Backyard of the Week – March 20, 2018

This week we’re featuring an astrophotography setup that includes a telescope that holds a special place in my heart. This wide-field deep sky setup includes a compact 80mm refractor telescope on a computerized equatorial GoTo mount. (Check out that sunset!)

Location: Colorado, USA

Jayvin Krzych

This highly portable setup includes an Explore Scientific ED80 triplet apochromatic refractor that has proven to be an excellent wide field telescope for deep sky astrophotography. Many of the images in my personal photo gallery were shot through this F/6 refractor telescope.

It’s highly portable and compact, meaning it’s not overly demanding on modest equatorial mounts.  Adding a small autoguiding telescope and camera to the mix as you see here can improve tracking accuracy, without adding too much extra weight.

The Celestron Advanced VX Computerized Mount

The Celestron Advanced VX equatorial mount seen here is a great match for a compact and lightweight refractor like the ED80. The payload capacity of the AVX is about 30 pounds, making an excellent mount for DSLR + refractor shooters like Jayvin.  Have a look at this image of the Andromeda Galaxy captured using this setup:

The camera mounted to the telescope is a Sony a7S full-frame mirrorless camera. As you can tell, this camera is producing some incredible results for Jayvin – just look at the beautiful blues in the spiral arms of Andromeda.

Jayvin’s equipment continues to resemble a previous configuration of mine, complete with an Orion Mini 50mm guide scope, and Meade DSI Pro II camera. This is the exact autoguiding combo I used for many years and is featured in my first astrophotography equipment video.

Jayvin’s Description:

I shoot with an ES ed80 mounted on a Celestron AVX. My camera is a Sony a7S mounted to the scope with an Orion field flattener. In the photo, you can also see an Orion 50mm guidescope with a Meade Dsi pro II guide camera. This setup was greatly inspired by AstroBackyard and has produced some great images.

View Jayvins astrophotography images on Astrobin.

Thank you for sharing your setup with us, Jayvin!

For a chance to be featured as the Backyard of the Week, please fill out this form and include the details of your setup. This is a great way for others to see a deep-sky imaging setup that is being used to successfully photograph the night sky.