Hints + tricks for high-resolution lunar and planetary photography with

"lucky imaging technique" and a video camera - a short workflow for

Schmidt Cassegrain telescopes and Baader Planetarium accessories)

Pictures often say more than a thousand words ...

... again and again I am asked how I make my high-

resolution lunar and planetary shots. Therefore, here is
a brief description of the equipment and following a few
hints + tricks to the "workflow" for shooting and image
processing.

What Do You need ?

 A Schmidt Cassegrain telescope (SC) with large

opening, here an older Celestron 14 (purchased
in the year 2001)
 a video module, in my case a Celestron SkyRis
445 Mono
 a Barlow lens, in my case the Baader Q-Turret Barlow
 Filters, in my case a Baader UV/IR Cut, but mostly a Baader IR Passfilter and
 mechanical components, in my case an older Baader Crayford manual focuser and
some mechanical adapter.

Short comments on the used telescope and its observing location

In May 2013, an older Celestron C14 (purchased in 2001) was reactivated by me in

Namibia and was reset at the Guest Lodge Onjala near the international airport close to
windhoek. The telescope is mainly used in "public star gazing" for the guests of the
lodge.

large aperture and the long focal length of the C 14 is predestined the for lunar and
planetary observations and so in 2014 first test images of the moon were taken, and
their quality was excellent.

The imaging telescope ...

should have a good to very good image quality. I mainly use the C14 in its primary focal
length at 3,900 mm. If the seeing conditions are excellent - which is relatively rare at my
observing location - the focal length is extended to about 6 meters with the Baader Q -
Turret Barlow lens. For reducing Seeing problems the Baader IR Passfilter is often used.
More about the last two points later.
The Alpha and the Omega for the telescope optics is a perfectly collimated secondary
mirror (sm). Smallest tilts of the sm against the main mirror (mm) immediately result in
blurred images at the edges in the image field, despite the small field of view (in my case
about 5.4 x 4 arc minutes), even if the center of the image is still somewhat sharply
displayed.

< The image on the left shows a decollimated

SC system, and the secondary mirror shade is
clearly asymmetrical to the main mirror. To the
right is the resulting image of the double star
alpha Centauri.

For a stationary mounted instrument, it is

sufficient to check the collimation of the
sm from time to time, for equipment that
is frequently transported and set up and
dismantled, the collimation should be
checked before EACH recording sequence.

> The picture on the right shows the SC

system after collimation. From left to right: the
star Altair extrafocal blurred, just before focus
and finally focused at right (note the first
diffraction ring).

With some experience you can see

immediately if the seeing is reasonably
good and stable, whether the collimation is
OK. First times I had to adjust an SC
telescope, I used a small public domain software called "Astroraster". The link for the
download can be found in the appendix off this small paper.

The second important point is that SC telescopes

have a so-called "mirror shift," meaning that when
the image is focused on the normal spindle focus, the
main mirror tilts slightly back and forth on its guide.

Therefore, I also used an older, manual Baader

Crayford focuser with a 1:10 reduction, which is
bolted to the back of the 3.3 male thread of the tube
termination plate. For raw focussing I use the normal
spindle, final focus is then done with the Crayford.

Slight tilting of the main mirror (mirror shift) via the

spindle focussing can have immediately negatively
influence to the collimation of the secondary mirror.
Therefore the following personal tip: whenever you
move the main mirror with the spindle focus, select the final direction of rotation
COUNTER CLOKEWISE. In this direction of rotation you pinch the main mirror in a
defined tilt fixed position.

 So ALWAYS select the counterclockwise direction of both the collimation

and later in the pre-focusing

And a last tip to the recording telescope. Make sure that the SC plate is clean and dust-
free. Dirt generates stray light, which quickly reduces the recording quality. Of particular
importance is a clean optic for the acquisition of planets, e.g. of Jupiter, whose fine,
relatively contrastless cloud structures otherwise are lost in scattered light.

For me, unfortunately, it is often the case that due to special circumstances, the SC plate
is completely polluted when I come back to Namibia. I only use the cleaning fluid Optical
Wonder from Baader Planetarium to clean the SC plate.

The video module

I started with various video modules of the company "The Imaging Source" (TIS), a
German based company in the city of Bremen. These video cameras were expensive, but
technically well engeneered and easy to use with the stable running control software IC
Capture. After a veritable boom of TIS cameras, which were actually designed for
industrial applications, TIS developed several video modules for the company Celestron,
which were designed specifically for amateur astronomy. To control the recording
functions of the modules, the ICap software was developed.

I currently use the Celestron SkyRis 445 M

camera with a pixel size of 3.75 microns
for monochrome lunar and planetary video
sequences. The control software ICap is
almost intuitive to use and runs extremely
stable.

In the prime focus of the C14 at 3,900 mm

focal length results in the red wavelength
range at the pixel size of 3.75 microns, a
theoretical resolution at average lunar
distance of about 400 meters, which I also
achieve at good and stable Seeing conditions (see also links in the appendix).

The Baader Q-Turret Barlow lens

If my seeing conditions allow, I use a Baader Q-Turret Barlow lens to extend the focal
length of the C14. Why I select the Baader Q-Turret barlow lens ?

 For its low price (€ 49.- price at

January 2018) it offers a brilliant,
outstanding image quality,

 the Barlow is divisible, the actual

Barlow element can be separated
from the socket and screwed
directly into the 1¼" socket with
the C-mount thread for the SkyRis
module. The advantage is that,
depending on the choice of the
socket the adjustable extension
factor lies between 1.5 and 1.8
times.
The picture above shows the separated Q-Turret Barlow. On the left the optical element,
on the bottom the unscrewed sleeve and on the top the SkyRis module with a short
Baader 1¼ "socket (# 295 8515). Here the optics of the Q-Turret is directly screwed in
and the factor of the focal length extension is then approxemately 1.5 times.

The usual focal length extensions of 2 to 3 times of normal Barlow lenses are just too
much for the C14 and my seeing conditions. As soon as possible - when Seeing
conditions allow - I work with the Q-Barlow at a factor of about 1.5 times and thus give a
secondary focal length of about 6 meters.

Filter

The time window at my observation site with very good seeing conditions is usually short
(max. 45 minutes) and often starts BEFORE sunset, so the sky background is still bright.
An indispensable tool in many of my recordings is therefore the Baader IR pass filter. On
the one hand, it significantly improves the seeing conditions during the phases of good
seeing. On the other hand it darkens the sky background far enough in the twilight. The
filter opens at about 680 nanometers, which indeed reduces the image resolution, which
depends on the wavelength, but the resulting better Seeing conditions brings more
benefits than the higher image resolution.

The filter even allows - if the sky is very

transparent and the optics is clean - moon
shots in high sun daylight. This can be
helpful if you want to record special
lighting situations of specific lunar
structures (for example, shadows of crater
walls or crater central mountains).

< The picture on the left shows the Baader 2

inch IR pass filter, which is screwed into the 2"-
1¼"adapter and the SkyRis with the Barlow
element in the short plug (# 295 8515).

Tests by me have clearly shown that further shifting of the recording wavelength to the
infrared spectral range with other filters does not improve the seeing conditions. On the
other hand, a noticeable extension of the exposure time for taking the individual pictures
is noticeable. See also the weblink in the appendix.

In the rare cases where I record "single shot" color raw video sequences with a color
video module of planets, I always have a Baader UV / IR blocking filter in the optical
path.

Mechanical components

> The picture on the right shows

the complete recording unit with
the IR pass filter and on the right
with a corresponding dust cover.

As already mentioned above, I

used an older Baader Crayford
for final focusing. The 2" entry
of the focusing unit is reduced
by an adapter from 2" to 1¼". On the telescope side the 2" UV / IR blocking filter or the
2" IR pass filter is screwed in. The video module is then connected via a 1¼" socket with
C-Mount thread realized. I make sure that ALWAYS a filter is screwed into the adapter.
This protects the recording chip from dust, which - once it is on the chip - is very difficult
to remove. That's why I always leave the camera, adapter and filter as a complete unit
together.

This concludes the description of the imaging components. In the following, I

describe the workflow for imaging the raw video files.
Shooting preparation

EVERY observation site has its own best Seeing window, which you should know. It
makes little sense to take raw avi files in bad seeing. The free available software
packages for stacking the raw images (AviStack, RegiStax and AutoStackard) work
brilliantly, but they can not perform magic.

If possible, have your recording telescope temper approx. 1 hour before the start of the
recordings. My best Seeing window in Namibia is round about sunset and the telescope is
mounted in a 4m dome, which I open about 30 minutes before starting the recordings.
The Sun is then still above the horizon and the telescope is not yet tempered very well
when I start the avi shots. That's why I often have to refocus at the beginning of my
imaging sessions.

I mount the camera into the Crayford focuser and then align it by rotating to the axis
Right Ascension (RA) and Declination (DE) with the Lunar Terminator. Thus, the lunar
section which I want to image shifts up/down when adjusting the declination and
right/left when shifting into right ascension. This saves a lot of time in setting moon
formations to the field of view, especially when the Seeing window is short in time. If the
moon image somehow moves diagonally when moving in RA or DE, it takes a long time
to adjust the desired image detail.

Focussing ...

... is one of the most important points for record

good raw avi files. With very good and stable
seeing conditions, focusing is easy. Here, in the
life view, focus is set at the smallest visible
structures. Things are different when the seeing
conditions are anything other but stable.

< The picture on the left shows the individual

components for recording the avi files on the
Crayford focuser.

Local Seeing generally consists of two components:

 image motion - the image stays sharp but shows strong displacements in the
field of view
 blurring - the image is stable, but the focal sharpness changes constantly.

Both components usually overlap, unless you have an extremely favorable observing
location. Here are some tips on image focusing for normal Seeing conditions.

 Increase the image brightness of the live image with the control software either
with changing the exposure time or with the electronic gain higher than you later
expose the single images. A bright picture can be focused more safely. For
planetary shoots, make sure the exposure time is not less than 1/30 second.
Jerky life images do not allow good focus.
  !!! Do the pre-focusing counter-clockwise with the spindle focus. The collimation
of the secondary mirror will preserved !!!

 Use a manual focus unit for final focussing. It's IMPORTANT to be able quickly
change between extra- and intrafocal images to find the best possible focus
position. Electronic focus units are far too slow under normal seeing conditions for
quick changes.

 Image Motion reduces significantly near the best focus position.

If the telescope is not perfectly tempered to the surrounding temperature, re-focus EACH
new avi file.

 Ultimately however, everyone has to find their own way for themselves and their
instrumental equipment.

Settings at the control software for imaging the raw avis

Here I can only give tips for ICap, the recording control software for Celestron SkyRis
video modules, but in general the tips can be transform to other software packages.

 Absolutely important: Be sure to check - BEFORE you start the first Avi -
recording - the BASIC settings of your control software, especially the video codec
settings. NOTHING is more annoying than having taken a lot of good avi streams
and the stacking software can not handle the movies, because of incompatible
settings between the video module and the stacking software,

 the brightness changes for the single frames - especially in moon shots - are often
too rough by changing the exposure times, so I regulate the final image
brightness usually with the electronic gain. This allows a much more sensitive
adjustment of the image brightness,

 my basic settings for GAIN is at + 10 db for sun, moon and planets. I try to avoid
reinforcements higher than + 13 db, because the image noise of the single raw
images is then very strong and a correspondingly higher percentage of single
images must be stacked,

 depending on the conditions of seeing, I record between 1,200 and 1,800

individual single raw images of the moon, of which I stack between 10 and 12%
for the final raw sum image (average approx. between 150 and 180 single raw
images). In planetary shots, I take a maximum of 3,000 frames, of which I
generally stack 10% for the raw sum image. This usually results in noise-free raw
sum which are extremely easy to sharpen via sharpening filters in the final image
processing,

 set the frame rate (frs, frames per second) so that you can record as many
frames per second as the USB speed, the speed of your laptop's hard disc and the
video module allow. However, make sure that the frame rate and exposure times
of the individual images match. As an example, it will not work e.g. shooting
Jupiter so set a frame rate of 60 frames per second when the exposure time is
only 1/30 second. On the contrary, it could happen that the stacking software can
not read these avi files,

 when imaging Jupiter and Saturn, make sure that the complete recording time of
the raw avi does not take too long, as both planets rotate very fast. As a
reference value for the C14 in the primary focus, the recording time of a single Avi
file should not take longer than about 2 minutes, otherwise small atmospheric
 structures rotate by a larger angle than the theoretical resolution of the telescope
and thus generate image blurring.

Especially "young" lunar craters, such as Copernicus, Tycho and others show extremely
bright crater walls near the terminator, which burn out completely after stacking and
sharpening when the exposure time is set to the surroundings landscape and thus
appears very unattractive (see illustration below). In such cases, I take TWO files, one
exposed accurately on the crater wall and one exposed precisely to the environment.
Both sharpened raw sum images are then superimposed in the final image processing in
layers (exposure for the crater wall down, surrounding up) and then - in the simplest
case - with the "eraser function" in Photoshop the overexposed crater wall is edited.

The picture above shows as an example the crater Copernicus. Left: exposed for the
surrounding, middle exposed to the crater walls and right the assembled, final processed
image as described above.

... and one last hint:

a good stacked raw image is crucial for the subsequent image sharpening, whatever filter
functions are used (I use only the wavelet filtering), and for the subsequent effort in the
final image processing.

Dipl.-Ing Wolfgang Paech in January 2018

Appendix

Two complete online Lunar Atlantes, whose images were taken ALL as
described above, can be found at this URL:

http://www.chamaeleon-observatory-onjala.de/en/chamaeleon-observatory/project-
htm/projekt-mondatlanten.htm

A more detailed description of image acquisition and image processing of these

lunar images can be found at this URL:

http://www.chamaeleon-observatory-onjala.de/mondatlas-
en/bildverarbeitung/bildverarbeitung.htm

Remarks on the theoretically and practically achievable image resolution of a

Celestron 14 at this URL:

http://www.chamaeleon-observatory-onjala.de/mondatlas-
en/bildaufloesung/bildaufloesung.htm

At the moment only available in German language

Example images of the moon taken with C14 and Baader Q-Turret Barlow
element

http://www.chamaeleon-observatory-onjala.de/de/chamaeleon-observatory/moon-
images/mond_web_2017/mond_start_2017.htm

The Baader IR pass filter in practical use

http://www.baader-planetarium.com/de/blog/baader-ir-passfilter-im-praktischen-
einsatz/

IR pass filter in comparison

http://www.baader-planetarium.com/de/blog/ir-pass-filtervergleich-planetenfotografie/

Moon photography in daylight and high sun

http://www.baader-planetarium.com/de/blog/mondbilder-am-tage/

Cleaning an Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope

https://www.baader-planetarium.com/en/blog/baader-optical-wonder-a-real-optical-
wonder/

About Barlow lenses

http://www.baader-planetarium.com/de/blog/zu-den-brennweiten-verlaengernden-
faktoren-von-barlowlinsen/

Tutorial for video planet photography

https://www.celestron-deutschland.de/brands.php?BrandID=108
Tutorial for the video photography of the moon and the ISS

https://www.celestron-deutschland.de/brands.php?BrandID=108

Software for collimation of SC telescopes

Note: The software is written by Mr. Bernd Marquard and creates a transparent image
window, which in the foreground e.g. above the live image of a video module. The
software has not been modified since 2007 and runs on Windows 7 (I have not tested
Windows 10). If the program is installed and started, an HELP window opens when the
<F1> key is pressed. Among many other functions there is also a routine for collimation
of an SC system.

http://www.gosky.de/Software1.htm