Saturn 3-12-10 from Maine

These were taken last night.

nexstar 6se, barlow 2x, canon 7d

Any tips to get better detail would be appreciated. Only my 2nd time photographing it.

ooppss...should have put this in photo and not talk..sorry.

Very good!

I might have made it a little bit lighter.

Did you try it with the NexImage? Having a few hundred frames to stack in Registax would be an improvement.

Now, you need to practice and wait for that night with exceptional atmospheric conditions that's coming to Maine.

Don

Thanks Don.

Next up is trying the Neximage again on it.

My main goal on this was to practice focusing thru the camera eyepiece. I was to try to get Orion Nebula this way but not sure if it will work or not. I was told you can see more thru the camera eyepiece then you can thru the camera "live" view when it comes to more faint objects.

I was looking at a couple of filters that are supposed to aid in seeing nebula as well. Do you recommend any?

Lloyd

Hi Lloyd,

For focusing I recommend a Bahtinov mask They are inexpensive to buy and easy to make for yourself. You don't focus on planets with them, you focus on stars, and the planets will also be in focus (this is the same for focusing through the eyepiece or Live View - it's easier to focus on a fairly bright star than on a planet). IMHO using a PC to download and evaluate the focus tests is better than trying to use Live View or trying to focus through the camera's viewfinder. Depending on how bright the star is, you may not be able to see it well enough to focus through the viewfinder, but taking a one or two second exposure at ISO 1600 will work even with fairly faint stars.

Here's a site that sells Bahtinov masks, and also provides free downloadable templates if you prefer to make your own:

http://www.focus-mask.com/

There are other sites that sell them too, try Google. There really is no better or faster way to achieve perfect focus with a DSLR than a Bahtinov mask, and I have used mine with my webcam too. To use it with the NexImage you may have to pump up the gain in order to see the diffraction spikes in the live video preview.

As far as filters for nebulae, I don't recommend anything starting out, except possibly a broadband or multi-band light pollution filter - and you don't even need that for the brighter nebulae. "Nebula filters" designed for visual use won't add any benefit for photography and will more likely harm the image. The broadband LP filters designed for imaging will help some if you have significant light pollution, but at the expense of longer exposure times and white balance shift, ranging from mild to severe.

Don

Thanks Don.

I will give that mask a try. I believe I need the C6 for my scope.

My light pollution is low where I live. Maine and out in the country.