Sun Photography with Seestar & DWARF Smart Telescopes | ISS Transit & Sunspots

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Thank you beautiful Patrons!! My Patreon :) www.patreon.com/SarahMathsAstro

[@michaeledmonds3027]

Thanks so much for presenting the additional functionality of the SeeStar. I look forward to doing more solar work now. Also, I think your pairing with Nico is very cool. It adds yet another layer of interest to you both. I hope you continue to collaborate. Cheers, Michael

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Thank you, Michael! It’s much appreciated.

[@raytbrown2]

Way to sport the Elektron shirt! Nice! Thank you for the in depth video. I never understood all the data being reported on a transit. Now I can read half of it. Thanks!

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Oh so awesome to hear!

[@Fractalite]

The discussion between Sarah and Nico around Smart Scopes was really excellent . Its really a case of `watch this space '.

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Happy to hear this. Thank you!

[@ghazimalik]

Best and detailed solar imaging tutorial on smart telescopes on KZbin! Thank you Sara

[@SarahMathsAstro]

That is very kind of you, thank you and thank you for taking the time to check out the video!

[@roderickwho1983]

Comprehensive and detailed. That was a lot of work on your part, Sarah. Thank you.

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Thank you! It was a video almost a year in the making and it evolved a lot. Thanks for taking the time to stop by and watch. All the best, Sarah

[@Flobwert]

I really don't know how to thank you for this video! This probably prevented many failures for me.

[@SarahMathsAstro]

I’m so glad this video was helpful!

[@busload_uk]

A great tutorial - especially with certain aspects of the ISS Transit Finder which I was previously unaware of! I like the interview format too - hopefully you can do more!

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Thank you! Happy to hear this was helpful.

[@johnsmith-rd9rr]

Glad to see you and Nico hitting it off!

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Thank you :)

[@davidsilva7074]

This was fun and educational. Me, just laying in the bed of my truck on a clear dark night watching the sky is so amazing. 💫 Thanks Sarah.

[@SarahMathsAstro]

That sounds like an amazing evening. so glad you were able to get out under the stars! Thanks for taking the time to watch!

[@brucecenterwall1270]

As always, a great presentation.

[@brucecenterwall1270]

BTW, you are a funny girl......I enjoy your humor.

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Many thanks, Bruce!

[@MrKhagol]

you are by far have covered smart telescopes thoroughly than anyone else I know-kudos to you for that. Now Nico is in picture so that just makes it really interesting. Good collab there. Hope you guys do Texas star party video-very interested in that one.

[@SarahMathsAstro]

There are a lot of interesting features and nuances with each of the smart telescopes out there, and I think the more we explore them, at least from a testing perspective, the better they will get. I'm very interested to see what the future holds for them! I'll relay the message to Nico about the Texas start party next year. Thanks for stopping by and watching. I appreciate your thoughtful feedback. Clear skies!!

[@davidaaaa4611]

Thanks for the video Lovely lady. I have a Dwarf 3 ordered. May take a while getting here.

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Congratulations!!

[@davidaaaa4611]

@@SarahMathsAstro Thanks I can hardly wait until it gets here.

[@SarahMathsAstro]

@davidaaaa4611 I think you’re going to love it!

[@mjklein]

Excellent work Sarah. Thanks for doing this video. It will help many people!

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Thank you! And thank you for stopping by.

[@t_mcb_1342]

happy to see your video... i dig your examples and explanations and such...

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Thank you! :]

[@capry6565]

It's so detailed, comprehensive, and professional! Thank you for that great video!

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Thank you! I appreciate your kind words!

[@ldsnurse9268]

Great video. I enjoyed this a lot.

[@SarahMathsAstro]

I'm so glad! Thanks for taking the time to stop by and say hello.

[@dmintz88]

Awesome vid, Sarah!!

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Thank you, Dan!! So glad we were able to meet

[@jamesstruthers4357]

Got a Vespera this spring and, I have to say, it is really fun. Never imagined that astrophotography would be for me, but the scope is a good gateway to it. To my undiscerning palette, it seems to be capable enough to get some good shots and learn some stuff. It is not going to be my last stop on the journey, but it fills in a nice spot while I put together and learn to use a more sophisticated setup.

[@SarahMathsAstro]

I love your perspective on this. Thanks for sharing your experience so far. I think this is a great example of where these devices can take someone.

[@StevenBarnes-MrRat]

This video was great. So helpful. Thank you.

[@SarahMathsAstro]

So happy to hear this. Thanks for checking it out!

[@garyb6219]

Great video! I've got snacks prepared for your next video.

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Thank you! Snacks are always a great companion to have :D

[@briannilsenhb]

super rad! i love your videos!

[@SarahMathsAstro]

That’s awesome, thank you!!

[@mikaeleastman5210]

Great video! You do a really good job explaining things.

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Thank you! That means a lot.

[@beaudamien]

Hello Sarah I have watched your videos for a while now on astrophotography and I want to thank you for getting me interested in astrophotography. I bought a Celestron Nexstar 130SLT and a Datyson camera. Well I set up everything and I wanted to see it I can take a picture of Andromeda Galaxy, but for some reason the camera doesn't seem to work. all I see is a greyed out image. When I bought the camera it didn't come with any instructions on how to set it up or anything. Is there a program I need to get to make it work or is the camera not the right fit for my telescope? Thanks.

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Hi there, thanks so much for all of your support. Your telescope may be out of focus or your may not have the correct amount of spacing between the camera’s sensor and the telescope’s focal plane. I have a video on the different connection methods for a camera and a telescope on my KZbin that may help here. This is my first guess as to what is wrong. In addition, you will need to make sure that you camera's exposure settings (shutter speed, Gain/ISO) are set correctly for your camera, at least as a starting point to be able to see anything and then you can adjust them from there based on your target/ imaging method (lucky imaging/ long exposures/ etc). I would search on CloudyNights to see what others have used for that camera the necessary exposure settings and then update that in the software.

[@beaudamien]

@@SarahMathsAstro Thank you Sarah for getting back to me, I'll check it out this evening. Take care and thanks again.

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Of course! Happy to help. With your camera and telescope, it's likely that the camera's sensor needs to be closer to the focal plane of the telescope (i.e. the focuser tube on the telescope may be too long for the camera's sensor to reach the appropriate focal plane of your telescope's mirror to achieve focus. I don't think this telescope in particular was designed for astrophotography (which is why the focuser tube is longer and looks to be made for getting eyepieces in focus instead). You could either try some way to get your camera's sensor closer inwards or try to attach your camera to your telescope with an eyepiece in the imaging train to do the 'eyepiece projection' connection method rather than the direct connection method we have been discussing, which is called the 'prime focus' connection method. Regardless of connection method, you may want to use a spotting scope to get Andromeda or any celestial object in view first. I know your telescope is computerized, but I recommend also using the hand controller to get the moon in view there at least which is very bright and should help diagnosing the remaining issues if any first before moving onto Andromeda (dimmer). I.e. this will ensure that the issue in the main imaging train/ main telescope isn't a result of the celestial body not being in view, but rather, confirm whether or not it's a spacing issue between your telescope's focal plane and the camera's sensor. Here is the video I was referring to earlier: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZ2QaoCLiZp1jtk I know the connection process can be challenging and each camera and telescope combo is different. You'll also want to make sure that you have to appropriate shutter speed and gain settings for your specific camera, as mention before. If the settings are set "too dim" to see anything while trying to get the celestial body in view, you won't be able to focus your telescope anyways. So it will help to bring up the exposure levels during this process and then once the object is centered up in the camera's field of view, and your telescope is tracking the target correctly, you can bring those exposure settings down to the appropriate levels for image capturing (which I'm sure someone has probably posted about on the CloudyNights forum or elsewhere on the internet). You'll want to make those changes to exposure in your camera's software, whatever you're using to control it. I hope these tips help! Sarah

[@BommeltjeNL]

Photographing the Aurora has already been done with the Dwarf 3 wide lens. But the FOV is not enough to be honest. You always want the wide shots to get the best Aurora photos. I think the smart telescopes are great for all level astronomers/photographers. For me I don’t want all the hussle and hussle of ‘normal’ astrophotography and the small telescope is easy to carry, you can set it up fast and within minutes you have an image on your screen. The problem of starting “small” is that you want better images each year, but that’s still not so expensive as ‘normal’ astrophotography 😅

[@SarahMathsAstro]

That’s so cool about the Dwarf 3! Thanks also for sharing your thoughts on smart scopes :) very insightful!

[@terrygarbut1442]

Thanks for sharing. Your presentation skills are outstanding! I’m looking forward to SS50 v2. In interim considering using AI to control existing model using Kai’s work. Major interest to create ‘smart’ scheduling considering weather, moon, location (with location specific obstructions like tree’s), maximum available viewing times, objects of interest). Item 2 is ‘automated’ mosaics. Terry Grey Highland Skies Observatory.

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Thank you! That sounds very interesting, and I think something like that would be received very welcome in the community. Awesome!!

[@alexisfarfaro5378]

Super helpful. Thanks!

[@SarahMathsAstro]

So glad this was helpful! Thanks for stopping by.

[@billvinson7859]

The smart telescope doesn’t take the fun out of it. It gives you more time and options to get more photos and enjoy it at the same time. ❤

[@SarahMathsAstro]

That’s how I feel!!

[@nickyp310]

I love this!!

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Aww yay!!

[@RCOverlanding]

Great Content, as usual!!! ❤❤

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Thank you!!! :) hope you’re doing well!

[@RCOverlanding]

@@SarahMathsAstro I’m doing Excellent!! Thank you!!

[@SarahMathsAstro]

@AAAstroPhotography so good to hear!!

[@dubarnik]

Sarah - Your scientific knowledge matches your photography knowledge - both are deep! Did you come to astrophotography as a hobby or as part of your education? What is your education and professional background?

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Thank you for your kind words. Astrophotography started as a hobby based on my interest in science and art.

[@TheAnarp221]

Finally got around to watching this... Really good in-depth review of both piecea of equipment...!!! Enjoyed the interview at the end and thought the question regarding smart telescopes for Aurora was quite interesting... I could see an interesting space (pun intended) there where you could set up a smart telescope where once it detected a change in color/movement, it would start recording... Might make capturing those spontaneous auroras more frequent... Maybe tie it into an online database in real time that measure the KP-index, Bz, and other attributes that can help as well... Definitely interesting... I caught some great shots of the Aurora this past January when I was in Rovaniemi, Finland... Amazing experience... Do you think there will inevitably be an integration of smart telescopes with AI...? As always, another great video... Keep it up...!!!

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Thank you for taking the time to watch, Rand and thank you for your humor and amazing ideas!!! Love your thoughts here and really appreciate you sharing them. So cool that you were able to get shots of the aurora from Finland, too! I think I saw one from your IG? In terms of AI with smart telescopes, to what extent? i.e., some of the object recognition and real-time tracking that the DWARF II has (and I believe the DWARF III also has) could be considered AI. Some of the deep learning algorithms used are pretty great in my opinion. Maybe not the most cutting-edge, but for the local processing power, it's really neat. I think it will be cool if we can start to task the smart scopes with our own voices and ask it questions about space. So maybe a LLM could be integrated. What AI functionality did you have in mind? Thanks again for your ongoing support and feedback!! You rock.

[@TheAnarp221]

@SarahMathsAstro As far as the AI portion, I was thinking along the same lines where you could integrate voice to either prompt further information or target to something else... Additionally, it would be interesting if, for Sol for example, it could overlay real-time magnetic field lines or present detailed information for each sunspot... I'm sure most people aren't aware of the different rates of rotation for celestial bodies so having that show up would be cool... Nice explanation of that in your video too...!!! Besides slewing to bodies and target tracking, there is a lot of potential for AI integration to enhance the novice/experienced user experience to come...

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Your idea about real-time magnetic field overlays is amazing. Along with real-time info about sunspot/ active regions and active rotation for celestial bodies. It would be cool to add the ecliptic or a visual of the ecliptic and the planets. Love your ideas and how you're thinking!! :D

[@TheAnarp221]

@SarahMathsAstro Thanks...!!! Yea, that would be super cool to add that as well... Just the few ideas between us I think lends to the huge potential of future smart telescopes for stuff like this... Maybe we should get ahead of the curve and develop one ha ha ha...

[@tariqalkindi8045]

Hi Sarah, your demos are always sound thanks. what will be the best time to shoot sun & sun set?

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Thank you! I would check meteoblue.com to see when the seeing conditions at your imaging conditions are best for general Sun imaging. And then for sunset, probably start setting up 30 minutes before sunset at your local/ imaging location.

[@tariqalkindi8045]

@@SarahMathsAstro Thanks so much Sarah very kind of you

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Happy to help! And also, I saw your earlier comment on the DWARF II review so I wanted to follow-up here. Here is a step-by-step of how to connect and use the imaging modes within the DWARF II, primarily for night time photography, but there are more user guides on other subjects on the DWARFLAB.com website. Here are the written steps for deep space imaging though!: help.dwarflab.com/en-US/every-secret-tip-you-wonder-about-dwarf-ii-in-astrophotography-385073

[@tariqalkindi8045]

@@SarahMathsAstro Hi Sarah you are wonderful person so many thanks for the support that was great & easy to follow steps. If you decided to visit UAE would love to go for shooting, we have a nice spot for deep sky photography a place called Razeen- AL Qooa an hr drive from Abu Dhabi capital of UAE

[@av-ji9qy]

Ms.Sarah.....if you were to purchase one of telescopes which would it be

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Hi there, what would you be using it of mostly? Types of objects and at home or traveling?

[@av-ji9qy]

Hi Ms. it would be used at home and I guess they would used it for deep space objects ,comets,stars ...I don't think it will be used for planets

[@SarahMathsAstro]

@av-ji9qy hi there! Thank you! Either would be good for all of the above. The Seestar will give you a more zoomed in view whereas the dwarf 3 will have a wider field of view.

[@av-ji9qy]

Thanks for taking my question…..enjoy your videos ….very informative….I’m thinking the dwarf three is probably the scope I will get

[@jesuschrist2284]

Wow 26k subs very nicely done

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Thank you! I’m very grateful ☺️

[@spoony303]

Nice t-shirt! 🎛

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Thanks! 🎵

[@AstroHelmet-mk2zp]

@@SarahMathsAstrobeats too!!? Do you have a music channel too?

[@justklaas4703]

Me trying to focus on the actual content of the video, while my daughters disagree who has the best hair in the back ground: Sarah or Nico.

[@SarahMathsAstro]

This is the best comment I've received to date lol

[@LucasGatsasAstro]

Little Dwarf 😂🎉 Maybe there will be one at the Next Solar Eclipse.

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Maybe :)

[@FernandoRodriguez-pj5uh]

Seestar doesn’t come with a white light filter for solar it is a Silver Black polymer solar filter

[@SarahMathsAstro]

I thought it was to observe white light still?

[@AmatureAstronomer]

Interesting.

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Thanks! :)

[@jonscot8393]

Is it not our Star named "Sun"? ie "this is Sun" or this is Jupiter .... don't get it.

[@justsomeguy6474]

no

[@SarahMathsAstro]

English can be weird sometimes, that’s for sure

[@jesuschrist2284]

What is this sun you speak of?

[@SarahMathsAstro]

It’s anyone’s guess 0__o

[@justsomeguy6474]

Ok just in the cuteness factor the Dwarf wins. It has a face :) 32:36.

[@SarahMathsAstro]

It’s so cute!!

[@willemvandebeek]

Video is great... [AF] :) 11:43

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Haha, you caught that 🙃

[@willemvandebeek]

@@SarahMathsAstro it made me smile how you were unable to hold your laughter at that point. Thank you for not editing that wonderful moment out. :)

[@SarahMathsAstro]

I couldn't help it, lol thanks for being so perceptive!

[@alexabadi7458]

There is one star we can look at without any eye protection, it's you ! :o)

[@SarahMathsAstro]

But what if I knew karate??

[@alexabadi7458]

@@SarahMathsAstro Knowing how the Universe works make you strong, you won't even need karate.

[@rafidali1351]

🌹👍

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Thank you!

[@robertomoura57]

Using a telescope with this much technology is like playing a survival video game, where you have a "console controller". Instead of having to kill yourself looking for resources, you can use the console controller and have all the resources for free, without moving a muscle. It quickly loses its charm... The magic... I wouldn't buy a telescope with this technology... Even if it cost $10. That's just my opinion. Great video. I liked it. Best wishes and success!

[@SarahMathsAstro]

This was a very interesting comparison and I totally see where you're coming from. I've notice for some people, they like it, others, not so much. It's been an intriguing last few years with these new devices on the market. At any rate, thanks for taking the time to stop by and for your kind words. Appreciate your insights!

[@Astronurd]

I'll stick to my telescope and laptop.

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Also a good choice!

[@ashishpatel350]

Directions unclear now I'm blind 😂

[@Astronurd]

That would be impressive as it doesn't have any eyepiece!

[@bakerfx4968]

@@Astronurdthe first warning was to not look at the sun directly with your eyes, I think you missed the joke lol

[@SarahMathsAstro]

>.< ahhhhh

[@adobenumpty]

KZbin algorithm brought me here, I don't own a telescope, I don't do astral photography. I like people with short hair. WTH?

[@SarahMathsAstro]

lol weird

[@FernandoRodriguez-pj5uh]

Am I the only one that finds intelligent women attractive??

[@SarahMathsAstro]

I think intelligence is a great quality

[@av-ji9qy]

Ms.Sarah please slow down…you’re very through but

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Thank you for the feedback!

[@jltrack]

INTJ woman 😍

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Ahh, good ole MBTI

[@TheMuddatrucker]

I’m sorry but that iss clip was lame as they come! Weeks of waiting and practicing for nothing 🎉 I was expecting it to track it all the way across the sky and be able to see them on board waving to me 😢 Or at the very least some good close ups where you can actual see individual parts.

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Even with a very large telescope, you wouldn’t likely see individual parts.

[@jlyn8228]

Wish I'd found this channel when I got into this stuff, So much well though information and it's free! Nico's channel has been so astronomically helpful and I see him in you. L̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶e̶s̶s̶e̶n̶c̶e̶. I mean like the way he

[@SarahMathsAstro]

Thank you!! I’m glad you find this channel helpful. Nico is awesome.