Deep sky imaging with Player One Mars M and Sharp-Cap

[cesco]

Hi all,

under these weather conditions I had only a couple of decent nights for experimenting plate solving with ASPS & Astrometry Net. Nonetheless, I had the opportunity to positively test its usefulness, in association with the classical star hopping, so that I would like to name the method Plate Solving-assisted Star Hop.

I had to spend the first night familiarizing with ASPS on the field. The second night, after selecting the first reference star with the fnder scope, I found myself lost somewhere in the sky, yet next to my target.

So I took a 10-s, 2x2 binning, picture of the spot and quickly submitted it to ASPS. I soon obtained my position coords by Astrometry Net and visualized them onto Cartes du Ciel by use of the Circular Field/New Guide Field function, by plotting my FOV directly on the sky chart.

Since my FOV was also visualized on the computer screen, I was able to move the scope by the hand control in the direction and length estimated from the sky chart until I saw my target neatly enter the FOV. Elapsed time was less than 10 min from the first spotting the reference star in the finder scope.

 

Now, I just learned that plate solving is currently a tool in the Sharp-Cap software. I also learned of Electronically Assisted Astronomy and Live Stacking, and of fabulous achievings of CMOS

It also happens that I just bought a Player One Mars M planetary camera (CMOS sensor) and upgraded my PC to an USB3.0 system to improve my planetary imaging.

 

My questions: is someone using Player One Mars M (or C) also for Deep Sky imaging? Is it possible to manage this planetary camera with Sharp-Cap for DS imaging and plate solving?

 

I would be grateful for discussing details of these topics with somebody already using these new imaging tools.

 

Thank you

 

Cesco

 

SET UP

- Imaging scope: Meade semiapo ED 7” f/9 refractor on Losmandy G11, manually operated, upgraded to ST4 guiding by means of a SBIG Relay Box connected to Losmandy model 492 control unit;

- Imaging: Atik 428EX monochrome videocamera operated with the Atik software Artemis. FOV 19’hx14’v

- Guiding scope: acromatic refractor Vixen 80mm f/12

- Guiding camera: Atik Titan

- Guiding software: PHD2

- Processing/stacking: Dawn, Registax6, DSS, Autostakkert

- Filters: RGB Baader dielectric into a Baader filter slit, no luminance, Neodymium filter in front of Atik camera