ZWO ASI294 Color Camera - Information

Introduction | Look | Look at the PS 72/432 | Sensor, Pixel Data, Field of View | Visited Sky Objects | First Photo Attempts | Preliminary Conclusions | Links | Appendix: Data

On this page, I present some information about my ZWO ASI294MC color camera (borrowed one from a starfriend at the end of March 2022, bought another one on April 5, 2022 more or less new in an astronomy forum; so I sent the borrowed ASI294 back to my starfriend at the beginning of April 2022, just after only one use...).

See the appendix for the data. See also:

See also:

 

Introduction

After purchasing the Atik Infinity (at the end of 2017) and the ZWO ASI224MC (April 2021), one might of course wonder why my "camera store" still had to be supplemented or replaced with a ZWO ASI294. In the end, my attempts with the ASI224 were not particularly successful, and without being able to prove it conclusively, my assumption was that the field of view of these cameras was too small to guarantee a reliable GoTo and live stacking function. Thus, the targeted object was often at the edge or even outside the field of view. And again and again, applications such as ASIStudio and SharpCap complained that not enough stars were found to perform live stacking.

My initial consideration was to replace the "normal" GoTo with a GoTo based on plate solving. For this purpose, I purchased the StellarMate astronomy computer after Cuiv the Lazy Geek made a massive advertisement for it in a video. However, like many others inspired by that video, I quickly realized that this system was still full of bugs and initial successes simply could not be replicated. After another software update (March 2022), it looked as if I might be getting a little closer to the goal: The system gained stability, certain functions were finally implemented, but the crucial question, whether the field of view of the camera has an influence at the StellarMate on the GoTo success or not, I was not not able to clarify yet (see below...).

At the end of March 2022, a star friend offered to lend me his ZWO ASI294MC and, of course, I gladly agreed to his offer, especially since I was not able to find any such cameras for sale in the "Offer" astronomy forums. After I had done a first test with the borrowed ASI294, I looked again into the "Offer" forum - and found a mint ASI294, which had not yet been sold and which I bought on the spot. Of course, I do not know yet, whether it will indeed solve my StellarMate problems... However, I am very convinced that it would solve my GoTo problems if I worked without the StellarMate (i.e. with software on the laptop). But that is exactly the effort I did not really want to put into it...

Update: I gave away my StellarMate astrocomputer in June 2024. So I will use ZWO ASIStudio again for controlling the camera in the future (or sell the camera...).

 

Look

Note: Since the two cameras shown are used cameras, the packages may not be in their original state...

Unboxing... Borrowed Camera

Box

Box opened

Ditto

Box (nearly) empty

Box opened and (nearly) empty

 

Box opened and (nearly) empty

Ditto, camera lid removed

 

Bought Camera

Outer box

Outer box opened

Foam removed

Camera box taken out

Camera box, front view

Camera box, rear view

Camera box opened

Camera box opened, content visible

Content taken out of the box

Content taken out of the box

Ditto, camera lid removed

 

Look of the (Bought) Camera

 

Look at the PS 72/432

Here, the ZWO ASI294 is shown at the Omegon PS 72/432; the photos are taken with the StellarMate astronomy computer, which is controlled using an iPad. The photos show a complete EAA equipment!

 

Sensor, Pixel Data, Field of View

The ASI294MC camera uses the Sony sensor type IMX294 (CMOS) with a resolution of 11.7 MegaPixels, or 4144 x 2822 pixels (H/V). The pixel size is 4.63µm (quadratic pixels). With this, all sizes are known to calculate the field of view of the camera at different telescope tubes!

For simplity reasons, I did not calculate the values myself, but used the Website astronomy.tools for calculating the field of view of the ASI294MC camera at my current telescope tubes (as of April 2022):

Legend: Magenta Custom Scope = PS 72/432

And here the same for the Atik Infinity camera for comparison:

Legend: Orange Custom Scope = eVscope; Yellow Custom Scope = PS 72/432

And here the same for the ZWO ASI224 camera (Sony IMX224/225) for comparison:

Legend: Orange Custom Scope = eVscope; Red Custom Scope = PS 72/432

I summarize the results of the diagrams (and further ones) in the following table:

 
Field of View
 
Telescope Reducer Focal
Length 		Aperture f ASI224MC* ASI294MC ASI462MC* Atik Infinity* Remarks
PS 72/432 --- 432 72 6 0.65° x 0.48° 2.54° x 1.73° 0.74° x 0.42° 1.19° x 0.89° The largest FOV of my tubes
C5 --- 1250 127 10 0.22° x 0.17° 0.88° x 0.60° 0.26° x 0.15° 0.41° x 0.31° FOV like C8 with reducer
C5 f/6.3 787.5 127 6.3 0.36° x 0.17° 1.40° x 0.95° 0.41° x 0.23° 0.65° x 0.49° FOV a little smaller as with TLAPO1027
C8* --- 2032 203 10 0.14° x 0.1° 0.54° x 0.37° 0.16° x 0.09° 0.25° x 0.19° The smallest FOV
C8* f/6.3 1280 203 6.3 0.22° x 0.16° 0.86° x 0.58° 0.25° x 0.14° 0.4° x 0.3° FOV like C5
TLAPO1027* --- 714 102 7 0.39° x 0.29° 1.54° x 1.05° 0.45° x 0.26° 0.72° x 0.54° FOV a little larger than for C5 with reducer
          in Degrees in Minutes      
eVscope* --- 450 114 4 0.61° x 0.46 36.7' x 27.6'     Same sensor as ASI224: Sony IMX224
eVscope 2* --- 450 114 4 0.78° x 0.57°* 47' x 34'     *New sensor: Sony IMX347
Vespera*   200 50 4 1.6° x 0.9°** 100' x 54' (ca.)     **Same sensor as ASI462: Sony IMX462
Vespera Pro   250 50 5 1.6° x 1.6° 100' x 100' (ca.)     New sensor: Sony IMX676

*) No longer in my possession

 

Visited Sky Objects

During my first three photo attempts in April 2022 with the ZWO ASI294MC camera and the PS 72/432 refractor, I visited the following sky objects:

*) It is certainly quite interesting to see which and how many larger galaxies (M and NGC) could be captured on 9 photos (the 10th photo is a duplicate...) during that one evening:

Further objects can then be found at the corresponding observations. Please note that due to the large field of view with the refractor sometimes more objects can be seen on the photos than are listed here.

 

First Photo Attempts

In the following, I present photos of my first three photo attempts with the ZWO ASI294MC at the PS 72/432 refractor. Details can be found on page Ikarus StellarMate Plus - Further Experiences. Later, I may replace these photos with better ones...

Nightly Test with PS 72/432, Borrowed ASI294, StellarMate, and AZ-GTi (April 3, 2022, Mühlhausen)

Equipment: StellarMate, AZ-GTi, ZWO ASI294 (exposure time 10 s all the time), PS 72/432, no UV/IR cut filter; the FOV is about 2.5° x 1.7°.

    

Leo-Triplet - Apr 3, 2022, processed (preview only)

 

M 51 - Apr 3, 2022
 

M 81/82 - Apr 3, 2022

  

M 95/96 - Apr 3, 2022

First Nightly Test with PS 72/432, My Own ASI294MC, StellarMate, and AZ-GTi (April 18, 2022, Mühlhausen)

Equipment: StellarMate, AZ-GTi, ZWO ASI294 (exposure time 10 s all the time), PS 72/432, no UV/IR cut filter; the FOV is about 2.5° x 1.7°.

Order: Rosette Nebula (NGC 2238), Leo Triplet (M 65 + M 66, NGC 3628), M 81 (+ M 82, NGC 3077), M 96 (+ M 95), M 105, M 84 + M 86 (Great Galactic Face), M 51, M 108 (+ M 97), M 60 (+ M 59), M 44 (Coma Berenice Cluster), IC 3483 (Zwicky's Triplet; near ST), NGC 4567/68 (Siamese Twins), M 89 (+ M 90)

         

IC 3483 - Apr 18, 2022

  

IC 3483 - Apr 18, 2022, processed

 

IC 3483 - Apr 18, 2022, processed, section (the Siamese Twins NGC 4567/68 and M 58 at the bottom are also in the photo; M 89 left center)

   

M 44 (Coma Berenice Cluster) - Apr 18, 2022

  

M 51 - Apr 18, 2022

  

M 59/60 - Apr 18, 2022
   

M 44 (Coma Berenice Cluster) - Apr 18, 2022, processed

 

M 51 - Apr 18, 2022, processed

 

M 59/60 - Apr 18, 2022, processed; M 60 in the middle, M 59 on top of it

   

Leo Triplet - Apr 18, 2022

  

Leo Triplet - Apr 18, 2022, processed

 

Leo Triplet - Apr 18, 2022, processed, section (M 65, M 66, NGC 3628)
   

M 81/82 + NGC 3077 - Apr 18, 2022

  

M 81/82 + NGC 3077 - Apr 18, 2022, processed

 

M 81/82 + NGC 3077 - Apr 18, 2022, processed, section
   

M 84/86 - Apr 18, 2022

  

M 84/86 - Apr 18, 2022, processed

 

M 84/86 - Apr 18, 2022, processed, section (Great galactic Face, part of Markarian's Chain)

   

M 89/90 - Apr 18, 2022

  

M 89/90 - Apr 18, 2022, processed (Siamese Twins to the right)

 

M 89/90 - Apr 18, 2022, processed, section (M 89 right, M 90 left)
   

M 95/96 - Apr 18, 2022

  

M 95/96 - Apr 18, 2022, processed

  

M 95/96 - Apr 18, 2022, processed, section (M 95 on top, M 96 at the bottom, M 105 at the bottom left)

   

M 97/108 - Apr 18, 2022

  

M 97/108 - Apr 18, 2022, processed

  

M 97/108 - Apr 18, 2022, processed, section (M 97 left, M 108 right)

     

NGC 2238 (Rosette Nebula) - Apr 18, 2022

  

NGC 2238 - Apr 18, 2022, processed

    
   

NGC 4567/68 (Siamese Twins) - Apr 18, 2022

  

NGC 4567/68 - Apr 18, 2022, processed

  

NGC 4567/68 - Apr 18, 2022, processed, section (top center, M 58 top left, M 59 at the bottom)

Second Nightly Test with PS 72/432, My Own ASI294MC, StellarMate, and AZ-GTi (Apr 28, 2022, Erkerode)

Equipment: StellarMate, AZ-GTi, ZWO ASI294 (exposure time 10s all the time), PS 72/432, no UV/IR cut filter; the FOV is about 2.5° x 1.7°.

Order: Procyon (focusing using stars); M 81 (+ M 82), Leo Triplet (M 65 + M 66, NGC 3628), M 105, M 84 (IC 3279; Markarian's Chain; great galactic Face), M 87, M 89, M 99, M 59 (+ M 60; 2 attempts...), M 108 + (M 97; with some problems)
Note: In the case of several targets on a photo, I accessed the one before the "+" sign.

         

M 59 + M 60 - Apr 28, 2022

  

M 59/60 - Apr 28, 2022, processed

  

M 59/60 - Apr 28, 2022, processed, evaluation with nova.astrometry.net

   

Leo Triplet (M 65 + M 66, NGC 3628) - Apr 28, 2022

  

Leo Triplet - Apr 28, 2022, processed

  

Leo Triplet - Apr 28, 2022, processed, section

   

M 81 + M 82, NGC 3077 - Apr 28, 2022

  

M 81/M 82 - Apr 28, 2022, processed

  

M 81/82 - Apr 28, 2022, processed, section

   

M 84 + M 86 - Apr 28, 2022

  

M 84/86 - Apr 28, 2022, processed

  

M 84/86 - Apr 28, 2022, processed, Auswertung mit nova.astrometry.net

   

M 87 - Apr 28, 2022

  

M 87 - Apr 28, 2022, processed

  

M 87 - Apr 28, 2022, processed, evaluation with nova.astrometry.net

   

M 89 + M 90/M 58 (links/rechts) - Apr 28, 2022

  

M 89/90/58 - Apr 28, 2022, processed

  

M 89/90/58 - Apr 28, 2022, processed, evaluation with nova.astrometry.net

   

M 99 + NGC 4298/4302 (unten) - Apr 28, 2022

  

M 99 + NGC 4298/4302 - Apr 28, 2022, processed

  

M 99 + NGC 4298/4302 - Apr 28, 2022, processed, evaluation with nova.astrometry.net

   

M 105 + M 96- Apr 28, 2022

  

M 105 + M 96 - Apr 28, 2022, processed

  

M 105 + M 96 - Apr 28, 2022, processed, evaluation with nova.astrometry.net

   

M 108/97 - Apr 28, 2022

  

M 108/97 - Apr 28, 2022, processed

  

M 108/97 - Apr 28, 2022, processed, evaluation with nova.astrometry.net

     

M 108/97 - Apr 28, 2022

  

M 108/97 - Apr 28, 2022, processed

    

 

Preliminary Conclusions

My tests with the ASI294, I have done so far only with the PS72/432 refractor and the StellarMate astrocomputer. Thereby, I had a huge field of view of 2.5° width. Correspondingly small are the sky objects, mainly galaxies. In this form, the photos are more suitable for galaxy counting than for viewing... So, it is far too early even for preliminary conclusions.

I should do further tests with the C5 first, without and with reducer/corrector. For the TLAPO1027, I need a GoTo-mount with a higher load capacity than the AZ-GTi offers. I have this with the Star Discovery mount, but this mount does not work with the StellarMate astrocomputer...

Update: I gave away my StellarMate astrocomputer in June 2024 and sold my TLAPO1027 refractor in October 2024.

 

Links

 

Appendix: Data of the ZWO ASI 294MC

Camera Technical Details (from ZWO Website)

 

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08.10.2024