In this post I’ll demonstrate the importance of flat frames in astrophotography, and show how I capture flat frames using my Celestron RASA 11″ telescope and an LED tracing panel. But first… What is a “flat frame”? A flat frame is an image of an evenly illuminated light source that…
Attaching full-frame ZWO cameras to a Celestron RASA 11″ using the Baader UFC system and custom PreciseParts adapter
This is a follow-up to a post I wrote a couple of years ago. I recently upgraded to a full-frame ZWO ASI6200MC Pro camera, and have altered the adapters I use when connecting this camera to my RASA 11″. This post will detail the adapters I am now using. First,…
Seeing the Milky Way: naked eye vs. digital camera
If you haven’t seen the Milky Way with your own eyes before, I thought it would be interesting and hopefully useful to try and show roughly how the Milky Way looks to the naked eye compared to what can be captured with a digital camera. Disclaimer: This is just my…
Polar aligning an iOptron SkyGuider Pro with a QHY PoleMaster
If you use the SkyGuider Pro portable star tracker from iOptron, you probably know it can be a little difficult and uncomfortable to polar align by using the included polar scope, as it ideally requires either a tall tripod in order to see through the polar finder comfortably, or you…
Attaching ZWO cameras to a Celestron RASA 11″ using the Baader UFC system
Updated September 2021: If you are using a full-frame ZWO camera, please see this separate post. With a dedicated astrograph like the Celestron RASA, the camera is mounted to the front of the telescope. Imaging at such fast speeds (f/2.2 with the RASA 11″) requires the camera be positioned at…
Optolong L-eNhance Filter review: narrowband imaging with a RASA 11″
I took delivery of an interesting filter this past weekend – the newly released L-eNhance dual-band pass filter by Optolong, which I pre-ordered a few weeks prior in 2″ mounted format. In this post, I’ll share some details of this new filter, show some comparison shots between the L-eNhance and…