Astro Tutorial #1.16: Deep Sky vs Planetary Imaging

Hey folks,

today we want to compare two subtopics of astronomy: Deep Sky Imaging vs Planetary Imaging.
Those two sub-topics don’t have very much in common – except taking images under the dark night sky. And because of the inherent difference of those two sub-topics there are professional amateur astronomers totally devoted to the one or the other section.

We will learn what the specific properties of DSO or Planetary imaging are, what differences there are concerning the hard- and software and so on and so forth.

I hope you enjoy the video and I hope it will help you getting those two sub-topics sorted out.

Clear skies everyone and till next time here on catchingphotons!
Chris

Hashtags:
#DSO
#Planetary
#telescope

[satvikvarun]

I am so glad that there are literally no dislikes on the video

[HiroDavid]

Thanks Chris! I greatly enjoy your videos. Your style is very informative and easy to understand!

[c.guibbs]

Very informative and helping for Astronomy beginners.

That means that beyond certain magnification, we have to "cheat" with Nature, since unprocessed visual images of Planets will be fuzzy most of the time.

No way around...

[husseinhassonny]

The best channel for telescopes information

[phillcotterill]

Ahh thank you for posting this. As a newcomer this has explained so much to me. I am a lot clearer now . Thank you so much

[brandtdetering]

Thank you very much for such a clear and informative description, Chris. This is exactly the tutorial I was hoping to find.

[sPidX]

Thanks!!

One of the best, most informative channels I've come across regarding subjects I've been looking into recently...Excellent!!

*subscribed and cant wait to see more videos :)

[declanwk]

incredibly informative, the size comparison between Mars and the moon at 4:13 was enlightening

[roncruiser]

Big recent fan of your channel. Perfect for an inexperienced observer like me. Thank you. Great work. Keep it up!

I've learned so much from you!

[Balataone]

I am just starting to “look up” and I find your explanations of everything fantastic!! This gives me great comfort as I have not purchased any equipment beyond my binoculars yet… thank you very much! 👍❤️

[sennabullet]

Excellent video!!! Thank you VERY much for making it and sharing your knowledge with us.

[trainingwithlions]

Thanks for keeping this up. I thought you were done. Glad you aren't.

[mrlittlefinger]

Subscribed and bell icon pressed. Keep on dude.

[petset]

Thank you for explaining the difference between planetary and deep space camera sensors. I'm new at astronomy, so am researching. I (wrongly) figured it was as simple as higher megapixel. Apples and oranges.

[preetiarora-hi]

Excellent video, very informative. A query - I use a refractor with 60mm aperture and 900 mm focal length manual eq mount telescope for visual astronomy. Will it give satisfactory images by increasing exposure time if I use it for planetary imaging or you would like to suggest an alternative.

[projectnemesi]

You cant use a short focal length scope for planetary without barlows and additional features (assuming your aperture is large enough), but you can use a high focal length scope for DSO's, you just need to spend more time running exposures. Another benefit of high focal length is more targets and mosaic using plate solving. If you go out during the same seeing conditions, you can make mosaics using a high focal length scope that look similar to using a lower focal length scope. Based on cost efficiency, high focal length scopes are theoretically superior. Rumak Maksutov's are particularly good at doing it all, similar to Schmidt's (SCT), although a Rumak could be considered superior because its image circle is completely flat to the edge, giving it better absolute resolution over equivalent aperture sizes assuming you have a camera with a large enough sensor. Maksutov's were considered the best scopes of all time until it became too costly to produce them. They have a massive corrector lens on the front. Many considered SCT's to be the most popular telescope in terms of doing it all, more popular than a Rumak, because it is lighter, cheaper at higher aperture size, and more upgradeable. An SCT with EdgeHD ($1000's more) or starizona field flattener (costing $400 dollars more) performs similarly to a Rumak, but is less cost efficient overall when less than 200mm aperture. Anything 200mm over is going to heavily favor an SCT and its upgrades. Newtonians are not considered long focal length scopes, and are usually very heavy and need upgrades/an expensive mount to image properly. You also have spider veins and constant collimation to deal with. In the long run, you again, probably spend more than a <180mm Rumak or basic maksutov to get it near as useful.

Astrophotography is kinda like a maze, and after you have absorbed enough information you eventually start to see why people buy the things they do. The main reason people buy low focal length refractors for DSO's over any other scope is contrast due to having no central obstruction. If money is of no concern, a giant APO is the ultimate scope for DSO's. However, maksutov-newtonians are a pretty good second, and Rumak's are a pretty good third if you know how to deal with the focal length and use reducers/mosaics. Other scopes can of course be preferred based on money and what kind of mount you already have. If I didn't mind the point stars and had a $3000+ mount, I would probably get a 12" newtonian and super high resolution camera to take some next level pictures.

[hoaithanhnguyen]

thanks Chris. can I have a question? I use the 224MC ZWO camera, i use 1000mm focal length, 90mm aperture, 2x barlow. I have problem with focus, can you advise me what setting for my camera for easy focus. i see i am easy with my DSLR when focusing. but ZWO very difficult, the live view like "interrupting", . i use this kind of camera first time. thabk you in advance.

[mr.unknown]

Can you suggest me telescopes suitable for both DSOs and planetary astrophotography 🌚. I know that both of them require completely opposite opposite features in a telescope but man I'm interested in both of them but I can buy only 1

[Korvash]

Nur 2x Teleskope ... da bin ich schon lang dran vorbei XD

[astronomyjustforfun]

I have some examples of this on my site if people want to see how it begins.