Imaging Uranus and Neptune with a small telescope
Hi gang. So the last couple of weeks - the end of August and beginning of September between the smoky skies here in western Canada and between imaging Jupiter and Saturn once they are high enough in sky usually around 2:30am in the early morning it is time to start imaging our 2 farthest planets in our solar system. There are several challenges with imaging both of these dim planets. Uranus is a bit easier to capture than Neptune since it is a bit brighter. Due to our sky conditions (smoke and lots of haze in the sky and light pollution) right now it is impossible to see either planet with your eyes are there are only a few visible stars in these conditions in the area of either of these planets. So to solve these issues I use a Celestron computerized alt-az goto tracking mount to locate these planets. First you need to use either 3 star skyalign (the most accurate mode) or planetary align on one of the bright planets like Jupiter or Saturn to c...