1. Deep-Sky Video Astronomy Dr. Helge Binder Presented at Frühjahrstagung of VdS in Würzburg 1999

2. Principles: Lens/Telescope Image intensifier tube Video camera with coupling lens Frame grabber card AVI file Single JPEG frames Processed image

3. Technical Details: Hardware: 1. Optics: Lens / Telescope 2. Cyclop 10A image intensifier (Russia, 2 Gen.) 3. Coupling lens: 55 mm F/1.4 photo lens (better is a longer focal length) 4. Video camera: Canon MV1 - MiniDV 5. Frame grabber card: Miro Video PCTV 6. Notebook: LION 120 P, 40 Mbyte RAM, 1 Gbyte HD with docking station Software: 1. Miro image acquisition software 2. Main Actor Editor (shareware) 3. Display 1.83 and CCD Camera software Ver. 1.68 (public domain) 4. Quantum Image Pro 3.5, Astra Image 1.5, Photoshop 5.0 CorelPaint 8.0

4. M42 - Great Orion nebula 202 x 1/25s 1/25s 1/6s 122 x 1/6s 70 mm F/1.2 (No guiding - tripod) 500 mm F/5.6 (No guiding - tripod)

5. M42 and Flame nebula 78 x 1/6s 172 x 1/6s 1/12s 1/6s NGT 18 F/4.5 (roughly aligned)

6. Pleiades / h &  Persei 133 x 1/6s 252 x 1/25s 1/25s 1/6s 300 mm F/4.5 (No guiding - tripod) 70 mm F/1.2 (No guiding - tripod)

7. M81 and M82 525 x 1/6s 117 x 1/6s 1/6s 300 mm F/4.5 (No guiding - tripod) NGT 18 F/4.5 (roughly aligned)

8. M82 and NGC 3628 1/6s 122 x 1/6s 223 x 1/6s NGT 18 F/4.5 (roughly aligned)

9. M51 and Rosette nebula 1/6s 315 x 1/6s 1/6s 590 x 1/6s 300 mm F/4.5 (No guiding - tripod) NGT 18 F/4.5 (roughly aligned)

10. Problems: 760 x 1/6s 960 x 1/6s 1. The left image shows the effect of an unstable battery. The image intensifier changed the image scale constantly as the battery current dropped, producing a zoom effect. 2. The left image shows an accidental and unrecognized rotation of the video camera. 3. The image of Rosette nebula, on the previous page, has a very low S/N ratio. To obtain an image with a good contrast one should increase the number of single frames to at least 2000-3000, depending on the image intensifier tube used.

11. Conclusions: