first attempt of betelguese

[gazza63]

Tried to get a picture of Betelguese. This is the best i could get with a cam. Trying to get focus without an R.A motor seems impossible. Next on my.... TO BUY list, me thinks.

[Welrod50]

You could try a bhatinov mask. Have a nosey on Google to see how to use one and also download a template to make your own. I made one for my scope with a craft knife, cutting mat and 40 minutes of spare time.

[gazza63]

Cheers Scott, appreciate your help. Ongoing learning curve.

[gkec]

Cheers Scott, appreciate your help. Ongoing learning curve.

If you are like me and rubbish at cutting things out -- buy one.

[ollypenrice]

You're a long way out of focus. A Y mask is very effective and easier to make than a Bahtinov. However, you have the red colour very nicely.

Olly

[Rihard]

Tried to get a picture of Betelguese. This is the best i could get with a cam. Trying to get focus without an R.A motor seems impossible. Next on my.... TO BUY list, me thinks.

I suppose if you focus properly on something else far away (i.e. the moon) the same focus should be good for this star as well, making life easier .

[spaceboy]

How did you attempt to capture the image if you don't mind me asking ??? Was it Afocal or prime focus ??? and was it a conventional camera or webcam ???

[Tinker1947]

If you list your equipment people may be able to give good advice, my own trials with single stars i have used My Refelector, medium power EP with Adapter ring fitting so a DSLR can be attached, my Camera a Cannon 1100D has liveview so focusing on a bright star gets no easier, take loads of short exposures so the star doesn't get blown out and then stack them in DSS, my Image is done as i have listed, needs so processing and cropping as Coma will be a big issue with this type of image.....

[Guest]

If you list your equipment people may be able to give good advice, my own trials with single stars i have used My Refelector, medium power EP with Adapter ring fitting so a DSLR can be attached, my Camera a Cannon 1100D has liveview so focusing on a bright star gets no easier, take loads of short exposures so the star doesn't get blown out and then stack them in DSS, my Image is done as i have listed, needs so processing and cropping as Coma will be a big issue with this type of image.....

This one is a little out of focus, and collimation is out too, hope you don't mind me saying

MM

[emadmoussa]

Could you please tell us what you're using so we can cast some opinion?

[emadmoussa]

If you list your equipment people may be able to give good advice, my own trials with single stars i have used My Refelector, medium power EP with Adapter ring fitting so a DSLR can be attached, my Camera a Cannon 1100D has liveview so focusing on a bright star gets no easier, take loads of short exposures so the star doesn't get blown out and then stack them in DSS, my Image is done as i have listed, needs so processing and cropping as Coma will be a big issue with this type of image.....

What's the exposure time and method?

[gazza63]

I used a modified webcam placed straight into the focuser. While trying to focus... it was leaving FOV. Found i had to manually use the r.a control knob to re-align. I presume if i had an r.a motor i would be able to concentrate more on focus than having to concentrate on keeping object in view.

[emadmoussa]

I used a modified webcam placed straight into the focuser. While trying to focus... it was leaving FOV. Found i had to manually use the r.a control knob to re-align. I presume if i had an r.a motor i would be able to concentrate more on focus than having to concentrate on keeping object in view.

I have doubts a webcam is capable of DSO imaging. It's not sensitive enough and doesn't have any exposure abilities. Only used for planetary and lunar. I never tried a webcam on DSOs bearing in mind the former notion.

You can always achieve focus without a motor. The only imaging type you can get though is a max 1-2 seconds exposure before the celestial objects start forming tails due to Earth rotation. I can see the difficulty of juggling tracking and focusing at the same time...I can imagine it being a nightmare as far as the the required target is a deep sky object Yes, you'll need a motor at some point. The best advice I could give on focusing is find yourself a motorized focuser. It has multiple speed focusing abilities...from crude fast (not as fast your hand unless hooked to a PC using a special adapter) to very slow and fine tuning. Having said that, I don't know what kind of telescope you use. The cheapest available focus motors are usually Skywatcher which naturally fit onto most of Skywatcher standard telescopes. I've got an SW explorer 200p, SW 80ED and SW ST80 and they all have auto focusers. Makes life much easier indeed

[Tinker1947]

This one is a little out of focus, and collimation is out too, hope you don't mind me saying

MM

No your properly right, may have been taken with my Nikon D80 ( alway was a pain to focus) and pre Baader MPCC, it the idea i think is about right just the implementation was lacking.....just hoping it gives Gazza63 a bit of a guide......

[spaceboy]

I used a modified webcam placed straight into the focuser. While trying to focus... it was leaving FOV. Found i had to manually use the r.a control knob to re-align. I presume if i had an r.a motor i would be able to concentrate more on focus than having to concentrate on keeping object in view.

There are several factors and many that have already been pointed out. Accurate tracking is almost a must for any kind of deep sky imaging with a simple webcam and even then there is no saying it would be successful even with the brightest of stars (other than our own of course). Another thing that might be worth pointing out is more often than not your either going to need either a low profile focuser or adjusting of the mirrors to achieve enough inward focus or the reverse and need some type of extension to achieve enough outward focus. Your best bet would be to start with the bigger and brighter things like the moon and then move towards the more challenging things but even the moon is going to be a challenge to get a really good result as your only going to get several seconds of capture before the image has moved so far across the sensor that registax has a nightmare stacking the final image.