Planetary imaging.

ParamountObservatory

As the planets are becoming more favourable over the next week's, I am just looking for guidance on the best method to capture planetary images.

I have a 482MC USB 3.0 Colour Camera on Celestron C11 with the ASIAIR plus so open to suggestions on the best settings,also interested if anyone has used a plan to capture images, and finally, is the video feature any good for Planetary imaging, have used for moon, but not sure how good it would be for other planets.?

Thanks in advance

w7ay

ParamountObservatory is the video feature any good for Planetary imaging, have used for moon

If you want to use the ASIAIR with your color camera, be sure to output the images in raw (un-deBayered) AVI format. If you output as mpeg, ASIAIR debayers into a color RGB image first and then compress, thus rendering the frames messed up since you can no longer properly separate the atmospheric dispersed components. You want to register the separate components before deBayering them.

Chen

franco

Me too.
I've only been dabbling up to now but hope to get into planetary a bit more seriously in the next few months. I have a 294MC Pro and a 120MC guide camera for DSO. The 120 with its smaller pixels is better for the planets with my FL 2.4m scope but its narrow FOV means it doesn't plate solve, so I do my setup and align with the 294 then switch cameras. I used a tip from Chen which is to plate solve and align near the object so that goto's are much more precise.

I plan to get the new ASI 2 micron camera when it's available.

I tried to use a plan with individual frames but didn't find a convenient way to convert them to an AVI for stacking (didn't try too hard), so I just used the video mode which is a bit flaky when your network connection to the Air isn't great but works ok and the ROI option is great. The ASIAir stacking and sharpening appears to work quite well. Focusing is a bit of a pain, I have an EAF so at least I get to do it inside in the warm.

ParamountObservatory

franco
Thanks for that feedback, particularly the plate solving, I have noticed that as a problem whilst doing some recent test exposures, so will take that into account, thank you.

ParamountObservatory

w7ay
Thanks Chen, that's really good advice, I wonder if pipp is any good for this?

w7ay

ParamountObservatory I wonder if pipp is any good for this?

I have not used PIPP. But I have been able to used AutoStakkert! (works with Wine on macOS) to debayer the AVI images from ASIAIR.

At the time I tried it, Lynkeos (a macOS native program) unfortunately did not grok AVI, but not only is it macOS native, it has some blind deconvolution (Richardson-Lucy, if memory serves) that AutoStakkert! did not have. Situation could have changed since then.

Lynkeos probably depended too much on the Cocoa framework, which does not support AVI (probbaly because it has to be licensed from Microsoft). You have to use the third party FFmpeg package to import AVI files. Lynkeos may have since done that.

In the meantime, AutoStakkert! has better stacking alignment than Lynkeos :-) :-). When I was playing planetary, I used to first process in AutoStakkert! and then send the stacked RGB files over to Lynkeos. :-) :-).

You have the right scope for planetary. Aperture is key. A 6" SCT simply can't resolve enough planetary detail, and that is the largest aperture I use currently. My 8" SCT has been sitting on its tripod and wheelies, unused for some dozen years now. Too much work to deal with large scopes -- small scopes let me experiment with algorithms just as well.

It is one of the experiments (using Fourier optics) that convinced me that a 6" aperture is the limiting factor with "lucky imaging." The only thing that is better than yours for planetary is a 14" monster.

Be sure to collimate crazily well.

Chen

ParamountObservatory

w7ay

Thanks for that advice, and had first opportunity last night to try out the 482MC on planets, and managed to capture the attached image of Saturn.

This is just using the ASIAIR Video and stacking with some sharpening and pretty happy with the first result.

franco

This is an awesome little app - Daff Moon