14 August 2023 Observing Notes

 

 

 

This night was my first attempt at using our DSLR (Canon Rebel EOS T7) on the piggyback mount. When mounted, the camera aligns very well in altitude, just had to make a slight adjustment in azimuth. I used a tree top about a mile away as the alignment target. I had to set up within 50 feet of the house. I was using a trial version of Backyard EOS for the camera control and capture software, and it has to maintain a wifi connection to work. Because of where I had to set up, the sky available not blocked by trees was from NNE to SE. The camera is connected to the laptop using a USB cable. The lens on the camera was a Canon EF75-300 zoom. I had it at 300mm focal length, which gives an F number of  5.6. 

 Given the available sky, and my desire for a fairly bright target, I chose the Andromeda Galaxy, M31. After aligning the scope using 2 star alignment, I visually centered M31 in the eyepiece and observed it visually after the imaging started. Note that live view in the camera didn't really show the target.  Backyard EOS allows you to set up the imaging run and have it run automatically. I set it up and ran 50 shots, with 10 second exposure and ISO 1600. I programmed a 5 second delay between shots so the image could settle after any mirror slap. At 10 seconds the scope was tracking well enough that I didn't notice any trailing in the stars. I was also observing visually.

 

That little fuzzy spot in the center is Andromeda. This is one of the 50 RAW images.Normally these would be processed in a program such as Siril, that calibrates and stacks the images. It can then be cropped to zoom in more on the specific target. I messed up on taking the calibration images, so was unable to get Siril to process the images correctly. I hope to eventually redo this imaging session so I can get a good image.

After imaging, Saturn was up and visible to the SE, so I decided to try it. Seeing was steadier tonight than the last time I tried Saturn. I was actually able to use the 8mm eyepiece (254x). My sketch is out of scale for the actual view in the eyepiece, so I could show the increased detail I could see. The gap between the rings and planet wee easily seen, and two of the moons. There were period of very staedy seeing, during which I could definitely make out two band on the planet and faint brownish color to them.I also tried three imaging runs on Saturn, but with just the camera lens the image is too small. Planetary imaging is actually done using "lucky: imaging. You actually take short videos, and the software picks the steadiest frames to stack.

After Saturn went behind the trees, I targeted Neptune. I located it, but it was essentially just a very bright star with no obvious color. I should note that it was only about 15-20 degrees above the mountains.

 


Here are links to tutorials on Backyard EOS, imaging with a DSLR, and Siril.

Interview with the Backyard EOS developer where he answers questions and walks through running it.  https://youtu.be/z3gkw8bx7Aw

Deep Sky Photography with a DSLR on a tracking mount (what the piggyback on my Nexstar 8SE is essentially). This includes processing with Siril.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-X3ky6x8ss


 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Observing Log 24 July 2022 I had tried to set up the scope and have it do a 2 star alignment a couple of weeks ago, but the battery charge got too low before I could finish. I ordered the AC adapter, and it arrived a few days later. This was the first time I had a chance to get out and try it. I picked a spot that gave decent views of the southern sky and set three flat paving blocks where the tripod legs would be. Power was run using an extension cord from the wood shop.I set up the telescope at about 23:00. The 2 star alignment function worked well. The only issue was that one of the stars I picked to try wasn't listed in the catalogue, so I had to pick another. Where I set up trees blocked the north and northeast skies. This limited my choices somewhat. Tried out the Sky Tour function. Still using the 25mm eyepiece. Some of the objects were hidden behind the trees or were still below the ridge line to the east. Did get a good view of Andromeda. No fine detail, but an elongated o...
Read more

26 March, 2025, Mars and an almost major oops!

This was my first opportunity to get out and observe for a month. Weather has not been very cooperative! The sky started out with some high, thin clouds. It seems like there was a lot of haze/humidity in the air, lights in the area showing definite halos. For some reason there wasn't any dew yet though. I started setting up at dusk, and made my first observation about 21:00 MDT. I did a solar system alignment using Jupiter, then observed that using 17mm Plossl (119.5x) and 13mm Plossl (156.3x) eyepieces.Seeing was much better than last time out, but at 156x it was hard to maintain focus. I would estimate seeing as Antoniadi 3. The North and South  Equatorial Bands were easily visible as distinct very light brownish bands. There were occasional hints of the South polar Band.  Since seeing was decent, I wanted to make another try at Mars. It is rapidly diminishing after opposition, which was not a real great one. Again used the 17 and 13 mm eyepieces. the view through the 17mm w...
Read more

2 September 2023 Observation Notes.

Image
  Set up to observe Jupiter. The blocks on the stool are to increase it's height while observing at low angles. A head lamp is hanging on the side of the eyepiece case so I can reference "Turn Left At Orion", a reference notebook, and my journal. I was holding my Celestron red light to take the picture.      I wasn't planning on observing tonight because the forecast cloud cover was too much. However, at about 20:30 the sky was almost completely clear, with a few high cirrus far to the west.  Started at 21:30, but had to realign because I accidentally pulled the power jack out of the mount. At 21:45 I was on Saturn again. Was picking bright targets because sky was bright, even though the Moon wasn't up yet.The seeing was similar to last time I observed Saturn. About 22:17 a band of high thin cirrus passed in front of Saturn, causing it to be more unsteady and fuzzy, as though out of focus. At 22:20 the 92% waning moon came up the Sapphires. I took time to go in ...
Read more