Bahtinov Focus Mask - astrophotography Celestron 4SE

The Bahtinov mask is a device used to accurately focus astronomical telescopes. The Bahtinov mask consists of three separate grids, positioned in such a way that the grids produce three angled diffraction spikes at the focal plane of the instrument for each bright image element (star). Bahtinov Focus Mask, Celestron NexStar 4SE

Bahtinov Focus Mask, Celestron NexStar 4SE, Canon 40D, Spica Out of focus - the central spike is noticeably displaced from the

Bright star near perfect focus using Bahtinov Mask. Optimum focus is achieved when the middle spike is centered on the star and symmetrically positioned between the other two spikes. Small deviations from optimal focus are easily visible. Bahtinov mask, Celestron NexStar 4SE, Canon 40D

Saturn NexStar 4SE RegiStax 6 NexImage Bahtinov mask and Vibration Suppression Pads

Saturn April 21, 2011. Weather was not good - it was windy and partially cloudy. To suppress vibration I used Celestron Vibration Suppression Pads. To made better focus - used  Bahtinov focus mask.

Saturn, Celestron NexStar 4SE, NexImage, Vibration Suppression Pads, Bahtinov mask, Astrophotography

Video duration 4 min 00 sec (240sec), Frame Rate 10 frames/second, 2400 frames.

Registax v6 - Align 3x3 area, 10  align points, Drizzling Optimization, Wavelet - Gaussian Initial Layer 3 Used Linked Wavelets with  1 and 2 layers, RGB shift

Photoshop - Crop, Luminosity Layer, Saturation,  Contrast, Unsharp Mask, save for Web device jpg

Saturn, Celestron NexStar 4SE, NexImage, Astrophotography

Video duration 4 min 30 sec (270sec), Frame Rate 10 frames/second, 2700 frames.

Registax v6 - Align 3x3 area, 11  align points, Drizzling Optimization, Wavelet - Gaussian Initial Layer 3 Used Linked Wavelets with  1 and 2 layers, RGB shift

Photoshop - Crop, Curves, Contrast, Unsharp Mask, Despeckle, save for Web device jpg 

Bahtinov mask, Celestron 4SE, Brooklyn Astrophotography

Celestron Vibration Suppression Pads