OK here's a couple things on the topic. You can shoot the dumbbell (M27) but you will have to track the shot. With a 200mm and a 2x you are going to be shooting at f4+ depending on which lens you have. This is not a one shot object. You will need a couple hours of exposure as a minimum at f5ish. Take 1-3 minute individual shots and combine them with a stacking program.
One way to get way more luminance data to combine with the shot is a Hydrogen Alpha filter (probably about 12nm would be perfect) that you can stick in the camera. This would be huge for excellent detail but it will need a couple hours of exposure to.
I'll stick up some of my astro shots and if you have questions just let me know.
Stanly wrote: And I'll be shooting with an D80, so I have the 1.5x crop going on. Can you get any detail from shooting any Nebula's?
I'd recommend NGC 7000 North America Nebula and it would include the nearby Pelican Nebula. They are both bright enough that a 3 minute individual shot would be very pretty. I'd also skip the 2x as with a crop sensor you are almost at 300mm which is not bad. Also much more forgiving of poor tracking / bad polar alignment than 600mm would be.
The link shows what the area looks like (not my photo)
astrodave wrote: OK here's a couple things on the topic. You can shoot the dumbbell (M27) but you will have to track the shot. With a 200mm and a 2x you are going to be shooting at f4+ depending on which lens you have. This is not a one shot object. You will need a couple hours of exposure as a minimum at f5ish. Take 1-3 minute individual shots and combine them with a stacking program.
One way to get way more luminance data to combine with the shot is a Hydrogen Alpha filter (probably about 12nm would be perfect) that you can stick in the camera. This would be huge for excellent detail but it will need a couple hours of exposure to.
I'll stick up some of my astro shots and if you have questions just let me know.
I'm so motived. Now I thought the hydro alpha filter was for shooting into the sun?
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