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Originally Posted by browndog
I am thinking that I would like to try a mosaic image sometime soon. This would allow me to image widefield targets that are too large for my current equipment.
I was wondering how others go about planning their mosaic images. In particular, how do you calculate the centre of each tile in the mosaic based on the desired size of the final combined image?  |
Traditionally mosaics are done with about 30% overlap. You can probably get away with less on astro images, as long as your field is pretty flat.
Quote:
Originally Posted by browndog
Is there free or simple software that can automate this, or do you calculate manually?
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If you know your arcseconds/pixel you can work backwards from that. e.g QHY8+0.33FR on a C8 is 206.265/(2032*0.33)*7.8 or about 2.4 as/p, so the smaller dimension FOV is roughly 2000*2.4 = 4800 arcsec, with 30% overlap that gives 4800*0.7 or 3300 arcsecs you can move between frames. Someone with more experience might want to check the math.
To automate the stitching, Hugin is free, or if you have a few hundred spare Euros, Autopano Professional. You might find you need to process each image separately first.
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Originally Posted by Octane
Dr. Robert Gendler has written an article on this very topic.
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Interesting, but maybe overkill for someone just wanting to try mosaics. Wouldn't you need a permanent setup to make full use of Rob's method?