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Deep Sky Video Astrophotography

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INTERNET TELESCOPE EXCHANGE
"DEEP SKY" PRO
VIDEO ASTRO IMAGING SYSTEM

Review by Jim Ferreira

I recently came into possession of a most amazing video camera designed for astronomy and offered by Bill Burnett of Internet Telescope Exchange. The camera is the "DeepSky-Pro" (DSP), a video frame integrating astroimaging system that allows the real-time observation and video recording of nebulae, galaxies and clusters without an image intensifier. This is made possible by an in-camera digital memory which accumulates and adds up to 128 video frames producing live images that far exceed what can typically be seen through the eyepiece. Imagine seeing the central star of the "Ring Nebula", M57 or a myriad of stars across the core of M13. Now imagine being able to do all that with a 6 inch telescope. Well, imagine no longer! With this camera you can do just that and more.

Below you will find images made using the DSP with scopes ranging from an 80mm short-tube refractor to a 25cm Newtonian. My very first attempt with the camera was the galaxy pair M81 & M82 using an 80mm f/5 refractor on a roughly polar aligned, driven equatorial mount. The results are overwhelming, particularly when you consider that I had only just received the camera and this being 'first light' for the system.

Also, I should point out that I have never done any kind of deep sky astrophotography, video or otherwise. And that I live in a light polluted valley just east of the San Francisco bay area. On top of that, there is a city street light at the end of my driveway, only 25 feet from where I setup my telescopes for most of the images below.

DeepSky-Pro EX Now Available

Bill Burnett at ITE just passed along word of the availability of a EX version of the DeepSky-Pro. The Sony EXview HAD CCD is the latest advancement in video chip technology and will effectively increase the sensitivity of the DSP by 2x in the visual spectrum and 4x in the far red and near infrared. The new DeepSky-Pro EX is priced at $595.00.

"FIRST LIGHT" I took these 'first light' images with the camera literally straight out of the box using an 80mm refractor on a roughly polar aligned, driven equatorial mount. The camera's controls were easily mastered, due in part to the easy to use on screen display of all of the control settings. Note that even more could be seen on the monitor screen then is reproduced here, particularly M3, at right, which showed a great many more stars across the center of the cluster.

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This amazing image of M13 was made using the DeepSky Pro at the prime focus of a 25cm f/6 Newtonian. The image displayed on the video monitor were nothing short of breathtaking! The driven equatorial mount was only roughly polar aligned. Even so, at 128 frames integration there is little evidence of image drift in the captured frames and the final image. Video was recorded to a Hi8 camcorder, individual frames (each consisting of 128 frames) were captured to computer using a Snappy frame grabber. 18 frames were stacked in Adobe Photo Shop and the final image was adjusted for sharpness, plus brightness and contrast.

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The DeepSky Pro image of the 'Ring Nebula' above contains stars as faint as 15.6 magnitude. Note that the central start is clearly visible. At right is an image of M57 made from two video frames and processed to bring up the fainter stars surrounding the nebula. A 16.1 magnitude star is just detectable, as is the companion to the nebula's central star. 25cm Newtonian @ f/6 (prime focus), recording to a Hi8 camcorder, digitized with a Snappy frame grabber and processed in Adobe Photo Shop.

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The ITE-DeepSky-Pro is rated at an impressive 0.01 lux @ f/1.2 in the lunar/planetary mode and an incredible 0.0001 lux @ f/0.8 in the 'Sense Up', frame integrating mode. The actual sensitivity can be varied by the number of frames integrated; 2x, 4x, 8x, 12x, 16x, 24x, 32x, 48x, 64x, 96x & 128x. The DSP can be operated in either full auto mode or fully manual control. Shutter speed is variable between 1/60 - 1/120,000 with the NTSC model and gain can be adjusted between 0-18dB. Gamma is set at 0.45.

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This amazingly detailed image of the irregular galaxy M82 was captured using the DSP at prime focus on the 25cm f/6 Newtonian. The first quarter moon was less than 45 degrees to the west and the telescope was set up only 25 feet from a city street light on the edge of my yard.

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Globular Cluster M3 was shot with the DSP the same night as M82, above, from the same location near the street light. The captured frames had dark gray backgrounds rather than black indicating that the moon and street light were significantly contributing to the exposure. This suggests that even fainter stars might be visible if shot from a darker location.

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I was amazed, to say the least, to see some hint of M51 on the monitor screen using the DSP at prime focus with the 25cm Newtonian. I was even more amazed when after capturing 24 integrated frames (each containing 128 video frames) with a Snappy, and stacking them in Photo Shop that structure was visible in the spiral arms. Fantastic! I was certain that the image scale was too large to capture enough light to see this much of the galaxy. Delightfully, I was wrong.

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Galaxy M63 in Canes Venatici was another object I thought too faint to record any structure. Again at prime focus of the Newtonian @ f/6, and again in my moonlit, light polluted driveway. 24 frames were captured to computer, stacked and processed in Adobe Photo Shop.

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MESSIER OBJECTS WITH A 6 INCH SCOPE!

M81 & M82 were captured with the DSP and a 15cm Maksutov-Cassegrain at the f/10 prime focus. A surprising amount of detail was captured despite the smaller aperture and working at f/10.

M13 was spectacular on the video monitor and reproduces well here. Seeing was rather turbulent when the video used to make up the above image was shot at prime focus of the 15cm Maksutov-Cassegrain. Twelve video frames were stacked to create the M13 image above and images below.

Globular clusters M5, left, and M3 at right were shot the same night as M13 above using the same instrument and the DeepSky-Pro set for 128 frames integration.

M56, at left, is a very small, but an amazingly bright cluster in the constellation of Lyra about half way between Gamma Lyrae and Beta Cygni. DSP camera and 15cm Maksutov-Cassegrain @ f/10.

RING NEBULA! M57 was faint, but clearly visible on the video monitor with occasional glimpses of the central star. I was amazed and pleased that the DSP camera at the f/10 prime focus of 15cm Mak could so easily record this relatively faint planetary. 24 frames were stacked in Adobe Photo Shop to make up this image.

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LUNAR ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY

The excellent sensitivity of 0.01 lux in the normal operating mode makes the system outstanding for lunar imaging, particularly with smaller scopes. The lunar close-ups above were made using the DeepSky-Pro with an Intes-Micro Alter M603 15cm Maksutov-Cassegrain and a Cave 25cm f/6 Newtonian.


Rupes Altai 15cm Maksutov-Cassegrain @ f/25, eyepiece projection .	Rima Ariadaeus 15cm Maksutov-Cassegrain @ f/25, eyepiece projection .

Aristoteles & Eudoxus 15cm Maksutov-Cassegrain @ f/25, eyepiece projection .	Gassendi & Mare Humorum 25cm f/6 Newtonian, prime focus .

Kepler & Copernicus 25cm f/6 Newtonian, prime focus	6 day old Moon 80mm f/5 refractor, prime focus

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SOLAR IMAGING WITH DEEPSKY-PRO

The DSP has proven to be a first class system for solar imaging. The digital zoom feature of the camera, variable up to 2x, is particularly useful for solar work. I was a bit skeptical about the quality of images shot at the maximum zoom setting, but was more than pleasantly surprised with the results. Seeing was turbulent for these late morning views of the Sun and periodic winds buffeted the 15cm Mak-Cass during the video run, still results are respectable with a great deal of detail in the spots and faculae visible around the sunspot region. 15cm Intes-Micro Alter M603 Maksutov-Cassegrain @ f/10, f/20 with 2x digital zoom.

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MORE DEEP SKY

M13 & M92 - 25cm Newtonian @ f/6, DeepSky-Pro, 4x128 integrated video frames.

I suspect that thus far I have only scratched the surface of the DeepSky-Pro's capabilities, so do check back often as I shall continue to add new images and comments. Should you have questions or comments, do not hesitate to contact me at BakerSt@attbi.com also visit my Video Capture Astrophotography web site. [May 2002]

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