M15 and M57

[daneel]

Managed to align MikeP's old Skywatcher reflector (not easy as it's a big lump of metal and I have to do contortions with a chair to look through the finder scope).

The 10" image of M15 is not as good as the one from the Equinox 100 mm refractor, which is rather odd.

So here's M15 through the 10"...

(click to enlarge)

And M57

(click to enlarge)

Is this as good as it gets with the webcam, or can I squeeze some better image quality out with image processing? Might not be able to afford that Atik camera yet as our savings have been frozen in Iceland!

[CELESCOPE]

Yup you sure can , i started out with web cams for imaging , here is my one of M27 taken with a web cam a few years ago now lol , i think with yours , try and get a better focus, otherwise its all there .

Rog

[daneel]

That's beautiful Rog - you can see some of the fine structure in the ring. Will try again when the moon's not out and take more care with the focus. Think my wife's knitting me a Hartmann mask for my birthday in December.

[LostNSpace]

Hi Daneel!!!

Well theres no stopping you now........

Focussing is always a big issue, its so easy to knock it out of focus when your fumbling around in the dark, a hartman mask should make focussing a little easier.....

One thing i will ask is, why do you need to fork out money for an Atik when you have a perfectly good Canon EOS10D there??

All you may need to buy is a remote switch and a T-Ring and you should be all but set to move on to the next level of imaging........

Anyways, keep at it and enjoy........

Mark

[Psychobilly]

Hartmans are ok but old news try the these....

http://stargazerslounge.com/index.php/topic,30884.0/all.html

I think you will find them a lot easier to use if not so easy to make...

If your scopes not there post a reply with the dims and i'll knock up the template...

Billy...

[MartinB]

I like those Daneel. Good to see people still having DSO fun with web cams

[daneel]

Thanks for all your encouraging comments.

I've tried the Canon EOS 10D, which produced good images with a wider field of view, but had various problems. Firstly it was heavy so it pulled out the Crayford focuser on my reflector until Steve from FLO showed me how to tighten the movement. And it's so hard to focus because you have to take a photo, look at the image, adjust, take a photo, look at the image, adjust again... With the webcam I can see the image right in front of me as I adjust the focus which seems much more natural. With the filter focus technique it might be easier.

Just after I found M15 I tripped over the power cable so had to do the alignment again. I swore quite a lot.

[LostNSpace]

Hi Daneel!!!

Yes the weight of the camera can be a problem......You should be fine using it on your SW250 though......Although again, when it comes to focussing you still have to spend time trying to get it spot on.....Can take me around an hour some nights but its worth it when you start getting results.......

I hope you do decide to use the DSLR in the future, its all about getting the best out the equipment you have available at the moment until your able to move on and buy your 1st CCD.....It would be a shame just to have the DSLR just sitting there gathering dust.......

I think most of us can relate when it comes to tripping over the power cable, ive done that more than once .......

Mark

[Tim]

Focussing a dslr is difficult in some ways, but here is what I have found to work.

1) after aligning, go to a real bright star, Vega etc. and roughly focus through the viewfinder.

2) Take an image. you are after seeing the difraction spikes nice and even and most of all single points.

3) carefully note which way and how much you turn the focusser, and then shoot another one, and check the spikes.

For my SCT which hasnt got any helpful obstructions to cause spikes, I have made a wire crosshair to fit across the front, am very keen to try that as soon as it clears again.

Nice images btw, even better as they are from a webcam!

TJ

[rikyuu]

that looks great. What was the exposure time with the webcam and sky conditions (dark or light polluted)?