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[swawrzynski]

Very new to astronomy. I have been researching telescopes for a while now and really like the skyquest xt10g. I won't be traveling with it much until my boys get older and want to have the ability to do astrophotography. I am thinking this would accomplish all of that and I wouldn't ever have to upgrade. Any thoughts or advise would be greatly appreciated. (also trying to convince my wife of this purchase!!)

[jeremy]

I have an 8" push-to Dobs from Orion which I really enjoy. Astrophotography aside, I think it is a great scope. I have been interested in seeing the goto's in action. My only beef about my current scope is its lack of ability to track. Even without tracking though I can still get an eye full.

Regarding the photography, I have tried simple photography with my Dobs, thought I could get bright planets and the moon. However I found with my camera (Canon 50d dslr) I could not bring images into focus. I bought the adapters to hook directly up to the focuser, but the ccd chip on the camera in body simply can't get close enough to pull into focus. Meaning, I bring the focuser all the way down as close to the scope as possible, and it isn't far enough. It is possible that would get resolved with a low profile focuser, or maybe a corrective lense. However since I don't have tracking, I wasn't going to invest too much in this.

With that said I think it will depend on your camera if that would be an issue. In addition putting that kind of weight on the front of the scope may require some counterweight on the back side, not a big deal to do but keeping the Dobs in balance will be important for smooth tracking. Lastly, the key to deep space photography will be smooth tracking. The people that get those amazing images we see can sometimes track with their shutter open for hours. I've also heard of people taking several smaller exposure time photos, then using software to combine the images.

I'd be interested to hear what others would say about Astrophotography on this scope.

[Paulie pchris00]

The Skyquest XT10 Dobsonian would be a fine telescope EXCEPT if your ultimate goal is astrophotography. As Jeremy pointed out, for astrophotography, your mount is arguably more important than the telescope. At minimum, you will need an equatorial mount with a tracking motor. If you're planning on getting into AP as soon as possible, skip the Dobsonian, and find a good equatorial mount. As for the telescope, that depends what kind of AP you want to do. Others can give better information than me about that.

[-=CROMAN=-]

For photo / video you need a good EQ goto mount. I tried webcams with my old 10" DOB but you simply can not track. The goto Orion may be a good candidate for some webcam work but to load it up with camera equipment would require some counter weights. Plus its Alt/Az so the tracking would not be as good as you would need it for long exposure shots. You could get an EQ platform but for that money you may as well invest in a good EQ mount.

Might I make a suggestion?

For $1400.00 you can get an Orion Sirius goto mount with an 8" reflector.

www.telescope.com/Astrophotography/Astrophotography-Telescopes/Orion-Sirius-8-EQ-G-Reflector-Telescope-with-GoTo-Controller/pc/-1/c/4/sc/57/p/24729.uts

I know a lot of folks don't like to put a newt on an EQ but you can get a 2nd set of tube rings to allow the OTA to rotate. This way the eyepiece will always be in a decent spot for viewing.

I bought the Atlas goto mount myself and it is truly awesome!