Webcam Astrophotography. So you understand the fundamentals of photographing the planets with an Webcam Astrophotography. You’ve mastered the steps for capturing the AVI, processing it using Registax, and tidying it up with Photoshop. But how can you elicit that additional piece of information that distinguishes your images from all the others you’ve ever taken? We will demonstrate how to create a difference in 5 simple actions. Once you’ve mastered them, you’ll be ready to take your webcam astrophotography to the next level!
Webcam Astrophotography: Telescope Collimation
Precision telescope mirror alignment is critical for viewing planets at high resolution. The difference between a razor-sharp planetary picture and a large blob that loosely resembles a pancake! This is a typical issue for webcam imagers since they have not checked perfect mirror alignment before imaging. It is understandable that imagers are wary of tinkering with the mirror adjustment screws since it is a little difficult. However, if you take the effort to learn how to collimate your specific telescope, you will enjoy the benefits!
Tips to start astronomy as a hobby
Webcam Astrophotography: Image During the Best Seeing Conditions
Take advantage of the best seeing conditions. You want to image good stable skies. When there is a high amount of turbulence and temperature differences in the atmosphere, the seeing will be poor. It is frustrating to imagine when the seeing conditions are sub-par. The planet will look as if you are trying to imagine it through rippling water. This moon video demonstrates the effects of turbulence:
Webcam Astrophotography Various factors may help you evaluate whether the sky is in your favor for astrophotography:
- Clear Sky Chart
The Clear Sky Chart (supplied by A. Danko) is an excellent resource for determining the forthcoming sky conditions in your location. It forecasts several circumstances, such as cloud cover, transparency, visibility, and darkness, over the following 48 hours. Meteorological Services Canada generates the forecast data. The “sight” prediction is especially important for planet webcam astrophotography. Dark blue blocks for the “seeing” line generally suggest that steady skies are expected. Read over the material on the sky clock page to get acquainted with reading the chart.
- The Stars Are Twinkling
If the stars are sparkling fast, it is a good indicator that your night of planet Webcam Astrophotography will be a complete failure. Because of the tumultuous air, the stars glitter. And turbulence is the deadliest adversary of planetary astrophotographers. Wait till the stars become stable then take advantage of this beneficial scenario!
- Red Sunset, Poor Conditions for High Power Astrophotography
“Red sky at sunset, webcam imagers disturbed”. This should be our catchphrase as planetary imagers! A crimson sky (and sun) may suggest that dust and moisture particles are present in the atmosphere. The sky looks red because red wavelengths pass through the particles in the atmosphere. We perceive predominantly red because blue wavelengths do not reach us. Instead, they are dispersed. In any case, the presence of a lot of dust and moisture in the atmosphere might restrict the ability to get extremely detailed photographs of the planets. Look for sunsets when the sky and sun remain more on the yellow side than crimson.
- High-Pressure System/Jet Stream
A sign of favorable viewing conditions is if you have a steady air mass above you. In his book, Lunar and Planetary Webcam Astrophotography User’s Guide, Martin Mobberley goes into great length on how vital a stable high-pressure system and the jet stream are to webcam astrophotography of the planets. In fact, he views the jet stream to be the “fine planetary detail wrecker”. Although it is beyond the scope of this post, Mobberly will teach you the most crucial things to look for when it comes to atmospheric stability. In fact, he teaches you how to monitor the jet stream for perfect imaging circumstances. Packed lots of fantastic material for planetary imaging, we heartily recommends this book.
- Final Message Regarding Seeing Conditions
Seeing is a critical aspect in creating high-resolution photographs of the planets. The world’s top astrophotographers only photograph when the sky conditions are suitable. It takes some time and patience to wait for the planets to align. And don’t be shocked if the visibility varies from night to night, or even hour to hour. When it comes, however, you want to be ready with your telescope and camera so you don’t miss that amazing moment when the sky opens up with crystal-clear sight! This is what drives many astrophotographers to construct an observatory so that they can picture at a moment’s notice.
Webcam Astrophotography: Thermal Equilibrium
Set up your scope outdoors for at least one hour before imaging. The picture will become distorted when heat exits the tube if it hasn’t had time to attain thermal equilibrium with the outside temperature. This may take a long time in big closed systems with trapped air, such as SCTs and Maks. Lymax calls it the CosmicOne SCT cooler.
Many astrophotographers now employ fans to cool down the main mirror, allowing for extended photography time and better results. Reaching thermal equilibrium before beginning webcam astrophotography may make a significant impact on the amount of detail obtained.
Critical Focus
Webcam Astrophotography Adjust the focus until you get the clearest picture overall. The globe will seem to move in and out of focus continually. This is due to an unstable environment that you are imagining. Spend a lot of time changing the focusing knob until you acquire the greatest possible results. The camera is then in charge of freezing the best frames in the series for subsequent stacking in software like Registax.
Various strategies for obtaining critical focus:
- Focus assistance software such as Focus Max (freeware) or Maxim DL.
- Homemade masks such as a Hartman mask or Bahtinov masks
- Professionally made focusing masks such as the AstroZap Focusing Mask or Kendrick Kwik Focuser Masks.
- Microfocusers
Note regarding telescope masks: astrophotographers are increasingly using these masks to achieve critical focus without the headache of repeated adjusting and guessing. Masks like the AstroZap pictured below make it simple to assess whether the optics have minor inner focus, outside focus, and most significantly, perfect focus.
Image when the Planet is High in the Sky
The more turbulent the air you’re attempting to picture though, the closer the planet is to the horizon. As a result, the optimal time to aim your telescope and webcam toward the planet is when it is at or near the zenith (point directly above you).We hope you have found this article informative and helpful for Webcam Astrophotography.
Webcam Astrophotography. So you understand the fundamentals of photographing the planets with an Webcam Astrophotography. You’ve mastered the steps for capturing the AVI, processing it using Registax, and tidying it up with Photoshop. But how can you elicit that additional piece of information that distinguishes your images from all the others you’ve ever taken? We will demonstrate how to create a difference in 5 simple actions. Once you’ve mastered them, you’ll be ready to take your webcam astrophotography to the next level!
Webcam Astrophotography: Telescope Collimation
Precision telescope mirror alignment is critical for viewing planets at high resolution. The difference between a razor-sharp planetary picture and a large blob that loosely resembles a pancake! This is a typical issue for webcam imagers since they have not checked perfect mirror alignment before imaging. It is understandable that imagers are wary of tinkering with the mirror adjustment screws since it is a little difficult. However, if you take the effort to learn how to collimate your specific telescope, you will enjoy the benefits!
Tips to start astronomy as a hobby
Webcam Astrophotography: Image During the Best Seeing Conditions
Take advantage of the best seeing conditions. You want to image good stable skies. When there is a high amount of turbulence and temperature differences in the atmosphere, the seeing will be poor. It is frustrating to imagine when the seeing conditions are sub-par. The planet will look as if you are trying to imagine it through rippling water. This moon video demonstrates the effects of turbulence:
Webcam Astrophotography Various factors may help you evaluate whether the sky is in your favor for astrophotography:
- Clear Sky Chart
The Clear Sky Chart (supplied by A. Danko) is an excellent resource for determining the forthcoming sky conditions in your location. It forecasts several circumstances, such as cloud cover, transparency, visibility, and darkness, over the following 48 hours. Meteorological Services Canada generates the forecast data. The “sight” prediction is especially important for planet webcam astrophotography. Dark blue blocks for the “seeing” line generally suggest that steady skies are expected. Read over the material on the sky clock page to get acquainted with reading the chart.
- The Stars Are Twinkling
If the stars are sparkling fast, it is a good indicator that your night of planet Webcam Astrophotography will be a complete failure. Because of the tumultuous air, the stars glitter. And turbulence is the deadliest adversary of planetary astrophotographers. Wait till the stars become stable then take advantage of this beneficial scenario!
- Red Sunset, Poor Conditions for High Power Astrophotography
“Red sky at sunset, webcam imagers disturbed”. This should be our catchphrase as planetary imagers! A crimson sky (and sun) may suggest that dust and moisture particles are present in the atmosphere. The sky looks red because red wavelengths pass through the particles in the atmosphere. We perceive predominantly red because blue wavelengths do not reach us. Instead, they are dispersed. In any case, the presence of a lot of dust and moisture in the atmosphere might restrict the ability to get extremely detailed photographs of the planets. Look for sunsets when the sky and sun remain more on the yellow side than crimson.
- High-Pressure System/Jet Stream
A sign of favorable viewing conditions is if you have a steady air mass above you. In his book, Lunar and Planetary Webcam Astrophotography User’s Guide, Martin Mobberley goes into great length on how vital a stable high-pressure system and the jet stream are to webcam astrophotography of the planets. In fact, he views the jet stream to be the “fine planetary detail wrecker”. Although it is beyond the scope of this post, Mobberly will teach you the most crucial things to look for when it comes to atmospheric stability. In fact, he teaches you how to monitor the jet stream for perfect imaging circumstances. Packed lots of fantastic material for planetary imaging, we heartily recommends this book.
- Final Message Regarding Seeing Conditions
Seeing is a critical aspect in creating high-resolution photographs of the planets. The world’s top astrophotographers only photograph when the sky conditions are suitable. It takes some time and patience to wait for the planets to align. And don’t be shocked if the visibility varies from night to night, or even hour to hour. When it comes, however, you want to be ready with your telescope and camera so you don’t miss that amazing moment when the sky opens up with crystal-clear sight! This is what drives many astrophotographers to construct an observatory so that they can picture at a moment’s notice.
Webcam Astrophotography: Thermal Equilibrium
Set up your scope outdoors for at least one hour before imaging. The picture will become distorted when heat exits the tube if it hasn’t had time to attain thermal equilibrium with the outside temperature. This may take a long time in big closed systems with trapped air, such as SCTs and Maks. Lymax calls it the CosmicOne SCT cooler.
Many astrophotographers now employ fans to cool down the main mirror, allowing for extended photography time and better results. Reaching thermal equilibrium before beginning webcam astrophotography may make a significant impact on the amount of detail obtained.
Critical Focus
Webcam Astrophotography Adjust the focus until you get the clearest picture overall. The globe will seem to move in and out of focus continually. This is due to an unstable environment that you are imagining. Spend a lot of time changing the focusing knob until you acquire the greatest possible results. The camera is then in charge of freezing the best frames in the series for subsequent stacking in software like Registax.
Various strategies for obtaining critical focus:
- Focus assistance software such as Focus Max (freeware) or Maxim DL.
- Homemade masks such as a Hartman mask or Bahtinov masks
- Professionally made focusing masks such as the AstroZap Focusing Mask or Kendrick Kwik Focuser Masks.
- Microfocusers
Note regarding telescope masks: astrophotographers are increasingly using these masks to achieve critical focus without the headache of repeated adjusting and guessing. Masks like the AstroZap pictured below make it simple to assess whether the optics have minor inner focus, outside focus, and most significantly, perfect focus.
Image when the Planet is High in the Sky
The more turbulent the air you’re attempting to picture though, the closer the planet is to the horizon. As a result, the optimal time to aim your telescope and webcam toward the planet is when it is at or near the zenith (point directly above you).We hope you have found this article informative and helpful for Webcam Astrophotography.
