[DeadJohn]

I believe the Q is good for Sum/Moon shots, but for planets we still need many frames. This is what I get using a small refractor and a dedicated planetary CCD, stacking from ~5000 frames:

I'm not sure if you were referring to my post. When I mentioned the Q it was in the context of video. 3 minutes of Q video will give 5000+ frames. 1920x1080 resolution gives virtual pixels that are very roughly 3.5 microns in size, similar to many planetary cams. (I say very roughly because the Q video pixels are probably not square). Personally, I don't think the Q will hold up against a dedicated planetary cam but maybe I'll post in the Q forum to see if anyone wants to participate in an experiment.

[oneeyedhawk]

Here is shot with a Phillips web camera through my Celestron 9 1/4 GPS. I have used the k5 and K01 on planets but a cheap good quality web camera does the best job on planets. Registax 5.0 works better than version 6 on large stacks. A stable air night is very important for any camera shot of planets

[VisualDarkness]

Yeah, there is too much binning of data when using the Q or the K-5 with a standard tele photography lens setup, but for me at least astro is a more of an alternative use than a main one. I've seen some wonderful webcam/small CCD shots like the ones posted here and I'm really impressed!

[valy]

DeadJohn, when Q appeared, I first thinking of using it to astrophoto: good image, small sensor, lot of pixels. Wish Pentax give us some flexibility, e.g. 100% crop movie. PKtether can do this?
I've tried full hd on Sun with k5iis, thinking that using a longer focal length will surpass the binning he did, but the result was not good, perhaps seeing was bad or just the first try was unlucky. One frame produces interesting and unexpected good results. Also filming the moon and stacking didn't do much, I got (far) better result from a single frame. I believe the camera introduces some sort of soften in addition to the binning itself.

Single frame, 100% crop, 1500mm f/18:



The whole image (minor crop, resize):

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Last edited by valy; 05-28-2013 at 12:16 PM.

[Suhndog]

I need my primary mirror re-aluminized. I tried a few time to contact a lab in California, but get no response. Anyone know of a good, reputable and economical lab I could try? Thanks.. Marc

[Eric Seavey]

And then here.... my second attempt at photographing Saturn. This is comprised of 40 images with my K-5 and stacked using registax 6. The seeing was much better too, enabling me to get this quality with only 40 photos.

[Eric Seavey]

Valy: I like your sun shot!. What solar filter did you use? I have used a Kendrik solar filter on my Bigma.

[Suhndog]

Great shots, everyone! Maybe I'll have another 'go' at Saturn.. before our summer 'monsoons' arrive... It was just so frustrating trying to aim my DOB using the Orion StarShoot 4 camera.. that sensor is so tiny... BTW, Eric.. what lens did you use to image Saturn? - and did you use the O-GPS1? -- Marc

[Eric Seavey]

Thanks Suhndog, I have a long way to go. I used my K-5 on a 10" cassegrain telescope with 2500mm focal length. I set the telescope on an equatorial mount and adjusted it as time passed. Then when I was ready to take photos, I set the camera on continuous shooting for remote. Then a single press of the remote button will make the camera rapidly take photos continuously.

[valy]

Valy: I like your sun shot!. What solar filter did you use? I have used a Kendrik solar filter on my Bigma.

Thx.
Forgot to mention: Baader photo solar filter. Also forgot to mention: do not watch, or photo the sun without proper solar filter!

[DeadJohn]

I was out last night with a fixed-tripod so I couldn't do any long exposures. Based on some samples I've seen y'all post I tried a stack of 32 x 4 second exposures at ISO 12800, 8 dark frames, stacked in Deep Sky Stacker then processed in Nebulosity. The results came out well but the FA43 shows a lot of coma at bright stars.

[Stone G.]

I was out last night with a fixed-tripod so I couldn't do any long exposures. Based on some samples I've seen y'all post I tried a stack of 32 x 4 second exposures at ISO 12800, 8 dark frames, stacked in Deep Sky Stacker then processed in Nebulosity. The results came out well but the FA43 shows a lot of coma at bright stars.

Coma or not, I think this is an impressive and very good-looking result. Hmmm....need to see, what Nebulosity can do for me!

[VisualDarkness]

I was out last night with a fixed-tripod so I couldn't do any long exposures. Based on some samples I've seen y'all post I tried a stack of 32 x 4 second exposures at ISO 12800, 8 dark frames, stacked in Deep Sky Stacker then processed in Nebulosity. The results came out well but the FA43 shows a lot of coma at bright stars.

Is it wide open? That looks wonderful!

[DeadJohn]

Coma or not, I think this is an impressive and very good-looking result. Hmmm....need to see, what Nebulosity can do for me!

Deep Sky Stacker did the tough work stacking images and applying darks. Nebulosity was used to postprocess: bin, apply curves, etc. Everything I did with Nebulosity could have been done with the typical non-astro software. Nebulosity can stack, too, but DSS just seems to be easier for that part of the operation.

Is it wide open? That looks wonderful!

f2.0 just about wide open. Stopping the FA43 down to 2.8 doesn't improve the coma enough to be worth it.

[Suhndog]

I am intrigued... I see such great results from many of you! Being new to imaging astro images, I'd like to know which program[s] are best for deep-sky and planetary work. I have Registax 6, but it is too difficult for me at my level of experience [or lack of? LOL].. I also have Autostakkert2 .. which is more user-friendly than Registax. I just d-loaded DSS, but haven't installed it yet. -- and now I learn of Nebulosity. I also would like to learn more about all these different terms and how they relate to processing [moire', biasing, dark frames, etc..] Is there [are there] really good [and fairly 'simple' tutorials that not only tell you how to do advanced [or?] stuff, but also explain the processes in detail? I like to simplify things if possible. I don't mind having to 'fight' through a vertical learning curve Only if really needed. OK.. I'm ready for your help... (^_^) Marc