Detailed setup page 3

My astrophotography setup in more detail page 3

Now that we have north aligned the telescope/mount (previously) and are able to navigate in the universe( go-to by platesolving) we need to make sure that the telescope/mount can autoguide by tracking a star or several stars. When the stars tend to drift and this is detected by the guidescope/PHD2 an error correction signal is sent to the mount, thereby commanding it in the right direction keeping the stars and object fixed . With this feature, I am able to take longer exposures and prevent the stars in the picture from trailing. The quality of the guiding adjustment is essential for a good picture and I always make and effort in making the best possible guiding setup. This is done by running an calibration test of the actual rig-setup( parameters/mount/backlash /guidingscope etc.)
When the autoguiding is acceptable I am ready to find my object and run my astrophotography session.
In Stellarium I search for my object(eg M31)In N.I.N.A. I sync this object with all its attributes( position etc.) to N.I.N.A. N.I.N.A. has its own object database so Stellarium is not essential but I like the visual presentation in this app. In Nina I ad my target and define how many pictures, exposure time, ISO etc. and setup guiding, center object etc. and hit run, this starts the capture session and while I observe I can sit back and drink some coffee. The pictures are automatically stored on my computer.
For planetary sessions it is almost the same procedure with only a few exceptions, I use the software “Firecapture” which is designed for capturing objects like the planets in our solarsystem while N.I.N.A is intended for Capturing DSO and long exposures. Together with Firecapture I use a dedicated Planetary camera like my ZWO ASI 485MC. This camera is extremely sensitive and acts more like a videocamera compared to a normal DSLR camera.

Ending the session

When the battery power is low its time to end the session but we need to take some calibration photo frames. I use the built-in module “frames” in N.I.N.A. and take a number of Flats and Dark Flats calibration frames.
Now its time to park the telescope and power off all the equipment and wrap it up.

Unpacking equipment and drying

When unpacking all my equipment I make sure that all equipment will be properly dried and free of any moist/water/ice. I also make sure that Batteries are fully charged before my next Night session.

Transfer data

When the PC has reached ambient temperature and external powersupply is pluged in, I transfer all the data to a USB Hardisk.

Data processing

In this step, the result of my effort will be revealed. I use different software to post process the pictures depending on the objects(planets or Deep sky objects) This is my software collection which consists of paid software and freeware applications.

DSS- Deep Sky Stacker

Final result

The final picture is now ready and done. Maybe You are satisfied, maybe not, The process of astrophotography involves so many steps where one only can learn and improve, this will lead to better finale results. I have learned much about weather condition and the great impact it has on photographing the objects in the night sky, The equipment and the adjustment to obtain the right setup, The photo session where it makes a difference whether You use the optimal ISO and exposure on the camera, the post processing of the pictures and getting all the data extracted and exposed. I don’t think that I will ever get tired of this hobby of imaging "things of the past".

- It’s easier than you might think-

For planetary imaging I use a dedicated planetary camera and the planetary imaging software "Firecapture"

It's possible to use a DSLR camera or even a smartphone but the ZWO ASI 485MC is much more capable in any aspect. It has a extremely high
sensitivity and super low read out noise, a small sensor and ultra-fast frame rates. Essentially this camera behaves like a video camera with the ability to capture still images as well. Although the camera is not recommended for deep sky imaging, I also use it for this purpose and have added a cooling device to keep it cool and minimize sensor noise.

I start Firecapture but...

Before my planetary session, I have prepared the telescope and mount as if I were to do deep sky sessions. I have checked the telescope collimation , polar aligned and plate solved in N.I.N.A. By doing all these steps, I am able to point precisely at a planet, even the moon. When the planet is centered, I install the Televue Powermate 4 x magnifying lens in front of the camera together with the ADC(Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector) This enables me to correct the colors red and blue that otherwise tends to be distorted du to the atmospheric light-bending effect(Just like light that spreads trough a prism) This "image train" of different components gives me magnification and color correction.

My image train for planetary imaging

In addition to this image-train I always use a Infrared/ultraviolet block filter(UV /IR cut filter) so only the wavelengths in the visible spectrum hits the camera sensor.

Firecapture opens presented with a menu on the left side and a image view to the right.

Before I begin with the camera adjustment options, I need to enable the telescope/mount, the autofocuser and alternative the autoguider in the settings menu.

I slew the telescope in small steps to get the object centered

In this case I have selected Jupiter as my capture profile, I adjust the gain and exposure from the preset value and deselect Gamma. Now its time to focus the planet, a combination of zoom in and selecting/scale a Region of interest might be needed. I select the ADC option and adjust the red and blue by rotating the levers on the ADC itself. When things looks right I start the capture and let it run for 1.5 to 3 minutes.

A close-up of a Moon capture

The very demanding and "hard to get perfect" Saturn

The telescope setup menu

I use the telescope interface and initialize it.

Initializing the mount

When initializing the mount I find my ascom mount driver and select ok.

The mount has initialized and now able to guide

ADC tuning feature

When enabling the ADC tuning feature I adjust the tabs on the ADC(Image train) to get the red and blue color coincidence. This tuning requires adjustment corrections to the mount/telescope every time ADC adjustment is made, to keep the planet centered in the view.

Imaging the planet Venus here with capture running

Histogram enabled and adjusting the gain and exposure together with focus adjustment, I am tweaking the values and settings to obtain the best result in the actual condition.

Finder scope 9x50 mm

The finder scope on the Skywatcher 200PDS is a helpful accessory when I need to point the telescope to a planet target, especially during the twilight where the telescope is neither polar aligned nor able to platesolve stars. I always make sure that the pointer scope is aligned precisely with the telescope in advance. After finder scope alignment at a fixed object and the target is exactly in the middle of the telescope focuser and finder scope eyepiece, I put some index markings on the adjustment screws.

Lastly I need to take some calibration frames after a long night of exposures

N.I.N.A has got a menu-page for doing just this. The hole purpose is to remove camera artifacts such as heat noise ,dust, bias noise, amp glow and subtract this in the final image process.

In the Flat Wizard I need som Flats and some dark flats

I have already taken my Bios and Dark calibration frames for my camera. These frames is for the camera only and do not need to be produced after the astro- photography session, but darks are temperature and exposure time dependent as well as the ISO, so I have darks with different settings. Flats and dark flats on the other hand, must be done in conjunction with the actual telescope and lenses/flatners.
I set up my Flat configuration like this, 10-50 flats and 5-20 dark flats is appropriate. I then slew the telescope to horizontal(Zenith) and set the gain to match my session exposures. Before I hit run, I put my light panel on top of the telescope opening and adjust the light to lowest possible value. I now run the Flat- session.

When the Flats is done, remove the light panel and put the lens cap on the telescope

For my ZWO ASI planetary camera I use ASIStudio

This software is also able to take Bios, Dark and flat frames.

PHD2 is ready for guiding

If I my astrophotography session targets nebulae, I will use my narrow band filter to isolate the wavelengths of the Ha, S-II and O-III emissions. For stars and galaxies I use a UV/IR cut filter in front of my modified cameras.

Bodes galaxy is selected as my target for tonight

I hit "ctrl 1" and the telescope slew to this position.

Coordinates are acquired from Stellarium and object is added to the sequencer

The sequence is the modified

I start testing the sequence with most of the target options enabled. The camera exposure time is set to 60 sec and iso 200, no dither. Next I will run an exposure with my target value(180 sec) and iso 100 for a final check of picture quality before i begin the actual sequence.

When the sequence starts the plate solver begin to do it's job

When the plate solver knows where the telescope i pointing by comparing the actual stars in the exposure with the stars and coordinates in it's database, it will issue a slew command to the mount to eliminate any error.

The sequence is now in progress and guiding looks okay

The first exposure revealed

Guiding and imaging