Moon Imaging Help

[nmoore6]

Hi all,

trying to get into astrophotography, wanted to start with the sun and moon. I tried taking an image with my NikonD330 of the moon through my Nexstar127SLT. It was a good image, except the moon was too big, i couldnt fit the entire subject into the shot. I have a really dumb basic question: Is there anything i can do to take a full shot of the moon with this scope and camera? I was hoping maybe there was something i could put on the tube to help, but maybe im stuck having to get a smaller scope? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks guys.

-Nick

[Mered]

Were you taking a picture of the image in the eyepiece, or did you attach the camera directly to the telescope?

[Cornelius Varley]

Hi all,

trying to get into astrophotography, wanted to start with the sun and moon. I tried taking an image with my NikonD330 of the moon through my Nexstar127SLT. It was a good image, except the moon was too big, i couldnt fit the entire subject into the shot. I have a really dumb basic question: Is there anything i can do to take a full shot of the moon with this scope and camera? I was hoping maybe there was something i could put on the tube to help, but maybe im stuck having to get a smaller scope? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks guys.

-Nick

You won't be able to fit the entire moon onto the sensor, the sensor is too small to do that. What you need to do is take a series of overlapping images and then create a mosaic of the images using MicrosoftICE http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/projects/ice/ . The programme will assemble the individual images and then allow you to save the result in a number of different image formats,

[nmoore6]

Were you taking a picture of the image in the eyepiece, or did you attach the camera directly to the telescope?

I have a t adapter, so the camera was directly attached

[Mered]

The focal length of your telescope is quite long, so as mentioned above by Cornelius Varley, the moon will fill the sensor. I do believe this would be good for planetary imaging though, especially if combined with a barlow.

Not sure if you are aware, but you can use Stellarium to enter your scope/camera details and it will show the area of the sky that your combination will cover.

[nmoore6]

The focal length of your telescope is quite long, so as mentioned above by Cornelius Varley, the moon will fill the sensor. I do believe this would be good for planetary imaging though, especially if combined with a barlow.

Not sure if you are aware, but you can use Stellarium to enter your scope/camera details and it will show the area of the sky that your combination will cover.

i did not know that about stellarium and will be sure to check it out, thanks. Does anyone have any recommendations for a cheap tube that would do well for moon/sun photography? 

[Cornelius Varley]

It would be cheaper to take a series of overlapping images and combine them using Mice, the results would be better too. This is how lunar imaging is done using dedicated imaging cameras that have smaller sensors than a DSLR. The final image can have a much greater resolution and greater detail than a single shot taken with a DSLR.

[nmoore6]

It would be cheaper to take a series of overlapping images and combine them using Mice, the results would be better too. This is how lunar imaging is done using dedicated imaging cameras that have smaller sensors than a DSLR. The final image can have a much greater resolution and greater detail than a single shot taken with a DSLR.

Cool, thanks guys. Much appreciated!

[jason32]

Use a full frame camera that might help.

[nmoore6]

Use a full frame camera that might help.

Looking to invest as little as possible. Im probably going to end up trying to learn that ICE program, hopefully its not too difficult. Was hoping maybe there was a cheap tube out there or maybe a cheap lens 

[Cornelius Varley]

Looking to invest as little as possible. Im probably going to end up trying to learn that ICE program, hopefully its not too difficult. Was hoping maybe there was a cheap tube out there or maybe a cheap lens 

The programme is very easy to use. All you do is select the photos you want to use in the mosaic and the software does the rest.

[nmoore6]

The programme is very easy to use. All you do is select the photos you want to use in the mosaic and the software does the rest.

Sounds promising. How many overlapping photos does one typically take for the program? Two halves, four overlapping photos, 20 shots of the moon that all have a small piece? Sorry for the questions, I am not terrific with computers, but am really hoping to get into simple photography without getting too frustrated.

[Cornelius Varley]

Sounds promising. How many overlapping photos does one typically take for the program? Two halves, four overlapping photos, 20 shots of the moon that all have a small piece? Sorry for the questions, I am not terrific with computers, but am really hoping to get into simple photography without getting too frustrated.

It really depends on the camera. The trick is to make sure you have some identifiable feature, ie crater, in each shot and use this as a reference point for the overlap. So you would take a shot with the reference crater at say the left side of the viewfinder and then move the telescope for the next shot so that the crater is at the righthand side of the next image and so on until you have covered the whole of the moon. With a dslr and your mak you should be able to do this with about 8 shots.

[nmoore6]

It really depends on the camera. The trick is to make sure you have some identifiable feature, ie crater, in each shot and use this as a reference point for the overlap. So you would take a shot with the reference crater at say the left side of the viewfinder and then move the telescope for the next shot so that the crater is at the righthand side of the next image and so on until you have covered the whole of the moon. With a dslr and your mak you should be able to do this with about 8 shots.

thanks. I do have one more question. After I start with moon shots, I was thinking of getting the orion short-tube 80mm refractor. It has f/5. Can this be put on the nexstar mount by itself (does it have a dovetail?) and if so, could i use this for some decent 15 or so second exposures?