Astro Tutorial #1.16: Deep Sky vs Planetary Imaging

[@satvikvarun6386]

I am so glad that there are literally no dislikes on the video

[@catchingphotons]

But whenever you have comments or critique please let me know. Clear skies!

[@spc7163]

Nooooo one dislike

[@HiroDavid]

Thanks Chris! I greatly enjoy your videos. Your style is very informative and easy to understand!

[@catchingphotons]

Thanks mate!

[@husseinhassonny3303]

The best channel for telescopes information

[@catchingphotons]

Thanks a lot Hussein!!

[@phillcotterill6264]

Ahh thank you for posting this. As a newcomer this has explained so much to me. I am a lot clearer now . Thank you so much

[@c.guibbs1238]

Very informative and helping for Astronomy beginners. That means that beyond certain magnification, we have to "cheat" with Nature, since unprocessed visual images of Planets will be fuzzy most of the time. No way around...

[@catchingphotons]

Thanks for the comment! Very much appreciated. Yes: We need to use software to mimic the eyes and the brain. If you actually look at a planet you will see a blobby blob with certain terrain details popping in and out. Your brain will then merge them together over time - funny thing to notice. Autostakkert!3 or other software will do that trick for you - no way to image planets without that trick of "grabbing" moments of best sharpness. The data though is not "cheated". The data is there - we just merge data from different moments all together in one final image. Clear skies to you my friend! -Chris

[@declanwk1]

incredibly informative, the size comparison between Mars and the moon at 4:13 was enlightening

[@catchingphotons]

You are very welcome! Thanks for commenting and have a great asto-time! Cheers!

[@sPidX1]

Thanks!! One of the best, most informative channels I've come across regarding subjects I've been looking into recently...Excellent!! *subscribed and cant wait to see more videos :)

[@catchingphotons]

Thanks Steve! It's those comments that makes this journey worth while! Clear skies! Chris

[@Balataone]

I am just starting to “look up” and I find your explanations of everything fantastic!! This gives me great comfort as I have not purchased any equipment beyond my binoculars yet… thank you very much! 👍❤️

[@catchingphotons]

Thanks a lot for your kind comment! Don't rush in buying your equipment, the sky will be there tomorrow :-D think and rethink what you will love & enjoy, consider your surrounding, the place you have for your gear and if you want to travel or use it in your backyard... So many things to consider. I wish you clear skies!

[@Balataone]

@@catchingphotons yes, there are soooo many options. At this point I am leaning towards the Skywatcher 190 mak newt and perhaps the 180 sky max (class), or the esprit 100 Ed… all on the alt as eq 6 mount. What do you think? I’m trying to cover all bases after realising there is no one “do all” scope.. 🔭 Cheers, Phil

[@brandtdetering8486]

Thank you very much for such a clear and informative description, Chris. This is exactly the tutorial I was hoping to find.

[@catchingphotons]

Thanks Brandt!! Glad the videos were of any help!

[@roncruiser]

Big recent fan of your channel. Perfect for an inexperienced observer like me. Thank you. Great work. Keep it up! I've learned so much from you!

[@catchingphotons]

Thank you so much for your encouraging words!!

[@sennabullet]

Excellent video!!! Thank you VERY much for making it and sharing your knowledge with us.

[@catchingphotons]

You are very welcome Rico! Actually it's a joy riding this road together with the community and all the positive and constructive feedback!! Thanks a lot!

[@fraserp2377]

Such a great breakdown thanks

[@catchingphotons]

Thank you Fraser for your encouraging comment! Glad you like the video. Clear skies!!

[@jimlahey5354]

Excellent video.

[@catchingphotons]

Thanks a lot Jim!

[@pierpaolocondo4843]

A very useful video! Thanks a lot!

[@catchingphotons]

Thank you very much for leaving a comment! Glad you liked the video!

[@hoaithanhnguyen7178]

thanks Chris. can I have a question? I use the 224MC ZWO camera, i use 1000mm focal length, 90mm aperture, 2x barlow. I have problem with focus, can you advise me what setting for my camera for easy focus. i see i am easy with my DSLR when focusing. but ZWO very difficult, the live view like "interrupting",. i use this kind of camera first time. thabk you in advance.

[@ephjaymusic]

Excellent! So well explained.

[@catchingphotons]

Thank you!!

[@tahmidhossain007]

Great Job mate.

[@catchingphotons]

Thanks Tahmid! Hope it helped :-) Greetings

[@projectnemesi5950]

You cant use a short focal length scope for planetary without barlows and additional features (assuming your aperture is large enough), but you can use a high focal length scope for DSO's, you just need to spend more time running exposures. Another benefit of high focal length is more targets and mosaic using plate solving. If you go out during the same seeing conditions, you can make mosaics using a high focal length scope that look similar to using a lower focal length scope. Based on cost efficiency, high focal length scopes are theoretically superior. Rumak Maksutov's are particularly good at doing it all, similar to Schmidt's (SCT), although a Rumak could be considered superior because its image circle is completely flat to the edge, giving it better absolute resolution over equivalent aperture sizes assuming you have a camera with a large enough sensor. Maksutov's were considered the best scopes of all time until it became too costly to produce them. They have a massive corrector lens on the front. Many considered SCT's to be the most popular telescope in terms of doing it all, more popular than a Rumak, because it is lighter, cheaper at higher aperture size, and more upgradeable. An SCT with EdgeHD ($1000's more) or starizona field flattener (costing $400 dollars more) performs similarly to a Rumak, but is less cost efficient overall when less than 200mm aperture. Anything 200mm over is going to heavily favor an SCT and its upgrades. Newtonians are not considered long focal length scopes, and are usually very heavy and need upgrades/an expensive mount to image properly. You also have spider veins and constant collimation to deal with. In the long run, you again, probably spend more than a

[@catchingphotons]

Thanks for your thoughts and insides. Long focal length scopes surely have benefits and useful features. Nevertheless I'd recommend short focal length scopes for beginners: A) guiding and tracking with a short scope is much more forgiving. B) many targets can be imaged with short focal length only and while -yes- you can mimic this by using mosaic techniques, this requires multiple sessions and a high degree of skills. That sets a high bar for beginners. Most starters are "one night one target" folks (and rightly so). Anyway: clear skies!!

[@projectnemesi5950]

@@catchingphotons I would begin with anything that holds its value well. That way, if you someone cant handle the complexity of the hobby, or just does not like that style, you can get out without losing too much. I feel that the difficulty is going to have to be learned no matter what. Sure, it can start easy, but if you really like it and want smaller targets, you will have to tackle the longer focal lengths and learn more about seeing conditions.

[@projectnemesi5950]

@@catchingphotons I guess I should explain more about what I mean when I say "holds its value". If you want to start out easy, get a more expensive USED short focal length scope. It will hold its value more, so if you decide you like the hobby and you want to go higher focal length, you can sell it and get all your money back.

[@quaveda1983]

very helpful and concise !

[@catchingphotons]

Thank you for your encouraging comment! Clear skies!

[@preetiarora-h1i]

Excellent video, very informative. A query - I use a refractor with 60mm aperture and 900 mm focal length manual eq mount telescope for visual astronomy. Will it give satisfactory images by increasing exposure time if I use it for planetary imaging or you would like to suggest an alternative.

[@catchingphotons]

Your telescope, with its 900-millimeter focal length and 60-millimeter aperture, appears to be an entry-level model based on its specifications. However, this is by no means a limitation. I recommend fully maximizing the potential of your current scope before considering an upgrade. It's often more practical to explore the full capabilities of your existing equipment and only consider upgrading once you’ve truly reached its limits. As for your question about exposure time, achieving a precise focus is crucial for capturing high-quality planetary images. The exposure duration for each individual subframe should be kept short. It’s essential to wait for optimal seeing conditions-you’ll recognize them when they occur. When these conditions are met, you can capture one to two minutes of video footage at the highest possible frame rate. In post-processing, you can stack the frames using free software like AutoStakkert, and then sharpen the final image. You might be surprised by the impressive results you can achieve with a modest telescope. Best regards!

[@preetiarora-h1i]

Thanks for the guidance.

[@petset77]

Thank you for explaining the difference between planetary and deep space camera sensors. I'm new at astronomy, so am researching. I (wrongly) figured it was as simple as higher megapixel. Apples and oranges.

[@catchingphotons]

You are very welcome! Thanks for your comment. Cheers and clear skies!

[@trainingwithlions]

Thanks for keeping this up. I thought you were done. Glad you aren't.

[@catchingphotons]

Haha :-) No I'm not done! This chapter shall only be the beginning! Two episodes within this "theory" chapter and then we will cover: - Chapter 2: Hardware - Chapter 3: Image acquisition - Chapter 4: Image processing - Chapter 5: Advanced tricks And I hope to start some kind of Vlog in parallel to the tutorial chapters. But... real life and stuff. Greetings and clear skies! Chris

[@tristanjillings5]

@@catchingphotons :O omg nice :D

[@catchingphotons]

@@tristanjillings5 ;-) It's gonna be a fun road. Thanks for being around here in the early days! Really appreciate that. Greetings -Chris

[@mrlittlefinger1516]

Subscribed and bell icon pressed. Keep on dude.

[@catchingphotons]

Thanks! Will do!

[@melindamercier6811]

Whoa, your videos are so helpful!

[@catchingphotons]

Thanks a lot!!! Glad the videos are of any help! Clear skies!

[@mr.unknown94941]

Can you suggest me telescopes suitable for both DSOs and planetary astrophotography 🌚. I know that both of them require completely opposite opposite features in a telescope but man I'm interested in both of them but I can buy only 1

[@catchingphotons]

Yep I can recommend one scope: my scope 😉 The Newton (Skywatcher PDS 150/750) at 750mm FL can be used for beginner level planetary with a 3x Barlow lens but at f5 is fast enough to be used for DSO even though a coma corrector for edge star distortion is needed. You can buy a combined corrector with x0.75 it something because the native focal length of 750mm will be slightly too long for some DSO nebula. So: ok on all sections but no champ in one. Typical all-rounder. Clear skies!!

[@MrDirtyRod]

Very Nice Video.

[@catchingphotons]

Thanks a lot!

[@junsupark2904]

You are so helpfull thank uu

[@catchingphotons]

Thanks for that encouraging comment! Glad you liked it! Clear skies, Chris

[@astronomyjustforfun4595]

I have some examples of this on my site if people want to see how it begins.

[@satvikvarun6386]

i was here before 1k subs

[@catchingphotons]

*party*

[@satvikvarun6386]

@@catchingphotons You should give us bro😆

[@Korvash1]

Nur 2x Teleskope ... da bin ich schon lang dran vorbei XD

[@catchingphotons]

Hö? :-)

[@spaceisfake2816]

Fake

[@catchingphotons]

Come and join me for a night of astrophotography :-) I do live-streams occasionally, there you can see the live data. Clear skies my friend!

[@wittyboy64]

Buy a telescope. Not everything you can't understand is fake

[@hoaithanhnguyen7178]

thanks Chris. can I have a question? I use the 224MC ZWO camera, i use 1000mm focal length, 90mm aperture, 2x barlow. I have problem with focus, can you advise me what setting for my camera for easy focus. i see i am easy with my DSLR when focusing. but ZWO very difficult, the live view like "interrupting",. i use this kind of camera first time. thank you in advance.

[@catchingphotons]

Hey! The 224 is a good entry level camera - good choice. Focusing within planetary imaging is rough and hard. What you can do: X gain high and exposure such that the planet is very bright. Can you see a moon of Jupiter? Try to focus on the moon for a first guessing. X try gain intermedium and exposure as low as possible and than enlarge the window in SharpCap (or any other program) to ~200%. Try to focus on highlighted details like bands of Jupiter, the red dot or the edge of Saturn rings. It's a game of shifting forward and backward ever so slightly to find the sweet spot. X Is the moon visible? Just slew over to it and fucus on the moon! It's bright and shiny and easy to focus on. An in all: don't give up. Practise and try - it's hard at first but you'll get used to it. Keep in mind: a highly enlarged image of the 224 with its tiny sensor and the Barlow and stuff: the image will always look kind of blurry. It's the post processing that does the trick. Stack it in autostakkert and sharpen it with registax. Those sharpening algorithms are mathematical miracles to me :-) Clear skies!!

[@hoaithanhnguyen7178]

thank you for your advice Chris. i tried in second night, luckily i can focus jupiter and Saturn, alot of attempt because i dont have tracking mount, so it is more difficult for me. thank you very much and clear skies!