Baader Planetarium Blog Posts
-
Gain and Offset – Darks and Bias of cooled CMOS cameras
This entry was posted on May 3, 2022Last modified on September 27, 2023.
From time to time customers contact us who have bought a cooled CMOS camera, because they are not satisfied with their image results. They have been working with an uncooled DSLR camera or even a cooled CCD camera and compare the old images with what their new QHY delivers. So we often hear: My images show way too much noise and hardly any signal from the subject". And many new astrophotographers (or those used to old technology) write to us: "My old images, taken with my DSLR, show much more of the object, even though the new camera is cooled and is supposed to be much more sensitive. If that were the case, it would be really bad! That's why we want to take a...
-
Amateur Astronomers take a look through the Cloud Cover of Venus with our SLOAN Filters
This entry was posted on June 9, 2022Last modified on February 27, 2024.
Amateur astronomers successfully explore Venus with Baader SLOAN Filter Even today, amateur astronomers can still contribute to scientific research. For example, our new photometric filters now open another window into the depths of the atmosphere of the planet Venus. Venus amazes researchers. It is as big as the Earth, but extremely different from it. Venus is a hellish world with temperatures of up to 450 degrees at the surface. The reason for this is an enormously dense atmosphere, which generates a pressure that only exists at an ocean depth of 900m on Earth. This atmosphere consists of 90% carbon dioxide, a dense layer of sulphur dioxide clouds makes it opaque to us. There are only a few narrowly limited wavelengths in which a space probe...
-
David vs Goliath – 2.3m AllSky Dome at the Large Binocular Telescope
This entry was posted on May 25, 2022Last modified on September 27, 2023.
On the 3221m tall Mount Graham in Arizona stands an observatory like no other, because it consists of two huge optical telescopes on a single mount under an enormous protective structure: the Large Binocular Telescope Observatory (LBTO). Next to it, a downright tiny Baader 2.3m AllSky dome has now been installed. Discover the 2.3M Baader AllSky Dome and additional images also on our observatory world map The "Large Binocular Telescope" (LBT) has two mirrors with 8.4m diameter each, which together form the largest optical telescope in the world. It collects as much light as an 11.8m telescope. However, due to the distance between the mirrors, the resolution of a 22.8m mirror is achieved, which can also be used sensibly thanks to adaptive optics. Several German...
-
New products May 2022
This entry was posted on May 9, 2022Last modified on February 28, 2024.
New Baader f/3 Ultra-Highspeed Filter-Category 3.5 nm / 4 nm In addition to a lot of positive feedback after the introduction of our new CMOS-optimized filter families, however, there were also complaints about insufficient signal and resulting halos. After a thorough examination of the situation, we have now been able to identify and narrow down the problem. We have used the last few weeks to explain the requirements for the Preshift of Highspeed-Filters for the first time in form of a detailed, 24-page White Paper (at the moment in German only), and we have re-categorized all Ultra-Highspeed narrowband filters, so that you can more easily identify the right filters. The previous 3.5 / 4nm Ultra-Highspeed filters (which were advertised as having an operating range of...
-
QHY533 M/C CMOS camera
This entry was posted on May 4, 2022Last modified on February 28, 2024.
We at Baader Planetarium consider the QHY 533 M/C to be a very good and reasonably priced entry-level camera. It has everything a modern CMOS camera can do. For amateur astronomers interested in all areas of astronomical photography, the QHY 533 C/M can cover a wide range of your images. With its BSI Sony sensor, the camera is extremely sensitive and low-noise in the deep sky range. Thanks to the good cooling performance, long exposure times can be realized with it. The pixel size of 3.76 x 3.76 µm is optimally adapted for shorter focal lengths of 500 to 750 mm. Optimal for RASA and Hyperstar telescopes. Canon and Nikon telephoto lenses are also adaptable with a required backfocus of 55 mm. Due to the...
-
Swapping between eyepieces: The useful Baader Q-Turret Four Eyepiece Revolver
This entry was posted on May 2, 2022Last modified on February 27, 2024.
The planets Saturn, Mars, Venus and Jupiter are making an appearance in our morning sky making a lovely photogenic celestial lineup. About an hour before sunrise you can see the magnificent ringed gas-giant planet, and second largest planet in our Solar System, Saturn towards the south east with our red coloured neighbour Mars sitting below and to the east of it. Venus is next in line shining brightly at magnitude ~4.2 and is exhibiting a gibbous phase and very low near the eastern horizon is the largest planet Jupiter. These planets will make their way to being evening objects later in the year becoming better positioned where they will be observable for longer. Our Moon is easily seen throughout most of each month so its...
-
Free Download: 3d-printed flip mirror adapter and holder
This entry was posted on January 17, 2022Last modified on February 27, 2024.
Free Download: 3d-printed FlipMirror II Mirror Holder Update: We are pleased that the Baader FlipMirror II Star Diagonal (#2458055 , € 228,-) is so well received and inspires some customers to dream about what else would be possible. Since we ourselves cannot realize all the different constellations from partially transparent to dichroic mirrors, we have decided to publish the mirror holders that we install in the FlipMirror II. This way, our customers and users can 3D print the holders themselves and then try out any mirror type and shape. We are looking forward to your results and experience reports! Below is the download link (which will only work when you're logged in). Please also note the information below about the Creative Commons License. The file...
-
A Brief Overview of the Baader Tilter Family
This entry was posted on May 3, 2022Last modified on October 6, 2023.
If you notice that the edges of your image(s) are not sharp then image tilt may be present in your system. Image tilt is caused when the sensor is not perpendicular to the light path. The cause(s) of image tilt can be many and can include flattener/corrector lenses, tilted focuser drawtube, extension adaptors, camera angle adjusters as well as inherent camera sensor tilt in the camera body itself. Being able to correct for this image plane tilt is important and essential to get perfect focused sharp star images across the field of view. Baader Planetarium currently offer three accessories - their "Tilter family" - that can help compensate for image plane tilt. Baader UFC-Tilter (#2459146 , € 276,-) : an S70 dovetail accessory that fits...
-
Baader Planetarium at the 2022 Practical Astronomy Show (UK)
This entry was posted on April 5, 2022Last modified on February 28, 2024.
At 9am on Saturday 19th March the doors opened at the Kettering Conference Centre to welcome a long queue of visitors which had formed to attend the 2022 UK Practical Astronomy Show (PAS). This was the second time that this event has been run since its first outing 2019. Originally planned to be yearly, the event had to be postponed in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. This event would be the first astronomy show in the UK since COVID. I attended PAS representing Baader Planetarium with a small stand. Preparation for PAS had started several weeks beforehand with a shortlist of display and demonstration products and associated information leaflets and a new pull-up banner. Due to a foot injury my wife had to...
-
QHYCCD cameras for Beginners
This entry was posted on March 15, 2022Last modified on October 6, 2023.
The QHY533 M/C cooled CMOS Camera is a very good and reasonably priced entry-level camera. It has everything a modern CMOS camera can do. For amateur astronomers interested in all areas of astronomical photography, the QHY 533 C/M can cover a wide range of your images. With its BSI Sony sensor, the camera is extremely sensitive and low-noise in the deep sky range. Thanks to the good cooling performance, long exposure times can be realized with it. The pixel size of 3.76 x 3.76 µm is optimally adapted for shorter focal lengths of 500 to 750 mm. The exceptionally low noise combined with high sensitivity of the simple and inexpensive QHY-CMOS cameras have made them the choice of many amateur astronomers for solar, lunar, and...