Exposure times & field rotation considerations Alt-Az mount

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rpsutton
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Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2018 1:26 pm

Exposure times & field rotation considerations Alt-Az mount

#1

Post by rpsutton »

Hi All,

What is the longest exposure I can take using an alt az driven mount? also, I've been told that I can only take and stack so many exposures before field rotation will become a problem - what is that limit?

thanks

Patrick
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oopfan
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Re: Exposure times & field rotation considerations Alt-Az mount

#2

Post by oopfan »

Patrick,

CMOS camera users generally take short exposures (i.e. <1m) so my guess would be not to worry about the effects of field rotation on a single frame. With regards to a stack, the stacking software will take the rotation out. The only side effect is that you will have to crop down your stacked image during post-processing more than if you had a GEM.

Brian
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admin
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Re: Exposure times & field rotation considerations Alt-Az mount

#3

Post by admin »

Hi,

it depends on where in the sky you are pointing. Close to due E and W the field rotation rate is very small. Near to the zenith it becomes very very large.

You can read all about it here - http://calgary.rasc.ca/field_rotation.htm

cheers,

Robin
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