instruction Manual Orion® Parsec™ Series Astronomical Imaging Cameras Parsec 8300C (Color) #52075 Parsec 8300M (Monochrome) #52077 Parsec 10100C (Color) #52078 #52078 Providing Exceptional Consumer Optical Products Since 1975 OrionTelescopes.com Customer Support (800) 676-1343 E-mail: support@telescope.com Corporate Offices (831) 763-7000 89 Hangar Way, Watsonville, CA 95076 © 2008-2011 Orion Telescopes & Binoculars IN 383 Rev.
Table of Contents 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 6. Multiple Camera Control for Autoguiding . . . 34 1.1. The Parsec 8300 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 6.1. Autoguider Calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 1.2. The Parsec 10100C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 7. Other Features Of MaxIm DL . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 1.3. Feature Highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1. Introduction Welcome to the exciting world of astro-imaging. Your new Parsec™ Astronomical Imaging Camera is capable of capturing professional quality astro-images of your favorite celestial objects. You can showcase spectacular images on your computer, share them on the internet, or print them. The camera’s large 8.3 mega-pixel array provides very high resolution images which are great for publishing in large prints.
Parsec LED Status Indicators LED 1 On/Idle Solid Exposing Off Reading Solid Downloading Solid LED 2 Blink Blink Solid Blink Hard carrying case Parsec 8300 Figure 2. The Parsec’s LED status indicators CD-ROM 2" nosepiece (camera ships with nosepiece attached) USB cable DC power cable with lighter plug Figure 4. Parts list Figure 3.1. The shutter is free to move when the Parsec is off. Figure 3.2. The shutter resets its position and holds firmly in place when the Parsec is powered on.
The camera’s pixel size and sensitivity make the Parsec suitable for most telescopes. For telescopes with very long focal lengths (2000mm and greater), you can optionally bin 2x2 (see section 2. Astronomical Imaging) to utilize greater sensitivity and obtain sharper images at the expense of resolution. Note that the Parsec 8300C (color) camera will lose its color information if binning in 2x2.
For the most detail regarding all of the features in MaxIm DL, please consult the comprehensive help tutorial in MaxIm’s Help Topics. The following section of the manual will walk you through the basic features mostly found in the Camera Control Window. Figure 7. Access the Camera Control Window from the View menu, or pressing Ctrl + W, or selecting the icon. To install the camera driver: 1. Insert the CD-ROM into the computer. The Launcher will appear (Figure 6).
Figure 11. The Expose tab using the Exposure Preset default settings in Find Star. Figure 10. Select Orion Parsec in the pull down menu. 3. In the Setup tab in MaxIm DL’s Camera Control Window, select Setup Camera. Locate the Orion Parsec in the dropdown list and click OK (Figure 10). 4. Click Connect and your Parsec will connect to MaxIm DL. The Expose Tab and Taking your First Parsec Image We recommend becoming familiar with the Parsec during the day.
Readout Mode In the Expose Tab, select Normal for the best image quality, and Fast for a quicker image download. Frame Type Choose, Light (Raw or Color for the 8300C), Bias, Dark, and Flat. Please read section 5, “Astronomical Imaging” to determine when and why to take a dark or flat. Number of pixels at brightness level arrow button next to the preset name to manage your presets, including Update Current Preset, and Save As New Preset. See MaxIm DL’s Help Topics for more detailed information.
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.
a fainter star. Paying attention to these values will help you get a very accurate focus, far better than simply looking at the star image on your screen. 7. Click Stop once you reach the best focus and click Reset in the Subframe section at the bottom of the Camera Control window. Before proceeding to take images, switch back to the desired Exposure Preset. Figure 17.1. Turn the Coolers on.
Figure 18.1. The Autosave Setup window sets all of your options to autosave your image in a sequence. sures of 60 seconds or more also require autoguiding with a separate camera. The Orion StarShoot AutoGuider can be operated with the Parsec in MaxIm DL. To start: Figure 17.3. Monitor the Cooler Power, Sensor Temp, and Setpoint and make sure they reach your goals. should drop below 100% (Figure 17.3).
Figure 18.2. Select Set Image Save Path. 7. Select the file folder in which you would like to save the images with Select Image Save Path found by clicking the arrow in the Autosave Setup window (Figure 18.2) and set the name of the file in Autosave Filename. Typically the name of the object being imaged, such as “OrionNebula1”, will be entered here. If “OrionNebula1” is the Autosave Filename, and you choose to save five images, then the images will appear in the selected file folder as “OrionNebula1_0001.
Flat Fields A flat field is an image taken with uniform featureless light entering the telescope, such as a blue sky in the early morning or after sunset. Flat fields solve a number of issues in your astroimages. 2. Point the telescope at a uniform and featureless light source, like the sky at dusk or dawn, or a blank white sheet of paper.
Figure 22.1. Before your images are Figure 22.2. Combining multiple deep combined, an individual deep space image will have more noise and less detail. space images greatly increases the detail in the resulting combined image Each individual deep sky image is faint and has a noticeable amount of noise. Combining the individual deep sky images eliminates the noise and enhances the detail in the deep sky object by improving the signal to noise ratio.
6. The Tree View on the left side of the Stack dialog will now show all the image files you have selected, arranged into groups according to their FITS header. You can open the groups to view the files by clicking on the + sign. If you would like to view an individual file, rightclick it and select Display Image. Alternatively, using the right-click menu select Auto Display, and any image you click on will be automatically displayed. 3.
command before opening them with the Open command. Alternatively, you can simply drag and drop them from Windows Explorer onto the MaxIm DL window. 10. You can select one of the images to be the Reference Image, using the right-click menu. This image will not be shifted during alignment; all other images will be aligned to it. If you do not select the reference image, the first image in the list will be used. 11. Select the Color tab (Figure 29).
the Preview Image to see how altering these parameters will affect your image (or click the Full Screen button to see the changes applied to your full image). detail finer than the pixel size of the frames being combined. The technique is described at http:// xxx.lanl.gov/abs/astro-ph/9808087. Note for the Parsec 8300M: Before any color balance adjustment can be made, you must first Combine Color to each individual LRGB or RGB images. 5.4.
information from levels 1 to 254 and almost all the brightness information at level 255. Thus a white image results. If you plan to do all image processing within MaxIm DL Edition (or the optional full version of MaxIm DL), saving images in the FITS (.fit) File Format using the IEEE Float Size Format is recommended. This ensures that all saved data will be kept intact. If another Size Format is utilized, there may be some loss of data, especially when saving combined images. 6.
does not move, check the Settings. Remember, you have to set up a method for sending the autoguider commands to the telescope! 11. The star should move in an L shape. If it does not move enough, a warning message will appear. The recorded positions will be displayed in the scrolling log, along with any error messages. Note: If the star does not move far enough, or moves too far (i.e.
Red helps maintain the human eye’s dark adaptation, Blue is the color to which most CCD cameras are least sensitive, and Dim maintains the color display but reduces the overall intensity to about one-eighth normal. • In red mode, all menus, dialog boxes, etc., are switched to red. Monochrome images are displayed red, but color images are displayed in their normal colors. This allows the user to inspect a color image without switching the entire screen back to normal colors.
slightly to compensate for disturbances like these, but the camera can not. Keep these factors in mind when choosing an observing site for astronomical imaging. For the best astro-images, we recommend finding a location with dry air, some altitude, and away from city or streetlights. Even a nearby hilltop in the countryside can provide better viewing conditions than many convenient backyard locations. 8.3.
9. Specifications Parsec 8300 CCD Sensor (Parsec 8300C) Kodak KAF-8300CE Parsec 10100C CCD Sensor Kodak KAI-10100-CXC CCD Sensor (Parsec 8300M) Kodak KAF-8300-AXE CCD detector size 17.86mm x 13.49mm CCD detector size 17.96mm x 13.52mm Sensor format 22.5mm diagonal Sensor format 22.5mm diagonal Pixel array 3760x2840 (10,678,400 total) Pixel array 3326x2504 (8,328,304 total) Pixel size 4.75µm x 4.75µm Pixel size 5.4µm x 5.4µm Exposure range 0.002 seconds to infinity Exposure range 0.
This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) this device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation. Changes of modifications not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the user’s authority to operate the equipment.
