Starting gear for Planetary Imaging

[Andre B.]

Hello everyone, 

so after using Telescope Live for almost 4 years which is an amazing resource pool for deep sky images I am considering getting myself equipment for planetary imaging. 

I moved to a new place last year and checked over the course of this year that I have a really good view from my balcony and backyard into the sky. Of course the targets need to be a bit higher in the sky (trees in around 10-20m distance) but I think for astrophotography that is a good thing.

For now I have the following ideas regarding equipment as I tend to shoot with a color camera: 

Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro SynScan GoTo

Telescope: Celestron C9.25 SCT / XLT (EdgeHD sharper in the corners, so I dont see a benefit here since I do lucky imaging) 

Camera: here I need help, was hoping to get a Zwo Asi 290mc but seems like its not produced anymore. Alternatives? What about Player-One cameras? 

Others: ADC (atmospheric dispersion corrector) , Barlow (2x, 3x?), celestron focus motor, Filters IR/UV 

Of course I am aware of the collimation which needs to be done on Schmidt-Cassegrain. 

Alternatively I saw a few people using 12"-16" Dobson telescopes (Sky-Watcher) for planetary imaging - they are pretty heavy tho so I think mobility is very hard with these.  

Shooting mono would mean I dont need a ADC but then a filterwheel and RGB filters. Price wise its probably the same. What are the benefits of shooting mono? Would it be better in the long run? 

I am really open for discussions around the topic as I already dived into it for almost 3 months. It can get quite overwhelming with all the info you soak in...

 

 

[Mark Mayer]

Hi Andre,

Paradoxically I started off doing planetary imaging for 2 years before switching to deep sky!

I used a C9.25 SCT with an ASI1462, a fast OSC camera that's perfect for planetary imaging. I never used an ADC, but it might have helped. I played with a Barlow lens a bit but was never convinced this improved my images, which were limited by seeing. One advantage of mono and a filter wheel is that you can use more esoteric filters e.g. Methane. As you probably know, but just in case you don't, Jupiter rotates really quickly, so this limits the length of movies you can take, and also the stacking of data from multiple movies, unless you you use a derotation program winjupos.

One nice thing about capturing your own data is that you get to take it through the complete processing sequence, while the new TL planetary data has been 'pre processed' so you don't get the movies, just a single tiff file per movie. There's still a lot of post processing to do with these files, but its not the same as starting from scratch.

Finally, compared to the new planetary data that TL has just released, which were acquired with a C14, the data with a C9.25 will leave you wanting more, AKA aperture fever!

Have fun

Mark

[Scotty Bishop]

I use my 12" Meade LX850 and either my Celestron Luminos 2.5x or Televue 4x Powermate with it if conditions allow and my ZWO 290MC with ZWO ADC or my ZWO 178MC with ZWO ADC. I have a few other cameras I will be trying for this, the Player One Uranus C, QHY 485C, and QHY 462C. While I do have mono cameras for solar and lunar use I am not confident in my ability to do much with them other than on Mercury. I will sometimes use one of my 10RC scopes for this if I already have them set up and a planet is a target of opportunity.

The LX850 mount (I have 2 of them) and the HDX110 are honestly too much and where bought with getting a 16" scope in mind (or in the case of one of the LX850 upgrading to a 16" scope), so I generally run on my CEM70G or CEM60 mounts even doing planetary.

If I capture it myself I do multiple videos of it using SharpCap Pro, then bring them into AS3! for analysis and stacking, then in the past I would bring that into Registax 6 for wavelets, but now I use waveSharp 0.2 for that, then I finish stuff up in Photoshop.

[Andre B.]

Thanks for the input! 
I tend to get the C9.25 as this also means I am getting a proper mount where i can also put on other telescopes such as for shooting the sun or maybe later also starting with deep sky. I see there is also a package with a 9.25 EdgeHD and the AVX mount? Not sure if the AVX is a mount with good reputation... the AVX max weighht is 14kg - EdgeHD is 9.5kg there is not much weight left...

C9.25 + EQ6 is around 4000€

9.25 EdgeHD + AVX is around 3200€ 

Better to invest in a good mount from the beginning, right?

[Scotty Bishop]

3 hours ago, Andre B. said:

Thanks for the input! 
I tend to get the C9.25 as this also means I am getting a proper mount where i can also put on other telescopes such as for shooting the sun or maybe later also starting with deep sky. I see there is also a package with a 9.25 EdgeHD and the AVX mount? Not sure if the AVX is a mount with good reputation... the AVX max weighht is 14kg - EdgeHD is 9.5kg there is not much weight left...

C9.25 + EQ6 is around 4000€

9.25 EdgeHD + AVX is around 3200€ 

Better to invest in a good mount from the beginning, right?

While planetary, lunar, and solar don't quite require as much mount as you do for DSO work, I would still not have the 9.25 on an AVX. I would 100% spend the extra for the EQ6 if going that way, or if you can get them as a separate package one of the harmonic drive mounts from SharpStar, Pegasus, iOptron, or ZWO paying attention to the capacities.

[Mark Mayer]

12 hours ago, Andre B. said:

Thanks for the input! 
I tend to get the C9.25 as this also means I am getting a proper mount where i can also put on other telescopes such as for shooting the sun or maybe later also starting with deep sky. I see there is also a package with a 9.25 EdgeHD and the AVX mount? Not sure if the AVX is a mount with good reputation... the AVX max weighht is 14kg - EdgeHD is 9.5kg there is not much weight left...

C9.25 + EQ6 is around 4000€

9.25 EdgeHD + AVX is around 3200€ 

Better to invest in a good mount from the beginning, right?

AVX is Celestron's entry level GEM. Not saying it's bad, but I'd look at other options before committing. Getting a good mount is critical for long term success. The C9.25 is good for planetary imaging and also deep sky, but in the end I think you'll have more success in deep sky, and be able to image a wider range of objects with a smaller refractor. I have a couple from Williams Optics. Cloudy Nights is the forum to get loads of advice!

[Andre B.]

Thanks both for the advice. I went with the C9.25 + EQ6 version. Even tho would have loved to get the EdgeHD but as Mark mentioned a good Mount is the base for future optics thats also why I decided against the Sky-Watcher 14" Dobson. 
Using a dobson means I spend around 3500€ without the possibility to use other telescopes on that mount. 
I am happy with the decision

I am torn now between the Zwo Asi 224mc + 2x Barlow and 482mc + 3x Barlow. 

Both should work fine regarding the rule of Pixelsize*5 = aperture. 

482mc is a bit slower fps (83fps) wise as the 224mc (150fps). How much does it make a difference tho?