astrophotography - Astro-Photography with Maksutov-Cassegrain Telescope and Canon EOS?

I have a Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope from Celestron C70 and I am interested in the Astro-photography.

I want to know, if I can use this telescope to attach with my Canon 600D? Do I need anything else other than t - ring and t-adapter (any extension ring? barlow?) ?

Also, when I remove the eyepiece and put my smaller digital camera without any ring or adapter, I can see a black dot in the middle. Will it be visible in my photo with t-ring and t-adapter with canon eos?

Thanks in advance!

Answer

Here is a simple how-to guide for attaching your DSLR to a telescope. With photos, and links to external information on related topics.

tl;dr: You need a T-ring (or T-mount) to adapt your DSLR to the T-adapter, which slides into the telescope in place of the regular eyepiece. As you are going to be taking photos of vary distant objects with long exposures, you will need to have a remote shutter release for best results.

This level of preparation will get you very good photos of the moon and decent photos of brighter objects. However, you won't be getting Hubble-quality photos out of it. Most serious astrophotographers end up with temperature-controlled image sensors in custom setups that they spend lots of money on as well as specialized astrophotography camera control and image-processing software (cf. "image stacking") - and they still don't get Hubble-quality photos, as there's no substitute for getting your telescope out of the atmosphere.

Word to the wise: Use your camera's strap to attach it to the telescope so it won't hit the ground should it slip out of the instrument.