Planetary Imaging

[steep apex]

Why does high point scientific resell for a lower price for the C6

[vapid depot]

am streaming

[steep apex]

[dark cargo]

Are you talking about pixel size of the camera in the last sentence? Pretty sure it's basically irrelevant since you can change the focal length of the scope with a barlow to get the same arcsecond per pixel no matter what your pixel size is. You do already have the asi585 which is basically the best planetary cam you could get. No idea how feasible it is but perhaps using an IR pass filter would allow you to use it as luminance for better seeing at the cost of max resolution.

Also since planets are pretty low in altitude for you, you could go for alternative targets like the ISS or tiangong which you could get at much higher altitudes with better seeing.

[white prawn]

I was wondering if having a camera w/ a smaller pixel would give more details, particularly on my setup. Saturn stays low for me, but Jupiter gets higher, earlier in the evening, later in the year. So I figure I still have some opportunities.

As far as my camera ... when I'm hearing from multiple sources that what I have is pretty much the best that I can get then maybe I should let it rest on that and stop chasing pixels while I'm still learning, yeah? 😆

I've considered getting an IR Pass for the sake of imaging Venus. It sounds like I wouldn't be able to use it at the same time as the UVIR cut filter though. That said, with you and another one (I think Tom) saying to use IR Pass to get luminence ... I might try. Then again I want the better resolution for more details. Thoughts?

I've also considered imaging ISS, haven't heard of Tiangong, and for the amount of struggle and effort I have with getting a relatively slow moving target (planet) in frame then having to adjust ... I do want to eventually image the ISS ... and frankly other small targets but I also feel that I need to get a better handle on what I'm doing.

Then again I could always do what I've done before: "eh, let's just do it" and see what happens.

Actually FWIW I've actually tried to image ISS and it was a total flop. Then again at the time all I had was a 70mm/400 beginner scope and a cell phone camera. I didn't even get the ISS in frame and it's probably for the best. Something like that would have infuriated me to the point of just not even getting into the hobby and I would have missed out on all the good stuff that I have imaged.

[dark cargo]

Basically my point is: pixel size doesn't matter as it doesn't inherently give you more details. eg at 600mm fl with 1um pixels you get the same detail as at 1200mm fl with 2um pixels, assuming the aperture is the same ofc.

Afaik with IR pass filter, the benefit is that IR is less affected by the atmosphere, and since you aren't going to be limited by your resolution in decent/bad seeing you aren't really losing resolution if you can't get good enough seeing to get it with visible light. Yea you can't use the UV-IR cut but since you don't care about colour balance in a mono luminance image it doesn't matter pretty sure.

For the ISS it's actually fairly easy to do just need to get a well aligned finderscope, just put the scope in front of where the ISS will be in a second or two and let go of the tube to prevent vibrations. Keep shooting a video then you can use PIPP to extract all the pictures with the ISS in it. Shutter speed has to be set pretty fast, like 1-0.5ms I think due to how fast it moves? You can use the moon as a rough test of how bright the ISS will be at a specific exposure time ISS is brighter through. Check for high passes on here: https://heavens-above.com Over 70degrees or so is fairly close to the closest the station will be to you so you don't have to wait for a 89 degree pass for a nice image or anything.

[white prawn]

And on the same scope, even in the best of conditions, 0.5um difference is negligible.

I'll have to think on the IR Pass filter, then. For imaging Venus, definitely. For other imaging it may help, I'll have to test/see.

The principle is easy - if you can "lead" the ISS then it's easy. I'd probably want a wider field for that capture anyhow, not the standard "just enough to capture the target" I have for the planets. However, it rests on my ability to "lead" and the alignment of my finder scope. Okay, I'm not talking myself out of it, I'm acknowledging challenges. I do want to image that, I think it would be really neat. If I did capture it my neighbors would see me dancing for sure.

[dark cargo]

Oh definetly don't use the same barlow as for planets, that would be very hard to get in frame. It is definetly a balance between how accurately you can get it in frame vs how big it would be in the image. I think I used a 2-3x barlow at most with 4.29um pixels on an APS-C sensor, and mostly took pictures over video as otherwise I'd be limited to a sensor size smaller than an asi120. Good luck!

Also I may be wrong but pretty sure most of the cloud details on venus are taken with a UV filter? Not entirely sure what IR would get you

[white prawn]

I have so far not been able to get a good decent image w/ my 5x Barlow, even with my scope now being properly collimated on a night w/ avg seeing, so my default has been, and would be, my 3x. Might try to shop for a better one later on. Budget $50 from Astromania has served me nicely so far though. I think if you see my most recent images in the #older_system_pics section you might agree. The 5x I bought for imaging w/ my DSLR might not be used as often now.

I thought the clouds on Venus were done w/ an IR Pass?

[dark cargo]

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/157019-venus-uv-ir-rgb-false-colour-25th-july/ seems to be in UV

[dark cargo]

Pretty sure the 5x would be too much even if you had perfect seeing with the 585. Do try to extend the 3x to a 3.5x or 4x when you do get good seeing through

[white prawn]

Thank you. You just saved me a truckload of frustration by showing me that. I would have bought the IR Pass for Venus, not seen much more, then not been happy.

[white prawn]

Or stack 2 of my 2x's for same effect? 😁

[clear pier]

hey guys, with winjupos do i sharpen my stacks before using it, sharpen after using it, or both? and do i rgb balance and align before or after as well?

[dark cargo]

np, there is a 1010nm IR filter that makes it possible to see the heat from venus's surface on the unlit site but it's pretty hard to do since you need long exposures and quite a lot of light. Tom did it before pretty sure.

[dark cargo]

I think it's unsharpened stacks input then you sharpen the output?

[clear pier]

perfect thanks, and do you know if i rgb balance and align for my inputs?

[white prawn]

I'd be happy to get cloud visuals on the side that can be seen!

[dark cargo]

Pretty sure you do rgb align before, but you can do rgb balance later.

[clear pier]

perfect thank you

[white prawn]

At what size aperture would I need to consider derotation of even a short video?

[hasty hull]

Kinda scuffed Aristarchus crater tonite

[white prawn]

I wouldnt' worry. Whatever caused the crater kinda scuffed the moon so ... it works I suppose.

[clear pier]

what happened in winjupos

this was after trying to sharpen idk what happened

[sharp ridge]

ld 0.8 ld angle 0.8

[clear pier]

what does that mean?

like this?

and where do i edit ld angle?

or do i do it here @sharp ridge? and i can't edit ld angle any lower than 1

[sharp ridge]

yeah

ld angle 80 ig

[clear pier]

i changed it like this and it worked is that ok?

[left spindle]

should i use barlow ?

[vestal hatch]

what's your setup

[steep apex]

Of course

[left spindle]

144/900 scope and webcam

[vestal hatch]

probably yes then

2-3x barlow

[left spindle]

oki

the only issue is that image gets dimmer

[vestal hatch]

900/144 = f/6.25
Your f ratio (focal ratio) should be roughly 5-7x your pixel size of your camera. No idea what your camera pixel size is, but if you got a 2x barlow you would go

f/6.25 x 2 = f/12.5

Probably still not barlowed enough but a webcam isn't great anyway so I wouldn't build a barlow/setup around it

And a 2x has future uses for you

[vestal hatch]

That's fine

[white prawn]

TBH I don't think that anyone here would ever say "No" to the question "should I use a Barlow" when imaging.

[left spindle]

maths (its 7.8)

[vestal hatch]

just expose for 5-10ms and then turn up your gain until your histogram is about 60%

keep exposure between 5-10ms for good seeing

[left spindle]

wht

i keep at 62.5ms

[left spindle]

pix size is 2.8um

[vestal hatch]

do 5-10ms instead, 62.5ms is way too long

[vestal hatch]

2.8um x 5 = ~f/15

so you want a 2x or 3x barlow

[left spindle]

ill try

[left spindle]

ok

[left spindle]

can i use backlit comp

[vestal hatch]

if too dim, just increase gain a bunch until histogram is roughly 60%

[vestal hatch]

No need

[brazen fox]

My best Saturn so far:

[left spindle]

ok

[left spindle]

equipment?

[brazen fox]

Mot much more I can do with it in UK.

C11, SW EQ8 R Pro, Asi 120mc -s ADC..the use.

Processing AS3, Regist., Ps.

High air humidity, my equipment got so wet, looked like it rained on it, surprized I didn't get an electric shock, lol.

[left spindle]

nicee

[white prawn]

I've debated the merits of putting something on some of my electronics. Then again I don't have a cover for my laptop so I'd rather not think of what goes on with that. 😬

[brazen fox]

Ty.

I got it switched so it works remotely, mini pc 'n all.

Although I'm still close by, just working off of a tablet / pc remoted into the mini pc.

[clear pier]

if you need a barlow suggestion, i can recommend the gso 2.5x barlow, in reality it's ~2.2 or 2.3x but it's really good

[brazen fox]

This was w/ a Barlow x2.

[left spindle]

i already have a barlow both 2x and 3x

[brazen fox]

Lol.

[clear pier]

ahh ok well the 3x is a better choice i think but try both!

[marble owl]

hey guys, i just got back from a holiday, and noticed an area in the middle of my FOV with LOTS of dead pixels. I had never seen anything like it at all, and AS!3 is aligning using these dead pixels instead of planetary features, so its affecting my imaging. if you open the image and zoom in you can see it. if anybody knows why this happens please let me know.

p.s. my dad used the camera while i was away, but said he didnt overexpose anything, and he also cleaned the sensor. possibly the cleaning caused it?

[left spindle]

oki

[white prawn]

How old is the camera? Could be age, could be overexposure, could be the cleaning

[marble owl]

abt a year old

however it never happened before my holiday

it looks really bad in full resolution

these pics are just preview saves from asiair

[vestal hatch]

Sensor looks dirty

What camera? Cleaning it generally a bad idea can cause more harm than good

[white prawn]

Speaking as someone who has dropped his 585 in the dirt ... yeah, improper cleaning would do more harm than that.

[hasty hull]

🔵

[fading plume]

Blue blob

[somber stratus]

Bargain I’d say

Unless there’s an issue with it or it’s a scam

[vapid depot]

single from tn before i sleep

[summer field]

back in business after a year, with some fair seeing at dawn

[hasty hull]

Absurd

[somber stratus]

Ask him for pictures of something specific like the primary mirror

[marble owl]

294mc pro

doesnt the sensor have a protective class element?

or is it just the straight sensor

[clear pier]

oh my... i very much was seeing limited i finally got "above average" seeing according to astrospheric and wow i can tell

[hasty hull]

Phases of Mercury

[vestal hatch]

Straight sensor from what I know

[proud mulch]

This high pressure weather front goes hard frfr

[proud mulch]

Do mars phases now lol

[white prawn]

Nice!

[proud mulch]

Blue channel during perfect seeing

[coarse aspen]

5" ?

[summer field]

yes, final image here #older_system_pics message

[coarse aspen]

really good

[summer field]

thanks 🙂

[coarse aspen]

how do you do it?

your images with a 5" look like they were taken with at least 6" or even 8"

[summer field]

#1019937457095065731 message I described the process here, it didn't change much since then
This image probably reaches the limit of a 5" somewhere between red and green wavelenghts, my 5" can do a bit better than that 😄

[coarse aspen]

Oh the PSF is actually smart

You can estimate seeing like that

[summer field]

yes, I usually use the star to estimate coherence time before imaging, but maybe that can also be done on Jupiter's moons

[livid sierra]

How do you construct a PSF from a star?

[summer field]

just stack 1-5% of a ~1min video using AS!3

[clear pier]

out of curiosity what's a PSF?

[livid sierra]

Point Spread Function so pretty much the amount of blurring caused by atmospheric seeing in the case of AP

[clear pier]

ah i see what does that do?

[livid sierra]

By telling the program you are using for deconvolution what the PSF is, a variable that can change from night to night or even moment to moment, you are essentially telling it by how much your image should be “unblurred”

[clear pier]

ohh ok got it that’s interesting

also does anyone here have any tips for processing or anything i can do with this image? im very happy with it but i wanna squeeze out all that i can

[summer field]

In the case of planetary processing, I figured the best you can acheive with the PSF and deconvolution is to correct for optical defects, and not seeing, there is no reason for the seeing to affect the star and the planet in the same way as they are not taken at the same time and at different places in the sky, so taking a 1min video with very short exposure time (close to 1ms, or less) and stacking 1-5% to avoid integrating turbulence works almost every time

[vapid depot]

fuccc i got my stuff stacked of europa disappearing (occult)?

it looks v good

just needs astrosurface :((

[livid sierra]

Yeah good point. So yeah it does do the “unblurring” thing. Just not to correct for seeing, but for optical defects

[vapid depot]

moon go byebye

yum

[clear pier]

is drizzling a good idea for planetary?

[gray orchid]

If your undersampled

Meaning your pixels are too large for your focal length

Thus loosing finer detail, which drizzling can somewhat help resolve.

[clear pier]

how do i know if im undersampled?

[gray orchid]

What's your focal length and pixel size?

[clear pier]

2.9 pixel size and im not sure of my exact focal length, i have a native focal length of 750mm, and then i use a gso 2.5x barlow (so it's really ~a 2.2x) and a barlow extension

[gray orchid]

Why would it be 2.2x?

Also a Barlow extension should increase the magnification from 2.5x.

How long is the Barlow extension?

[clear pier]

according to the person who suggested it to me, it doesn’t always get it up to 2.5x since it’s cheap

[clear pier]

25mm if i remember correctly

[gray orchid]

well with that extension it may not even be 2.75x

lemme do one with 2.5x mag

[clear pier]

hmm ok, so if im oversampled what do i do to fix that, or do i have to at all?

[gray orchid]

but yea you shouldnt drizzle for one, wont help at all.

[gray orchid]

Your likely only a bit oversampled so dont worry about it.

[clear pier]

perfect thanks, though out of curiosity what does oversampling and undersampling even mean?

[gray orchid]

This is undersampled

Oversampled just means your pixels are tinier than either your optical limit or seeing can make use of.

[clear pier]

ohh i see thank you!

[steep apex]

Any difference in optics for the 6SE and the C6

[white prawn]

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/443481-c6-ota-vs-nexstar-6se-and-mount/

[white prawn]

https://www.celestron.com/products/nexstar-evolution-6-telescope#specifications

https://www.celestron.com/products/nexstar-6se-computerized-telescope#specifications

[vapid depot]

If u want one ima be selling my 6se ota

Just tube tho

[white prawn]

I'll buy.

Best I can do is $3.50 though.

[livid sierra]

You already have an 8” lol

[white prawn]

Had to send a Pawn Stars reference.

[vapid depot]

hahah gamestop too

[steep apex]

No but can you sell your seeing please

[vapid depot]

I can search up hotels near me

[steep apex]

No just send the seeing over here you can do that right?

[vapid depot]

Would if I could sometimes

Maybe I can increase my carbon footprint and help make weather patterns vary more

👀

[steep apex]

Predicted good seeing tomorrow

Thanks nick

[vapid depot]

Anytime

[gray orchid]

3000 frames from 10-1-23

2400mm f/12 - QHY-5L-mono

Above average seeing now that I think about it. Not quite as good as the first night.

[green pebble]

Am i undersampled? I have a 130/900mm newt and asi224mc (3.75µm)

[gray orchid]

Are you using a barlow of any kind?

[green pebble]

If for planetary yes i use a 2x barlow, if its for dss i dont use a barlow

[steep apex]

Can the Celestron C6 fit on the CG-4 Mount?

[vapid depot]

It’s been ages since I’ve seen cg4 specs but I’m going to bet yes..

A c6 is pretty light my friend

I’m assuming the sct c6 not the refractor c6 from Celestron

[steep apex]

Yes

[vapid depot]

u can throw c8 on that mount

Just checked

[steep apex]

It would be nice to have a c8 but I have a really low budget

Wondering if I could plop my eq1 with the C6

[steep apex]

Yeah there’s still a lot of potential waiting to be used for your scope and cam, just keep the pace

[green pebble]

So my scope and my cam are working in harmony and they have potential?

[steep apex]

Yeah should be, I don’t know anything about ZWO ASI but right now I’m working with pretty nice Jupiter detail with my 114/900 (4.5” Newt) and I’m pretty sure I still have some more to unlock

[green pebble]

Yeah, i need good seeing and i need some filters

Probably a better mount

[steep apex]

Yeah UV/IR Cut filter is a need, pretty cheap as well

[green pebble]

Ye probably going to order one pretty soon

[steep apex]

Your EQ2 motorized mount should work fine, but if it’s takes to long for the wobble to die down after you move it without slow mo controls then yeah that’s something to aim for

[green pebble]

It takes about 5 seconds to clam down the wobble, the problem is the polar aligning also i want a goto mount, its hard trying to find the objects

[steep apex]

You’ll get used to finding objects when you find yourself going back to the same place every night, star hopping is fun sometimes

[green pebble]

Ok i guess i can supress my pain

[steep apex]

I’m here with a EQ1 mount and soon a $30 manual star tracker

[coarse aspen]

No

Cg4 is an EQ3

identical

[green pebble]

You will get used to it, when its brighter objects its easy, but dim objects are pain in the ass

[coarse aspen]

Celestron lists it on their website to have a payload of 20 pounds like an EQ5 but it's not that high. That mount is an EQ3

For planetary eq3 can probably hold a C6 but absolutely not a C8

[coarse aspen]

My mount is a CG4, I've taken it apart, I've seen the insides, even on the outside it's visibly eq3 too

[fading plume]

new saturn

[main flume]

i first thought one of it's moon is dust on my laptop screen

noice btw

what setup tho

[fading plume]

14" goto dob, uranus c, X cel 2x and ADC

and ass seeing

[main flume]

was it that bad?

[fading plume]

well, not terrible. above average for me. 4/10 for everyone else

[main flume]

well well even i think that a good window for ap is very rare where i live

[main flume]

you got that from such weather is still better than me having hubble

[green pebble]

How can i fix the colour on my saturn, i did the color calibration or sum in registax

Welp time to buy an UV/IR cut filter

[vestal hatch]

Very lovely, couldn't tell that the seeing was bad based on this image

Look forward to a perfect night of seeing for you

[gray orchid]

Yea you shouldnt have any issues. Your a bit oversampled so better then being undersampled.

[steep apex]

My good seeing got blocked by bad weather

HOLY CRAP TODAY IT SAYS IM IN THE PERFECT ZONE

I need to image Saturn

Tomorrow is also good seeing too

October is the good seeing month

[steep apex]

For the filters, should I select RGB instead of L in FireCapture?

[vapid depot]

doesnt really matter

used registax color balance here 😮

[hasty hull]

noice

Regi auto balance doesn’t really work on Saturn, always makes it way too blue. I normally balance on Jupiter, and then copy the settings and manually input them on the Saturn stack

But that’s just bc I prefer to stick pretty close to true color most of the time

[steep apex]

I don’t get how teoman gets that kind of angular size of Jupiter with that size of a primary

[vapid depot]

how was ur seeing for that capture?

[white prawn]

Now if my skies looked like that ... Rings and Cassini are crystal clear in that, it'll only get better in processing.

That's one of mine?

[vapid depot]

oh the one in general lol

[hasty hull]

what altitude did you shoot at @white prawn

[white prawn]

So far the best seeing I've had is avg - 3/5. Past couple of nights have been hazy as all get out so no dice.

Hm. Let me check

OH FER CRYIN' OUT LOUD

[hasty hull]

Could certainly be worse

[white prawn]

And just because I tried

Jupiter's at Zenith between 1-2am, I can't be up that late. I'm waiting for it to zenith earlier.

[hasty hull]

Fair enough

[white prawn]

At least this time it's above 20 though

[hasty hull]

I do most of my Jupiter imaging at around 5am before I leave for school, still like 50deg altitude around then

[white prawn]

I've thought about that

[hasty hull]

I never bother imaging under 30deg tbh, but Saturn doesn’t get much better than that anyway

[white prawn]

Saturn doesn't hit 40 anyhow.

[hasty hull]

I think max is like 38° here

Yeah rip

[white prawn]

Hm. Might have to see where Jupiter is next time I'm up first thing in the morning. Try an image. I'd have to be up at around 4:30 or so, which would not be fun.

[hasty hull]

Worth trying if you will be awake anyway, it should be much better than 20° lol

But you’ll only be able to get away with that for a little bit, when opposition hits in a month it’ll be setting at sunrise

[vapid depot]

my saturn was at like 32 or 34

near meridian

will u must get the seeing I do, going thru ur gallery 🙂

[hasty hull]

Actual hype for zenith Saturn later this decade

[vapid depot]

yea

[hasty hull]

It was really good a couple days ago, insane stability

[vapid depot]

yea something weird going on w weather in us lol

ofc im gonna be clouded out after new planetary scope comes smh

[hasty hull]

Figures

[vapid depot]

yeppppp

i bet the seeings gonna be ass first light w the c9.25

[hasty hull]

Should still be a noticeable improvement over the 6, unless it’s actual garbage seeing

[white prawn]

Guys. What am I doing here.

[vapid depot]

yeah id think so too. if 14" ass seeing shots look like our good seeing..

hmm usually u dont wannn touch the right side wavelets alot (large scale)

[hasty hull]

Yep, larger scopes under poor seeing can resolve small things better than small scopes with good seeing

[vapid depot]

lol i wish i had the $ for a c11 but oh well

[white prawn]

Did I say I wanted a 24" scope? Still do.

[hasty hull]

Like the Cassini div, I’ve never gotten it in the front, but 12”+ scopes get it without even trying

[vapid depot]

im really hype for the visual side of things too

i still remember how good 8" dob visual was

[hasty hull]

scrumptious

[vapid depot]

but yea the central obstruction is less

i remember quite the contrast lol

if i never sold that dob id def be using it with tube rings for planetary on the eq6

would look like a mf monster lol

[hasty hull]

So hyped for thisssss. Wide ring tilt at 70deg

[vapid depot]

what do u think ur next scope is gonna be?

[white prawn]

Who wants data?

[hasty hull]

12” manual dob most likely. Will be pairing it with an EQ platform for tracking

[vapid depot]

yea u can throw it in before i sleep

[hasty hull]

About to go to sleep, otherwise I’d give it a try

[white prawn]

If I don't have a bigger scope by then I'm going to be disappointed.

[steep apex]

I can’t wait for titan shadow transit in 2024-25

[vapid depot]

lol same i may still have the c9.25 by then tho idk

[hasty hull]

Oh yeah that’ll be great

[vapid depot]

maybe ill be done with scts then

[white prawn]

Have fun. Through my 5x Barlow, seeing was average. Not sure if Barlow or seeing.

[hasty hull]

What length exposures do you use btw

[vapid depot]

i am seeing some weird color aberrations

[hasty hull]

Need an adc for sure

[vapid depot]

also v noisy

[white prawn]

Exposure=9.1770ms

[vapid depot]

9ms on saturn is p short

thats jupiter

[white prawn]

That was only the first thing I noticed.

[hasty hull]

I go for like 12, but if seeing is so bad then might help to go shorter as long as you get enough data to support it

[white prawn]

I was like, "oh hey, it separated into red, center, and blue! I'll have a lovely time with that!" sigh.

[vapid depot]

geez b channel

[hasty hull]

https://tenor.com/view/good-soup-good-soup-meme-meme-adam-driver-gif-22924425

[vapid depot]

one of my stacks if u wanna have fun

with registax color balance

[white prawn]

Same night I got some decent data through my 3x. So I don't know if it's seeing and the Barlow just brings it out, or if seeing and the Barlow ... was overpriced. 😦

[vapid depot]

if ur seeing isnt the best dont use a 5x

lol yea read my mind

[white prawn]

Then again it got some great shots with a DSLR on a night with great seeing. So likely not the Barlow itself. Just seeing and the not fun part of the seeing got magnified.

I can't believe I'm using "great" to describe some shots taken before my scope was collimated. 😐

[vapid depot]

what barlow is it again

[white prawn]

https://www.telescope.com/Orion/Orion-High-Power-125-5x-4-Element-Barlow-Lens/rc/2160/p/101911.uts?keyword=5x barlow

[vapid depot]

Hm yea I’d think it’s good

[white prawn]

Funny thing is the amount of research I did on that was "This is not from Amazon, it's multi-element and all elements fully coated, not sure what that means but that sounds really good."

[vapid depot]

multi elements would mean its good for preventing chromatic aberrations. or should be

and yeah coatings referring to good light transmission, the added elements isnt affecting how much light passses through to a significant degree

any barlow should have good coatings though

[white prawn]

Yeah, those are a few things I've learned along the way.

[main flume]

Anyone tried the ES Barlow?

[white prawn]

Nope.

I have a Celestron 2x, Svbony 2x, Astromania 3x, and Orion 5x.

... stacking them would be ... interesting. 😳

Wonder how Jupiter would look being imaged through that setup with the ASI585

[main flume]

It's the camera I bought but never even used yet. 😦

[white prawn]

Oh man. I feel ya.

[steep apex]

For Saturn, I have 15 Ms exposure, maybe I should lower that a bit, what gain should I set it at?

[main flume]

Doesn't it depend on exposure, aperture etc?

[steep apex]

Don’t know, all I just do is fiddle with the settings

But my Saturn stacks always come out noisy

Even in good seeing I get pretty noisy images

[white prawn]

It does depend on exposure, aperture, gain, light.

Fiddle some more.

[steep apex]

Would getting more frames help with all of the noise?

[main flume]

It should

Not neccesasirly with all.

[white prawn]

Not sure tbh. I have my exposure down to 9ms and the gain/light/contrast adjusted so that I can see what I'm imaging and also so that it's not too bright. 3min of that gets me 18-20K frames. Ofc you have some folks saying to use less of the frames ... but if you have 5K frames to sort from vs. 20K frames to sort from, well, that's more opportunity to get a perfect shot in the frame.

Or you could just take @main flume's answer, it really sums up what I said.

[main flume]

@white prawn are you using any filters?

[white prawn]

UVIR cut

[main flume]

Never tried 685nm?

IR Pass

[white prawn]

I've considered it; I have to purchase one first.

[main flume]

Yeah I was recommended this one https://www.firstlightoptics.com/narrowband/antlia-125-ir-pass-685nm-planetary-filter.html

[uncut glade]

NIR filters are super handy for mid seeing, basically turns 3/5 to 4/5 seeing depending on your standards

[somber stratus]

Fair. Maybe 6.5

[white prawn]

I thought someone said it would be sacrificing detail for brightness/clarity? I'm leaning toward getting the filter, I just want to know what to expect.

[sharp ridge]

yeah you lose resolution, but get "sharpness"

NIR 685nm top, Green ~500nm bottom

[steep apex]

Jool I mean Jupiter with this kind of seeing

[high hull]

the green channel is just max brightness

[steep apex]

The heck

I never encountered that before

I started getting lost frames

And then I restarted it and it asked for my cam

But everything is fine

I have ina in my live feed

[frozen hound]

Do you use a green light pollution filter?

If that's the case you turn the images into grayscale using autostakkert

[proud mulch]

No

It’s the color bias on his camera

[nova delta]

Just fix white balance

[obtuse yew]

Gentlemen

It's been far too long

I'll be out imaging tonight for the first time since early spring. Excellent transparency and an interesting Jupiter moon orientation w/ Io and Callisto

[proud mulch]

Ik

[steep apex]

I just remove green noise and do color calibration and I get the right colors

[steep apex]

I cooked up some absolute banger jupiter images

[high hull]

cool

[gray orchid]

Saturn from 10-1

3000 frames - 20% stacked

QHY 5L mono on my Orion XT8 dob utilizing a Orion 2x shorty

[small dock]

My first proper moon photo 😝🖖🤩

2.5min video, around 20k frames (40%) stacked with autostakert and then processing with registax

Telescope bresser NT203/1200, camera Canon D600

[open citrus]

0 mins of video

Just 1 frame

[hasty hull]

Fresh Jupiter from like 10 minutes ago

Got the dark poles of Io

[obtuse yew]

Just shot the same transit myself

Excellent capture willaf, you've improved substantially since last season

[hasty hull]

Thank you man, appreciate that :D

https://youtu.be/VBIDyDVyuQI?si=CtetU2CRbydFeupq

https://youtu.be/oHcMvF-nP2s?si=fwIUmyvbx0SH56Uh this one is even cooler I think

[nova delta]

Fix it in firecap already

[high hull]

why do people do that glow on hdr moon photos

[gray orchid]

It's an artistic choice technically, but also adds to the natural look when seeing the moon with your eyes.

Indeed it is

Yerrr

The original was more "dreamy" but it sacrifices a lot of lunar features around the edge.

I think it looks more natural tho

Gracias

Oo nice

[frozen hound]

Is that a dead pixel or a star 🤓🤓🤓🤓??

On the left corner ??

[vapid depot]

12” dob vs 6” sct

[hasty hull]

Damnnn

[hasty hull]

wait since when did you have a 12 lol

[vapid depot]

Oh from someone else on ig lol. Basically same time as me on 10-1

Maybe 10 mins apart in these shots

[gray orchid]

My cam is limiting my 8" a fair amount.

[flint roost]

mercury be like

[livid sierra]

Mollyinspace right

Feel like she does something weird either in acquisition or in processing

[vapid depot]

wow yeah that was hers yep

idk if im harsh on wavelets or what

[livid sierra]

Her captures look really nice but they always look a little “off” or something

[vapid depot]

maybe collimation ?

could be something not related to tilt part of colli

[proud mulch]

Uhh ask Tom for some raw data from his old days or something for 12” dob

[livid sierra]

Yeah but also weirdly grainy

[livid sierra]

Not the point

[vapid depot]

ah

[livid sierra]

Not hating on her images though, I think they’re awesome

[frozen hound]

[gray orchid]

Jup through my 8" dob and QHY 5L mono - 3000 frames (15% stacked)

2400mm at f12 (extended Barlow so more towards 2800mm prolly)

Luminance and color Registered and stacked in AS!3 and sharpened in Astrosurface - both combined in Photoshop.

[cloud copper]

this is my best image of saturn so far. I took it with a seben 6" bird jones telescope and a ceres-c(imx224) + gso 2.5x barlow lens

[tidal crow]

Can you send me the data? I would love to try it out

[cloud copper]

I deleted my unprocessed stacks, I only have one left. I still have the winjupos data and the processed stacks tho

[tidal crow]

The video I mean

Or I could just use this image

I'm gonna give it a go a bit later

Should I DM you the result?

[cloud copper]

I dont have the videos, but I can send the rest of the data that I still have in here!

here is a link:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Se6nAM2EkBZw7KQIEnQt6FE90vZo6x8j?usp=drive_link

[somber stratus]

You can send the tiffs in discord.

Planetary files should be small enough to be under the limit

[cloud copper]

oh, good to know but I already put them in a google drive so I dont see the point

[somber stratus]

For sure. Just easier for next time.

[cloud copper]

yea

btw, does my saturn image look too green to you because on my laptop I see it just fine but on my phone is underexposed and green

idk why tho

[somber stratus]

Yeah, super green for me

and rings are dark

[cloud copper]

its wierd, to me it looks fine, the colors are ok and propperly exposed

[somber stratus]

Yeah, my laptop is notoriously bad too. I had to spend a whole afternoon calibrating it to match my phone and main PC

Surely this looks super purple to you then?

[vestal hatch]

likely your laptop monitor colours are not calibrated properly

[cloud copper]

how is this, I made it a bit brighter

[cloud copper]

wierd, no it looks good

[vestal hatch]

you can use AstroSurface to fix the colours up a bit (or Registax if you prefer)

[somber stratus]

Needs an increased gamma I think. Exposure is fine, but contrast is a little too aggressive imho

[cloud copper]

now?

[somber stratus]

Yeah much better. This is around what I'd have:

Colour wise I mean. This is balanced in Photoshop automatically, so it ignores monitor calibration.

Just uses histogram

[cloud copper]

yea, now it looks like it has to much magenta to me, it should look good on my phone tho

[somber stratus]

hopefully

[cloud copper]

yep, checked and it looks good! Thanks, Tom!

[somber stratus]

If you have Registax, you can use the auto-color option, and then adjust the temperature towards the yellow end. Registax auto colour is always blue-heavy.

Photoshop you can just use autocolour and it's pretty close first time.

and no worries.

[cloud copper]

sound good!

[somber stratus]

With my processing, I usually just look at my older images and try to match them for consistency.

[cloud copper]

oh yea, If I download the image from the browser will I still have discord comprossion?

[somber stratus]

Once you've done one nicely and you're happy - you can just copy to match it.

[somber stratus]

Shouldn't. It's uncompressed PNG

[cloud copper]

perfect

[vestal hatch]

The one under Curves > Auto > Find Dark and Light (0% for clip shadows and highlights)?

[somber stratus]

Correct. I do have a more complex way of getting it consistent every time but this is the basic way.

[gray orchid]

Does anyone have an idea on whether it'd best to use drizzle, or resample in AS!3 for undersampled data? Drizzle 3x seems to give bad artifacts when sharpening. The sensor is 1280x960.

[vestal hatch]

Makes sense. I've mostly been doing it manually in Camera Raw, so I'll try to compare results

[somber stratus]

Straight from the green-heavy raw images this is.

[cloud copper]

It worked ok for me when I has using AS!3

[somber stratus]

What you mentioned only works well for images that are fairly close to normal in terms of balance

[somber stratus]

Manual is fine if you're close to balanced, and it's only minor adjustments you're performing.

[gray orchid]

2x resample is the only one that hasnt left artifacts

I need to test it again

[cloud copper]

Do you guys sharpen your images a bit more after derotating in winjupos?

[somber stratus]

Depends how much SNR is left to play with.

[vestal hatch]

Generally, yeah

[vestal hatch]

Right, got it. Did a quick comparison and it seems like it worked pretty well, don't think mine are too far off balanced

Resultant autobalanced image was far brighter though, and better contrast than my manual process. Surprisingly good

[somber stratus]

There is no "correct" colour tbh with the way OSC cameras and our eyes work. As long as it's close enough, it'll do

[somber stratus]

You can reduce the output brightness.

By pulling the highlight slider

[cloud copper]

so is this better? I shaped it a bit more after derotating.

[vestal hatch]

think balancing based off of your own previous images is definitely the way to go. had one image a little too blue, and the next a little too red.

[somber stratus]

avoids clipping

[vestal hatch]

Tons better. Detail on the north polar region is much more defined. I'd increase the brightness a little, but other than that well done

[cloud copper]

but isnt it a bit overcooked? It looks to me like it is

[vestal hatch]

definitely a little overcooked but the improvement is there

i'd go softer personally

[cloud copper]

like this?

[vestal hatch]

Looks better but maybe a bit softer even?

[vestal hatch]

Too easy. Cheers for that

Might try do a proper process using auto balance first, still needs some corrections but looks like it could be done with a pretty light hand

[cloud copper]

I think this is good enough on sharpening, Idk about the colors tho

btw sorry for all of the saturn images that I sent, just trying to get better

[sharp ridge]

struggling with saturn for too long cuz its so noisy

only 7 captures

[cloud copper]

this should be good, right?

[cloud copper]

It is noisy, but you captured some realy nice details, looks realy good !

[gray orchid]

Dayum

Have you tried astrosurface denoise?

[somber stratus]

Underrated denoise method

Preblur + decon

[livid sierra]

Decon for denoise

[somber stratus]

You're essentially convoluting and deconvoluting, but you preblur enough that the pixel-scale noise is removed

[livid sierra]

I mean it did denoise it but I feel like it just makes the noise scale bigger most of the time

[somber stratus]

Technically you lose pixel-scale detail too but if you're oversampled it's not gunna be detail anyway

[somber stratus]

Sure, but it's much improved

[gray orchid]

We need a version of noiseX for planetary/lunar.

[vapid depot]

Phew

For some reason I thought u weren’t supposed to but I did anyways

[livid sierra]

It looks weird

[cloud copper]

Yea its too much, on the bottom part some bands should be visible

[livid sierra]

Gonna take a wild guess here and say you used ai

So why send it

Because you didn’t improve it

Yeah sure, I just wouldn’t appreciate it personally

[proud mulch]

Bit much but dayum that’s clean

[frozen hound]

you took this with the seben 150??? That's impressive...

if a bird Jones can do this...I wonder what my little 130P could do

https://tenor.com/view/raccoon-weird-clapping-evil-laugh-gif-9962946

[cloud copper]

Thanks, idk why so many people hate on bird jones telescopes, they are cheap, portable and quite sharp

[cloud copper]

I took this image with the same setup

[frozen hound]

Naaaah bro

@cloud copper you hype me up

😂😂😂

[cloud copper]

Lol

You just need a good cam and good seeing

And minimum 5"

[proud mulch]

This

[cloud copper]

Nice image, I could get your level of details or even better when I will have perfect collimation but its hard to achive it without a laser

[vestal hatch]

Cheshire collimating eyepiece >>> laser, well worth it

[proud mulch]

No

Star collimation on top

[vestal hatch]

cheshire still better

star collimation is a useful test but not nearly as easily precise or convenient

[uncut glade]

Tribahtinov is only way lol

Anything else and it’s not precise enough

[vestal hatch]

Might print one

[coarse aspen]

laser doesnt give perfect collimation

[gray orchid]

You have to collimate your laser collimator... Because apparently the manufacturer doesn't deal with that unless your paying close to 200 USD for one... ridiculous tbh.

[onyx garnet]

how do I get better focusing easier with this shit sct focuser

[main flume]

Even the 250-400£ laser collimators are out of collimation sometimes.

And of course they make it as hard as possible to reach the damn screws to fix the laser's collimation.

[obtuse yew]

People go back and forth endlessly on collimation techniques, and from everything I've seen, the simple answer seems to be JUST USE A CHESHIRE

Anyone object or have something to add?

[vestal hatch]

Agree wholeheartedly. Somebody mentioned a Tribahtinov mask above as well, which sounds good but I haven't personally used yet.

[main flume]

I need to collimate in the dark so will need to add a laser probably

Or maybe use flashlight with cheshire combo tool

[white prawn]

Do this

[main flume]

Will have to collimate my scope every time feelsbad.

[white prawn]

Which should be done anyway just to confirm everything is set.

[main flume]

Yeah but I have to reassemble the scope every time.

Will see how hard it will be

[white prawn]

Wait, what

[main flume]

I have to get it into car and drive away from home since my garden is light polluted.

[white prawn]

Wait, don't you have like a huge scope?

[main flume]

Yea but it’s somewhat portable.

https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/explore-scientific-ultra-light-16-dobsonian-telescope.html

[white prawn]

For certain allowances in the definition of the word "portable", yes.

[main flume]

I was going for 8” tube but someone said that even 16” will fit into my car so i went with it lol

Probably was a bad idea xd

[white prawn]

Eh, if I had a site darker than my yard I prob would have gone for a 16" as well.

[main flume]

At least you don’t have clouds nonstop I guess

Seeing in UK is a meme.

[white prawn]

I was shut out of astro from April to September basically

[main flume]

Can’t do planets from your backyard?

I always said buying equipment in uk is a silly idea but in the end it was stronger than me lol

Wanted to spend 500£ at first, already spent 2300£ lol

[white prawn]

That's where all my AP is done. 😁

I'm actually really grateful for the location I have right now. Smaller than my other house, but it's a clear area, one of the larger backyards in the neighborhood, and the way everything is aligned I have a near unobstructed view E-W and while my house comes up in the S it's below most things I'm interested in imaging anyway.

[main flume]

Also im afraid it will be hard to target stuff with such small sensor and 3x barlow but yolo.

[white prawn]

Hey, when you get those clear nights, you want to make the most of them.

[steep apex]

What should be my settings for my ISS pass tomorrow?

[main flume]

Also I have no idea how will I align my RDF at night lol

[white prawn]

I think I actually got Uranus on my 585 through my 3x Barlow a few nights ago. On a completely manual setup. If I can do that, so can you.

OH!

[main flume]

Was it very hard to keep it framed?

[main flume]

I heard similar to@Venus but idk

[hasty hull]

Quarter of a millisecond, set gain so that a star like Vega is just a little point

[white prawn]

What in the world is a focal extender?

And do I want to pay $15 for a Celestron kit that has that and what looks like a sorry junk-cheap 3x I'd hate to call it a Barlow.

[main flume]

Idk the difference

I got this https://www.firstlightoptics.com/barlow-eyepieces/explore-scientific-2x-3x-5x-barlow-focal-extender-125.html

[white prawn]

I didn't think so. Jupiter and Saturn are more of a challenge; that said my FOV is tiny so I can get the most frames.

[main flume]

It says both focal extender and barlow

[main flume]

Well I mostly want Jupiter and Saturn because what else?

Oh it went cheaper by 9£

[white prawn]

If I had a 16" I'd be hounding Uranus and Neptune.

That said, if you take out gear slop, I manually get and keep Jupiter/Saturn in frame on my 800x600 FOV. Which ... I should screenshot a live view so you can see how much that takes

[steep apex]

Thanks

I’ll send a pic of my settings when it’s about to happen

[main flume]

Got bad seeing here though so not sure if can get them.
What means gear slop?

[white prawn]

The focal extender I saw at the shop said 20mm at the top. Hm. Well given that I have everything else in there and what they set in there with a Barlow label is ... well, they can call it that I suppose but it would maybe make a better shot cup if the bottom were sealed. Anyway, I'll save my money.

[white prawn]

Gear slop = sloppy gears. Basically when I do a fine/slight adjustment, the gear will slip and the scope will move a LOT. Lost Jupiter from the frame more than once the other night because of that.

[main flume]

Yeah I guess it will happen a lot.

[main flume]

Have you heard about that trick where you rotate the camera?

[white prawn]

Erm, no?

[main flume]

Like you@rotate the camera and change resolution lets say to 1200x360. And then you can supposedly frame the target just by moving scope left or right

So it’s wide but narrow vertically

This way you can get more fps I believe also

[white prawn]

I see. Makes sense. I actually imaged the moon like that one night. Still dropped plenty of frames. BUT I guess I have a potato w/ 8GB RAM so I can't say I'm bothered by just narrowing my FOV to 800x600 or 640x480

[main flume]

Isn’t 8gb enough?

I can easily add ram to my laptop it has 8gb and 256gb ssd so Ithink about adding 1tb.

[white prawn]

🥔

[main flume]

I only did test once at home and was getting like 140fps

With 8gb ram

Maybe it’s more about cpu?

[white prawn]

Seriously 8 GB should be enough esp for the majority of my imaging tasks especially since planetary uses a small FOV. If I wanted full FOV I'd need more prob. You're right, RAM is an easy enough upgrade.

[white prawn]

Let's compare notes - mine is a Core i5 10th gen.

[main flume]

Mine is i5-8250U

But I bought it only for imaging

8th gen

[white prawn]

Hm.

[main flume]

I wish adding ram/ssd to my Mac was that easy. Lol

[white prawn]

Small amoutn of SSD space, and using mechanical drive for the imaging.

[main flume]

So you have a problem with low fps or loosing frames or smth?

[white prawn]

Only at higher resolutions.

[main flume]

Maybe because you use mechanical drive

They are super slow

[white prawn]

I was actually just thinking that.

[main flume]

I also have no idea where to put the laptop while imaging so I can see the display lol

[white prawn]

I was thinking of updating the secondary drive to a larger SSD - my computer is a Dell that uses 120 GB SSD for system and 1TB HDD for storage - I record to the 1TB. Been thinking about updating the 1TB HDD to a 2TB+ SSD

[white prawn]

Yeah, that one is a challenge.

[main flume]

My scope is in such state atm lol

[main flume]

Where do you keep ur laptop?

[white prawn]

Off to the side, let me see if I have a picture to show

[main flume]

Maybe I will use some large cardboard box lol. 🤔

[main flume]

Is that an actual desk? Lol

[white prawn]

I bought a camping table to hold my astro equip. By rights I really should have the laptop under something but I'm happy enough that I have what I do so I can image w/ the 585

[main flume]

I thought u have a dobson

[white prawn]

It's a newt. Basically would be a dobson if it was on an alt-az mount instead of EQ mount.

But that's my 8" "Rio" I call her.

[main flume]

Yeah Dobsonian means Newt on Dobsonian mount

I had an EQ mount and hated it but it was old and rusty etc

[white prawn]

My EQ5 works fine when I run my other scope on it.

[main flume]

I could go for EQ platform for 380£ but no money for now.

[main flume]

Yeah it’s just that Dobsonian feels much better imo.

[white prawn]

🙂

[steep apex]

I feel like with SCT’s you can feel the power

[main flume]

Huh

I wonder how long my mirror will cooldown also

Massive mirror = longer to cooldown afaik

[white prawn]

Houshold duties call. Later for now. @steep apex congrats on the Jupiter/Nerd.

[main flume]

Bb

[steep apex]

Schmidt Cassegrain Telescopes? SCT, a 6” SCT has like 1500mm native fl

[steep apex]

Thanks

[main flume]

My Dob has 1800 native, come at me

And afaik Newtons have better optics.

SCT very portable though

[steep apex]

16” dob vs a 6” sct

Dob of course, bigger primary mirror = more light collected

[clear pier]

it's definitely that that's the issue, getting a 2tb ssd would be a great investment not just for astro but for other things too

[steep apex]

But yeah

I need a hold on one of those SCT’s, I’m working with a 4.5” Newt at the moment

[main flume]

Or get second hand large Dob

[steep apex]

I’m on a serious budget

Found a c6 SCT for $600 tho

@main flume what do you mainly image? Planetary stuff or deep Sky?

[main flume]

Nothing yet. But will do planets and moon.

[main flume]

Would need good EQ platform for DSO so maybe in few years.

[main flume]

Have you tried doing some DSO with manual tracking?

[steep apex]

Yeah its kind of a pain

[clear pier]

isn't that a pretty good price

[steep apex]

Very, the normal price is $880 or something

[main flume]

Can show any images?

[clear pier]

oh wow dang that's very good then

[steep apex]

I might have a shot of a vixen SCT too

[hearty fiber]

Is that a good price? Yeah. Do I necessarily recommend it? Eh

I bet you could get a 6 inch newt for a good bit cheaper

What are you trying to do with it? Planetary?

[steep apex]

It’s from high point scientific, idk why they resell it

[hearty fiber]

I'm assuming planetary

[steep apex]

Yes

[hearty fiber]

Why not go for an 8 inch dob?

[main flume]

StellaLyra 8”

[steep apex]

Cause more fl

[main flume]

It’s only like 300mm native difference

[hearty fiber]

Barlow tf up

You're gonna have to use a barlow anyways

We need a "barlow tf up" emoji

[main flume]

And you get bigger mirror with Newt

Better resolution etc

[steep apex]

Yeah this is still what questions me, exchange light collection for fl or light collection over less fl

[hearty fiber]

Light collection>everything else

FL can be increased, apature cannot

[main flume]

Get this and barlow it the f up https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/stellalyra-8-f6-dobsonian.html

New is only 450£

[hearty fiber]

Honestly a 3x barlow would probably be enough. You could get a good one for >$100

[main flume]

Its like 550usd

[steep apex]

Already have the x-cel 3x

[main flume]

I think the only good thing about SCT is that you can put it on a motorized mount in future.

[steep apex]

More money though

Might have a shot at a vixen SCT though we’ll see

[hearty fiber]

Scts...

I love them, but as far as price to preformance they just aren't worth it over newts

[main flume]

What u mean, dobson is cheaper

For 500+ you get dobsonian with things like mirror fan, eyepieces etc

[steep apex]

I meant the mount with the sct

[obtuse yew]

Posting this as a test

[frozen hound]

Did you use drizzle ??? If you had you would probably have a much much better result

Either way

The image looks really really good

Or you didn't use the correct focus

The details look fabulous

What camera did you use???

[sharp ridge]

@main flume recommend a laser collimator like a cheap one is fine cuz for a 16" dob gl adjusting the knobs as you look through a cheshire 😉

[green pebble]

I think he uses a 650/130 orion spaceprobe scope with Neptune C-II and an UV/IR cut filter

[frozen hound]

Oh wow

That's really good

Neptune c-2 is a really good camera

I have a light pollution filter for nebulae, galaxies and stuff....so I would probably get similar results

[proud mulch]

Yes

[proud mulch]

Yep

[frozen hound]

Then why does it look like this ?? Did you use a Barlow ?

I mean

[proud mulch]

Yes

[frozen hound]

The details are there

Why is the resolution not good

It's really weird

[proud mulch]

Because it’s a 5” scope

[frozen hound]

Yes but look at @deep island

He has a 4"

And he takes very good photos

[proud mulch]

Dso photos

[frozen hound]

Of High resolution

[frozen hound]

Planets too

He sent Saturn

[proud mulch]

Here’s my Saturn

[frozen hound]

His looks really good

And he shot it with a phone

Is it your resolution???

What resolution do you have???

Of your camera

[proud mulch]

Around 1” per pixel or less Idk

[frozen hound]

So it's not 4k neither 2k

[proud mulch]

2712x1538

[frozen hound]

That's pretty high...

@proud mulch

This is Lucas'

With a Brazilian Bird Jones 4" Newtonian

And a phone

I forgot about the phone

[green pebble]

This one is mine

[cloud copper]

But does it work on a bird jones telescope?

But does it work on a bird jones telescope?

[frozen hound]

Oh wow...do you have a light pollution filter

???

It would make a massive difference

You probably live in a very light polluted area just like me ...

[green pebble]

I live in B4 i just need an UV/IR cut filter

[green pebble]

No

[frozen hound]

B4???

The light pollution looks really bad

[green pebble]

Its not, its actually the uv/ir wavelengths that are making that problem

[frozen hound]

Hmmmm

[green pebble]

What hmmm?

[vestal hatch]

You don't need a light pollution filter for planetary imaging, it's not useful at all

[frozen hound]

I do ???!!!

[vestal hatch]

Also, light pollution filters in general are not useful anymore, since sodium vapour lamps have been replaced with broadband LEDs meaning their light is no longer easily blocked

You block a lot of useful data when using them for DSO too

[vestal hatch]

That's just chromatic abberation and high surface brightness

Plus some wonky colour processing

[frozen hound]

I have sodium lamps near my house

So they are pretty useful

I see a massive difference

[vestal hatch]

Interesting. They've all but disappeared near me unfortunately, but that's really good for you

But yeah don't worry about light pollution for planets - they're completely unaffected by it :)

[frozen hound]

No I swear I can see a difference...at least for visual

[vestal hatch]

Perhaps your setup isn't high enough focal length and things are too bright?

[frozen hound]

It also makes everything green

😆😆😆

[vestal hatch]

Hahahaha

It might help with contrast at least

That's interesting to note

[frozen hound]

It has a 650mm focal length

[vestal hatch]

Hmm I imagine the planets are quite tiny then

[frozen hound]

I have the Heritage 130p

[vestal hatch]

Would benefit from a barlow probably

[frozen hound]

No because I have a 5x barlow

🤣🤣

[vestal hatch]

Damn lol

[frozen hound]

10mm with a 2x barlow and a 3x Barlow stacked

[vestal hatch]

Oh wow

So you're at 6x

That's gotta be way too much zoom then lol

For a 130p

[frozen hound]

No it's not

😂😂😂

I can clearly see the bands on Jupiter

Very clearly

It's really good

It's quite difficult to focus

But it's really good

I can even push it to 390x I guess

@vestal hatch

[vestal hatch]

Definitely not

That's just too much magnification for a small aperture

[frozen hound]

Now I have 325x

Magnification

[vestal hatch]

You CAN magnify it that much but it doesn't do anything to help, just makes it dimmer and arguably worse

[vestal hatch]

Bird Jones?

[frozen hound]

Noooooi

It has a helical focuser

It's the Heritage 130p

The Skywatcher

Don't you know the model ??

I don't know if I can focus at 390x mag

That's my only concern

[frozen hound]

Because the focuser could just come off

That's the helical focuser for you...

At least it has good quality mirrors

[gray orchid]

People further away from larger cities still likely have sodium lamps, as LEDs haven't quite made everywhere yet.

But yea LP filters are unfortunately being less and less effective.

[main flume]

You can do it while looking through cheshire since my 16” has large collimation “stick” for primary.

I just have to figure out how to do that at night while holding flashlight directed at the cheshire.

[sharp ridge]

interesting, how does that look like?

[sharp ridge]

cool lol i wish mine were that easy

[vapid depot]

Lol dang yeah have fun

I pushed my c6 to 500x and I had no gains lol

Just to see what would happen since I’ve never pushed a scope past theoretical power

couldn’t imagine trying to focus if I had that nexstar mount

I can just barely make out the festoons against the equatorial bands so that was surprising

Also at 500x 😂😂

But all I did was make the image dimmer and fuzzier even in the good seeing

I could theoretically push my new c9.25 to around 500x under excellent seeing 👀👀

most of the time I imagine It’ll look amazing in the 200-300 magnification range

[gray orchid]

Nick you got a week of clouds now?

[vapid depot]

Yep

It’s clear rn I may do daytime moon in a bit

get finder aligned

Lol

[gray orchid]

Nice

[vapid depot]

Yeah too eager to experience it even w bad contrast

I’m thinking I won’t NIR image tbh

Slightly older coatings blocks like half the light past 750nm smh

I see why true planet gods like newts/ dall kirkhams lol . Almost no NIR loss

[gray orchid]

Thought the starbight coatings haven't changed much?

[vapid depot]

Yeah it’s not an insane diff

In the visible

[gray orchid]

Ahh yea

Thats optimal

[vapid depot]

I’d wanna image with a dall kirkham on planets one day tbh

any fully reflective cassegrain without an insane obstruction

[gray orchid]

If only most massive fracs werent achromats

Take the filter out and it's a 300mm planetary beast

Too bad it's backordered

And 108k

[white prawn]

That's more than my first house.

[steep apex]

HA Solar is expensive

[main flume]

You call that massive?

[vapid depot]

Most are slow to combat this

Ca is supposedly hardly there at like f/15+

That’s why you can find like a 90mm f/18 vintage

Or like even a 60mm f/20

Something ridiculous like that it’s the pinnacle of telescope as a long skinny tube

achromats under f/8 are garbage

[gray orchid]

What in the hell

[main flume]

They had an “eyepiece” on train track.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Paris_Exhibition_Telescope_of_1900

[gray orchid]

That's wild

[frozen hound]

It does...for some reason it looks bigger than your videos too...

Jupiter is HUGE

😂😂😂

I use the 325 magnification for visual

Only

And I can clearly see the moons of Jupiter and make out their colours

In a bortle 9 area

[vapid depot]

Wtf

How

[steep apex]

What’s wrong?

[vapid depot]

Purple

[hasty hull]

Weird denoise on other slide

I sense ai

[clear pier]

rings go byebye

[topaz elk]

maybe fringing

usually its blue but maybe white balance converted it to purple

someone has to check that tho

[vestal hatch]

You're right

Weirdly smooth and yet you can barely see encke at all

[vapid depot]

Oh shoot

[vestal hatch]

and another thing I've just realised

there's no shadow of Saturn on the rings

almost looks like that fake process from a while ago where they rotated a ring slice radially around the whole thing

[topaz elk]

could it be that one ai denoise app lol

no shadow does look kinda weird

[main flume]

How do I know what exposure time to set if manually tracking with Dob? I mean to not get blurry image in the end. Is there a way to calculate it somehow?

[topaz elk]

prolly with trig 💀

[main flume]

hm?

[topaz elk]

its just one of those thing thats better figured out in the field

[main flume]

Yeah Im just afraid it might be hard to tell on raw data in the field.

and I want max sharpness

[topaz elk]

that depends on seeing and focus

it should be pretty obvious with raw data in a dslr

[main flume]

Seeing is always bad here

[topaz elk]

you doing it with dslr right @main flume

what focal length and apertura

[main flume]

zwo 585mc

1800mm , 400mm aperture

[topaz elk]

honestly exposure time depends on seeing

[main flume]

But movement should affect it too, no?

[topaz elk]

i think you can go somewhere between 15-10ms its liek the sweet spot

[main flume]

at large zoom

[topaz elk]

i do mine at 15ms at 2400mm

[main flume]

https://youtu.be/cShdYJYTjYE?feature=shared&t=160

He mentions it here as well

[topaz elk]

yeah it depends on the seeing

3/5 i just do 10ms

[barren dune]

@vapid depot thats mollys shot shes not collimated. Still very impressive

[vapid depot]

ooof

[vestal hatch]

5-10ms optimal

Highest I'd ever go is 20-25ms probably

And that's only if you're barlowed up under haze

[somber stratus]

Venus NS this morning

[safe compass]

SMEXY

[lean hearth]

Fantastic image

Your images are all so impressive

[vapid depot]

dang man

[vapid depot]

welp.

[obtuse yew]

Is it possible to dial in an ADC using a scope with no tracking at a long focal length?

[uncut glade]

If you have enough patience probably

[obtuse yew]

The ADC settings will be different when using a camera or an eyepiece right?

If I dial it in with the Barlow and eyepiece, and then swap to the cam, will my settings still be true?

[white prawn]

Oof, that's a good question. I thought I had my ADC settings dialed in on my eyepiece but the eyepiece has lenses that aren't there when the camera is set. I'd imagine it would require additional tweaks when switching. @dark cargo ?

[dark cargo]

Pure guess but if you replace the eyepiece with the camera it should not change anything. Do check with firecapture or sharpcaps ADC tools or just have a look at the pictures if it is true. Camera would probably be more precise through.

[vestal hatch]

I would align my ADC settings again for camera

[main flume]

Guys 1TB ssd for planetary laptop enough?

To record one night

[tidal crow]

def enough

how much data are you getting ?

[main flume]

Will be recording 16bit probably though

[main flume]

New to this never did it yet

Cam 585mc

[tidal crow]

how long will be the video you are taking? and are you tracked?

[main flume]

Manual dobsonian peasant

I guess i go for 1tb

[tidal crow]

im not so good when talking about untracked

[tidal crow]

you cant really get a 1tb of data that easily

[main flume]

Yeah but then will also process it on same machine

But I guess its enough

[tidal crow]

a bit overkill in my opinion

but it never hurts

[nova delta]

I’ve been using a 256gb ssd. The only issue I have is the need to delete videos after processing

(And cleaning it up before a session of course)

[main flume]

Went for 1tb as it’s doublr the speed as well.

I wish i could ttansfer the whole OS easily though not doing it from scratch.

[nova delta]

Yeah it’s a lot better

[white prawn]

Um.

This is after removing over a TB of data.

All planetary

[main flume]

From how many sessions?

[white prawn]

To be fair, more than one. But one of them is half a TB

[main flume]

How many minutes and 16bit?

[white prawn]

And one session was cut off by running out of space on the 1TB drive that's on the imaging rig

Yeah, 16 bit on that one definitely

[main flume]

Hmm idk then

2tb is 85£ or so

Added 8gb ram

[white prawn]

You're doing the same maths I am right now

I have a system drive and an internal storage on the imaging, the system is 120GB and I want to get it to 500GB; the storage is 1TB and I want to get it to 2TB

[main flume]

I guess 2tb then.

[white prawn]

Yeah, that's one thing I won't hesitate to agree/recommend - more storage is a good thing. 🙂

[main flume]

If i manage to cancel the amazon order…

[main flume]

What drive are you looking at?
I’m thinking about Crucial MX500 2TB 3D NAND

98£

[white prawn]

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/crucial-mx500-ssd-review-nand,5390-2.html

When I built mine I used Samsung. I've heard good things about Crucial, too

[main flume]

Always had issues with Samsung.

[fading plume]

I got a MP600 core XT myself if you can use m.2 ssds

[white prawn]

I'm going to look at my computer specs later. Got to read up on ADC, probably set up my rig, probably re-download firecapture. Let's see how many things I can juggle learning at once.

Personally I think it's an M.2 ... and I also have a SATA drive.

@fading plume how do you think it would work if I just imaged directly to my USB3 SSD instead of to the HDD?

[fading plume]

It should technically be faster, but practically unlikely. Test it.

[white prawn]

I have 2 - USB3.1 slots. The ASI585 is going into one of them, the SSD would be in the other.

[white prawn]

Unlikely ... okay I won't bother for now. Trying too many things as it is already. Going to try using Firecap and try w/ the ADC again. Clear sky but seeing/transparency are a nice soupy 2/5

[main flume]

I have Wd Sn850x m2 nvme which is like 15x faster than the 2.5 sata ssds and similar price.

But this laptop has no nvme

[fading plume]

Mx500 should be fine then

[main flume]

You can buy some 2.5” drive to nvme m2 adapter but idk about speeds

[vapid depot]

about half a gig per second in sequantial

if youre using ROI thats plenty

ive seen my asi 462 autoalign + cutout go down to like 9 megs a second even at 100+ fps

idk about lunar

[main flume]

Well I spent more than I wanted but 2TB will be plenty enough I'm sure.

Also added 8gb ram to 16gb, not sure if necessary.