I took a picture of Mercury with my Telescope
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
- Back at it again with my Celestorn Nexstar 6se & ZWI ASI 120MC. Mercury is a tough cookie, but I've finally finished out the Planets. We've got some Spectroscopy and maybe some Solar in the future. Some non-Astronomy short videos as well?
Equipment List:
Telescope - Celestron Nexstar 6se
Camera - ZWO ASI 120MC
Lenses - Two 2x Barlow Lenses (1 Celestron, 1 Astromania)
Filters - 1 UV/IR Cut filter
Software: SharpCap, AutoStakkert, Registax, RawTherapee
Affiliate Link Update (1/5/2023):
I FULLY ADVOCATE for the Used Market as the first and primary purchasing path for Astronomy. But, if you where planning on using Amazon and found my stuff helpful, I have some Affiliate Links:
Nexstar 6SE: amzn.to/3vO2TZX
NexStar 8SE (The 6's Bigger Brother): amzn.to/3QlBmZr
ZWO Cameras
Camera Option 1 (ZWI ASI178MC): amzn.to/4aMwjuK
Camera Option 2 (ZWO ASI678MC): amzn.to/3H7Tm5P
Barlow Lens Option 1: amzn.to/3WPWedQ
Barlow Lens Option 2: amzn.to/3ZeDAhn
UV/IR Cut Filter (SVBony UV/IR Cut Filter 1.25"): amzn.to/3T0ZWlq
And if you have ANY questions about equipment or process feel free to shoot me an email or comment and I'll try and help you figure it out!As for the music for the video, I'd like to attribute the following (In order of occurrence):
Cinematic Epic Music | Story by Alex-Productions | www.youtube.co... promoted by www.chosic.com... Commons CC BY 3.0creativecommon...
Powerful by MaxKoMusic | maxkomusic.com... promoted by www.chosic.com... Commons CC BY-SA 3.0creativecommon...
Medieval Fantasy by MaxKoMusic | maxkomusic.com... promoted by www.chosic.com... Commons CC BY-SA 3.0creativecommon...
Wow! Nice job on capturing Mercury!
Thanks!
Great job!! We need videos more often!
More to come! Hopefully more frequently, but no promises
@@kylemccaslin Alright :P
Very well done! I've never attempted to image it before but according to Google, the next elongation is on the 12th so I'm gonna give it a go.
Good luck! Think it's supposed to be a pretty good one too! Might try getting it during the day using the sun as a reference.
@@kylemccaslin Thanks! This'll actually be a sunrise one. I took a shot at it this morning and got about 37k frames... I probably just suck at processing but I wasn't able to get anything good out of it, just a splotch that isn't really planet shaped :( are you using an ADC here? Or an electronic focuser? (both of those things are currently out of my budget, but oh well)
@91JLovesDisney hmmm, getting something planet-shaped shouldn't be too hard, though anything more than that would be ultra difficult.
I don't have an ADC or an electronic focusser if that gives you some hope.
How zoomed in are you? What is your optical setup (Telescope, Barlows, etc.)
@@kylemccaslin My astrocam has a pretty low FOV so I wasn't actually using a Barlow - I think that was my first mistake.
After giving it some thought, I think mistake #2 was shooting too early - I could have given it more time, and there might've been less distortion
@91JLovesDisney both of those seem like good suggestions. I think your on the right track. Best of luck! Keep me updated!
Awesome job man!
Thanks! Probably going to see if I can do some star or sun stuff next!
Wonder if the zwo seestar can catch it
Mercury is kinda small and far away. Good job.
I’ve seen some of your captures and you have done amazing jobs so I’m wondering what equipment do you use to collect images with your nexstar 6se
My setup with the Nexstar 6Se is the...
Telescope - Nexstar 6se
Camera - ZWO ASI120MC (requires a computer to run)
Accessory Lenses - Two 2x Barlows ( Both Celestron now, but I don't see any difference with the off-brands)
Accessory Filter(s) - UV/IR Cut Filter
Acquisition Software (Free) - SharpCap (Free)
Processing Software (Free) - PIPP, AutoStakkert, Registax, RawTherapee
I do have some links (albeit amazon affiliate links) to most of the equipment in the descriptions of my videos, but would highly suggest the used market. Every telescope, I've bought I purchased used and it's been excellent.
There are more, VERY IMPORTANT, things that go into getting good images though. The environmental conditions under which you are shooting are super critical. So watching the forecasts and timing your sessions is necessary to maximize views as most of the time, the conditions will prevent your optical system from achieving maximum clarity.
Looks like a star
Do you think the 6se could be mounted on the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Pro mount?
Sorry, but I've got no idea. The weight of the tube and the carrying capacity of the mount are probably online though. Should be able to look the numbers up
Do I need to use a barlow with my zwo 585? I am trying to hook the camera up to the back of the 6 se first time
Have you managed to capture the green comet?
I have. It's been an interesting experience trying to stack it XD. Might do a video on that or might save it for a "Watching the Solar System Move" video later
@@kylemccaslin ❤️
I have the same camera ZWO ASI 120 MC-S and a Celestron Nexstar 4SE telescope. As of now, I'm placing the camera directly in where you would put an eyepiece. However; I see so many people put the camera in the back of the scope. What do I need to purchase to put the camera in the back of the scope and how do I attach it?
What you are looking for is called a "Visual Back", but most visual backs won't work on the 4se. According to the forums, even the Celestron Visual Back 1.25", which is on my 6se, is too large for the 4se's threads. However, I'm unsure you really need one anyways. The internal diagonal in the 4se should be of sufficient quality.
Love your channel, I've got the same camera I use with the Celestron 130SLT. I've had great success with the Bodes/Cigar nebula but the Crab Nebula and Flame nebula didn't come out so well (I shouldn't have set the Bin at 2). Any recommendations on Nebula (how hard I can push the exposure given the AZ mount?).
I astromodded my camera. Opened it up and removed a filter that blocks the majority of the light at the Hydrogen Alpha Wavelength which is very near IR. That is one of the dominant wavelengths emitted from nebulae. I have a little video on that, I believe I linked to the mod guide if you are interested too.
@@kylemccaslin Thanks! I have the ASI120MC camera, did you make any changes to that? What exposures are you taking (30sec?).
@@dcharlton07 oh, my apologies. I misunderstood you earlier. For my DSO shots, I actually use a Canon 450d/Rebel Xsi DSLR. I haven't actually used my 120mc for deep space so I'm not sure what recommendations to make.
@@kylemccaslin thanks for getting back and thanks for the great inspiration! I took some good (for me) pictures of Bodes and the Cigar galaxy last week and now I'm afraid I'm getting addicted to this stuff!
Could you drop me your email? I was looking through your website and it did not mention it. I basically have the same telescope as you and have a bunch of questions that I think you could help answer!
Khmccaslin@utexas.edu