Lunar with Redcat51

[Phillyo]

Good morning all,

So far I have only really done DSO imaging with my Redcat51 and my IMX571c camera, however with the huge moon blotting out the sky during the month (normally when it's clear too) I was wondering if there is a way I could image the moon with my current setup? I also have an ASI120mm mini if that is useful for lunar imaging? Can I buy any kind of barlow or adapter to connect my IMX571c camera to the redcat to give me a little more reach? I know the 571 doesn't have a very high frame rate but I don't really want to spend lots of money just to give something a try.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Phil

[geeklee]

Not sure about a barlow but you can likely utilise a crop view ("Capture area" in SharpCap), tighter into the moon FOV to increase your frame rate and have a go as is.  As you've alluded to, it'll be small on a RedCat by default!

I took this on a 294MM camera - https://www.astrobin.com/ovuea8/  There's no point zooming, that's all there is 🤣

[LaurenceT]

I use my Evoguide 50ED for lunar with an asi224mc. The focal length is almost the same as the Redcat 51 and the whole moon fits very nicely particularly when adjusting the ROI in Sharpcap.

[Clarkey]

From memory, if you use the Risingcam software, you can select an area to view to get a good frame rate for video. This was taken with my rising cam as a bit of an experiment.

 

[DanP-Astro]

I’m still new to astrophotography but have recently upgraded from DLSR+lens to an IMX571-based camera and a Redcat 51. I’m not sure if you’ve considered it, but I’m really enjoying using a dual-narrowband filter on nights when the moon is bright, allowing me to take plenty of pictures of emission nebulae. I was surprised how many were perfectly sized for an APS-C sensor and the Redcat! Having used long camera lenses, the Redcat is too wide for my tastes for the moon.

[Phillyo]

2 hours ago, DanP-Astro said:

I’m still new to astrophotography but have recently upgraded from DLSR+lens to an IMX571-based camera and a Redcat 51. I’m not sure if you’ve considered it, but I’m really enjoying using a dual-narrowband filter on nights when the moon is bright, allowing me to take plenty of pictures of emission nebulae. I was surprised how many were perfectly sized for an APS-C sensor and the Redcat! Having used long camera lenses, the Redcat is too wide for my tastes for the moon.

I use an Antlia ALP-T 5nm dual band filter, but I still prefer to image when the moon is less than 50% because it massively washes out the contrast even with a narrowband filter. I lose a LOT of the OIII emission when the moon is high too, but thank you for your input

[DanP-Astro]

15 minutes ago, Phillyo said:

I use an Antlia ALP-T 5nm dual band filter, but I still prefer to image when the moon is less than 50% because it massively washes out the contrast even with a narrowband filter. I lose a LOT of the OIII emission when the moon is high too, but thank you for your input

Thanks. I’ll have to do a moonlit/moonless comparison to see how much contrast/OIii I’m losing with my Altair 6nm filter.

Good luck with the lunar photography!

[Phillyo]

2 minutes ago, DanP-Astro said:

Thanks. I’ll have to do a moonlit/moonless comparison to see how much contrast/OIii I’m losing with my Altair 6nm filter.

Good luck with the lunar photography!

If you use pixinsight, use the SubframeSelector tool and check out the SNR change

[900SL]

I've been pleasantly surprised with the Baader Hyperion Barlow. I've used it with a 70mm and 90mm scope, not tried it with the Redcat but it gives 2x - 3× increase depending on spacing. Might be worth checking out the view on one of the online telescope simulators..