9.25 Moon Camera

[Muzz]

Hi Everyone,

Just looking for a bit of advice please for mainly a moon / planetary close ups and maybe mosaics.

I recently purchased a C9.25 on a AZEQ6 and have been very happy with it - Truth be told I am still out of my depth on the simpler things let alone the complicated stuff!

But already its been great and very enjoyable - I live in NE Scotland (56") so have discovered that true darkness is an issue during the summer months for DSO's

I am planning on a 9.25 / ED80 combo but given the darkness situation purchasing the ED80 can wait until Autumn when it gets properly dark as due to Mon - Fri 9-5 work commitments true darkness around midnight makes for a sleepy work day  

I am a great admirer of the moon hence the reason for buying the 9.25 - Saw Jupiter for the first time this month and was in awe then stayed up til 4am last week to see Saturn but it was so small and the sun was coming up.

Currently I have a 5D Mark II - Am looking at ZWO ASI 224 for close ups and other planetary shots (Yup I know the planets are poor viewing) - Maybe in the future I am happy to adapt in the future with a moon specific mono cam just trying to find a best way forward at the moment.

My 5D II struggles to get a decent shot of the planets given the sensor size. I can fit the full moon pretty much filling the sensor but it would be nice to get more detail. 

Is the 1.2mp ASI224 the best bet or is the ASI178 with its 6.4mp sensor better for close up craters given its higher resolution?

Sorry to be a pain but appreciate the assistance as always  Just trying to work out how best to proceed with the planets before tackling the minor issue of deep space imagery! eek

Thank You,

Murray 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[billyharris72]

Hi Murray:

It's not so much the resolution of the camera in MP that matters as the size of the chip and the size of the pixels. A larger chip will get you a larger field of view, and smaller individual pixels will get you more resolution (provided your scope has enough resolution and seeing conditions will support it). The ASI178 wins on both counts (1/1.8 inch chip will get you a wider field while vs the 1/3 inch chip in the 224, while the 178 has 2.5 micron pixels vs 3.75 for the 224).

In terms of the field of view the 178 will always show you more in the field. The pixel scale (0.21 vs 0.33" per pixel) might get you some gains on nights of good seeing, but the UK is not exactly known for this. I think the benefit of the more expensive camera would be the flexibility to frame slightkly wider shots (you can always choose to go narrower by shooting using only part of the sensor). I don't think there are any out and out advantages to the 244, other than price, but it should bag nice (though very narrow field) images.

Billy.

[billyharris72]

Meant to add - the main limitation of your Canon is probably not the sensor. It's almost impossible to get single frame DSLR shots that are pinpoint sharp at high manifications - the seeing conditions will pretty much rule it out. The idea is to shoot video and use Registax or Autostakkert to produce a sharp image from several thousand frames. If I remember correctly this doesn't work well on a DSLR because when shooting video the camera does not use all the pixels on the camera, but reduces the resolution by taking every nth one. As a result you're effectively shooting with much bigger pixels and lose a lot of resolution (while gaining nothing in light sensitivity as you would with CCD binning).

Hope this helps.

Billy.

[Muzz]

Hi Billy,

First and foremost many thanks indeed for taking the time out to write such a helpful reply. It is very much appreciated and means a lot to me

Certainly a lot of things to think about but I have time! First use use the 9.25 & DSLR tonight and looking forward to seeing what happens. I can get a ZWO type camera in due course I am excited for what the future brings.

Thanks again!

Clear Skies,

Murray 

[newbie alert]

A dedicated planetary cam is definately the way forward... lots of fantastic images taken with the the asi range..

Not sure if you had a look at the specs..

https://agenaastro.com/zwo-astronomy-cameras-buyers-guide.html