rodelaet
Post Laureate
Reged: 04/28/06
Posts: 3185
Loc: 50°56' N - 4°58' E (Belgium)
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Hi folks,
Here are some live video frames captured with a Watec 120N (aka Stellacam II) and the ETX 105 in alt-az mode. A focal reducer was used as well. The camera was put at max integration (256frames). The images show what can be seen live on a video monitor next to the scope. I only used a dark frame to hide some hot pixels.
The nelm was about 4.5. Under such a sky the ETX can show stars of mag 12.5 visually. The camera reaches about two magnitudes deeper than the human eye, which is amazing. It's like observing with an ETX 210.
M13
M57
M57 lim mag
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Rony
'The Casual Sky Observer's Guide.'
My Astronomical Sketches
My Binocular Sketches
Callibrate your Monitor with this little strip.
Edited by rodelaet (06/26/07 05:03 PM)
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Odin
sage
Reged: 03/21/07
Posts: 242
Loc: Ont, Cdn 46N 84W
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WoW......... Excellent Photo's...... The depth of stars around M57 is compelling. 
Give us more.... 
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A time will come when men will stretch out their eyes. They should see planets like our Earth.
- Christopher Wren
LX90 8" EMC
Rigel Quickfinder
ETX125PE UHTC
60mm Refractor Meade Digital Series
Meade Electronic Eyepiece
32mm,26mm,15mm,9.7mm series 4000 Super Plossl
20mm Garrett FMC SWA, Meade 2x Barlow
10x50 Tasca Binoculars
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rodelaet
Post Laureate
Reged: 04/28/06
Posts: 3185
Loc: 50°56' N - 4°58' E (Belgium)
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Here is one from M51. Please bear in mind that this frame was taken during twilight (grey night) and that at that moment the camera was out of collimation.
Visually only the two cores could be detected. I have never been able to see the spiral structure with the ETX, while the camera can pick up traces of the structure.
M51
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Rony
'The Casual Sky Observer's Guide.'
My Astronomical Sketches
My Binocular Sketches
Callibrate your Monitor with this little strip.
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nytecam
Postmaster
Reged: 08/20/05
Posts: 9841
Loc: London UK
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Great realtime images - you've got the central star in M57;-)
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Nytecam 51N 0.1W
Meade 30cm LX200+C8+Ha+CaK PSTs+spectrographs
SX M9+Lodestar-C CCDs/Canon 300D DSLR
My Meade astrograph-colour deepsky
My supernova discovery
My dome build/spectroscopes/DSO images/Lodestar colour images & videos
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seeker372011
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 03/05/04
Posts: 993
Loc: Sydney , Australia
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Rony;
so that where you've been all these days!
wonderful images...and seeing them live on a screen-must be fantastic, just great for public viewing nights
yes would be nice to see M 51 in better conditions..and I suppose you could stack several of the 256 frame captures to get even more detail, not for a live view but for an image?
as nytecam and you are proving we have barely begun to explore the reach of the ETX
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ED 80 on ASCG5 mount;ED 127 on EQ6; QHY8,QHY2pro, 20 x 80 LW Obies;PST (spectrum 60);10 inch GSO dob;Astrotrac and Mini Borg 45ED
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seeker372011
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 03/05/04
Posts: 993
Loc: Sydney , Australia
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PS that M 13 image in particular is superb
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ED 80 on ASCG5 mount;ED 127 on EQ6; QHY8,QHY2pro, 20 x 80 LW Obies;PST (spectrum 60);10 inch GSO dob;Astrotrac and Mini Borg 45ED
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rodelaet
Post Laureate
Reged: 04/28/06
Posts: 3185
Loc: 50°56' N - 4°58' E (Belgium)
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Thanks for the kind words, guys!!
There is ROOM for improvement :
1) the eyepiece adapter needs some attention to get it perfectly fit without the slightest play. A minor tilt of the camera in the ep-holder results in severe coma.
2) the gain and gamma settings of the camera are way to high to capture a decent frame.
3) the frame grabber was set on a high compression mode, with lots of loss of detail.
4) Polar mode is the way to go even for a 10sec exposure.
5) A IR-cut filter is under way.
Still climbing on the learning curve.
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Rony
'The Casual Sky Observer's Guide.'
My Astronomical Sketches
My Binocular Sketches
Callibrate your Monitor with this little strip.
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Duncan Rosie
super member
Reged: 02/14/04
Posts: 135
Loc: South Africa
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I'm impressed, looks like your flattening that learning curve pretty quickly!
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Duncan Rosie
ETX-125
10" Sky-Watcher Truss-tube
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rodelaet
Post Laureate
Reged: 04/28/06
Posts: 3185
Loc: 50°56' N - 4°58' E (Belgium)
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Thank you very much, Duncan!!
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Rony
'The Casual Sky Observer's Guide.'
My Astronomical Sketches
My Binocular Sketches
Callibrate your Monitor with this little strip.
|
rodelaet
Post Laureate
Reged: 04/28/06
Posts: 3185
Loc: 50°56' N - 4°58' E (Belgium)
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Here are a few new live shots from last night.
Nelm was 4.5. Seeing was bad to moderate. The moon was rising allready.
The ETX was put in polar mode.
A UV-IR blocking filter was put in place.
M57 again
M13
M17
M27
M11
Crescent Nebula, hardly visible, but it's there!!
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Rony
'The Casual Sky Observer's Guide.'
My Astronomical Sketches
My Binocular Sketches
Callibrate your Monitor with this little strip.
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rodelaet
Post Laureate
Reged: 04/28/06
Posts: 3185
Loc: 50°56' N - 4°58' E (Belgium)
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I have collected some info at my webpage :
Video Astronomy with an ETX 105.
Clear skies,
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Rony
'The Casual Sky Observer's Guide.'
My Astronomical Sketches
My Binocular Sketches
Callibrate your Monitor with this little strip.
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