edjrgibbs

Looking at the sharpcap pages it looks like you can take long exposure video. Maybe try 15 second frames and see where you get to.

Just to jump back in. If you're taking videos its very unlikely you'll get any DSO's coming out in them. Video is for planetary only where you have a really bright object that needs really short exposures but lots of them. DSO work needs much longer images. With M42 you should see something from 15+ seconds. Rotation will be the problem on an Alt Az mount as might stability.

Hi Phil A few things jump out. The first is the type of mount you have. The mount is the most important part. The second is the camera itself and its suitability for DSO imaging. I'll deal with them in order: > Mount. Do you have an AltAz or Equatorial mount? If not an equatorial then tracking DSO's will be problematic due to field rotation. That being said, its possible. > Camera: the ASI120MC-S has a pretty small chip which might be more suited to planetary imaging. I'm not sure how it will fair on large DSO's like Orion but I guess only trying will tell. You'll need some software to run it either in DSO mode or planetary. Planetary you tend to take video in a programme like sharpcap then stack the individual frames with software like registax (both pieces are free). If doing DSO imaging you're into longer exposure territory but depending on the mount your exposure times will be limited (i.e. no Eq tracking will mean much shorter exposures, especially with the size of the imaging chip). I use APT (Astrophotography Tool) with my DSO camera's and find it a decent piece of software. You can then stack using something like Deep Sky Stacker. Another issue you'll likely encounter is focus. A bahtinov mask (available from most astro shops) is the best way i've found to focus. You might need spacers etc to achieve focus. It might be worth trying to find a local astro group or alternatively trial and error. Over the years I've found searching these forums provide a wealth of info. AP can be frustrating but don't give up! Hope this helps. Ed