My Start In Astrophotography

[Aussie Dave]

My start in astrophotography,. The moon during the day, late last year through the EP of an old Bresser 5" reflector with a FujiFilm 10.2mp pocket digital camera. This isn't actually my first attempt at astrophotography but the first half decent pics that I'd like to share.

Final shot (original size) that's was edited to make it look like it was taken at night.

[Pete Presland]

a very nice start as well, some nice detail showing!

[Aussie Dave]

Cheers Pete, I'm happy with it but thinking about it now, I'm not even sure I had an EP in the Bresser.

Another shot, around the same time late last year through the EP of a SkyWatcher 10" Dob and the same digital camera.

I'm not happy with this shot. Out of about 30 pics I took, this was the only one worth keeping. All the rest were blury and out of focus due to movement of the camera and/or scope. It looked much better through the eyepiece. Took some of Mars and Venus when it was around last year as well as Orions nebular but not worth showing, horrible shots.

[swag72]

A great start Dave

[Knight of Clear Skies]

Nice start.

I'm not happy with this shot. Out of about 30 pics I took, this was the only one worth keeping. All the rest were blury and out of focus due to movement of the camera and/or scope. It looked much better through the eyepiece.

It's not bad at all for a single frame, that's recognisably Saturn. The problem you describe is perfectly normal when viewing planets at high magnification, atmospheric turbulence blurs the subject and you only occasionally get clear frames. It looks better in the eyepiece because it is smaller.

For planetary imaging you'd get far better results using a webcam. The best method for planetary imaging is to take a video and stack the frames using Registax or similar software. It's surprising what level of detail can be hiding in there. To give you some idea of what is possible here's the best source frame and the result of a final stack.

(Most frames were much worse than this, in many of them there were two Mars.)

[uhb1966]

Not bad !!!

[Aussie Dave]

Nice start.

It's not bad at all for a single frame, that's recognisably Saturn. The problem you describe is perfectly normal when viewing planets at high magnification, atmospheric turbulence blurs the subject and you only occasionally get clear frames. It looks better in the eyepiece because it is smaller.

For planetary imaging you'd get far better results using a webcam. The best method for planetary imaging is to take a video and stack the frames using Registax or similar software. It's surprising what level of detail can be hiding in there. To give you some idea of what is possible here's the best source frame and the result of a final stack.

Yep I downloaded Registax to my desktop PC some time ago as well as another, forget the name it now but I fear I don't have enough RAM to do the processing, only got 2GB.

I've also been looking for a telescope webcam on Ebay, there's some very cheap one's available now to what there was 12 months ago, not sure if the cheapies would be suitable or just a waste of money. I have 3 computer webcams here that I can mod, 2MP or less sensors CMOS. Just wondering which one to butcher or just buy a telescope webcam online.

[Knight of Clear Skies]

It's possible to get good results with a cheap webcam, for example the XBox 360 camera mod is quite popular.

[Aussie Dave]

Yes, a friend of mine who is a little more advanced in atronomy than me has the Xbox webcam, results seemed ok from what he showed me online.

It's hard to find info on the PC webcams I have for modding for astrophotography, although it's a similar process for all I think. Maybe I should just buy one specially made for the job. I think it will save a lot of hair pulling and swearing.

Also it's not just the planets I'd like to photograph. I have 2 DSLR's, a Samsung GX1L 6.3mp CCD sensor (no movies, average reviews) and a Nikon D3100 14.2mp CMOS sensor (MPEG4 movies, good reviews) but I don't have the mounts yet for them. I've been buying bits and pieces for this for some time.

Is it worth it to buy a telescope webcam with what I have already?

[Knight of Clear Skies]

A tracking mount will make planetary imaging easier but it's possible to get decent results just letting the target drift across the field of view. As you say, the dedicated cameras will give better results and save time - it's just a question of whether how much you want to spend and whether you want to experiment before committing yourself.

Good luck, astrophotography can be quite addictive.

[Aussie Dave]

Yep, I think I am committed with the money I've already spent to get to where I am today. There's no turning back now

What I'm looking at atm is a tracking mount, still researching, either modding what I have (if possible) or buying a good second hand one. Also getting the T-mounts which isn't a big deal, a small expense.

[stepping beyond]

I use a Star shoot ll electronic ep w/ Sharpcap and process in Gimp and reg6 using stacking and wavelet filters and a wide field T510NG  color digital telescope camera that came w/ TOUPVIEW  w/ video /snapshot and processing software. My imaging that past 4 months is major improvement IMHO , if Jupiter would just clear the trees earlier I would have some good time to image it. Mars and Saturn won't happen this time around. AD keep at it and it will all come together, I'd been imaging the moon for 2 yrs. and like I said earlier it just gets easier and better once you understand that it's not easy to image the moon, time and working with the processing tools available is key.

[stepping beyond]

AD I spent 1 yr. working with an eq1 mount that came with my 80eq refractor w/ RA md and search for a yr. and now have a used lxd55 goto mount that'll track anything and allow for long exposure AP. I've got a pomans imaging setup and it does a good job on Solar system stuff until after xmas when I'll have a 4 in. reflector to mount up, it all takes time , experience doing and money of course. How much is entirely up to you, good luck and clear sky.

[Aussie Dave]

Cheers all, I'm familiar with most of my gear and setups but this astrophography thing is a huge leap in to unknown territory, so many variables. I'll get there eventually but it's not going to be as quick as I'd like.

[stepping beyond]

I'm  a disabled astronomer working everything w / one hand, it's challenging but, I love a challenge and I enjoy being able to do AP. It's like everything in astronomy challenging and a lot of learning curve. Just don't let it get the better of you.

[Aussie Dave]

Nah I won't Stepping Beyond and thanks for your info and advice. I decided about 1 year ago to do this and have been saving my pennies where I can. Everything I've bought is second hand, waiting for them to pop up online for sale at a reasonable price and spent probably 1/4 of the price compared to buying new. I haven't even had my scopes out in 12 months and I'm been getting withdrawal symptoms. Been trying to get everything I need before I venture out in to the night again. The results I got with my Fujifilm digital camera through the EP are not what I want to achieve, ok for general moon shots but that's about it.

It's a lot of researching, reading and testing but I'm up for that. It's all a matter of buying a few more things, doing a mod or 2 and then I'll be up and running... that's the plan anyway

[stepping beyond]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=839729059381495&set=pcb.839731169381284&type=1 lets us see if that worked.

[Aussie Dave]

Nice lunar pics Stepping Beyond. I've been trying to get the specs on my 3 webcams to see if they're suitable. What I have so far...

Logitech V-U0013 also known as C100

All I could find on this was that it has a VGA CMOS sensor, 1.3mp still photos software enhanced, not sure about video resolution, suspected vid res 640 x 480 max. Low light conditions ok.

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Microsoft LifeCam VX-7000

2 MP CMOS sensor, 2MP still photos, 1920 x 1080 video resolution but poor reviews for low light conditions.

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D Smith Electronics Webcam

Now this one looks very interesting. Only has 350k pixels CMOS sensor, up to 1.3mp still photos software enhanced, 640 x 480 video resolution. What's good about this one is it has a manual focus ring with lens attached which you can just unscrew and pull out. An easier mod. I have used this webcam and in low light conditions it seems ok, some noise, but nothing special. The only issue is the small size of the CMOS sensor.

So, I'm no wiser really and have no intension of modding any of these that I have. Unless another member has modded one of these so I can see the end results and what I could expect.

[stepping beyond]

I wouldn't bother trying modifying , it could go either way with that. I wish you clear skies AD.