Saturn 5-25-2011 2h 0m UT – LXD75 AR-6
Telescope: Meade LXD75 AR6 @ f/16
Camera: Imaging Source DMK21
Filters: Orion V-minus (IR Pre-filter), Meade RGB imaging filters
Exposures: R 1000x30fps, G 1000x30fps, B 1000x15fps
Software: IC Capture, Registax 6, Photoshop Elements
This is my second-night-out with my new DMK21 monochrome USB camera from Imaging Source. The trick to using this camera to take RGB images with my AR-6 is to reset the focus between each color. Since this has to be done very quickly when imaging the planets I set the focus ahead of time using a bright star and a Bahtinov mask. I mark the position of my fine adjust knob using a dry erase marker so I can easily set the focus for each color. The total elapsed time for taking all of the source images is right around 5-6 minutes
Fun stuff.
-John
j.JPG "Saturn (5-24-2011)j.JPG")
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Hi John, That's a sharp
Hi John,
That's a sharp image. Great detail captured. Your Cassini division shows you've got focus well under control.
Interesting technique you've got for focusing. Your AR-6 is probably much more thermally stable than my truss Newt.
I have to re-focus for each image set but not necessarily between colors. I get enough thermal contraction of my truss structure that my focal point will change through the night. I have a stepper motor driving the focuser and the step count is displayed on my laptop screen, so I can watch how much the focal plane shifts between each RGB set. My filters are pretty close to parfocal (I think) so I don't always focus between colors. You've got me thinking though to prove that with a Bahtinov mask.
right, fun stuff.
Dave Polan