Orion PARSEC 8300M User Manual download pdf (Page 9)

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4.1. Focusing

Focusing the CCD camera is one of the most critical parts of imaging. It can be

challenging, but MaxIm DL has some helpful features which will assist you when

focusing your Parsec. Before focusing, make sure your mount is polar aligned and

tracking.

For best results, we recommend focusing on a star at least 30° above the horizon

(or higher). Follow these steps to achieve an accurate focus:

1. Find and center a moderately bright star through your ﬁnder scope. Try to

ﬁnd a star around magnitude 4 or 5. If you are not using an optical ﬁnder

or just using your unaided eye, the star should look relatively faint. This is

important because brighter stars will easily over saturate the camera and

compromise the focus accuracy.

2. Center your telescope on the star using an eyepiece. Make sure the right

ascension (R.A.) tracking motor is engaged on your mount.

3. Replace the eyepiece with the Parsec.

4. Set the Exposure Preset to in the Camera Control Window’s Expose tab

to Focus.

5. Click the Expose button. You should see the out of focus star in the image. If

you do not see anything, you need to increase the exposure time.

6. Check that the Subframe section has both the On and Mouse boxes

checked on.

7. Draw a small box around the unfocused star with your mouse (hold-click and

drag the mouse cursor around the star to draw the box, Figure 15).

8. In the Expose tab, towards the right, select Continuous. Click Expose. The

camera will only download the area you previously selected, which makes

each image download signiﬁcantly faster than the whole frame.

Note: If the Parsec is grossly out of focus, no object will appear in the image, not

even a blur. Increase the exposure time if needed and patiently move through the

focus range of your telescope until you see the centered star come into view.

1. Gradually adjust the telescope’s focuser inward until the star visually comes

to a small point on your computer screen. You have achieved a rough focus.

Some small adjustments remain to get a perfect focus.

2. Click the Stop button.

3. Set Seconds somewhere between 0.1 and 3 seconds (or longer for fainter

stars), depending on the brightness of your star.

several different settings until you ﬁnd one you think looks best. When the image

is subsequently saved, the screen stretch setting information will be kept when

the image is next opened. Feel free to adjust the Screen Stretch settings all you

want; it will not effect the image data you captured and only effects how the image

is displayed. You can always switch back to a preset setting, like Medium or Moon.

4. Astronomical Imaging

Now that you’re familiar with basic camera and software operation, it’s time to take

the Parsec out at night under the stars to capture some astronomical images. We

recommend starting with the Moon, as it is easy to acquire into the camera’s ﬁeld

of view, and typically does not require stacking multiple exposures like planetary

and deep sky images do.

Figure 15. Subframe around the star you want to focus on by drawing a box around it

with your mouse.

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Orion PARSEC 8300M User Manual Page 9

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