First Attempt at Astrophotography

[scorpio1948]

Hi All

This is my first attempt at Astrophotography.

Conditions...Partly cloudy, Very high Humidity. Average City outskirts light pollution

Waited for Saturn to come into my observation space, but it completely clouded over.

Jupiter 0091.bmp

[oldpink]

nice first image considering conditions
you may want to upload it as a PMG or Jpeg to save people having to download your pictures to view them

[bogdog]

good enough for first attempt,clearly see banding,play around more in photoshop with levels/curves and you might bring out more detail

but well done

[jambouk]

Smashing first go. Really rewarding to be able to show your family and mates another planet! I hope they are suitably impressed.

How did you capture it? How many frames, how was it stacked etc?

Great start.

JD

[scorpio1948]

Thanks for the compliments and the advice. Especially PMG, Jpeg.  Should have read about that first.

I used the software that came with my Opticstar PX 75, called Opticstar View. 

I also managed to get some great shots of the moon, just before it set. Unfortunately by the time Saturn came into my area of visible sky, it completely clouded over.

Next time I'll make notes of exposure times Etc and I'll have a go at stacking.

One thing that puzzles me is there don't seem to be a focal length on astronomical cameras, so how do you work out magnification. When conditions allow I hope to try the camera with my 3X Barlow, (Over ambitious I know) but I'm not sure if that will take me over the Maximum recommended magnification.  Anyone who can help me out with this, it would be greatly appreciated.

jambouk... Didn't know much about stacking Etc until I looked it up on Youtube after reading your reply. I'll have to give it a try.

It was a case of trial and error, starting with auto exposure and working up from there. I tried using a 2X Barlow but it was so hazy (very high humidity), I couldn't get it into sharp focus. 

Once again, thanks for the comments. Its given me the encouragement to do even better.

Catch you all soon. Clear skies to you all

Pete. 

[Pete Presland]

nice first image some nice detail showing, far better than my first image!

[jambouk]

I don't know what your camera is, so i am guessing this is just a single frame which makes it even more impressive.

Magnification is an ofd concept and they say it's not magnified as there is no eye piece in the light path, so the light is just gathered through the scope and brought to focus on the small sensor of the camera. This image is then displayed on screen.

I don't understand it, however many times people try to explain to me that it's not magnified. But you know from tables of data how many arcseconds wide the planet is, so you could out that on your image as a point of reference.

I think you'll get some lovely results once you start stacking.

Jd

[scorpio1948]

Hi JD,

The camera is a Opticstar PX -75 Colour. No good for deep space but seems very good for our solar system.

I haven't had it long, as these are my first steps into Astrophotography. The software that came with it seems OK but the manual is more suited to the experienced rather than the newbie, I'm OK with stuff like Linear filters, frame rate, resolution Etc; but things like 'Data combine of two images'; mix, and 'data calibration' loses me. Need to do quite a bit of experimenting.

Didn't know much about stacking (although I briefly read about it), until I read your reply, spent most of the day on Youtube finding all I can about it.

Can't see me putting it into practice for a while, long range forecast don't look too promising unless I want to study 'Cloud Formation'    

Anyway thanks for the input, I really appreciated it. At this stage I need all the help I can muster .

 Catch you soon

Pete

[oldpink]

stacking isn't hard

I suggest looking at

PIPP - centers and stabilizes your image and can crop out unwanted background

Castrator - very similar but not as powerful
Registax - almost default stacking program for Planetary work
autostakker - staking program that utilizes registax wavelets section

there are lots of tutorials on all of the above on youtube and lots of threads on here about using all of them

[Charic]

jambouk.....a  telescope  mirror is a magnifying mirror? It reflects light, yes, but because of the shape, ie concave spherical, parabolic, it  concentrates that light in a way that makes the image look bigger!

Look into the open end of   a Newtonian telescope and see  your reflection in the primary mirror, see how much bigger it is. Its no different to the magnifying mirror behind your shelf bathroom mirror, if you have one. so that's how the image is magnified without a lens or an eyepiece?

[jambouk]

Scorpio - if you can capture video of a planet or the moon with that camera then you'll be able to stack it. The software (registax is the one many people use initially) breaks the video up into frames, then stacks the best frames to make a more detailed image. As said above, easy to do. The hardest bit is getting the best possible quality video in the first place (in focus, appropriately exposed etc); i'm still trying to capture good quality video.

Charic - i've always thought that the telescope must "magnify" the image, but it is others who suggests it doesn't.

Jd

[scorpio1948]

stacking isn't hard

I suggest looking at

PIPP - centers and stabilizes your image and can crop out unwanted background

Castrator - very similar but not as powerful

Registax - almost default stacking program for Planetary work

autostakker - staking program that utilizes registax wavelets section

there are lots of tutorials on all of the above on youtube and lots of threads on here about using all of them

Thanks for the Info oldpink,

I have downloaded the latest version of Registax, seems straight forward looking at the videos on youtube.

I will have to practice using Registax with some terrestrial footage, can't see me getting any astro footage for a while (Overcast).

@ Charic...  Good explanation, pretty basic when you think about it. Could have saved over a grand by using my bathroom mirror and a magnifying glass       

Thanks again all, ..Petee 

[jambouk]

Here is a recent ish thread about magnification:

http://stargazerslounge.com/index.php?/topic/210766-Imaging---Magnification---Barlows

Jd

[scorpio1948]

Hi JD,

What about these masks I read about, fits over the front of your scope and aids focusing. Are they any good??.

Theres a clip on Youtube that shows you how to make one from a sheet of card.

Cheers

Pete.

[jambouk]

And another thread on webcam magnification:

http://stargazerslounge.com/index.php?/topic/206028-Magnification-versus-image-ratio---rough-calcs

This is the one i was thinking of.

Masks - useful to help with focus on stars, but you can't really use them directly on planets. But if there is a bright star very near the planet you can focus on the star with the mask, then take he mask off and slew he scope to he planet and the focus should be ok. But the focus needed varies with lots of factors, notably how high in the sky something is above the horizon, so if there is no star very near the planet, pick a star that is at least at a similar height above the horizon to the planet. And remember focus changes quite quickly as the scope changes temperature and as the planet changes it's altitude... It's all a pain in the bum really! There are other ways to attempt to achieve focus, as imm sure others will mention and which have been extensively discussed on here.

Focus on jupiter and saturn I've found isn't too difficult, but with mars i've found it to be really hard.

Welcome to the world of solar system imaging

There is a good book called something like "astrophotography with a webcam" by reeves which us dated a bit but is an excellent read, but now quite scarce on the second hand market so quite pricey; check on bookbutler.com and you'll likely find a copy for £30 or so.

Jd

[Astrosurf]

Great first start! Good seeing is everything. You can take two vids of a planet at the same settings a day apart but with different seeing and one image is brilliant, the other is awful.

Here's a link to FLO's Bahtinov masks. They're excellent quality and very good value for money:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/bahtinov-focus-masks/starsharp-bahtinov-focus-masks.html

I did make my own but then I like making things! There's a B mask generator online but I can't find it. Can anyone post a link? I couldn't get my printer to print the mask template at the right scale though, so I asked somone to print it for me! I used the grey plastic back of a WS Smith A3 art pad, plus glue and electrician's tape.

Alexxx

[scorpio1948]

Hi All,

On the subject of focusing I made a brilliant attachment to my Nexstar mount that really helps.

I found one of the problems with focusing was the slight shake you get when turning the focus knob. Even though my tripod was on firm ground and level.

 I had an old Celestron Equatorial mount, (discarded after I bought a Skywatcher AZ Goto mount for my original telescope).

I noticed that the thread on the counterweight bar was exactly the same thread as the Accessory tray holder on the Nexstar 8SE.

By cutting a short metal sleeve from a bit of tube I managed to place the counterweight bar and the counterweights directly under the accessory tray, about 6" below.

This has greatly increased the stability of the whole setup (Weighted on the centre of gravity even when the scope is slewed to 0 degrees).

Anyway, no more tremor when focusing, and its completely removable by simply unscrewing the counterweight bar.

Although this was done on a Celestron, I'm sure it can be adapted to all major tripods. 

I could post some photographs next time I set it up.

Cheers

Pete.

[Astrosurf]

Excellent idea!

[Astral Enigma]

The camera is a Opticstar PX -75 Colour. No good for deep space but seems very good for our solar system.

I haven't had it long, as these are my first steps into Astrophotography. 

Pete

Hi, I'm interested in your choice of an Opticstar CCD - sounds like I'm following much the same path as you and the PX-75 or PX-137 (although that's CMOS) are two I'm thinking about, partly because Opticstar are my local supplier. What made you go for this rather than (say) a NexImage or Skyris for your Nexstar, and how have you found it to use? And, of course, how pleased with the results? 

I have so far only got planets through a DSLR so your start-up looks pretty good to me! Good luck!

[scorpio1948]

The camera is a Opticstar PX -75 Colour. No good for deep space but seems very good for our solar system.

I haven't had it long, as these are my first steps into Astrophotography. 

Pete

Hi, I'm interested in your choice of an Opticstar CCD - sounds like I'm following much the same path as you and the PX-75 or PX-137 (although that's CMOS) are two I'm thinking about, partly because Opticstar are my local supplier. What made you go for this rather than (say) a NexImage or Skyris for your Nexstar, and how have you found it to use? And, of course, how pleased with the results? 

I have so far only got planets through a DSLR so your start-up looks pretty good to me! Good luck!

Hi,

Looking around I think I could have done a bit better for the price of that camera, also the software is a bit basic. 

Unfortunately, due to the weather (mostly overcast down here) I still haven't had much time to see what it can really do.

One reason I went to Opticstar is I have bought several items from them in the past, including a computerised GOTO mount and Tripod. This give me 10% off the camera.

All the items I bought were of good value and I got a great service from them.

With the camera I will either learn to love it or loathe it, I need quite a few clear nights before I can decide.

Not much help I'm afraid. My telescope is getting cobwebs on it,   British Weather 

Cheers

Pete.

[Astral Enigma]

Interesting Pete - thanks for that. I've just borrowed a Phillips SPC900 and taken my first few pics and videos with it - underwhelmed with the results! Clearly a lot more I need to understand (and weather/location not great).

But Opticstar are local to me, and where i bought my scopes too - so going through a similar thought process. So many variables to decide between....

[scorpio1948]

Interesting Pete - thanks for that. I've just borrowed a Phillips SPC900 and taken my first few pics and videos with it - underwhelmed with the results! Clearly a lot more I need to understand (and weather/location not great).

But Opticstar are local to me, and where i bought my scopes too - so going through a similar thought process. So many variables to decide between....

Hi

Come to think of it, I also bought my Nexstar SE8 from Opticstar, used so many astro dealers lately I forgot about that. 

It was simply because of the service I have had from them in the past.

I guess my next buy will be a camera for DS photography. Have to wait a while though, need to rebuild my dwindling savings (and keep my wife happy ).

Sorry I couldn't be more help, my experience at Astro Photography is very limited to say the least. 

Glad you enjoyed your borrowed camera.

Clear skies and happy viewing

Pete.