ASI178 MC with Celestron NexStar 8 SE

messygarage

Greetings;

I'm very new to Astro photography ( two weeks, so I have a lot to learn). Am I using the wrong setup? I'm using the 178MC with a Celestron 8SE. Using the various software's available, should I be able to get a picture of the full moon or just portions of it similar to what you get with a T-ring and slr camera? Focusing on Pleiades, I seem to only get one bright star on the screen after adjusting the exposure up and down to get a clear picture. I am using the 1.25 nose piece connected to the 1.25 diagonal which connects to the 1.25 to 2 inch adapter. Is there a way to get a wider angle view? Thank you for your help in advance.

katherine.tsai

Hi,

It is related with the focal length of the telescope and sensor size of the camera.

I test the configuration in the Stellarium and it shows this will only get part of the moon.

davefrance

Hi, your telescope has a focal length of 2032mm, coupled with the sensor size of the 178MC you will only be able to capture part of the moon but you could take several overlapping images and stitch them together with a program like Microsoft ICE to get a full moon image. It is the wrong setup for wide field astro, indeed you probably will only get one star in M45. It would seem to be more of a planetary setup. My scope is only 500mm and with the same camera I cannot get M45 in full.

messygarage

Thank you. Would a lower megapixel camera be better, like a ASi224MC be a better candidate ?

davefrance

If you go onto the First Light Optics web site and search for the camera then scroll down you will see a tool that allow you to choose telescope, camera and target and shows you the view you will get. A smaller sensor will give you a wider view with the same telescope but you need to check this site. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/ to see exactly what you will get.

messygarage

Dave- that is a great site to use !! Now if I only had a larger window of viewing without cloud cover.

davefrance

Know the feeling

Support@ZWO

Hi there

The wide angle depand on focal length and size of sensor. short focal length and big sensor size will provide wide FOV.