Livestacking with a C11?

[Moonstruck]

Hi Robin,
I will be getting a C11 Edge telescope soon (it is on order), and I will be using it for both planetary and deep sky imaging. As you know this telescope has a long focal length (2800mm). Will it be possible to do livestacking with it on deep sky objects? I will use it with a 0.7x reducer, bringing down the focal length to 1960 and f7. I know with deep sky livestacking there is an alignment function which requires there be some stars in the background to align with... not sure if that will be possible at this focal length- can you please let me know?

Also I am looking forward to using it with your new planetary livestacking option. I am assuming that will be possible using a 2X focal extender, correct? If I used it, the focal length would be huge- 5600 at f20.

Thanks,
John

[admin]

Hi John,

both *should* work, although having a camera with a big sensor will be a help for both. I have live stacked using my 6" classical cassegrain, which has a focal length of 1800mm, and even had plate solving work with that telescope with a 2x barlow at 3600mm, but I am using a IMX571 camera (ZWO 2600, Altair 26C, etc), so a big sensor.

For planetary, the big sensor helps find the planet, you then move to ROI mode to capture.

cheers,

Robin

[Moonstruck]

Robin,
I will be using a ZWO asi 294 camera with the 0.7x reducer for deep sky imaging, so think I should be ok since that sensor is fairly big.

But for planetary livestacking I will have a ZWO asi 224 camera (small sensor) and using it with a 2X focal extender... so it sounds like that may be questionable. Looking forward to trying it out when I receive my scope.

Thanks again,
John

[admin]

Hi John,

the challenge with a small sensor camera and a very long focal length is finding the planet - you might find getting a flip mirror is helpful, since you can center the planet in an eyepiece with a wider field of view then switch the mirror to let the light get to the camera.

cheers,

Robin

[turfpit]

John

Try the site http://astronomy.tools/calculators/field_of_view/. Selecting an object (via Messier, NGC or IC), Telescope, Camera and Barlow/Reducer will allow you to make informed decisions about what can be captured by a particular combination of equipment. M51 = OK, M42 = not so good.

Dave

Astronomy-tools-1.JPG (102.64 KiB) Viewed 10006 times

Astronomy-tools-2.JPG (44.19 KiB) Viewed 10006 times

FOV-M42.JPG (57.37 KiB) Viewed 10004 times

[Moonstruck]

Robin,
I will have no problem finding the target! I will have a guidescope (skywatcher ED-50) on top of the C11 with an asi 174 guide camera and a very wide field of view, which I will use to plate solve. Then when the planet is centered using plate solving with the guidescope, I will switch to the main camera on the C11 for imaging. This is one of the benefits to having a piggy-back guide scope instead of using an OAG- you can use it for plate solving too! This has helped me find objects a lot in the past with my C8. I also have a flip mirror but the plate solving is much easier.

Thanks Dave for the fov calculator info. I was already aware of that, and use it all the time to see what will fit into my fov with the equipment I am using. My question centered around the ability of doing planetary livestacking with a small sensor, and I believe Robin answered that- thanks very much though anyway; I appreciate it.