I’m not normally a planet or lunar imager but after seeing Martin’s effort, I felt inspired to do an unusual thing for me and get a scope out while the moon is up.
My cameras don’t do video so this is just a single frame. ISO 400 @ 1/200s I think.
Taken with my C9.25 SCT at prime focus
It’s not as sharp as Martin’s but I’m reasonably happy with the outcome
That is the problem with trying to image almost a full moon, the images are almost always flat, also SCTs offer poorer contrast as compared with refractors by quite a bit
This is a single frame, poor quality due to limited upload size
Don't forget you do need to post process
The image is very soft I suspect slight out of focus and not good seeing or not total darkness
Good effort Ryan !!
Maybe next time take a quite a few shots with ISO 400 and 800 at different exposure settings. This way as your relying on single images you might snag a better one with a bit more definition and resolution
That’s how I use to take lunar shots standing there with my Canon 2m long remote shutter release 2 years ago (before I had laptops and software etc... )
Thanks for imaging the moon , our sometimes forgotten celestial neighbour
Martin
Jeremy. Nice moon pics you have there. Lunar and planetary really aren’t my thing, I normally image DSOs. This was only taken because I saw Martin’s and it was clear so I thought I’d take the scope out.
Thank you Martin. I didn’t spend a lot of time on it but I did try a few different settings and take about a dozen shots. This was the best of the bunch. I MAY try again when the moon wanes a bit so it’s not so bright.
Ryan,
What capture software do you use for your DSLRs ?
I use BYEOS as it was specifically designed for Canon DSLRs and has a Planetary mode which great for lunar imaging as well ( my recent moon images ) The Classic edition only cost me $70.00
The next step up for DSLRs would be APT but I’m not ready to change as yet ( maybe in a year or so )
I’ve actually committed myself, at least for the foreseeable future, to imaging from a portable and completely stand alone setup. I don’t use any software for capture, pa , focus or goto. Not because I think it’s the way it should be done or with any discredit to anyone who does. I just like imaging this way..... at least at the moment I do but this may well change..... one day....
I’ve actually committed myself, at least for the foreseeable future, to imaging from a portable and completely stand alone setup. I don’t use any software for capture, pa , focus or goto. Not because I think it’s the way it should be done or with any discredit to anyone who does. I just like imaging this way..... at least at the moment I do but this may well change..... one day....
I agree with you, whilst people like software and computers I too shoot WITHOUT modern aids, I have them but I prefer to do the best I can not with the aid of technology all the time
Ryan
Since you don’t use any laptop, software or other devices and your standalone ,I assume you just use the mounts hand controller to find objects and track the night sky on sidereal
How are you polar aligning and guiding ?
Interested to know as your imaging is excellent !
Ryan
Since you don’t use any laptop, software or other devices and your standalone ,I assume you just use the mounts hand controller to find objects and track the night sky on sidereal
How are you polar aligning and guiding ?
Interested to know as your imaging is excellent !
Thank you Martin. Yes you’re correct, I just use the hand controller to go to the object and the mount’s sidereal for tracking. My hand controller is also used to get polar aligned moving backwards and forwards from alignment stars until my PA error is less than 10s on RA and Dec. Guiding then comes from a 80/400 skywatcher scope mounted to my OTA with a Nexguide standalone auto guider in its bum. I don’t have PHD2 guiding to give me a graphic of what the guiding is like but I generally stand at the guider for a few mins after I start guiding and just look at how many interjections are made in both axis. As far as dealing with the accuracy of the go to. I take test shots which are generally shorter than my subs and I look at reference stars or star patterns and adjust accordingly..... I guess that’s manual plate solving too. I do accept that over a few different nights of imaging the same object, I may be off by up to about 50 pixels. This just means I lose those 50 pixels at the edge of my image when I stack them together.
I think that covers my methods but if I’ve missed anything, feel free to ask. And again, thank you for you warm praise of my imaging
Thanks Ryan
So you use the Synscan polar alignment feature in the hand controller for PA
10 arc sec is excellent just by using star alignment and a pa star. How many iterations do you do to get down to 10 arc sec ?
Do you use an illuminated reticle eye piece like an Orion ?
Ive used the same feature for 2 years and lately only getting down to an arc minute or just below using software
Any tips ?
Thanks
Thanks Ryan
So you use the Synscan polar alignment feature in the hand controller for PA
10 arc sec is excellent just by using star alignment and a pa star. How many iterations do you do to get down to 10 arc sec ?
Do you use an illuminated reticle eye piece like an Orion ?
Ive used the same feature for 2 years and lately only getting down to an arc minute or just below using software
Any tips ?
Thanks
Yeah, synscan star align then polar align and back and forth. It depends on how far off it is to start with but most of the time it’s around 6-8 iterations. That part is a bit of a battery drainer. I start with a 21mm ep then move to a 12mm illuminated reticle to refine it.
Tips ? I would say the best way I’ve found is to pick stars near SCP. It’s a beautiful idea to triangulate the whole sky but small errors will constantly leave you chasing your tail when you’re talking about arc seconds. Be fastidious, close is only good enough when you’re throwing handgranades. 1 more iteration won’t kill you. Having said that, don’t get caught up with what you’ve heard you should be achieving, do what seems to work for you ( and I’ve seen your images and what you’re doing IS working ) If nothing else, this will give you a good baseline to then further refine things in the future if you feel the need. I think starting my imaging on a wedged Alt-az with a 1250mm SCT taught me a lot about working with what you have.
Thanks Ryan
As I’m using EQMOD and Stellarium for Goto now my Synscan 2 star alignments are only important for the polar alignment procedure and not for Goto anymore ( once polar aligned I unplug the hand controller and install my EQ cable direct to my laptop )EQMOD and Stellarium is so quick and accurate to find objects I can’t believe I put up with the hand controller for so long.
As far as Synscan polar alignment I’ve been using a 2 star alignment followed by PA ( the last 2 or 3 months I’ve been using Hadar and Spica as my alignment stars and Spica as the PA star ) You mentioned using a PA star close to the SCP !! Maybe this why I can’t get below a minute
Is your PA star one of your 2 star alignment stars ? Or do you choose a third star close to the SCP as your PA star ?
I have no view of the SCP so the closest I could get on the same side of the meridian would be 35 to 40 deg in Alt and 30 to 40 deg in Az
Next time I’m out I might use
Thanks Ryan
As I’m using EQMOD and Stellarium for Goto now my Synscan 2 star alignments are only important for the polar alignment procedure and not for Goto anymore ( once polar aligned I unplug the hand controller and install my EQ cable direct to my laptop )EQMOD and Stellarium is so quick and accurate to find objects I can’t believe I put up with the hand controller for so long.
As far as Synscan polar alignment I’ve been using a 2 star alignment followed by PA ( the last 2 or 3 months I’ve been using Hadar and Spica as my alignment stars and Spica as the PA star ) You mentioned using a PA star close to the SCP !! Maybe this why I can’t get below a minute
Is your PA star one of your 2 star alignment stars ? Or do you choose a third star close to the SCP as your PA star ?
I have no view of the SCP so the closest I could get on the same side of the meridian would be 35 to 40 deg in Alt and 30 to 40 deg in Az
Next time I’m out I might use
I’ve never used EQMOD or Stellaruim so my knowledge of that is zero. As far as my PA stars go, I’ve been using Hadar or Alpha Centauri and Acrux. I tend to start with Acrux as it’s easy to identify with a second smaller star next to it. This kind of confirms that my red dot finder is pointing correctly too. When I do my iterations I alternate. I would start with my alignment on Acrux then slew to Hadar for example. Then Hadar for the polar alignment. Then do another star align starting with Hadar, slew to Acrux and then do a PA on Acrux. So on and so forth till my numbers get to where I want them. Now don’t get me wrong, this is a method I’ve come up with and others might say this is wrong but as I said before, I think it’s about finding a way that works for you and this method seems to work for me. I do also have my hand controller set to no meridian flip. That way when the alignment stars start to cross the meridian, my mount isn’t doing almost 180 RA rotation which would introduce cone error, I work out what side my target will be on for the majority of the session and this is the side of the meridian I do my alignment from. I hope this all helps
Thanks Ryan
Spot on !!!
This is the way I use to do it 2 years ago and after 4 to 6 iterations most times got the error down to < 15 arc sec error
I do t know why I’ve drifted off my procedure that worked well for me
See attached photo , this was early 2018 best I’ve ever done ( I don’t know if totally accurate but my star stayed in the crosshairs for 4 to 5 minutes before drifting off target
Thanks for your time
Enjoy the cold clear nights of winter coming up
Ryan
Following your advice and procedures
Polar aligned tonight from scratch using Hadar and Acrux and after 3 iterations got below 15 arc sec error , took me 15 minutes
Took a 90 sec test exposure on Omega and stars nice and round
Nailed it !!
I use to use these stars 18 months ago with good results , don’t know why I changed what works “ if it ain’t broken don’t fix it”
Thanks mate
Back on track again with PA !!
