So with Saturn being visible from my side of the world i decided to attempt to capture it. Here is my attempt. The quality is not super great but then again it is 280 million miles away. I also took a picture of the moon because i thought it looked cool. http://proteous.dyndns.org/index.php/2011/Astrophotography enjoy.
It's not the size of the scope, but the focal length. WHat scope is it? It's probably around f5 though, so planets will be very small. For planetary work with a fast scope, you're better off imaging with a webcam, not a SLR. With the chip size being so much smaller, you get greater magnification. If you also use a 2x barlow lens, you'll get even more mag. Don't think you'll loose anything by using a web cam due to lower resolution. To get a large image from your 50D you;ll need to crop in so much you'll end up with the same resolution, but the detail resolved will actually be better with a web cam. Plus... with a webcam, you can capture video (3000 frames should do it), and then you can stack the individual frames using something like registax. Trust me, for planetary work with a fast newtonian, you need a webcam. Grab a Phillips SPC880 webcam, and flash it to SPC900 firmware... get a 1.25" adapter for it, and use it prime focus and it's WAY better for planets. [edit] As an example, here's a pic of Saturn with a 6" reflector and a Phillips SP900 webcam.
Thanks. I was able to pickup a televue 2x barlow which worked great with my 10mm zoom eyepiece. Now i just need to get a webcam (been reading that the ms lifecam hd get's pretty good results and can be fitted into a 1.25" tube extension.
Oh yeah.. you have a SW150P too don't you! Forgot that. Yeah.. the MS cam is not bad, but the sheer level of support in the astro forums for the SPC880/900 makes it a better deal I'd say.
true. But i don't like using ebay anymore. But i need to save up since i currently don't have a laptop i can cart with me. It would be awesome if you could hook it up to a windows based tablet. Celestron makes a camera which is basically an overprice phillips toucam that is ready to go and comes with registax. But i am really liking the small form factor on the lifecam HD.
Good luck... this may interest you though... http://stargazerslounge.com/diy-astronomer/98106-how-i-ruined-microsoft-lifecam-hd.html Be careful!! It seems to be getting some good feedback this webcam.
