Matthew Ota
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 04/30/05
Posts: 1095
Loc: New England
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I have reactivated this thread as the Canon Powershot is still viable and used by many budget astroimagers. Further technical discussion is encouraged along with posting of images.
Canon Powershot series only, please.
Here is an image of the Wild Duck Cluster I took last night at Post Pond Meadow, New Hampshire. Post Pond is located in a Bortle 3 (blue) zone in the Northwest portion of New Hampshire.
The image was taken with a Canon Powsershot A620 with a Scopetronix adapter connected to a Scopetronix 40mm 2 inch eyepiece, which was inserted into a 2 inch Williams Optics diagonal on my 10 inch Meade LX250GPS Frankenscope. The mounting was in Alt-Az mode The camera was controlled via USB cable with Canon's RemoteCapture 2.7 program with the following settings:
Shutter Speed: 13 Seconds
F-stop F2.8
7.3mm focal length
Manual exposure mode
Manual White Balance
Historgram compression in Adobe Photoshop CS1
RemoteCapture's live view was not usable for focus at all due to the dimness of the subject. So focusing was done in the blind with multiple exposures until proper focus was achieved (about fifteen exposures)
Ambient temperature was 28 degrees F.
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Matthew Ota
Meade LX250GPS 10 inch SCT (Frankenscope)
Orion ED 80
ETX-90 OTA
Coronado Helios 1 H-alpha
TheSky 6 Pro
Edited by Matthew Ota (10/11/09 07:13 PM)
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TenthEnemy
sage
Reged: 01/21/08
Posts: 428
Loc: Maryland
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I recently bought an SX120 IS and I'm really enjoying it. Here is my best and most recent attempt, Cygnus. It's 94 15 second frames.
Here is a larger version
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Orion XT10
70mm refractor
12x50 binoculars
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Matthew Ota
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 04/30/05
Posts: 1095
Loc: New England
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How did you shoot the images? On a tripod? Did you use the RemoteCapture program to trigger the shutter?
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Matthew Ota
Meade LX250GPS 10 inch SCT (Frankenscope)
Orion ED 80
ETX-90 OTA
Coronado Helios 1 H-alpha
TheSky 6 Pro
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TenthEnemy
sage
Reged: 01/21/08
Posts: 428
Loc: Maryland
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I placed the camera backwards on an afocal camera mount that was clamped to the finder of my XT10. I set the camera to take 10 pictures with a 5 second timer and just went outside to press the shutter button every few minutes
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Orion XT10
70mm refractor
12x50 binoculars
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RickShelton
member
Reged: 08/20/09
Posts: 20
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Have you checked out the chdk mod for the powershots? I don't think the SX120 is available yet though, maybe soon. Check it out http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK
I have a SX100 and it works great, longer exp up to 64 secs, higher ISO and even RAW support. Theres lots more also.
Great pics btw.
Rick
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RickShelton
member
Reged: 08/20/09
Posts: 20
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Here is M42 Wide field cropped and resized to post.
30-15 sec subs 8min exp, ISO 1600, Stacked with DSS Stacker, levels adjusted. From Raw .DNG files
Be kind 
Canon SX100 IS Chdk Mod
The Smudge to the left of M42 is the tops of trees 
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Blind-Cyclops
sage
Reged: 11/28/05
Posts: 488
Loc: Kitchener, ON, Canada
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Hello folks,
Purchased my Canon A-590 last year and have been wondering about how to get started with afocal photography.
The tripod mounting screw is at the very end of the camera body (not in the middle).
This makes it very difficult to hold still on a tripod if tilted up.
I notice Orion's web site has a camera holder (SteadyPix-Delux -- $45.). Link below...
http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=photo_accessories/~pcategory=astro-imaging/~product_id=05338
I'm wondering if anyone has used it?
How good is it?
Is there something better, somewhere else?
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Clear skies...
Duncan 
"Watch the skies, everywhere! Keep looking. Keep watching the skies!"
-- Closing line in movie spoken by newspaper report Ned "Scotty" Scott (Douglas Spencer) in the Sci-Fi movie
"The Thing From Another World", RKO Radio Pictures, 1951.
Antares (refractor) 127mm f/6.45. w/2-spd Crayford
Orion (Maksutov) 150mm f/12 w/2" EP adapter
Giro 3 (twin), 18" pier, EQ5 tripod.
Garrett 20x80mm, 410 head, 055 tripod.
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Midnight Dan
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/23/08
Posts: 2744
Loc: Brockport, NY
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I've used the Baader version of this (same thing, different label) and it works quite well!
-Dan
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Scopes: Celestron NexStar 8SE, Orion EON 72mm ED/APO, Orion ShortTube 80
Mounts: NexStar Alt/Az GoTo, Orion Astroview (EQ3) w/single axis drive
Eyepieces: Baader Hyperion 36mm (Aspheric), 21mm 13mm, 8mm, 5mm;
Other: 2x & 3x Barlow, 0.63x Focal Reducer, Dew-not strips, DewBuster controller, SQM Meter
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Matthew Ota
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 04/30/05
Posts: 1095
Loc: New England
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For CHDK,I have to get a card reader to transfer the program to my camera. None of the wimpy computer stores in the podunk village I live in has any so I have to order it online later this week.
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Matthew Ota
Meade LX250GPS 10 inch SCT (Frankenscope)
Orion ED 80
ETX-90 OTA
Coronado Helios 1 H-alpha
TheSky 6 Pro
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TenthEnemy
sage
Reged: 01/21/08
Posts: 428
Loc: Maryland
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Here's my attempt at M31 and M33, it's 88 frames at 15 seconds.
Here is a better version
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Orion XT10
70mm refractor
12x50 binoculars
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Blind-Cyclops
sage
Reged: 11/28/05
Posts: 488
Loc: Kitchener, ON, Canada
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Just like to say "thank you" for re-activating this thread.
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Clear skies...
Duncan
"Watch the skies, everywhere! Keep looking. Keep watching the skies!"
-- Closing line in movie spoken by newspaper report Ned "Scotty" Scott (Douglas Spencer) in the Sci-Fi movie
"The Thing From Another World", RKO Radio Pictures, 1951.
Antares (refractor) 127mm f/6.45. w/2-spd Crayford
Orion (Maksutov) 150mm f/12 w/2" EP adapter
Giro 3 (twin), 18" pier, EQ5 tripod.
Garrett 20x80mm, 410 head, 055 tripod.
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Matthew Ota
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 04/30/05
Posts: 1095
Loc: New England
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M42 captured with a Canon Powershot A620 Digital Camera
Section 8 Observatory Lebanon, NH USA
October 20, 2009 1:59:32 AM EDT 5:59:32 UTC
Canon Powershot A620 attached to a Scopetronix adapter to a 40mm EP on an Orion ED80 Apo Refractor Piggybacked onto a 10 inch Meade LX250GPS SCT in Alt/Az mode.
Camera controlled with Canon RemoteCapture software.
15 second exposure
F2.8 F stop
7.3mm camera focal length
Image cropped to size and histogram adjustment in PhotoShop CS1
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Matthew Ota
Meade LX250GPS 10 inch SCT (Frankenscope)
Orion ED 80
ETX-90 OTA
Coronado Helios 1 H-alpha
TheSky 6 Pro
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Falcon-
sage
Reged: 09/11/09
Posts: 240
Loc: Gambier Island, BC, Canada
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This one may not QUITE belong here, but I figure the auroras are high enough in the atmosphere to get away with it 
The Northern Lights from 2004 (from a location where they are rarely seen!) with a Canon Powershot S30, 15second exposure at ISO800.
There are a bunch more here.
- Sean
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Tasco 11TE-5 'Lunagrosso': 4.5" Newtonian, 900mm f/7.9
Meade DS-2114S: 4.5" Newtonian, 1000mm f/8.8
Galileoscope: 50mm Achromatic Refractor, 500mm f/10
Tasco EQ-2-like mount w/ clock drive
Celestron CG-5GT mount
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Matthew Ota
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 04/30/05
Posts: 1095
Loc: New England
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Your Aurora images are welcome here as they were taken with a Canon Powershot. Good work!
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Matthew Ota
Meade LX250GPS 10 inch SCT (Frankenscope)
Orion ED 80
ETX-90 OTA
Coronado Helios 1 H-alpha
TheSky 6 Pro
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Matthew Ota
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 04/30/05
Posts: 1095
Loc: New England
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I wonder why your M42 image shows no color in the Orion Nebula and mine does?
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Matthew Ota
Meade LX250GPS 10 inch SCT (Frankenscope)
Orion ED 80
ETX-90 OTA
Coronado Helios 1 H-alpha
TheSky 6 Pro
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RickShelton
member
Reged: 08/20/09
Posts: 20
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If you are referring to my Wide Field shot, the reason is I was only using just the camera on a Fixed tripod and no zoom. You took yours through the lens of a telescope, so you were at a higher magnification than me.
Cheers,
Rick
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Matthew Ota
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 04/30/05
Posts: 1095
Loc: New England
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M15 Imaged from Lebanon, NH, USA
M15 Globular Star Cluster in Pegaus. October 25, 2009 22:20:12 EDT
Imaged with Canon A620 Digital camera attached to a 40mm 2 inch EP on a Meade 10 inch LX250GPS SCT Telescope.
Ten images stacked with Registax 5.
15 second exposures
F4.0
Focal Length 21.71mm 
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Matthew Ota
Meade LX250GPS 10 inch SCT (Frankenscope)
Orion ED 80
ETX-90 OTA
Coronado Helios 1 H-alpha
TheSky 6 Pro
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Matthew Ota
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 04/30/05
Posts: 1095
Loc: New England
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M2, Globular Star Cluster in Aquarius
October 25, 2009 23:09:57 EDT
Imaged with Canon Powershot A620 Digital Camera with a 40mm EP on a 10 Inch Meade LX250GPS SCT telescope.
Ten images stacked with Registax 5.0
15 second exposures
F4.09 Aperture value
29.20mm Focal Length
F number 4.10 
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Matthew Ota
Meade LX250GPS 10 inch SCT (Frankenscope)
Orion ED 80
ETX-90 OTA
Coronado Helios 1 H-alpha
TheSky 6 Pro
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