The Soul Nebula, captured on the William Optics RedCat 51.
I recently picked up a 10Micron GM1000 HPS mount. It’s a serious piece of equipment, but not responsible for these images. A lot of people tend to believe, big gear equals big results. But believe it or not, these images were taken with some very beginner equipment. Quality images don’t necessarily come from amazing gear. The above and below images come with practice, and honing your skill with the equipment and software you have. I started imaging in Astrophotography with modest equipment. I had, and still use an entry level Celestron Advanced VX mount. In fact, these images were taken with that mount.
The full set of gear I used for these images is listed below, along with some alternatives you could use that cost less and will do just as good a job:
William Optics RedCat 51 telescope or SpaceCat 51 (if you prefer gray)
ZWO ASI1600MM-C Camera with Filter Wheel or you could go with a color camera and no filter wheel like the ZWO ASI294MC-Pro Color camera.
ZWO ASI290MM-Mini Guide Camera or the less expensive option of a ZWO ASI120MM-Mini Guide Camera
Pegasus Astro UPBV2 USB hub and Power box, or the less expensive Pegasus Astro Pocket Powerbox which will power all your items, but will still need a USB hub.
Moonlite Focuser Motor or ZWO EAF Focuser or Pegasus Astro Universal Focus Motor
For software, I ran EKOS/KStars on the Raspberry Pi unit at the telescope, and controlled everything from the comfort of my home with a MacBook Pro laptop.
If you ever have any questions on setup, or gear, feel free to contact me through the site’s contact form at the bottom of every page.
The California Nebula captured with the same gear listed above.