Quick Finding ANY Sky Object for FREE? *READ DESCRIPTION!

Remember to check LOAD AT START UP in the telescopes plugin and RESTART Stellarium so the configuration menu appears. Weird but it's like that with this software.
IMPORTANT UPDATE (28/MAY/2022): with the new versions of Sharpcap, for this to work flawless we need to check the TRACKING box on the SharpCap mount control section (near the plate solve button, at the bottom/right). We have to do this only once. This has a HUGE advantage: now in Stellarium instead of moving the pointer with the arrows we can just select the object and do CONTROL+1 to SLEW to it. Amazing.
This is an electronic PUSH-TO to a manual Telescope with tracking like a Dob in an Equatorial Platform but without using any extra device, just the Telescope, the camera and a Laptop. Like i have with my Dobsonian Telescopes. It's perfect fit to EAA or Astrophotography as long as you have tracking. The faint sky object i try to find and then live stack in this video is NGC 2467 The Skull and Crossbones Nebula.
Update: According to Robin, the confirmation (press OK) for plate solving appears if the distance between the current mount position and the solved position is more than 5 degrees. If it is less than 5 degrees (so, closest to the target) then it doesn't ask for confirmation.

ASCOM download:
SHARPCAP:
STELLARIUM:
ASTROTORTILLA:
ANSVR:

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[solitarynd]

Don't forget that you will also need to install a plate solver. Tiago sort of skipped that step in the video but it looks like he's using ASPS, which has to run under cygwin if you're running Windows. Then the sky index data files that the plate solver uses for matching are an extra download of several gb, and you have to enable tracking in sharpcap to allow the virtual ascom telescope to show you where you are in Stellarium. I was unable to make this work using ASTAP, but using ASPS as shown in this video does work.

I had to turn the star detection sigma down to like 25, but if you watch sharpcap's onscreen error messages as the plate solver fails it will very briefly tell you how many stars it thinks it can see, which hints at which way to adjust the sigma (down, to get more stars) based on your camera setup and skies. I suspect that a sigma of 200 only works for him because he's using a $1000 camera with a TEC cooler.

Some recent builds of Stellarium don't allow you to add an ascom telescope. If the "okay" button doesn't work as you follow Tiago's video instructions, go download the newest dev release and it should work afterwards. Then turn off all of the Stellarium plugins you're not using, especially the satellites, if Stellarium crashes too often.

It took me more than a week to get sharpcap, ascom, asps with the correct data files, and stellarium to all play nicely together but once it's working it really is as easy as he makes it look on his livestreams.

[timm]

Tiago, thanks for the explanation (again). I just ordered an astro camera. After it's arrived, I'm ready to go! So this explanation is just posted on the right time.. 😃

[Duarte]

Eso es maravilloso Tiago, lo estaba esperando. Muchas gracias

[ThreeSixNine__]

This is a very good tutorial from you. I might get a tracker in a few years when I have the time, so thank you in advance.

[avt_astro]

Great Video Tiago. I guess This is Very Useful for Star tracker Users!! Im gonna Try shooting some Galaxies Tonight!!

[MrJoJo]

Hey Tiago, thanks for the helpful video. I have followed all the instructions, but my telescope does not connect in Stellarium. I guess that the telescope + camera have to be pointed at the sky in order to recognize the location? This would explain why I did not see a brown circle on Stellarium?

Looking forward to trying out this technique next time it clears up!

[AstroDavidSky]

Hi Tiago, for what I've seen in the video, the "trakcking" is just for the astrofotography as we know. But I think you can do another video in which you show that can be used as a good "push-to" for telescope without tracking. It could be very useful for people without tracking (like me) to find on internet/youtube this good way to push telescope on the right way!

[raueugen]

"go to telescope controle, click on "load at startup" then "configure" ;
Configure button cannot be activated WHY ?

[robertshukaliak]

Thank you for the video. I followed it exactly and configured all three pograms to your specification. However my Spacecap 51 telescope does not move to designated spot in Stellarium and it doesn’t seem sync together. My telescope is not the ‘Go To’ model. I am not sure where to troubleshoot this. Any help from you would be appreciated.

[gustavitousa]

Great tutorial. I just ordered a eq platform (not the expensive ones) for my orion 14 inches. I hope I can do something like this

[raueugen]

A classical dobsonian like yours and mine has no tracking, no guiding (has no Alt-Az motorised mount).So what's the meaning of: "you need a telescope with tracking" ?

[karanchopras]

Tiago, question is how do we connect laptop with camera and telescope(without mount) ? what is needed for that? How does the software detect where telescope is pointed

[jason]

Does this method only work with an equatorial platform? I have a 8 inch dobsonian that has the star tracking motor and software. I have not been too successful with the 2 star alignment method.

[panicrevn]

Great quick tutorial. Thanks for sharing! I have a 12" dob for about 6 months now and have been learning astrophotography with a dslr. I've learned quite a bit in that time, with much more to learn still. Now after watching your livestream, I think i want a cmos camera now!! Seems like there will be much less time spent in photoshop...if any at all? Do you process your photos the same way as with dslr photos?

[ShreyanshDwivedi]

I HAVE AN DOUBT INSTEAD OF ASTRO CAMERA CAN I USE WEBCAM

[oz]

Too bad your video didn't come out last year. Instead I have been using Dobson Dream hardware kit connected to my 10" Zhumell Dob. Works extremely well as a push-to paired with Ski Safari Plus loaded on my iPad to find deep sky objects fast and accurate. Setting circles and coordinate maps are gone like the buggy whip.