Expanding current imaging capabilities - viewing and imaging the planets - would love some help

[johny3]

hi all

I recently got my son into viewing the night sky with our telescope. We have a Celestron 21063 AstroMaster 90 AZ Refractor Telescope. I currently have a canon t3i, which I have had for a long time and love. I ended up buying a t adapter with 2x barlow lens for the moon and it works wonderfully with my canon. The problem is that although I can see Jupiter and 4 moons this week, I cannot take pictures of the planets due to the limits of the 2x of the barlow lens in the t adapter.

Any thoughts on how to be able to view and take pictures of the planets with the canon attached?  Can I modify my current setup, need a higher magnification barlow?

Thank you for reading.

Here is what I have:

Celestron 21063 AstroMaster 90 AZ Refractor Telescope

Celestron 93640 Universal 1.25in T-Adapter

canon t3i

[happy-kat]

Can you not see Jupiter in the canon live view?

Your finder scope will need to be accurate so that when it is lined up it is what the camera can see, adding yet a stronger barlow well make it even harder. 

[johny3]

3 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

Can you not see Jupiter in the canon live view?

Your finder scope will need to be accurate so that when it is lined up it is what the camera can see, adding yet a stronger barlow well make it even harder. 

hi

Sorry I did not explain well. I can see Jupiter with the live view but it ends up as a bright spot. I cannot seem to be able to focus it down to resolve the planet. There certainly could be something  I am doing incorrectly. I can take a picture of the spot tonight if the clouds allow.

 

edit:

I did take a few shots of it last night.

 

 

[johny3]

To clarify I am spotting Jupiter with the telescope then putting the camera on the telescope via the t adapter. then trying to take the picture. 

[happy-kat]

You need to focus again the camera won't be the same as the eye piece.

[johny3]

thanks I did try that. Maybe not well enough. The astromaster + 2x barlow should be enough for Jupiter? Will retry again, and report back. thank you.

[happy-kat]

Reading earlier post you use your camera on the Moon with telescope so you can reach focus. Sometimes the seeing is really bad so there is always that potential to effect focus.

[johny3]

3 hours ago, happy-kat said:

Reading earlier post you use your camera on the Moon with telescope so you can reach focus. Sometimes the seeing is really bad so there is always that potential to effect focus.

great, hoping the clouds go away. will let you know, I appreciate the help!

[Astrosurf]

Normally people image the planets with modified webcams or dedicated planetary cameras. The webcams can be bought very cheaply. Ask on here for best makes and modding advice.

The cams take vides (AVIs) made up of lots of very quick frames that you can then stack in Registax and Autostakkert!2, both freeware.

Alexxx

 

[Waldemar]

Your Canon needs to be on manual totally, not only the focusing, but also exposure time.

Maybe it mediates the exposure time because of the very small point of light in your further dark picture, so the planet is over exposed.
Try different (shorter) exposure times and stack many shots as mentioned before.
I agree DSLR's are not the best option for planetary imaging...

[happy-kat]

Unless a canon 60d or 550d they are good on planets. The video crop sensor function that these two camera have, pretty much an exception though.

[johny3]

thank you all.

I was able to adjust the settings manually to get decent shots of the moon tonight. I had trouble just finding Jupiter when switching from the 20mm telescope lens to the canon. Will try again. I appreciate all of the help. Will look into the web cams too. Would love to try to get my current gear to work decently but obviously there are limits.

thanks again

[Astrosurf]

Planets can be a pain to find! I use a well-aligned red dot finder. I would be lost without it. I also use a wide-angle EP first and defocus the planet so it fills a lot of the FOV. That makes it easier to see if it's centred. Then go up to a shorter lens, say 8mm, get the planet in view again by refocusing and again leave it out-of-focus to re-centre. Then onto the camera or webcam. You will of course need to focus again.

The problem with this method is I then don't focus on a star first, as that means I have to leave the cam in. But that's where the RDF helps if you focus on a star. But it's still hit or miss. But for Juiter, I use a Bahtinov Mask to focus on one of the moons.

Some people use a flip mirror but I don't know if they'd be compatible with your scope.

[johny3]

thanks for the tips! so much to learn