Jump to content

Banner.jpg.b89429c566825f6ab32bcafbada449c9.jpg

trying to find a way to display planets/moon on tablet using telescope and dslr or webcam


Recommended Posts

Hi I'm using skywatcher discovery 150P telescope on WiFi controlled mount, dslr camera and a tablet as a screen for live-view.
When we are out at night, instead watching through an eyepiece, I want to show my kids on the screen of a tablet or laptop the celestial objects like the moon or planets or hopefully DSO's, capture it to picture and then to magnify or improve the picture.
How is it possible to transfer the view in relatively high quality from the eyepiece to the tablet?
Tried using webcam in the the Barlow tube or eyepiece, tried using my dslr+T mount tube and view from it but it's not really satisfying, Jupiter or Saturn are too small and magnifying, blur the view.
Can I use a higher quality eyepiece, attach it to my dslr via t-mount to get better results and magnification?.

I saw some wifi astrocams like Zwo or SVBONY, but I can't find out if the results will be really better than my dslr, when viewing live on screen of a tablet without editing.
appreciate your advice. thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello and welcome to SGL. A dedicated astro-cam should give better results than a DSLR. DSLR's have a large sensor so something relatively small, sush as a planet, will look quite small in relation to the screen. An astro-camera has a smaller sensor, the image of the planet will bigger relative to the chip size. The ZWO usb cameras can be used with a tablet or mobile phone with the appropriate driver, the ASI120MC-s isn't too expensive ($149) ASI120MC-S (color) | ZWO ASI (astronomy-imaging-camera.com) , not sure the Svbony cameras are compatible with phones/tablets.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You can use a dedicated camera like the ZWO 120MC-S, but even then the live image is typically rather blurry and jitters about.  A much better image is available if you take a video recording on a laptop, and post-process it (details are available online) but then you are on the slippery slope of imaging rather than visual observing.

Live stacking in EVAA mode works well on some objects e.g. star clusters, in partcular brightening objects that look faint visually (again probably requires a laptop).

If a live unedited view is required there is really no substitute for looking through the eyepiece.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you, I guess that the astro-camera will have higher quality pictures than the dslr, but is it magnifying the picture on the screen or then it's necessary to use also the tablet's digital zoom which will probably reduce the image quality, especially when it's on live-view.
is more expensive gear will get better resolution and higher magnification?
 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is hard to match the versatility of visual optics, with high and low power eyepieces, while using a fixed sensor.  A large sensor with many pixels would be required, which would be expensive.  An ASI224MC for example has a sensor of 1304x976 pixels each of 3.75 microns, and the chip is only a few mm across, giving it a field of view similar to a 5mm eyepiece.  A DSLR has a physically bigger sensor, but won't match the resolving power of a high-power eyepiece.  These cameras are capable of recording things that can't be seen in a visual view, but that does not mean they will do well at mimicing a visual view onscreen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, UKDiver said:

The files play, but I see only black.

Oh, that’s annoying. I can see them but I’m on my phone so that probably explains it. I’ll try and upload them a different way in a while.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

well, I spent some time out last nights and also used some borrowed eyepieces from friends to learn more what is the right thing for my needs.
So without a doubt, the eyepieces I borrowed gave a nicer and clearer result than the original equipment.
I used eyepieces of Meade Series 5000 Ultra Wide Angle 14mm  and 5.5mm Eyepiece (1.25 ") UWA
I also tried the Astromania 1.25 "8-24mm Zoom Eyepiece for Telescope with T-Thread
And a USB camera angeleyes 500
So even though it's not the finest gear, shooting with an Astromania 1.25 "8-24mm Zoom eyepiece attached with a T thread to the DSLR body yielded beautiful moon images, but no more, images of Jupiter are already smeared even though its moons can be seen. The same goes for Saturn. , In the resulting photo it has the shape of a smeared egg.
With angeleyes camera, the photography is better quality, and looks clearer on the computer screen, but even, in the end, there are no satisfactory results other than moon photography, here too, Jupiter and Saturn do not really look beautiful and clear. After all the attempts, one begins to conclude that the best results will be obtained from a digital eyepiece camera, perhaps ASI224MC ZWO ASI or something more advanced, but not sure it will be good for DSO observations.
Here I'm actually enter a new area of observations like 
Galaxies, nebula and other DSO and I don't really know if my gear,
skywatcher discovery 150P telescope on WiFi controlled mount, can do any better....
 

WIN_20211018_22_11_02_Pro.jpg

WIN_20211018_19_12_44_Pro.jpg

WIN_20211018_21_43_06_Pro.jpg

WIN_20211018_22_09_59_Pro.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your images of Jupiter and Saturn are pretty much exactly to scale what I see though my 60mm refractor at around 9mm, any larger magnification doesn't really yield any more detail for me, even with a barlow.

An astro camera is likely what you're looking for live view though you really won't see that much more from visual. Take a look at my profile pic of Jupiter taken as a stacked image from around 5000 source images using a zwo 224mc, at full resolution it was similar size to the picture you've uploaded above, my profile pic is stacked, post processed and cropped at a final resolution of around 250 X 250 pixels (so it's still a very small image).

I believe if you want larger and more detail with planets you need a mak/sct with long focal length.

Regarding your "smeared" images of Jupiter and Saturn, have you tried a faster shutter speed thus "dimming" the image overall due to shorter light gathering (by doing this some of the moon's of Jupiter may visually disappear), you'll find the colour and banding of the planets will appear and you'll have to post process edit the image and brighten them up to get them to look how you would expect.

Also if you haven't got one I recommend to use an intervalometer with your dslr so you don't introduce vibration via your hands on the camera.

To get good planetary images you generally have to take a lot of photos (or video) and stack them in computer software like autostakkert as atmospheric seeing varies by the second and a lot of the images taken will be junk.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.