Imaging Help

Heyhey,

Clear skies for a change

So, via the miricle of wireless internet, i'm out in my back garden typing while trying to get my webcam imaging setup working.

I have it all wired up, aimed at the moon, all good, shot some video, as focused as I can get it, but full moon means little interesting surface detail.

However, if I try to get some bright stars in the scope, I can't see them on the screen - not even areas with loads of bright stars, like around orions belt.

Is there some really basic mistake i'm making here?

Any quick replies appreciated, i'll keep checking the forum while i'm out here.

Dave

from my limited knowledge unless modified a webcam wont show any stars. could be wrong about it but i think a normal webcam cant do the long exposures needed to show stars

Dave,

The dfference in brightness between the Moon and the stars is huge, and your webcam won't show any stars when set to expose the Moon. Actually you will be able to get the brighter stars with suitable adjustments to exposure and gain, but anything like nebulae will be out of the question.

Hope that helps!

Dave,
What I'd do is turn the gain up full, then center a star exactly in the center of the eyepiece field of view, and then slap in the webcam.
When you get the star on the screen, you'll be amazed at how narrow the webcam FOV is.