DS vs Planetary Imaging?

[Lebster31]

Hi, I was just wondering how different the setup for DS imaging would be compared to Planetary Imaging. I am starting to get into Astrophotography at a very basic level and through gifts I've acquired what I think is a pretty decent "astrophotography arsenal" for a beginner. However, my telescope seems to have it's limitations, it is a Meade ETX 90. I've heard people say you can get some decent lunar and planetary images with that telescope, but deep sky imaging is basically out of the equation due to the mount. My question is what would be a better option to do lunar and planetary imaging with? I have a Canon EOS Rebel XTI D400 and I do have an adapter for it. I also have an Orion StarShoot Solar System 4 color imaging camera as well, though the SSSS4 camera seems to be stuck at 480p resolution when I know it can go higher. Any insight or advice would be very much appreciated! 

Thank you!

[GuLinux]

I'd say they're opposite in many aspects.

For DS you need a large field camera, while acquisition speed doesn't matter. It doesn't even have to provide USB connection (a DSLR like yours saving to SD card can be sufficient).

For planetary, you need a fast (USB3?) camera, acquisition speed is the most important parameter. A wide field would be nice to have, in theory, but it would slow down acquisition, so usually planetary cameras have a much smaller chip size.

Telescopes side: for DS you need fast scopes (F/4, F/5), since you need to maximize the light acquisition. On planetary, on the contrary, you usually use slower scopes (F/10) with focal extender, up to F/20 or F/30, in order to get the highest possible magnification.

Mount side: on DS you need precise tracking, autoguiders to correct every error. Planetary imaging doesn't even strictly require an equatorial mount, and it could even be successful with a manual alt-az mount (Dobson et similia)

 

With your setup I would indeed suggest planetary/lunar over DSO. You already have the camera, alright, but you'd need to buy much more stuff to get it ready for DSO imaging, while for planetary you'd just want to buy a fast planetary camera (they're usually not that expensive) and you're all set.

 

[GuLinux]

Sorry, I didn't read you already have a planetary camera.. that settles it then

[Lebster31]

Thanks for your input! I have been using my SSSS4 camera to take lunar and planetary images but have run unto some issues. First, I have a hard time finding objects such as planets with the high magnification. With the moon, it's easy to find but the quality is so bad. Any tips would be helpful!

thanks!

[CraigT82]

Yes it can be difficult to find your target at high magnification and with a small chip. 

1st thing the Make sure of is that your finder is properly aligned with the main scope. Align the finder on a distant object in the day and use the camera rather than an eyepiece. Switch between camera and eyepiece to see if there is any difference in where it's 'pointing'. If so note which direction and by how much. 

When you're trying to find the planet, find it first in the eyepiece and get it centred, then switch over to he  camera. it helps to pre-practice switching between the eyepiece and camera to get this process as smooth and gentle as possible. One slight knock will send it off screen. It also helps to know which way to re-focus and by how much when switching between eyepiece and camera. 

It can help to whack the gamma right up in the camera software and if the planet is just off screen you should see a glow off to one side telling you where it is.