That MAY or MAY NOT let you reach infinity focus it's not guarenteed, but may help. Or you can try using a barlow lens - that replaces the last bit of the light cone with a longer, narrower angle version (which increases the magnification and moves the focal plane further out). It also means the light cone is fatter when it reaches the secondary mirror, so you may lose some light as the outer part of the light cone misses the secondary. Or move the main mirror further up the tube (which moves the focal plane further out, giving you more in focus). With a newtonian, if you can't reach prime focus, there are three basic options - either take photos through the eyepiece (afocal photography) as you already tried, (With other types of scope that use a separate star diagonal, things are usually easier - you can leave the star diagonal off, which has the same effect as a big chunk of inward focus). With a newtonian scope, the focal plane is usually somewhere inside the focuser tube, and many newts don't have enough focuser inwards travel to let you get the focal plane the 40mm or so beyond the end of the focuser that you need to get it to reach a DSLR sensor. And in a DSLR, the sensor is some way inside the camera body (behind the shutter, which is behind the mirror. The problem you have with many newtonian reflectors - especially smaller ones - is that to use them for prime focus photography (where you're effectively using the telescope like a big telephoto lens), you need to set things up so that the camera sensor ends up at the focal plane of the telescope. Thank you for reading, I look forward to your responses. My astronomy/optics knowledge is practically zero but I'm a fairly savvy mechanical engineer and can build things to a specification. I'm not looking for perfect photos, but rather something that is better and more convenient than holding my cellphone camera close to the eyepiece and holding my breath! :) I have a ready supply of aluminium stock and industrial plastic stock (RG1000) that I can build an adaptor from. I do have a small Milling machine and most of the basic machine tools. Keeping the rack-and-pinion tube adjustment (actually a fairly sturdy mechanism) is important and would allow better focusing of the picture as the camera is not likely to have enough auto-focus range to cope with the 700mm F length.I need some sort of Relay Lens between the secondary mirror and the camera body.I think that holding the camera's central axis perfectly concentric with the eyepiece's axis is critical.But I don't know all of the parameters I will have to know to design such an adaptor. I think I can make an adaptor that goes between the eyepiece socket and the camera. But I realise that certain measurements would be absolutely critical to making good photographs possible.

I am happy to make severe modifications to the telescope if necessary. Is it possible to modify this telescope's eyepiece (a rack-and-pinion tube-length adjustable type) so that I can attach my camera in order to take photographs of astronomical subjects? Photographs of the Moon would be my primary goal. My camera is a Nikon D40 (APS-C format, DX lens ring system). (Blue arrows indicate places where eyepiece lenses can be inserted). Despite spending the last 15 years in the back room of a charity shop, it's in brand new condition and all the parts are present including the tripod and all fixings!.

Here's a picture of my telescope and it's accessories. Far from ideal but it has really fired my imagination about doing more astronomical photography. I was able (with very considerable difficulty) to photograph both Moon and Jupiter scenes by holding my camera up to the eyepiece. I have managed to view the Moon in beautiful detail and also had my first glimpse of Jupiter (with Enceladus Ganymede & Europa in the same shot!). Includes a SkyWatch CD-ROM with a 10,000 object database, a moon filter to reduce glare and a moon map.I was given a 1995 vintage Tasco '302003' Newtonian telescope recently and have had some exciting success with it. Notably lightweight and extremely portable, the Spacestation 60 mm refractor combines quality and low price to produce a fine value for the beginning astronomer. It even includes a “land eyepiece” for correctly oriented views of terrestrial objects. The sturdy alt-azimuth mount helps eliminate image-shake while the Red Dot Starpointer finder scope makes quick work of locating celestial objects. 25 mm, 10 mm and 4 mm eyepieces deliver sharp images and a wide field of view at magnification levels up to 525X. Easy-to-use slow-motion controls help keep objects in focus. Spectacular views at a great value! See the stars on a budget with the Spacestation™ refracting telescope! This powerful scope offers many advanced features to make the moon and planets stand out in detail.

Tasco telescope