Re-Centering

Discussions of Electronically Assisted Astronomy using the Live Stacking feature.
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pjwack
Posts: 24
Joined: Fri Jan 05, 2018 11:52 pm

Re-Centering

#1

Post by pjwack »

I thought I'd share a technique I've been using to get longer stacking times. By way of background, I have a Celestron 5se on a wedge and generally do a simple polar alignment (center on polaris). So, given the set-up/equipment, i can get about 5 to 10 minutes before the drift gets too bad.
So..
-I monitor the livestack drift log until the pixel drift is around 200 (depending on size of object in FOV) and then pause the live stack
-In the camera view, i use my hand controller to approximately recenter the object (using reticle overlay). This might require adjusting the display control to better locate the object.
-I then resume the livestack until the drift gets too much and then repeat
From what I can tell, it doesn't effect how the stacking works...?

A poorman's autoguider:))
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oopfan
Posts: 1321
Joined: Sat Jul 08, 2017 2:37 pm
Location: New York
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Re: Re-Centering

#2

Post by oopfan »

Excellent! May I ask:
1. What is the effective focal length at the sensor?
2. What is a typical exposure on a single frame?

Brian
pjwack
Posts: 24
Joined: Fri Jan 05, 2018 11:52 pm

Re: Re-Centering

#3

Post by pjwack »

-it's a zwo asi224mc. so the FOV with reducer is .44 degrees.
-i use the smart brain, so exposure varies according to light pollution, but,
2-4 seconds is the range... so when re-centering, some patience is required.
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