Australian Sky & Telescope - April 2016__

http://www.skyandtelescope.com.au 69

COLOURFUL RESULTSAstrovideoobservingisprimarilygearedtowardrevealingfainttargetsonyourvideomonitor.TheseimagesofM20,

theTrifidNebula(left),andthespiralgalaxyM33aretypicalofwhattoexpectwithacolourcameraandmoderateaperture.

camera’sOSDmenuisslightlydifferent,

theyallhavethesamegeneralfunctions.

Themostimportantfunctionsyou’ll

changethemostareExposure,AGC

(Automatic Gain Control) and Gamma.

If your camera has a colour chip, then

you’llalsohaveaWhiteBalancesetting.

Exposures are typically divided into

twoorthreecategories:^1 /1-second or

shorterexposuresarebestforsolar,

lunarandplanetaryviewing.Shutter

speedsofupto2secondsaremost

useful when focusing or adjusting your

Go To pointing alignment, and they can

evenaidincollimatingyourtelescope.

Images of3 seconds or longer are best

forviewingdeepskyobjectsandthe

occasional near-Earth asteroid.

TheAGCsettingissimilartotheISO

valueonaDSLRcamera.Itincreases

theamplifiergain,therebyincreasing

image detail and reducing the required

exposure time. But this comes at the

expenseofincreasednoiseinyourvideo,

as well as noticeable ‘amp glow,’ caused

when infrared radiation emitted from

the readout amplifier is picked up by the

camera’s detector. Amp glow appears as

abrightbackgroundatacornerortopof

the video image, and it’s more noticeable

when using high-gain settings, long

exposures, or a combination of both.

Gammaadjustmentsallowyou

to stretch the luminosity values in

theimage,whichincreasesdetail

(but reduces contrast). A setting of 1

produces an unenhanced image, while

lowervaluesenhancefainternebulosity

but lighten the overall background of

the video.

In a colour camera, White Balance

allows you to adjust the colour balance

in your video. Usually you’re offered

options for automatic or manual modes.

Inautomaticmode,thecameraadjusts

thecolourtowhatitassumesisoptimal;

inmanualyousettheredandbluelevels

ofthevideofeeduntiltheimageappears

properly balanced.

Twootherimportantsettingsare

Brightness and Contrast, which are

usuallyadjustedonthemonitoritself

or within the video-capture software.

Brightness raises or lowers all parts of

the image from dark to light equally. The

Contrastsettingchangestheslopeof

the light curve from black to white while

keeping the black point fixed, reducing

the dynamic range of the image.

Under the stars

Once you’ve geared up, here are some

tips to start observing. After replacing

your telescope’s eyepiece with the

astrovideocamera,besuretosecure

the power and control cables to prevent

snags when slewing to targets around

the sky.

Startbyfocusingonabrightstar

withtheExposuresetatabout2seconds,

Gammaat0.3,andAGCatthemidpoint;

this should produce a bright image

thatrefreshesquickly.Oncefocused,

slewtoaDSOofinterestandtakeatest

exposure of10 seconds or so, depending

upon the surface brightness of your

target.AdjusttheAGCandGamma

settings to make it easier to see and

center your target in the field of view.

Next, adjust the Brightness and Contrast

tobringoutthemostdetailpossible

without overexposing the brightest parts

EXPANDED VIEW One benefit of the

small detectors in astrovideo cameras is their

ability to utilise strong focal reducers without

producing objectionable distortions in stellar

images. This lets you, for example, convert

your f/ 1 0 SCT into a fast f/3.3 wide-field

instrument.

ROD MOLLISE

CURTIS MACCHIONI

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