Amateur Astrophotography: Photographing Planets with a Telescope, Digital Camera

The amateur astrophotographer faces a unique problem: He or she often can't afford the equipment needed to get good, clear and close-up shots of planets and solar systems. Camera-equipped telescopes are expensive, and large telephoto lens require expensive dSLR cameras.

Luckily, it is very possible to get good, clear shots of various stars and systems using your normal point and shoot digital camera and a telescope. If you want to get clear, close shots of starts or the moon using your digital camera, read on to find out how.

Items Needed:

Good telescope

Digital camera with average or above controls

Computer

Photo editing software

Step 1: You will need a good telescope to get good shots. Cheap telescopes can generally get clear shots, but the problem is in the distance - you won't get close up shots, so the subject will still be rather distant. The moon is the only subject you could hope to get a good shot of, and that is because it is the closest object in the sky.

If astronomy is your hobby, there's a good chance you already have a good telescope. If you don't own one, a decent telescope can be purchase for about $200 off eBay, and that is cheaper than either a dSLR camera or a camera-equipped high-quality telescope.

Step 2: Once you have the telescope, you will need to get it set up in a good location and get it calibrated to whatever it is you are looking to photograph. Use the manual that came with the system to do that.

Step 3: After you have it focused on a star, or other object, you will need to take pictures. This is done by placing your camera lens again the eyepiece of the telescope. Before you do this, however, you need to optimize the settings on your camera so that the photos come out correctly.

The first thing you want to do is set the camera to infinity focus. This is important. Many point and shoot cameras are already like this, but if you have more advanced controls, then make sure it's set to infinity.

The second is to set the shutter speed to a higher, but not to high setting - 1/500, for example. If you want a long exposure, you will need a very good telescope that has motion tracking - if you don't the stars will appear as streaks, as the earth is moving, and the camera will record the movement.

Once you have done this, you will need to mount the camera before continuing. Mount it securely to the eyepiece - rubberbands can hold it nicely, as can tape.

Focus on a star, and then use the zoom feature of your digital camera to zoom up on it - this will help give your telescope a little 'boost'. If the star appears too bright, you will need to lower the exposure on your camera. Lower it until the start isn't so bright, and some details appear.

Once the exposure is lowered, you may need to increase the ISO a bit. If the photo is too bright still, the odds are your camera has auto ISO and is setting too high, so disable that.

Once the photo is as clear and close as you can get it, you can take the picture. Unfortunately, you are zoomed in so far that any little movement could throw the photo off - for this reason, you will likely need to use an IR remote for your camera if it came with one. The remote will allow you to take the photo without jiggling the camera.

If you camera doesn't have a remote, then you will have to gently press the button manually. To keep the movement to a minimum, press the button completely, and simply hold it - don't remove your finger, or else the camera will shift.

Once the photo is taken, you can do contrast and other adjustments to it using a computer and editing software like Photoshop or GIMP.