ASTRONOMY
TECHNOLOGY TODAY
Your Complete Guide to Astronomical Equipment
BAADER MPCC MARK III • TPO 10-INCH IMAGING NEWT
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CALCULATING THE PERFECT TELESCOPE SIZE POST PARACORR TYPE-2
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Volume 8 • Issue 3
May-June 2014 $6.00 US
Imaging with the
Baader MPCC Mark III
and a TPO 10-inch
Imaging Newt
By Austin Grant
If you’ve read any of my previous arti- pounds this scope is pretty big. And because
cles, you’ll know that I’m a gearhead. As- of the fast optical system, a properly spaced
tronomy and astrophotography are my main coma corrector is mandatory. I decided to
hobbies, and switching up the equipment is upgrade to the Baader MPCC Mark III be-
just as fun to me as gathering those precious cause it offered some significant improve-
photons. This dovetails perfectly with ATT, ments to the previous version, while still
as it allows me to share my experiences and, providing arguably the best performance of
hopefully, help readers to make informed any coma corrector in its price range. The Image 1 - Baader MPCC Mark III at Full
Aperture
equipment purchases. MPCC Mark III has an updated optical for-
mula that leaves it optimized for f/3.5-f/6
The Baader MPCC Mark III scopes. It also has a removable T2 thread,
One of the most anticipated pieces of making the clear aperture a full 44-millime-
equipment on my wish list has been the ters when used with a M48 connection
Mark III version of the Baader Multi-Pur- (Image 1).
pose Coma Corrector. I recently picked one This works perfectly with my Teleskop
up from Alpine Astronomical along with a Service TSOAG9 off-axis guider, which has
couple of necessary accessories. the M48 thread on the scope side. Vi-
As a bonus, getting a new coma correc- gnetting with the MPCC is minimized be-
tor meant I also needed a new imaging cause of the larger aperture and also due to a
scope. OK, needed might be a bit strong, but shift in the position of the field lens, which
new accessories deserve new scopes, right? I is now closer to the focal plane than in the
was eager to try out a new Imaging New- previous version.
tonian from Third Planet Optics (TPO), so Finally, unlike many coma correctors,
I called up Oceanside Photo and Telescope there is no magnification increase with the
and ordered the 10-inch version. The arrival MPCC, and it doesn’t require any additional
of my new gear brought six weeks of clouds back-focus. If an eyepiece or camera will
with it. I’ve never waited so long for first come to focus in an existing set-up, it will
light on new astronomy gear! also work with the MPCC. Image 2 - Baader MPCC Mark III in hand;
Protective T-Ring with UV/IR Filter on the
Even with a focal ratio of f/4, at 29- I don’t always use the off-axis guider, so
Canon 60Da.
Astronomy TECHNOLOGY TODAY 39
IMAGING WITH THE BAADER MPCC MARK III AND A TPO 10-INCH IMAGING NEWT
camera (Image 3).
Another significant feature that I dis-
covered is that the tolerances on this T-ring
make it quite snug. I’ve used cheaper ones in
the past that allowed the camera to wobble
and left much to be desired, but this one
solves that issue. One thing to note is that, if
you get the protective T-ring to use with the
MPCC at its widest 48-mm, you’ll also need
to get the T-ring spacer (#2458405) to main-
tain the proper 55-mm spacing to the sensor.
The TPO f/4 Imaging
Newtonian
At this point, I’ve got my Baader Wide
Protective T-Ring with the MPCC Mark III
installed. It’s time to take a look at the scope
I’ll be using with it. TPO is a new product
line from Oceanside Photo and Telescope, or
OPT. The line consists of Imaging Newto-
nians and Ritchey-Chretien astrographs. The
Imaging Newtonians share a focal ratio of f/4
and are offered in 6-inch through 12-inch
Image 3 - Baader Protective T-Ring and MPCC mounted on the Canon 60Da, ready for models with rolled steel tubes. The 8-inch
imaging. version is also available in carbon fiber. The
Ritchey-Chretien astrographs start at 6-
I decided to get the Baader Protective Wide Best of all, the protective T-ring has an
inches and go all the way to 16-inches. The
T-Ring for situations when I needed a way internal filter compartment that holds
smaller versions are offered in rolled steel or
to attach the MPCC to the camera (Image Baader 2-inch mounted filters or any 50.4-
carbon fiber, while the larger set-ups are also
2). It has turned out to be a really great set- mm diameter un-mounted filters. I chose a
available as a really cool truss tube. Look for
up, and it’s quite versatile. The T-ring has a Baader UV/IR-cut filter (Image 2), which
a future article on one of the RC scopes, but
wide aperture that fits nicely with the M48 works perfectly with my full-spectrum mod-
for now let’s get back to the Imaging New-
thread of the MPCC, but it also includes a T- ified Canon T2i DSLR and doesn’t filter any
tonian.
thread adapter for threading on T-threaded additional wavelengths on my Canon 60Da
I decided on the 10-inch model because
equipment and a wide-aperture 2-inch nose- DSLR. It gets its protection moniker from
it gave me a nice medium focal length of
piece if you just want to slip it into a stan- the fact that, once installed, there’s no way
1016-mm and fitted nicely on my Celestron
dard 2-inch focuser. for dust or foreign particles to get into the
CGE mount. I opened the box to discover
that the fit and finish of the scope was excel-
lent. The optical tube is a simple white, with
no logos or markings (Image 4). In fact, the
only logo on the entire scope is a small one
at the top of the focuser (Image 5). It’s a nice
departure from some of the garish branding
seen on some astronomy gear.
The scope arrived with dual split-hinge
rings, a straight-through 50-mm finderscope,
and a 2-inch extension for the focuser. The
mirror cell is a push-pull type, with three
knobs for each. It also has a low-vibration fan
mounted beneath the mirror to expedite
thermal stabilization, and includes a battery
40 Astronomy TECHNOLOGY TODAY
IMAGING WITH THE BAADER MPCC MARK III AND A TPO 10-INCH IMAGING NEWT
Image 4 - TPO f/4 Imaging Newt mounted. No logos – just a pristine Image 5 - The only logo on the scope is located discretely
white tube. on the focuser housing.
pack to power it. The optical tube interior is focusing dial to make perfect focus a breeze cusing smooth and precise, and all but elim-
painted a flat black, so stray light reflections (Image 7). The 3.3-inch opening steps down inates flexure due to heavy equipment loads.
are minimized (Image 6). to a 2-inch compression ring, and it also in- Tightening the lock knob has no impact on
As a first impression, the coolest feature cludes a 1.25-inch adapter with its own com- the focus, a feat I haven’t seen in similar
has to be the 3.3-inch Crayford-style focuser. pression ring. Best of all, the focuser features Crayford-style focusers in this class.
It’s a dual-speed version, with a 10:1 micro- a steel drive rail (Image 8). This keeps fo- I installed an ADM D-series dovetail
INTRODUCING THE NEW 1100GTO GERMAN EQUATORIAL MOUNT
• Image Past the Meridian (up to the full 6 hours)
• Through-the-Mount Cabling
• Portability (R.A. & DEC. Axes Separate)
• 0˚ to 78˚ Latitude Range
• Built-in Precision-Adjust Rotating Pier Base
• Keypad and/or Computer Control
• Pre-programmed with PEMPro™
• ASCOM Compatible with Fully Supported Driver
• Operate with 12V Battery
• Ideal for 8” Refractors, 14-16” Cassegrains, Ritchey-Chrétiens and CDKs
Astronomy TECHNOLOGY TODAY 41
IMAGING WITH THE BAADER MPCC MARK III AND A TPO 10-INCH IMAGING NEWT
Image 6 - The inside of the TPO tube is nice Image 7 - The 10-inch TPO Imaging Newt sports a 3.3-inch Crayford-style focuser. It’s
and dark. a dual-speed version, with a 10:1 micro-focusing dial to make perfect focus a breeze.
42 Astronomy TECHNOLOGY TODAY
IMAGING WITH THE BAADER MPCC MARK III AND A TPO 10-INCH IMAGING NEWT
from ADM Accessories, and mounted the
scope to prepare for first light. Before any
such endeavor, I knew I’d have to collimate
the scope first. This is a serious point of fear
and frustration for some, but with the right
tools it’s no big deal. I’ve used a set of As-
troSystems tools, specifically the LightPipe /
SightTube and Autocollimator, with great
success. But for this scope I decided to try
something new. When I ordered the Baader
MPCC, Wide Protective T-Ring and acces-
sories, I stumbled across the Baader “Laser
Colli III” (Image 9). It has a precision
aligned laser with an easy-to-see etched view-
ing plate (Image 10). The passive tools are
great, but in a permanent set-up such as
mine, a quick check with a laser should be
all I need.
I quickly used the AstroSystems tools to
confirm correct position of the secondary,
then switched to the Baader laser. The mir-
ror of the TPO Imaging Newtonian is center
Image 8 - The TPO’s 3.3-inch focuser features a steel drive rail to ensure smooth,
spotted for you, so using a laser is quick and precise focus.
easy. The secondary is secured with a four-
vane spider, and, though thin, it is quite rigid
(Image 6). Adjusting the secondary tilt re-
quires a screwdriver, so in the interest of mir-
ror preservation, I recommend replacing the
screws with knobs. You won’t drop your
thumb and forefinger down the optical tube,
but you just may fumble a screwdriver!
After centering the laser on the spot and
then aligning the primary by converging the
departing and returning beams, the scope ap-
peared to be collimated. A quick check with
the autocollimator confirmed, to my sur-
prise, that the scope was very close to per-
fectly collimated. It’s not that I don’t trust
laser collimators, it’s just that they themselves
sometimes need to be collimated. This one
is spot-on.
Imaging with the MPCC Mark
III-TPO f/4 Newt Combination
The scope was mounted, collimated and
the coma corrector was in place on the
Canon 60Da. This is where I stopped for
more than 40-days as I waited for the clouds
to subside. When I finally got first light, it
was a one-off weather event, and immedi-
ately led to a couple more weeks of bad skies.
Astronomy TECHNOLOGY TODAY 43
IMAGING WITH THE BAADER MPCC MARK III AND A TPO 10-INCH IMAGING NEWT
Image 9 - The Baader “Laser Colli III.”
44 Astronomy TECHNOLOGY TODAY
IMAGING WITH THE BAADER MPCC MARK III AND A TPO 10-INCH IMAGING NEWT
Image 10 - Etched screen of the Baader Laser Image 11 - Despite its rather exaggerated form, this field-curvature map created in
Colli III. CCDInspector’s 3-D viewer demonstrates that collimation is good and the field is
incredibly flat and nearly coma free.
But boy, when I did get to image, the setup software called CCDInspector, I verified that (Image 11). Not until the very corners of an
did not disappoint. collimation was good and the field was in- APS-C sensor does the curvature even no-
I started by snapping some quick expo- credibly flat and nearly coma free. ticeably appear. The MPCC is clearly a great
sures of dense star fields, with the intent of The software has tons of analytical ca- match for this f/4 scope, and better yet, with
checking collimation to the sensor plane and pabilities, but for this purpose I used the 3- the correct components the system is rather
seeing how well the MPCC works. Using D viewer to create a field-curvature map plug and play.
Astronomy TECHNOLOGY TODAY 45
IMAGING WITH THE BAADER MPCC MARK III AND A TPO 10-INCH IMAGING NEWT
Image 12 - M13, the Hercules Cluster. Ten 90-second expo- Image 13 - M20, the Trifid Nebula. 20 two-minute exposures at ISO 800.
sures at ISO 400. The image is a tight crop of the cluster,
with tons of detail.
immediately impressed with the scope. The
image pictured is a tight crop of the cluster,
with tons of detail.
When I finished M13, it was late
enough that I decided to stay up and shoot a
Milky Way object. M20, the Trifid Nebula,
was in a good spot so I slewed over and spent
some time shooting south. This time, I cap-
tured 20 two-minute exposures at ISO 800.
It’s amazing how much light-gathering abil-
ity this scope has! Fast optics, when well cor-
rected, are just a joy to use. The Trifid came
out quite well for such a short amount of
time spent on it, and it clearly shows how
nice the corrected field is. Image 13 shows
the entire frame, while Image 14 is a crop of
the extreme lower-left corner of that image.
As I said, the stars are nearly perfect all the
way to the edge of the sensor.
The last night I used the scope before
Image 14: A crop of the extreme lower-left corner of Image 13. writing the article was spent on some galax-
As I mentioned earlier, spacing is criti- to get to some real-world imaging. I started ies. First, I captured 10 three-minute expo-
cal, so if you don’t get the protective T-ring with globular cluster M13 (Image 12). In sures of M51, the Whirlpool. Image 15 is a
from Baader with the spacer for the MPCC, my experience, globulars seem to be much center crop, showing the detail you can get
you’ll need to be sure that whatever compo- harder to image with Newtonians than re- with just a half-hour at f/4. I then spent two
nents you utilize get you to that magical 55- fractors. Perhaps it’s collimation woes, the hours gathering three-minute exposures of
mm distance from flange to sensor. central obstruction or just all in my head. In M101, the Pinwheel (Image 16). Again, I
Deviations from this distance cause the any case, the TPO didn’t have any trouble re- know it sounds repetitive, but I just can’t be-
image to degrade in a hurry. solving some fine stars. I stacked ten 90-sec- lieve what this scope can gather in such short
After checking the system out, I wanted ond exposures at ISO 400 and was time. The wispy outer spiral arms are quite
visible, and there are some hydrogen-alpha
46 Astronomy TECHNOLOGY TODAY
IMAGING WITH THE BAADER MPCC MARK III AND A TPO 10-INCH IMAGING NEWT
Image 15 - 10 three-minute exposures of M51, the Image 16 - Two hours of three-minute exposures of M101, the Pinwheel.
Whirlpool. Shown is a center crop.
regions that are already beginning to stand Baader Planetarium is renowned for its com- aging Newt, the same factors that make for
out. prehensive line of connection components, excellent imaging also provide breathtaking
At the end of the day, this combination and its ASTRO T-2 System offers a perfect rich-field view when combined with eye-
is simply superb. The Baader MPCC Mark solution for accommodating any of your fa- pieces that are specifically corrected for such
III is a perfect match for the 10-inch TPO vorite eyepieces. As for the fast TPO f/4 Im- fast scopes.
Imaging Newtonian. Given that the MPCC
Mark III is optimized for fast scopes from
f/3.5 to f/6, it’s likely that if you are in the
market for a coma corrector this one will do
the job. Also, since the focal ratio is the same
on all TPO Imaging Newtonian models,
you’ll have just as much success with any of
the other sizes.
I’ve struggled with properly integrating
imaging systems dozens of times, but this
one was simple. The addition of the Baader
Wide Protective T-ring made and spacer
made everything a breeze. The robust focuser
on the TPO allowed me to get some really
tight stars, with zero image-shift during lock-
down or collimation. The light gathering
ability is just superb, and it’s priced ridicu-
lously low for what you get. As a gear junkie,
it pains me to say that I may just stick with
this setup for quite some time!
Don’t Forget Visual!
Although I don’t do a lot of visual work,
I should note in closing that the MPCC
Mark III-TPO Imaging Newt combination
is also quite capable for visual observing.
Astronomy TECHNOLOGY TODAY 47
