Hello, I am new to using SharpCap and running into a problem I was hoping I could get some advice on. My coworkers and I are making an educational event for the 2024 solar eclipse. We are using an Orion 6' newtonian reflector telescope with a solar filter with the Sharpcap eyepiece attachment in order to put up a live view of the eclipse in real time.
When we were experimenting with it we noticed that while we could see the full image of the sun through the telescope on its lowest 25x magnification, once we added the sharpcap attachment it seemed to add to the telescope's magnification and we were unable to view the sun in its entirety on the screen. Decreasing the zoom only made the actual display screen itself smaller.
Has anyone run into this issue and have a solution?
Thank you.
Added magnification when trying to view the sun
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rockefellerspp1
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Tue Mar 19, 2024 2:08 pm
Re: Added magnification when trying to view the sun
Hello and welcome.
I assume you mean a camera when you mention "SharpCap eyepiece attachment"?
If so, a camera view will always be different from a visual view. This is depending of the sensor size and pixel size of that sensor.
So could you please tell what camera you do have?
Menno
I assume you mean a camera when you mention "SharpCap eyepiece attachment"?
If so, a camera view will always be different from a visual view. This is depending of the sensor size and pixel size of that sensor.
So could you please tell what camera you do have?
Menno
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rockefellerspp1
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Tue Mar 19, 2024 2:08 pm
Re: Added magnification when trying to view the sun
Hello and thank you. I'm using the SV205
Re: Added magnification when trying to view the sun
I just checked and indeed you will have only a part of the sun on monitor with your telescope and camera combination. On the screenshot below that's roughly the dark blue rectangle. It's called a FOV (Field Of View).
There is nothing you can do with software to change that.
But there is a piece of hardware that's called a Focal Reducer. Simply put, that's a kind of lens that goes in between your telescope and camera and alters the FOV to your camera. In your case you would need a 0.5x Focal Reducer which gives roughly the FOV of the light blue rectangle in the screenshot. Or a 0.4x Reducer indicated by the orange rectangle.
That or a different camera like the Zwo ASI482MC which gives the FOV of the second screenshot.
That said: somebody maybe could give some extra information too. Don't know for example if you need rings to add distance between reducer and camera. I really only have experience with Schmidt Cassegrein telescopes and with Newtons only theoretical
Menno
There is nothing you can do with software to change that.
But there is a piece of hardware that's called a Focal Reducer. Simply put, that's a kind of lens that goes in between your telescope and camera and alters the FOV to your camera. In your case you would need a 0.5x Focal Reducer which gives roughly the FOV of the light blue rectangle in the screenshot. Or a 0.4x Reducer indicated by the orange rectangle.
That or a different camera like the Zwo ASI482MC which gives the FOV of the second screenshot.
That said: somebody maybe could give some extra information too. Don't know for example if you need rings to add distance between reducer and camera. I really only have experience with Schmidt Cassegrein telescopes and with Newtons only theoretical
Menno
- shot1.jpg (121.86 KiB) Viewed 346 times
- 482MC.jpg (85.21 KiB) Viewed 346 times