Orpington Astronomical Society

Astronomy => Astrophotography => Topic started by: Carole on Aug 17, 2017, 09:42:05

Title: Using a barlow for Astrophotography
Post by: Carole on Aug 17, 2017, 09:42:05
I have always been told this is a no no because of the increase of focal ratio, but take a look at this thread on SGL.  Makes very interesting reading:

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/298212-julian-shaws-sombrero-with-a-surprise/

Carole
Title: Re: Using a barlow for Astrophotography
Post by: Fay on Aug 17, 2017, 19:44:54
Thats very interesting Carole..
Title: Re: Using a barlow for Astrophotography
Post by: MarkS on Aug 17, 2017, 23:48:58
That was an interesting read and I made on reply on that thread.

With low read noise cooled CMOS cameras I can see this approach (i.e. Refractor+Barlow) being quite viable.  It wouldn't work well for DSLR cameras though because the thermal noise would end up becoming dominant.

Although this approach does increase the versatility of a reflector, in the end you'll get the same quality image much quicker by using a large aperture reflector (Newtonian/SCT/RC)with the same effective focal length.

Mark