9 replies to this topic

[sbharrat]

Coming from the DSO side but I have been maddeningly frustrated by the lack of clear imaging hours (total of only 12 nights this year). With the time needed from my B8 for a decent image, this has worked out to only two images. The one thing I have noticed is that I do have a resonable number of nights where the seeing appears at least average and sky clear for a couple hours. It doesn't work for my DSO imaging but my understanding is that the total imaging time needed for planetary or lunar is significantly lower. (Even an hour at 10fps is a LOT of frames).

 

I have a widefield setup comprising a TS Optics 80mm/480mmFL coupled with a ZWO asi533mc camera. (I have an EdgeHD8 on the order list but who knows when that will ever become available.) My imaging scale is 1.62"/px. I also have a 2.5x barlow. It's definitely not what anyone uses for planetary but is it worth the effort or am I going to frustrate myself to point of being turned off from planetary forever? (I have seen the "small bore" thread but even those are mostly 4" to 6" scopes.) 

 

(I have read the FAQ and seen some of the tutorials mentioned in there, but if anyone has links that might be useful in my situation, appreciate a pointer to those.)

[Tapio]

Moon yes with refractor but I'd wait for EdgeHD to arrive before attempting planets.

[Tulloch]

Do a search for "80mm" in this forum and you'll get a couple of hits (see below).

 

https://www.cloudyni...80mm-refractor/

https://www.cloudyni...-for-planetary/

 

The 8" will obviously be better, but you'll get something with the 80mm...

[ngc7319_20]

Or find a used 10+ inch Newt or SCT?

[RedLionNJ]

There's definitely no harm in trying.  It will get you that "quick fix" when you're going through imaging withdrawal and you'll not only learn new skills in the process, but you'll also learn to critically assess local seeing conditions and learn from experience what kind of daytime weather leads to what kind of night-time seeing.

 

One possible downside is that the bright planets are only visible in the pre-dawn hours right now.

[sbharrat]

Thanks all. From looking at some of the examples and from Tapio's comment, it looks like lunar is a good next step. Not only is it more achievable with my current equipment, it looks like many of the tools and processing techniques are similar. So I will be getting up the common learning curve on something a little bit easier. 

 

I definitely intend to come back to planetary.... I oh so want that picture of Saturn!! But by the time I am ready I hope to have the EdgeHD8 and ability to collimate/use it in hand. 

[dcaponeii]

Or you can take DSO’s from Bortle 8 even if the skies are not perfect. Short subs and LOTS of them will get you decent results. There are tons of folks posting good results all the time.

[sbharrat]

Or you can take DSO’s from Bortle 8 even if the skies are not perfect. Short subs and LOTS of them will get you decent results. There are tons of folks posting good results all the time.

Maybe my initial post was misleading. I wasn't saying that I don't do DSO imaging in my B8. I do. https://astro.bharra...ry/gallery.html But to get a decent image, I need about 10 hours per target and that translates to a lot of clear nights for each target. I was contrasting that to needing maybe a couple of hours of good seeing time for planetary or lunar. 

[happylimpet]

I'd give it a go, as there are lots of skills to learn and perfect and you'll still have great fun doing it. Then when the big scope rocks up you'll be ready to hit the ground running.

[matt_astro_tx]

Hey, I've imaged Venus with my 60mm APO at 287mm F/L.  You can't hurt anything by trying.