Lunar imaging using DSLR

Lunar imaging using DSLR

Hello everybody I was thinking about doing a series of tutorials on how I process stuff or how I used too do it before I got better equipment. 

Lets start with Lunar imaging since it's the first thing I did too. Lunar imaging is simple and great for getting acquainted with some programs that are necessary for post-processing. Please keep in mind that I'm sharing with you my routine and some other tutorials might do things a bit differently. Also I highly recommend you to look up tutorials on youtube for the three programs mentioned bellow since I won't be covering all their functions.

What you'll need:

- DSLR but digital camera might do 

- Either telescope T-adapter or at least 200mm lens

- If you're not using telescope you need tripod

- Cable shutter (optional but recommended)  

- PIPP, Autostakkert 2 and Registax 6

So lets get started.

1) Point either your telescope or camera on the moon and use digital zoom to get the biggest magnification possible. This will let you get the focus right.

2) When you're focused you can either take a few dozen pictures (not recommended) or take a video. Set the video on FullHD and the highest frame rate possible, then take a video clip that is about minute long. It doesn't matter if the Moon drifts a little but it shouldn't drift too much. Also try to avoid vibrations caused by wind or your movement. 

3) You're done, get inside and start processing. Since your DSLR can't make uncompressed video file you need to convert it. Open up PIPP, select ''add image files'' and choose your video. It should look like this:

You can skip the input options and go right to Processing options. If you're imaging full moon select Frame stabilisation mode to Object/planetary, if you're imaging the moon in any other phase, select Surface feature. If there is some nicely visible crater you can check Surface feature tracking and move the red square over the crater like this:

Now skip all the way to the Output options. Select AVI and choose the output folder. Now click on the last label Do processing and select Start processing.

4) Now that you have your uncompressed video you can open the Autostakkert 2. After opening it it and selecting your video. Select Surface mode, improved tracking is optional and I like to select expand option and crop the image later. With the quality estimator you have to experiment a little. Set it to 4 as a default and hit Analyse. You'll get something like this:

Now focus on the graph. You want it to be smooth, if it looks like stairs change the Noise robust setting and analyse again. Hit ctrl + click on the area of the graph you want to stack. For me it's the best 75% (green line in graph). For the next step we'll move to the window with our image. In the left column select AP size and set it to 104 and hit Place AP grid. If it does nothing either change Brightness on the top to 2x or set lower value to the Minimal brightness in the left column and place again. It should look like this:

Hit Stack in the previous window and let it do its thing.

5) Once Autostakkert finishes open Registax and select your image. Once it loads up use the left column sliders. Once you're happy with your image hit Do all and either save as JPEG or TIFF if you're planning on doing finishing touches in Photoshop or Gimp. 

I hope that you were able to create some satisfying images thanks to this tutorial. Please leave a comment of you have some ideas how I could improve this tutorial and let me know if I should do more. 

Clear skies to you all!

Jan