Astrophotography equipment and techniques and questions

[Jeff WX1USN]

I decided to start a thread about astro imaging equipment techniques and cameras, basically for any questions. I may not be able to answer them but others might or we can point you in the right direction.

I have an array of telescopes and cameras that I use for Astro and Solar imaging. I have two smart telescopes which are sold by ZWO as beginner scopes but you can get amazing results from them, those are the Seestar S50 and S30, they are S50 50mmx250mm and S30 30mmx150mm both are f/5 and they include a "light pollution" filter, dark filter, and white light solar filter. They are good for all ages from 10 to 100 years old. They are a standalone system giving acceptable results directly from the scope with no additional software required but with additional free or paid software you can get spectacular results.
I also have several regular telescopes, refractors, 8" SCT, 127mm Maksutov, and a Skywatcher EQ6R mount and a couple Orion mounts, although since getting the Seestars I hardly use the better scope as the Seestars are so easy to set up and image with but I use the refractors for images of the sun with special filters.

The gear I use for some really amazing images is my membership at SLOOH, it is a robotic telescope service where you can operate and use all their scopes remotely 365 days and virtually 24 hours a day by joining. Slooh has several Planewave telescopes which are research grade, they are 2 20" scopes, 2 17" scopes. Also they have 2 14" SCT's a 85mm Telarview refractor and a solar scope. They have 3 observatories in the Canary Islands, Chile, and Siding Spring Australia so you can get both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. They are all dark sky sites. As a member you can book time on any of the scopes and control them unlike other remote observatories where you tell an operator what to image and they do all the work. Here you can enter an object or even the coordiants of the object or area of space you want to image.

One unique thing about SLOOH is that unlike every other observatory you can actually watch the object you select be captured live in real time! Also you can also watch all the other imaging runs (they call them missions) live! It is just like having your own $50,000 scope and camera but with a staff to maintain it. I have been using it for 6 years now and am happy to answer questions.

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

Great thread!

I have an array of telescopes and cameras that I use for Astro and Solar imaging. I have two smart telescopes which are sold by ZWO as beginner scopes but you can get amazing results from them, those are the Seestar S50 and S30, they are S50 50mmx250mm and S30 30mmx150mm both are f/5 and they include a "light pollution" filter, dark filter, and white light solar filter. They are good for all ages from 10 to 100 years old. They are a standalone system giving acceptable results directly from the scope with no additional software required but with additional free or paid software you can get spectacular results.

I saw you mentioning the Seestar S50 elsewhere and looked it up. I was going to ask you about it because I am very interested in that one. From what I understand this is a complete system, right? No need to attach a camera to it or a telescope. Not even a mount, I think. Am I right about that?

And - and this is important for me - it can find objects? Via an app I believe?

I also have several regular telescopes, refractors, 8" SCT, 127mm Maksutov, and a Skywatcher EQ6R mount and a couple Orion mounts, although since getting the Seestars I hardly use the better scope as the Seestars are so easy to set up and image with but I use the refractors for images of the sun with special filters.

I have a Skywatcher 80mm ED refractor on a Celestron mount. I also have a Cat something (it's more than a decade ago so I forgot) but never used it.

I did a bit of Astro photography with the Skywatcher refractor. Small telescope but works well. I bought a tracking device for the mount, but it couldn't track very long. I basically only successfully shot the Orion Nebula because it was the only one I could find. I gave it up. But I would love to try it with that Seestar.

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

Your equipment looks sooo impressive. I think you would use my small 80mm refractor as a mere guiding scope to your real scopes!

 

[Darren75]

That's some serious Astro equipment!

 

[Jeff WX1USN]

Your equipment looks sooo impressive. I think you would use my small 80mm refractor as a mere guiding scope to your real scopes!

Other than using the Slooh observatories scopes (mostly in the Australian observatory) I use the Seestars almost every clear night! They are small but mighty!

To find objects they use "plate solving" where they take pictures of 3 different parts of the sky and tells the scope exactly where it is looking as it is compared to a database in the scope of the night sky. You then simply tell it what you want to see and it goes there and starts imaging it. It is controlled by either a tablet or a smart phone, iphone or android. It is amazing technology.

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

Other than using the Slooh observatories scopes (mostly in the Australian observatory) I use the Seestars almost every clear night! They are small but mighty!

To find objects they use "plate solving" where they take pictures of 3 different parts of the sky and tells the scope exactly where it is looking as it is compared to a database in the scope of the night sky. You then simply tell it what you want to see and it goes there and starts imaging it. It is controlled by either a tablet or a smart phone, iphone or android. It is amazing technology.

View attachment 5272
View attachment 5273

Oh man, I have GOT to get me one of those!

I am going to sell my R6m2. I am also going to sell those scopes, the 80ED refractor and the Cat (I really can't remember the specifics, it's a good one, that's all I know). And buy this Seestar. Maybe then I will finally be able to capture something other than the Orion Nebula.

The Seestar S50 is the one to get, yes? Because I think I saw one or two more. S30?

I love your window set-up!

 

[Jeff WX1USN]

Oh man, I have GOT to get me one of those!

I am going to sell my R6m2. I am also going to sell those scopes, the 80ED refractor and the Cat (I really can't remember the specifics, it's a good one, that's all I know). And buy this Seestar. Maybe then I will finally be able to capture something other than the Orion Nebula.

The Seestar S50 is the one to get, yes? Because I think I saw one or two more. S30?

I love your window set-up!

I would recommend the S50 it basically like using a 50mm lens on a full frame DSLR while the S30 would be the 28mm, you will get the same images but there are a lot more targets that are small. Also the S50 has a mosaic mode that will allow you to image larger targets. I would say 90% of targets are smaller and some even small in the S50.
In the US the S50 is $499 and the S30 $350. I have both as they are actually pretty inexpensive and they compliment each other.

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

I would recommend the S50 it basically like using a 50mm lens on a full frame DSLR while the S30 would be the 28mm, you will get the same images but there are a lot more targets that are small. Also the S50 has a mosaic mode that will allow you to image larger targets. I would say 90% of targets are smaller and some even small in the S50.
In the US the S50 is $499 and the S30 $350. I have both as they are actually pretty inexpensive and they compliment each other.

Okay. The S50 it is then. Lowest price I found here is 675 euro.

Another question I have. I live in the city and there's a lot of light pollution. Luckily I live on the very edge of the city and the east is relatively dark as it faces away from the city. There's still enough light left of course. I know there are a type of filters that can be used to help with that? Or can they not be used with the Seestar?

 

[Jeff WX1USN]

Okay. The S50 it is then. Lowest price I found here is 675 euro.

Another question I have. I live in the city and there's a lot of light pollution. Luckily I live on the very edge of the city and the east is relatively dark as it faces away from the city. There's still enough light left of course. I know there are a type of filters that can be used to help with that? Or can they not be used with the Seestar?

Here is one of a series on youtubes about using the Seestar S50 from Tokyo the most light polluted city on earth (so he says) he is right downtown. I live 300 feet from a major shopping mall and my skies are Bortle 7.5-8, The only constellation I can see almost all the stars of is Orion, cannot see polaris.

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[Levina de Ruijter]

Here is one of a series on youtubes about using the Seestar S50 from Tokyo the most light polluted city on earth (so he says) he is right downtown. I live 300 feet from a major shopping mall and my skies are Bortle 7.5-8, The only constellation I can see almost all the stars of is Orion, cannot see polaris.

Really? Then I seem to have darker skies than you as I can see Polaris and a lot of constellations. On clear nights of course. The western sky is bad as that is where the city is.

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So filters are possible. They do seem to be very expensive though. More expensive than the Seestar, the man in the video said. But I understand that the Seestar has a light pollution filter built in?

 

[Jeff WX1USN]

Yes it has a Light Pollution filter built in that you can turn on or off, works best on Nebulas

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

Jeff, I have a question. You use the S30 and the S50. I know that the S30 has a wider view than the S50 so you get more objects in your image. But the actual distance to or size of the DSO won't change one bit of course. So when do you use one, when the other?

 

[Jeff WX1USN]

think of them in Canon Lens terms, the S30 is a 150mm and the S50 is a 250mm so the object will appear larger in the S50 and smaller in the S30. If I have a bird on my feeder that fills the frame with a 250mm lens then change to the 150mm the bird on the sensor is smaller, or the opposite bigger.

M45 the Pleadis will not fit in a S50 but does in the S30, same with the Andromeda M31

they are coming out with a new S30 and S50 with higher quality sensors! I will be waiting on the S50 one since I find the S30 sensor which is the same size as the one in the S50 is an updated sensor and has less noise than the S50's one. If it is significantly better sensor in the S50 I will buy the new one and sell or give the old one.

In Stellarium I created a lens/camera to show the FOV of each scope I can see if the object fits in the S50 then I use it, if it doesn't I use the S30. There are not that many objects that need the S30. You can also use mosaic mode in the S50 from 1.0 to 2.0x the FOV and at 2.0x it is the same as the S30 BUT it takes 3-4 times as long with many more dropped frames to capture the image.

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

M45 the Pleadis will not fit in a S50 but does in the S30, same with the Andromeda M31

Right. That’s clear.

Because I know how the principle works of course and with birds I know if a heron will fit in the frame of a certain lens at a certain distance, That’s not the case with stellar bodies however as I have no idea of scale. Maybe I should go for the S30 after all.

How much can you crop the files from a S30. How big are the files, how many mpx?

 

[Jeff WX1USN]

Right. That’s clear.

Because I know how the principle works of course and with birds I know if a heron will fit in the frame of a certain lens at a certain distance, That’s not the case with stellar bodies however as I have no idea of scale. Maybe I should go for the S30 after all.

How much can you crop the files from a S30. How big are the files, how many mpx?

Both the S30 and S50 have 2 mpx cameras so they are really limited in how much you can crop without getting severe pixelation. The objects are like taking a pic of a building from the only vantage point the object scale doesn't change you use different lenses to get the shot you want. the S30 is good for large scale objects while being poor for the vast majority of objects. Even the S50 is disappointing on things like the Ring Nebula as it is so small.

Check out various objects taken with my S30 and S50 on my flickr album where I have the same object taken with both scopes, you may have to poke around the album a bit. https://www.flickr.com/photos/jmpadell/albums/72177720314620443