deep-sky target is M101 – The Pinwheel Galaxy – in the constellation Ura Major. In this post, I align my 8″ Orion Astrograph Newtonian for a night of astrophotography in the backyard. Collimating a Newtonian telescope is something every backyard astronomer should experience.