Having a hard time finding the planet

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TFKevin
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Joined: Sat Aug 14, 2021 4:49 pm

Having a hard time finding the planet

#1

Post by TFKevin »

I can’t seem to find the planet on the comp screen, is there any to reduce the magnification in order to find it
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admin
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Re: Having a hard time finding the planet

#2

Post by admin »

Hi,

unfortunately not - or at least not easily. The magnification you see is a result of the combination of the focal length of your telescope and the size of your camera sensor - both are hard to change.

One approach that can work is to center the planet in an eyepiece and then replace the eyepiece with the camera sensor. You can buy a gadget called a flip mirror that holds both the camera and the eyepiece and makes the switch between the two a matter of moving a lever.

cheers,

Robin
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turfpit
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Re: Having a hard time finding the planet

#3

Post by turfpit »

Other things to try.
  • Set the Capture Area of the camera to the largest possible e.g. 1280x960. This gives the best chance of spotting the object. Then reduce the capture area to increase the frame rate e.g. 640x480.
  • De-focus the telescope, this makes the planet large and easier to get in the field of view.
  • At the start of the session, get the telescope pointing at some land based object about 1 mile away using an eyepiece. Adjust the finder scope or red dot finder to align with the distant object. Swap the eyepiece for the camera. Use the reticule in SharpCap and line up the distant object. Adjust the finder scope as necessary. Then when you carry out the mount alignment process, using the finder scope is going to get you near the planet.

In this example, my finder scope would be aligned with the top of the tower and will usually land on the desired celestial object.

setting up 2.png
setting up 2.png (632.53 KiB) Viewed 383 times

Dave
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