Crash course in Planetary imaging ??

[sharpie78]

Hi Peeps,

I'm just starting out in astronomy and imaging and need some tips.....Please.

I've got an Orion Spaceprobe 130 EQ on EQ2 mount (no motor drives.....yet), a few EP's and 2x barlow for visual observing and just need to know what other kit I might need (already saving for HEQ5 goto mount) and the best way to start off imaging.

I've got 2 webcams.....Microsoft lifecam 3000 hd and a Trust Primo. Done the mod on the Lifecam so it'll go in my scope and the Trust Primo had a screw in/out lens so I bought an adapter and IR filter from Altair Astro. (haven't attempted LX mods)

I've downloaded sharpcap and registax so..... "I've got some of the gear but still no real idea". Just waiting for clear night now to tinker with it all.

Any tips on sharpcap settings, best way to start off would be greatly appreciated.

Also....if anyone who knows how to hack the electronics for the webcams I've got, for LX mods etc please get in touch.

Many thanks in advance

Clear skies

[sharpie78]

Should just add that I'm looking at planetary imaging to start off with. Will move onto DSO once I'm confident with Planetary and got the LX mods done to at least one of my webcams.

[ronin]

Basically need motors.

Don't think any of the packages will take into account a drifting planet over the sensor, also the sensor is small so planet disappears fast and you will not have enough frames to make an attempt worthwhile.

As the planet appears always on the move there would be a reduced number of frame that and stacking package would consider good enough to use.

Basic idea is find planet, centre planet on webcam, say go and collect a .avi movie and feed this into processing software.

Software will select "good" frames and stack these. "Good" may be 1 in every 10 frames.

Planets are bright so most use a barlow 3x, 5x to get a bigger planetary image.

Really you need a motor.

[cgarry]

Don't think any of the packages will take into account a drifting planet over the sensor, also the sensor is small so planet disappears fast and you will not have enough frames to make an attempt worthwhile.

It is completely possible to do planetary imaging with manual tracking but it is much harder work than with a tracking mount.

PIPP will take your AVI, reject the frames where the planet is partially or fully off the frame, centre the planet in the remaining frames and spit out a new AVI file ready for stacking.

Cheers,

Chris

[Freddie]

As Chris say (he should know, he generated PIPP !), PIPP will centre everything to make the stacking easier for Registax (or AS!2 as an alternative) but both Regi and AS!2 will stack images that drift across the sensor.

[sharpie78]

cheers for the tips. I'll try a bit of manual tracking and see what results I get. I'm half way to being able to afford an HEQ5 goto mount so I'll just try my arm for now and see what happens.

Is PIPP the same type of software as sharpcap ?

[cgarry]

Is PIPP the same type of software as sharpcap ?

Not really.

SharpCap is used for capturing the AVI from the camera.

PIPP is optionally used to tidy up the AVI from SharpCap.

RegiStax or AS!2 are then used to stack the AVI to produce a stacked image.

RegiStax is then used to apply sharpening wavelets to the stacked image.

Image processing software of you choice is then used for final processing (curves, colour boost and so on).

Chris

[sharpie78]

ok cool. that clears that up. all sounds very technical but I'm a bit of a techno geek so in for a penny..........

thanks for the steer in the right direction

[cgarry]

The first thing you need to do is find a planet to image. Good luck with that!

[sharpie78]

I've visually observed saturn so far and I'm hoping to move on to jupiter sometime over the next few weeks seeing as its rising around 2am now. Really looking forward to the winter for the long nights. Blanket and soup at the ready. I'll post a pic if i have any luck with imaging and this manual tracking I'll have to make do with for now. I expect my first pic I post will be the moon......

[JamesF]

Once you have your video file, this might help you get the rest of the way:

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/184821-beginners-guide-to-stacking-planetary-images-with-autostakkert2/

The hardest part of actually capturing the image is swapping from the eyepiece to the camera and keeping the image on the camera sensor. A motorised mount (at least in RA) really helps with that, as does an illuminated reticle eyepiece (cheap ones are fine as far as I can see) that allows you to get the target dead centre in the field of view. Be aware that the camera and eyepiece will probably focus at different points, so it's worth finding out where the camera is in focus on a distant target during the day and marking that on the focuser somewhere to allow you to get close when you're ready. You'll almost certainly want to add a barlow at some point, but start without initially. The image may be small, but it will be easier to get on the sensor and keep there whilst you get the hang of everything else.

James

[Superdavo]

I made a YouTube video on using RegiStax 6 recently, which may be helpful.

David

[sharpie78]

I managed to get out with a partially clear night last night and had a go at lunar imaging with my webcams but all i got was a very blurry image which was way too shaky using manual tracking.

My problems.........

1 - I don't think I had the webcam settings right in sharpcap or my webcams are just sh**

2 - my mount is way too unstable for any kind of manual tracking

I did however get my first shot of the moon using my phone (which I'm half pleased with) and I also visually observed Jupiter (albeit a little hazy due to thin, high cloud cover)

:grin: