The Moon October 19th 2010
This post shows some simple results of what can be done with a DSLR without a telescope in the field of planetary astrophotography. While the results can never be compared to the results obtained with a telescope I think most photographers are unaware of what can be achieved just with the camera and a long lens. For this examples I used a Canon 550D camera, a 400mm F5.6 lens and a 1.4x teleconverter. Longer lenses and a 2x teleconverter can achieve even more magnification for even better results. Glass quality is fundamental a good 400mm lens can be better than a cheap 800mm mirror lens.
Jupiter and its Moons
For the moon and Jupiter I used the camera, the 400mm lens and the 1.4x teleconverter. Aperture was fixed at F11 for maximum sharpness, ISOs between 400 and 800 are more than enough to get shutter speeds such as 1/200 or 1/100 those are enough to freeze the movement of the moon or Jupiter across the field of view.
Six Degrees of Separation
To improve noise, resolution and magnification several images can be taken and then stacked. Registax is a very good free software for planetary stacking. For Jupiter and its moons two different exposures are needed as the planet will be overexposed if the moons are displayed and the moons will be invisible if Jupiter is properly exposed.
Jupiter without a Telescope
This last example was done with the Video Mode of the 550D. The 550d has a 7x 640×480 video mode that acts like a digital zoom, a short video can then be decomposed by registax into hundreds of frames that can be stacked to improve noise and resolution. Jupiter shows enough detail to see its bands and the red spot, I think the resolution is high enough to show Venus phases and it will be great to show Saturn and its rings, probably the most interesting target for this unpretentious kind of photography.
I hope this small article encourages more photographers to make tries at the moon and the planets, it can be done even if you don’t have a telescope.
Hey Luis, I just bought a 550D and would like to experiment with imaging Jupiter using my C8 telescope. Can a barlow lens be used with the body of the 550D alone (i.e. with the camera lens being removed)? What type of adapter would be needed to attach the barlow to the camera and the eyepiece socket of the telescope?
Thanks,
Peter