Dragging the EdgeHD 9.25 Out to a Bortle 2 Desert

[@Dr.Pepper001]

I'm 76 and have been an amateur astronomer since 1969 when I bought my first telescope. It was one of those 90mm "department store" refractors, but when I took it to the beach I fell in love with astronomy. The darkest sky I've seen was at a star party hosted by the Las Vegas Astronomy Club. We drove 150 miles to the northeast of Vegas and viewing with a bortle 2 sky was mind-boggling. The original owner of the 36" dobsonian "Yard Scope" was there and after I got nosebleed from climbing the absurdly high ladder, I saw the Horsehead Nebula in all its splendor. I am too old now to handle a decent size scope so I scan the sky with 70mm binoculars on an Orion Paragon mount. I applaud your choice of scopes and wish I still had the strength to handle one. Cheers!

[@Killbayne]

I wish we got those beautiful skies here in Europe. Whenever I go to America or Australia in my lifetime, I'll make sure I visit a dark sky.

[@deepskyutah5257]

Yes, we are lucky to have lots of wide open dark skies in the western US and beautiful landscapes. I hope you get to see them someday!

[@realemolga6306]

Yeah, Germany for example has like three tiny Bortle 3 Regions, everything else is worse.

[@PrayForSoul]

Oh yeah.. here in Belgium lowest I can get is 4,5-5 and closest is indeed a bortle3 in Germany or France, both about 4-5 hour drives :p....

[@Ben_Stewart]

Nice video. My C11 has been a trial of patience but the reward has been worth it.

[@aorr]

It was nice taking me back to that beautiful desert south of Vernal. I spent a few years in the patch south of Vernal in the mid 2000s. Loved that beautiful landscape!

[@StargazerFS128]

That is a sweeeeeeeet place to set up a scope, damn I'm jealous, great video!

[@deepskyutah5257]

Thanks! It's definitely my favorite spot I've ever set up at.

[@orionm4254]

Verry clear view of the pillars

[@deepskyutah5257]

I'm lucky to have such dark skies where I live.

[@NGC008]

Wow! Great video. Out there on your own all nigh, inspiring. 👍👍👍

[@Martincohenphoto]

Nice video, great drone shots! :)

[@deepskyutah5257]

thank you!

[@bbillp]

I use 1 to 4 rolls of quarters to assist in balancing or biasing plus its backup emergency money.

[@benc7102]

Totally amazing location!! Excellent tutorial Thanks for sharing Cheers

[@deepskyutah5257]

Thanks Ben!

[@martynh5410]

Well you certainly have great place to do your Astrophotography. Beats my 8”Edge in Bortle 6/7 skies in Ohio city suburbs by several orders of magnitude! Your intro drive with video from a drone was excellent and the M16 nebula photo outstanding!

[@deepskyutah5257]

Thanks, Martyn! I used to live an hour outside of Chicago, so I feel your pain! I'm certainly lucky to be where I am now when it comes to dark skies and wide open spaces.

[@cryhavoc38]

B2 skies would be awesome to have handy within a short drive

[@explorelearnshare8222]

What a beautiful spot! Some of the darkest skies I've ever been fortunate enough to experience were in Koosharem. The scenery in Koosharem is quite nice, but that canyon and river...thank you for taking us there!

[@deepskyutah5257]

Wow, I've never even heard of Koosharem...had to look it up. I know the area to the east of there pretty well (Torrey, Boulder, etc.). I agree, those skies in that area are some of the darkest I've ever experienced. It truly is amazing starting up at a Bortle 1-2 sky. I'm heading down to to southern Utah this week. I'll have to try to drive through Koosharem on the way back.

[@explorelearnshare8222]

@@deepskyutah5257 The skies were beautiful in Torrey as well with great scenery and those deep red rocks...I'm considering going back this spring/summer!

[@douweodh4146]

Loving your image, the Milky Way time lapse, the countryside and your truck :-) I always respect it when an AP-er goes shooting away from home. Must be nice to have Bortle 1-2 around. In The Netherlands we have Bortle 3-4 at best. You got yourself a new subscriber!

[@deepskyutah5257]

Thank you! It is a lot of extra work to bring everything to a dark sky site, but so worth it. Much easier to capture and bring out the faint nebulosity!

[@rogue277]

Can we talk about how the opening shot itself is amazing?

[@deepskyutah5257]

thanks rogue. This is one of my favorite "secret" spots in Utah.

[@yanassi]

Long arms

[@baddestgrampa8543]

Very interesting. Great pics. I’m just getting into Astronomy. Just picked up a used Meade LX65 8” for a decent price.

[@stefanschneider3681]

Whow, Eagle really came out great! I‘ve imaged it for the first time out of my backyard about two years ago. Of course with the 6SE on an Alt-Az mount barely able to take 15 second pictures and my daily dslr behind it there is no comparison. But still, when taking MANY of these 15 second pictures and do all the postprocessing-magic you can easily see those pillars of creation. And this always makes these crazy Hubble and JWST- mages so much more real to me. Nice video! Greetings from Switzerland where one rainstorm after the other makes my telescope getting covered with dust 😩😉

[@figzastro-photography]

Nice picture. I got to give you alot of credit. I get spooked in my own back yard sometimes. But you were ok by your self. lol.

[@deepskyutah5257]

Haha, I know what you're saying. This spot isn't too bad because it's pretty flat and no trees, so you can see everything around you. But I've set up other places where it feels like a mountain lion is always watching you.

[@gerryvaldez654]

Nice video and image! Wow Bortle 2, someday I'd like to give that a try. I've very similar setup though luckily haven't run into focus issues with the focal reducer. Looking forward to your next post. Cheers!

[@deepskyutah5257]

Thanks! Yea, I had to remove the 11.5mm spacer in order to achieve focus with the reducer. I've talked to at least a couple others that had a similar issue...it seems to be due to how the reducer threads up with the SCT adapter plate that comes from Celestron. But, interesting that you don't have the same issue!

[@christiana8820]

@@deepskyutah5257 I have read several places that using a focal reducer on Edge HD optics does not work well. Something about the fact that it already has a focal reducer or something built in? Also saw this thread: www.cloudynights.com/topic/564353-celestron-edge-hd-8-07x-focal-reducer-question/

[@deepskyutah5257]

@@christiana8820 that's interesting. I will say that after some trial and error, I have used the 0.7x reducer with good results. There's an issue with the threaded portions on parts of the imaging train being different and I don't think the instructions consider this. Also, I know the Edge8 mentioned on that Cloudy Nights thread is a little different than the 9.25...the backspacing is different and the imaging circle is smaller. But in the end, the Edge scopes are excellent in my limited opinion. The image quality is better than my Explore Scientific triplet with FCD100 glass.

[@bigfootsasquatch7108]

Gday Totally amazing location & fantastic images Cheers from Oz

[@deepskyutah5257]

Thanks, Bigfoot!

[@scorpianspirit5124]

Hello, greetings from Moab ! I see you have not uploaded in a few years. Are you still imaging out in the beautiful desert skies ? I'm just 7 miles outside Moab in Spanish Valley and if you ever want to spend some time here I have got the place. I'm on 5 acres and although in the valley we still have some stellar views. I have mesa views 15 min from the house as well... I'm using the Celestron 8 inch Edge as my mane scope, but have a travel scope setup as well. Anyway I thought I would say hello to a fellow Utahan. Cheers.

[@Nottsboy24]

Beautiful sight seeing the Milky Way 🔭

[@vasomilicevi9960]

Holy cow! That is a dream setup

[@deepskyutah5257]

I love this telescope. I know people say that it is difficult to image at such a long focal length, but it actually hasn't been too bad.

[@vasomilicevi9960]

@@deepskyutah5257 Yeah, it surely is, but aside from it, the cameras, the rest of the equipment is simply insane. XD Not to mention the dark spot you got access to!!

[@deepskyutah5257]

@@vasomilicevi9960 Nature photography of all types is my passion. I'm very lucky to live in Utah...beautiful landscapes, wildlife, and some very dark skies!

[@bbillp]

Beautiful time lapse, tell us how you setup the camera and exposure.

[@TechKidShazil]

Amazing location

[@deepskyutah5257]

Thanks, Shazil! It's one of my favorite places to get to get away from people, haha.

[@nidhingecb]

Wow.... Amazing video...Thanks for sharing man

[@deepskyutah5257]

Thank you. Hoping to make another trip out there when it warms up again!

[@astrospots8270]

Wow, you were shooting at an amazing location - congratulations. Sorry to hear .7 reduced did not work but you got a really nice Eagle Nebula and Milky Way time lapse. I’ve subscribed to your channel hopping to see more of your work and amazing dark sky locations.

[@deepskyutah5257]

Thanks! I consider myself very lucky to have locations like this nearby...even if it is a lot of work to pack up and move all the equipment. Hoping to get out there soon as it's starting to warm up around here.

[@jesuschrist2284]

Great video ty. Im wondering if it might be easier to dig up that desert and move it to your telescope?

[@purplesky7893]

Wow amazing image keep up the great work

[@deepskyutah5257]

Thank you so much!

[@sketch6995]

Celestron scopes mostly sold out in the states. To buy one go to all star telescopes. Be prepared to pay customs.

[@tacomaastro7462]

I use my finder scope on the front part of the rail with my 8" Photron, simplifies the balancing. Curious why you would use a filter in a class 2 sky. Great Pic. I'm living in a bortle 8 world.

[@deepskyutah5257]

I really just wanted to test the effect of each filter. I didn't expect the L-Pro to do much, and I don't think it did. The L-enhance did help prevent the stars from bloating...kept them nice and small. It's so nice having the option of going to a dark sky within an hour away. The editing just seems so much effortless.

[@toddchamberlain6507]

Beautiful landscape, good video. I have a new Celestron 9.25 and eager to get imaging. SUB'd

[@deepskyutah5257]

Thanks! It's a great telescope. My first one with such a long focal length. I was worried it would be difficult to get good results with, but so far hasn't been too bad at all.

[@scalibbdp9249]

I'm a visual observer and I wonder if you could share information on How to Get to the Observing Area shown in your video? Is that at some place on Seep Ridge Rd? Thank you and Clear Skies!

[@BassinProf]

Hello, what are your thoughts about using the EQ6R mount versus a Celestron brand mount (for instance the CGEMII) with the EdgeHD 9.25? I've heard good things about the EQ6R but since I'm a total noobie I'm wondering if I should stick with a Celestron mount to make it more turn key.

[@deepskyutah5257]

Hi Jeffrey. I don't have any personal experience with the CGEMII, but I don't know if it would be anymore turn key. They're probably going to perform very similarly. My first mount was a Celestron AVX, it was OK for a beginner mount, but too small for the Edge 9.25. I upgraded to the EQ6R-Pro because it seemed to get lots of praise, with very few complaints. I'm very happy with it, but I would look at a CGX or CGX-L if I needed more payload.

[@knightclan4]

Really nice equipment. I’m trying not to get into astrophotography. I’ll just stay envious for awhile.

[@deepskyutah5257]

Haha, they make the astro equipment just so darn attractive. Once you get in, it's hard to resist.

[@joelsweatman1503]

Really nice video, thanks for sharing your beautiful landscape to do astrophotography ............................ peace

[@deepskyutah5257]

Thanks, Joel! I really am lucky to have those landscapes to go with those dark skies out there.

[@gunnarjensen5910]

EQ6 R Pro handles the weight sufficiently for long DSO exposures ???

[@bronco_fv]

Just curious, why use a filter if you are under a Bortle 1-2 sky?

[@deepskyutah5257]

Part of the reason was to try to get smaller stars with the L-enhance. Also, just wanting to test it out as I think I just recently got the filter at this time. While not needed for light pollution at this location, I wanted to see if it would improve contrast on this target using a OSC camera. I was pretty happy with the result. Hopefully I can get out to this spot again and try going filter-less!

[@bronco_fv]

Over here I’m at the other end of the LP spectrum, so I’m hooked on my l-eXtreme (for Nebulae that is). Now that introduces halos so I’m tempted to buy a l-ultimate once it’s available. Curious what the outcome would back to back (no filter or l-enhance). Subscribed to make sure I see a possible outcome.

[@rescueplumber4987]

The HD Edge is a love hate relationship, i hated mine an sold it, good image

[@deepskyutah5257]

What did you hate about yours? I wish I was getting more use out of mine, but I need to take it to a dark sky site to make it worth the set up time. I just started using it for visual with planets.

[@robzehendner752]

i need to learn how to do that , i have a billion questions?

[@helthuismartin]

Make sure you are not get abducted by aliens..They love places like this.

[@tchallalemou5307]

Sweet pics with Qhy168c. I got one as well. Why no calibration frames?

[@deepskyutah5257]

Mostly laziness, haha. With this setup, I didn't see much of a need for flats (I didn't notice any vignetting, or gradients, or dust spots). I think I tried a stack with darks and bias, but just didn't get around to processing it. I plan to add more time to this target, and will likely use calibration frames for the final image. The 168c is a nice camera!

[@4sapphireb]

Is the edge really worth 1200 dollars more than the non edge?

[@jimmyb998]

When using the correct backspacing of 146mm, my Celestron EHD 925 with the 0.7x focal reducer achieves focus. About 6-7 turns before the end. Perhaps you weren't at the correct backspacing to begin with?

[@deepskyutah5257]

There are actually others on Cloudy Nights that have run into this same issue. There's about a 5.5-6mm increase in spacing when using the reducer at the point of connection between the reducer and the Celestron adapter place. Are you also using the Celestron off-axis guider?

[@jimmyb998]

@@deepskyutah5257 No I‘m not; but that shouldn’t matter surely? The 146mm is what matters, no matter what bits and pieces make up that distance on the way I‘d have thought. Do you have a link to the thread on Cloudynights?

[@deepskyutah5257]

@@jimmyb998 It actually might matter because of the way those bits and pieces fit together when using the the OAG. Yes, the 146 doesn't change, but the way to get there does (and Celestron says/implies the imaging train does not change when using a reducer). Sorry, I don't have time to dig into it now. The problem is solved by removing a spacer ring from the imaging train.

[@jimmyb998]

@@deepskyutah5257 as long as it's solved :)

[@jezrougan]

Heve you ever nearly fallen off the edge? as you set up by a rather large canyon and in the dark it could be easily done...

[@deepskyutah5257]

No, I haven't. I always leave a fair amount of space between where I set up a camera and the edge. I'd hate to end up on the front page of the news.

[@derbezacesanchez3779]

I think the SUV did most of the dragging.

[@deepskyutah5257]

haha, very true.