How do you take video through a telescope?

Question

I am trying to take video of Io (one of Jupiter's moons) coming out of an eclipse. I've tried looking online, but tutorials are vague/nonexistent. Could I actually just use the video feature of a camera, or would I have to do a time-lapse of many long-exposure photos? Also, how would I go about getting images in the first place?

Thanks a lot.

Answer 1

The easiest way is to use a tracking telescope with a modified web camera to shoot video. If the image scale on the chip isn't large enough, you can add a Barlow lens or two between the telescope and camera.



You'll need to experiment with exposure time per frame, as it'll depend on the f ratio of your optical system, and the gain of the camera. You'll probably end up shooting between 1/15th and 1/5th of a second per frame.



If you need to use a garden variety video camera that doesn't allow you to replace the lens with a telescope, you would look for help with "afocal" imaging through a telescope. You'll need an adapter that screws onto the filter ring of the camera and , aims it at an eyepiece, and fits into the eyepiece holder of the telescope. About ten years ago, I did this with a JVC camera that had a "night vision" mode, but the weight of that camera tended to make balancing the scope so it tracked properly more of a challenge.



Here's a shot a friend and I took of Jupiter and Io using a 140mm f7.5 apo refractor an Astro Physics Barcon barlow and a TMB 1.8x barlow (two barlows at once) with an Imaging Source dbk 21AU04 camera. While this is a stacked shot, it was made from the best frames in a minute or so of video.



< http://www.holden-insurance.com/jupiter8109I.bmp >



The Imaging Source camera can be thought of as a "Scientific webcam" that accepts C mount lenses. It's very well made, and comes with software designed for astronomical imaging. The Celestron NexImage someone else talked about would be a "budget alternative". (I have one of them too)



If you don't own the equipment, it would be worth tracking down a local astronomical society. They may have members who already own most if not all of the equipment you need, and if you're friendly, they'll probably be willing to help.



Here's a link to an on line resource that'll help you track down your local astronomy club:



< http://www.skyandtelescope.com/community/organizations >



Good luck.

Answer 2

I think a time-lapse of long-exposure photos is your best bet; it's unlikely you'd see much in the very brief pictures cameras take when taking a video.

Answer 3

You can buy and attachment for your telescope that makes it attachable to cameras, there should be some going on ebay, since digital cameras are all pretty different Im not so sure that its as easy to buy the adapters for those,



There are however two other options, one you can take apart your digital camera thats capable of taking videos and use the CCD (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge-coupled_device), there are tutorials of this about on the internet.



http://blogs.howstuffworks.com/2008/03/13/diy-how-to-make-a-telescope-camera-from-a-webcam/

http://www.truetex.com/telad.htm

http://www.ehow.com/how_6174669_build-infrared-telescope-camera.html



Or you can by a ready made one that will fit on to your telescope.



Celestron NexImage CCD Camera

http://www.telescopehouse.com/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_CCD_Cameras_18.html

http://www.widescreen-centre.co.uk/Products/Starlight_Xpress_SXVR-H18_.html

http://cpc.farnell.com/1/1/25649-camera-ccd-telescope-hama-neximage-hama.html

Answer 4

u might need a video recorder

well...because it is far away so u might need a a good one too

hope this helps

Answer 5

use the video feature