Digital Astrophotography - A Sharper Image

In 2004, after 10 years with the Newtonian, I moved onto the telescope of my dreams, A Meade LX90. This is a Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope (SCT) that uses a combination of lenses and mirrors to fold a long lightpath into a short tube.

In the LX90, a computer built into the base allows any of 30,000 objects to be called up. The telescope's motors then whirr to bring the requested object into view. Additionally, once it is aimed, it follows its target across the sky.

This is space and science author, David Harland, with the Meade.

The Philips ToUcam Pro II

Many have tread this path before me and through the internet, I came to learn that the webcam of choice for astrophotography is the Philips ToUcam. I bought the Pro II version, model number PCVC 840K. This has a true CCD sensor as opposed to the CMOS sensors found in cheaper webcams.

The tiny lens that comes with the camera is easily unscrewed and an adapter that allows it to be inserted in a standard eyepiece holder screwed in, as shown here. With the addition of a long USB lead and a suitable serial cable for the telescope's computer, the whole arrangement can be operated in the warmth of the house.

Currently, the camera has not been modified for longer exposures so for now, it is limited to imaging the Moon and planets. Happily, this is my major interest.

Image Processing

I began using Registax for most of my stacking and image processing work. This program is a freeware tool that selects sharp frames, aligns and stacks them, finally allowing you to perform various processing operations on the results. It is a little daunting to operate at first and requires a little experience to get the best out of it.