don't you just hate it when....

[rowena]

Don't you just hate it when you line up something to view and then the clouds come, so you move to another of the sky and then the clouds follow you to that part aswell! :mad2: so tempted to get a GPS scope! :whistle:

I'm also annoyed with trying to take photos through my scope aswell. I'm finding the eye peice projection system doesnt take sharp images, specially when im trying to take pics of jupiter. I can't get any defination on the cloud-rings at all, compared to looking through my scope using the same lens.

i guess i got to see three good things tonite. 1. jupiter, 2. M7 off of scorpio, and 3. a really bright meteor :astron:

Wonder if the pesky clouds will be around tomorrow night too!

Think i need some sleep :)
Rowena

*yes i wrote this last nite, but website went down when i went to post! :) *

[toetoe]

What i hate is when you wait for the clouds to clear and it ends up being to late to have a gander,,what a wast of a night. :(

[rowena]

heheh yes indeed. but its never too late, unless the sun is coming up!! but there are some good things coming up early in the morning such as Mars, and scorpio!

who needs sleep anyhow! ;)

[rumples riot]

Thats the trouble with an outdoor hobby. Wait till winter when it get really cold. hehehehe

[rowena]

hehehe yeah and in summer theres the mozzies!!!

[Exfso]

At least we dont have to put up with snow and arctic conditions like those in the Northern Hemisphere. That really is a true test of one's character.

:cold:

[rumples riot]

Yeah right on, great to have that mediterranean climate. Better than freezing.

[ving]

hi rowena, unfortunately i dont think you can train GPS to avoid clouds :P
you could try tho.

what sort of steup do you have again?

[[1ponders]]

Hey rowena, do you have a laptop? If you do the bet a ToUcam pro. You won't touch eyepiece projection again, except for maybe the moon and sunspots. Its difficult to beat it with the planets. If you're trying to shoot Jupiter through eyepiece projection its really hard to get the shot short enough, (1/25 or 1/15 sec) and still have an image that's bright enough too see. Especially if you're using a lot of magnification.

What sort of setup are you using for the projection?

[rowena]

I'm finding its not that i can't get a short enough exposure. more the fact that i can't get the image sharp.

from the following pic...
*will put some more pics up but dont know how to put mutiple photoss up in one reply. (and holding down the shift key when browsing the pics wont highlight mutiple files :/ )

[rowena]

this one i just put my camera straight on the back of my scope, without using the projection method. 10 second exposure, so that i could high light the moons. can make out 5 of them.

[rowena]

final piccy. i took this using a 6mm lens on the scope, and then pointing my camera lens into the 6mm lens.

[rowena]

ummm i think i'll have to put a photo of it up, cause i cant find a weblink for it atm. i'll have a search round and see what i can find.

i do have a laptop... whats a toUcam?

ving - i have a celestron 5" schmidt-cassegrain, its the G5 with a motorised mount. (pre GO-TO mounts on the G5)

rowena

[rowena]

found it!!

http://meade.telescopes.com/products/Meade_Variable_Projection_Camera_Ad apter_1.25_Inch_6388.html

sorry bout the long link. i have a generic brand, but its exactly the same as this one.

as far as the sun goes.. i just use my camera with a solar filter for my camera, have some nice piccies of sunspots with it. the filter i got from thousand oaks. for the moment that is keeping me content for looking at the sun. (http://www.users.bigpond.com/rowena.baumgart)

rowena

[ving]

what sort of camera do you have? does it have digital zoom or optical zoom?
can you control the iso settings? if you have it on 100 iso try it on something higher.
also how are you holding the camera to the eyepiece? if its just hand held you are probably getting movement. you should use a tripod or fins a way of attaching the camera to your scope.
and finally, your shot looks a bit out of focus. is your scope focused when you are shooting and do you have your cameras focus set to infinite?
hope some of this helps :)

[Astroman]

Nice shot of the moons there Rowena, I trhink the 5th moon is actually a star though (SAO 139129). Just being picky now :P Good to see another person trying out Astrophotography takes time, but the rewards are amazing.

[[1ponders]]

A ToUcam is a web cam that you attach to your telescope in place of your eyepiece. Allows you take photos like this
http://www.iceinspace.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=935
Its a bit different to taking photos as you actually take a video and then stack all the images in the vides automatically with a program called registax3 (freeware) to produce a still image. http://registax.astronomy.net/

Check out the rest of the Solar System forum to see examples of Registax/ToUcam produced images

[rowena]

ving..

Im using the canon eos 300D. I always use manual settings! :) love the control factor. plus its the best way to learn about the camera and what works well in taking photos!

image 1 - shutter speed sais 1/2 sec exposure time is 1/1.7 sec hrm. iso is 100

image 2 - 10 second ISO 100

image 3 - is a combination of two images, iso 1600, exposure 1/10 sec, with the camera lens being at a f5.6, handheld photo pointing into a 6mm lens into the scope.

the 6mm lens is not the best quality aswell. It is actually part of the celestron accessory kit that were going for $99 US, and after shipping ended up around $190Au all up, much cheaper then i could get in australia.

i will have to try the fixed camera though.. i have just bought a new heavy duty tripod which will allow me to go both vertically and horizontally. picked that up at a computer fair in wollongong for $89!! bargin! exaclty what i was after!!


i realise some of my photos are out of focus. which is the point. with the projection method they are extremely out of focus! i got better quality photos holding my camera up to the lens, then attaching it to the scope using the projection method.


ponders..

i have seen the piccies... hence the temptation of doing a different method!! :)


rowena

[[1ponders]]

Rowena to help your focus you might want to consider using a hartmann mask to place over your objective when focusing. Really easy to make and they make a big difference.
http://www.iceinspace.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=412&highlight=hart%2A

Also 10 sec exposures will be far too long to get anysort of clarity. Turbulance in the atmosphere over that time will blur any detail right out of the image. Try a maximum of around 1/5 sec with a faster ISO (800 at least though the graininess of the image will increase)

Good luck

[rowena]

the 10 second was to bring out the moons. didnt mind about no defination on jupiter itself ;)

playing with registax atm!

i have other images. i will post a url link when i have them up.
will be later this afternoon tho.
rowena

[[1ponders]]

Are you using a tele-extender for your EEP shots? These shots were taken using a 102mm celestron refractor and a meade tele-extender, 20mm lense and a canon 300d http://www.iceinspace.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1022&highlight=conjunction.

If you're using one I have an excel spreadsheet I made up That calculates focal lengths, multiples of magnification, f ratios etc, simply by putting in your OTA focal length, your various eyepiece focal lengths and the distances from imaging chip to last lens element (which is easy enough to work out once you know how). I've found it very handy for working out exposure rates with still cameras when used in conjunction with Michael Covingtons "Astrophotography for the Amateur" or other exposure rate charts.

[rowena]

Ive actually ditched using my teleextender, purely for the fact that when i look through the lens without it on, the images seem more sharp.

its like putting a tele-extender lens on a 300mm zoom camera lens, you get a bit of distortation even though your doubling the magnification.

hrm i think i'll have to try the teleextender, and perhaps my 17mm lens. i'll also try the tripod trick aswell. I'll see how i go tonite.

I just dont won't to put too much weight on the back of my scope! i just don't want a $1700 worth of equipment falling to the ground!
I have this fear it will come lose one day and go *smash* :(

anyhow this is my url with the photos i took with different exposure times/iso's of image no.2 (didnt get a chance to do all of them!)
please note there are 9 images per page, around 100K each image. 2 pages worth.

http://photos.zethos.org/jupiter120305

rowena