A Night of Many Worlds

Tools of the trade – My gear comprising mainly of vintage 1970s prime lenses and a DIY tracking mount

My Celestron Advanced VX GoTo computerized mount was bought second-hand
So was my Explore Scientific ED80 Apo telescope
The DIY autoguiding set-up was added later. I now do 12min long shots
My Explore Scientific ED 80 telescope was completely out of whack when I got it. It is now beautifully collimated!

The gamechanger – My second-hand Celestron Advanced VX GoTo computerized tracking mount system was my single most important piece of kit that let me take my astrophotography to the next level. With autoguiding, now I comfortably manage round stars at 12 minute long exposures with my 480mm focal length telescope. This was just a dream two years ago!

My DIY refractor telescope
A schematic and ray trace diagram of the DIY telescope
Me with the telescope I made!
The front lens element of the DIY telescope
The Manual tracking mount I first used
DIY refractor at work
DIY refractor telescope – The Photon-Thief

Meet the “Photon-Thief” – This achromatic doublet refractor telescope was self-made as a long focal length “Planet-Killer”. It has never disappointed me since I made this in early 2019. After sorting out initial collimation issues, this has produced beautiful moon shots and average pictures of planets such as Jupiter and Saturn. It has an aperture of 93mm and a focal length of 1000mm, giving it a focal ratio of F/10.9.

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