web cam vs dslr

[starman1969]

I think if you can get a cheap suitable webcam, that would be great for imaging planets / moon etc. The trick, as has already been mentioned is getting the object on your screen, even though it was centered in the eypeice when you last looked. It could stiill be centered, but being so out of focus that it doesn't register. Anyhow I started only a year ago and I've got loads of vids of Saturn, Jupiter, Mars & even Mercury.

[LukeSkywatcher]

If i take a couple images 1 night can i stack them with images i take another night. will it work like that?

Yep thats how it works. You can add as many images taken on different nights

[Cornelius Varley]

If i take a couple images 1 night can i stack them with images i take another night. will it work like that?

But only for DSO images.

Peter

[LukeSkywatcher]

But only for DSO images.

Peter

Yes, sorry i should have pointed that out.

[jimjam11]

Andromeda (and other objects like M42,M45 etc) can be imaged using a DSLR camera on a fixed tripod (no scope involved). You wont get the images you see online but you can certainly manage them. You just take as many short exposures (to compensate for ther lack of tracking) as you can and then stack them using free online software and they start to reveal themselves.

Here is an image i took of Andromeda, using only my Canon 450D on a tripod. Its about 7 images, each about 10 seconds long and then stacked together. It really is starting to show. If i added more exposures it would come alive even more. I dont get the magnificaction because i didnt have the camera hooked up to a scope. But then again, i do love widefield images.

Here's another image i took using only my Canon 450D on a tripod. Its Jupiter. It is a single image that i cropped and magnified:

I guess my point here is that a DSLR can be used for both DSO imaging and solar system imaging. Depending on what results you will be happy with.

A web cam will only get images of the moon and planets. A DSLR will get you images of DSO's.

Your scope/setup is best suited to a webcam. But a DSLR on a fixed tripod can get you images of DSO's.

Lets call this a third option....................depending on what results you would be most happy with.

Wow, was the jupiter shot with the standard lens or a larger zoom/telephoto? I presume it was a pretty short exposure because of the brightness of jupiter?

[pel]

There is the option of the LX mod (Long exposure) for an SPC900NC. That is an option, not quite as good as using a DSLR, but you wouldn't be able to attach a DSLR to a 130EQ.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Wow, was the jupiter shot with the standard lens or a larger zoom/telephoto? I presume it was a pretty short exposure because of the brightness of jupiter?

It was a single 1 second exposure taken with the standard 18-55mm lens that came with the camera. I also used the 10X zoom feature built into the camera.

[atmenterprises]

This is a stacked image of Jupiter taken with a Canon 600D DSLR on a 10" Newt. It's not as good as some of the webcams folks use, but it still works nicely.

What was your focal length? I assume that was taken at prime focus using video then stacking the individual frames?

[Aenima]

If i take a couple images 1 night can i stack them with images i take another night. will it work like that?

Hi Bruce.

Just a small addition to the already substantial advice posted here. While a lot of good imagers can easily stack frames from multiple nights into the same picture, it can be quite difficult as a beginner to have gotten everything to match - field of view, camera rotation/field rotation, differences in focus and magnification and in general just lining up the various frames exactly as before - from night to night. And obviously you can guess it isn't always as easy as using the same telescope and camera as the previous session.

This is not to say it wont work, just that it might not be as easy for a beginner - personally, I would take it one night at a time .

Best of luck with your images,

Regards

Aenima