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No.4 - Getting Started in EAA, Part III

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  I n the last issue , we discussed what sort of cameras and what types of software can be used to do EAA. For anyone coming from a visual astronomy background, cameras and EAA software can be unfamiliar territory. However, the other key pieces of equipment needed for EAA - optics (telescopes or lenses) and mounts - are items that many visual astronomers already use. One of the most common questions that comes up is, "Can I use my existing scope and mount to do EAA?"  As is the case for many things in astronomy, the answer is .... it depends. Telescopes The good news is that many scopes used for visual astronomy can be used for EAA.  As was mentioned in the last issue of this blog, one important consideration when looking at various scope and camera combinations is the resulting field of view: A long focal length scope may be usable for EAA with a large sensor camera if the FOV is not too small. Conversely, a short focal length scope may yield a wide field of view, but on...
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No.3 - Getting Started in EAA, Part II

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I n the last issue , I mentioned that I would take a look at what typical equipment choices to consider when starting out in EAA. The basic hardware components of an EAA set-up are: a camera to capture images, some sort of telescope to gather light,  a mount that can track a celestial target over time while capturing an image, and a computer or other digital device to create and display an EAA image using EAA software . These are also the basic components of an astrophotography rig, although  AP software differs from EAA software. Often many EAA beginners start with a telescope on a mount that they might have used for visual astronomy, and ask the question, "What camera should I begin EAA with?", or "Does my mount track well enough to do EAA?". Those are still important questions for a beginner trying to cobble together an EAA set-up, and I'll give my thoughts in due course.  Over the last couple of years the advent of all-in-one robot or smart scopes has g...
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No.2 - Getting Started in EAA, Part I

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I can't count how many times I've heard some variation of the questions: "What exactly is EAA?", and then the inevitable follow-up, "Well, how do I get started?" In the first blog issue last month, I tried to give my perspective on what distinguishes EAA from both  serious ( i.e. multi-hour ) astrophotography, and more casual AP,  sometimes called "AP-lite". Short answer: Both serious and casual AP involve post-processing saved data or images, while EAA doesn't.  It's also interesting to note that a lot of people starting out with EAA just want a nice picture that they can share with their friends. To these folks it doesn't make a difference whether the picture is a straight capture of an EAA live stack,  or if they spent a little time post-processing to make it appear more aesthetically pleasing and/or to bring out hidden details not visible in the original capture.  The point here is that if your goal is to get a "good" fin...
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No.1 - Welcome to the EAA Universe

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Welcome to my new blog, covering that little corner of the amateur astronomy world know as Electronically Assisted Astronomy - or just EAA for short. Let's start with the obvious question in most people's minds..... What is EAA? Fortunately for me, I can't be blamed for picking that name and acronym, which really gives no clue as to its meaning. Well, what do EAAers do?  Quick answer:  Take a digital camera, place it at the focus of a telescope (or sometimes a telephoto lens), point it at a target in the sky, and use specialized EAA software  to create a continuously updated image of the target in real time, usually with the telescope on a tracking mount. When I talk about "targets",  I am primarily referring to deep sky objects (DSOs), like star clusters, nebulae and galaxies, although EAA can be used to view planets, comets, the moon and the sun.    How does that differ from astrophotography (AP),  you may ask? Well, like EAA,  astrophotography ...
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