Quark
20-01-2009, 05:25 PM
Hi All,
I have no doubt that the Witches Head is very dim and requires heaps of subs, but it probably would also help to align the region centrally in the frame.
This is my first piggy back attempt with my 450D and thought I would try for the Witches Head, not being a modified camera and being a predominantly blue object I gave it a go but came up well short.
Couldn't believe how difficult it was to aim the camera at the particular region. I kept getting blinded by the LCD screen turning on and off as I went to look through the view finder, must be another way of doing this.
Used my 17-85mm EFS lens at 85mm, Images Plus Camera Control to focus the camera, seemed pretty easy to do.
Guided the scope with my DMK using IC Capture and Alls Reticle to guide on Rigel.
Took a couple of test exposures of 120 secs, just to try and work out where the camera was pointing and re aligned the camera to get what l assumed was Rigel into the field.
I ended up not having the alignment I required but now have images of the field in the immediate vicinity for next time.
So here is my first attempt, the field above Rigel.
This image was created from 14 x 300 second subs at ISO 800, 6 Darks, 16 Flats and 50 Bias frames. Would this be enough data to reolve The Witched Head?
This is the first time I have used Images Plus and followed along with the pertinent video tutorial to calibrate my images. I loaded my lights, darks, flats and bias frames and followed the tutorial instructions. When I realized I had the wrong field I didn't worry about further processing.
I am pleased with the shape of the stars but as I don't have a field flattener this image would look better cropped. I thought it best to present the whole image here, hopping some of you astro guru's will pick up any other problems that I am not aware of.
Could really do with some advice on aligning the camera when used for wide field piggy back imaging.
Regards
Trevor
I have no doubt that the Witches Head is very dim and requires heaps of subs, but it probably would also help to align the region centrally in the frame.
This is my first piggy back attempt with my 450D and thought I would try for the Witches Head, not being a modified camera and being a predominantly blue object I gave it a go but came up well short.
Couldn't believe how difficult it was to aim the camera at the particular region. I kept getting blinded by the LCD screen turning on and off as I went to look through the view finder, must be another way of doing this.
Used my 17-85mm EFS lens at 85mm, Images Plus Camera Control to focus the camera, seemed pretty easy to do.
Guided the scope with my DMK using IC Capture and Alls Reticle to guide on Rigel.
Took a couple of test exposures of 120 secs, just to try and work out where the camera was pointing and re aligned the camera to get what l assumed was Rigel into the field.
I ended up not having the alignment I required but now have images of the field in the immediate vicinity for next time.
So here is my first attempt, the field above Rigel.
This image was created from 14 x 300 second subs at ISO 800, 6 Darks, 16 Flats and 50 Bias frames. Would this be enough data to reolve The Witched Head?
This is the first time I have used Images Plus and followed along with the pertinent video tutorial to calibrate my images. I loaded my lights, darks, flats and bias frames and followed the tutorial instructions. When I realized I had the wrong field I didn't worry about further processing.
I am pleased with the shape of the stars but as I don't have a field flattener this image would look better cropped. I thought it best to present the whole image here, hopping some of you astro guru's will pick up any other problems that I am not aware of.
Could really do with some advice on aligning the camera when used for wide field piggy back imaging.
Regards
Trevor