Planetary Imaging

[white prawn]

AS! did that to me before, though. I just reinstalled it yesterday because I redid my entire computer. Maybe if I restart the program? 🤷

[livid sierra]

Is this the same data? Just converted to tif

Asking because I see one of the files is named _conv at the end

In both images

[white prawn]

Exact same data. the _conv is an AS! sharpened version for preview purposes.

[livid sierra]

That is odd

And it does the same for ser files?

[white prawn]

Trying something w/ ser

Tried w/ ser, it gave me an image. Maybe first time use is blank?

Huh. Now it's working.

Windows did give me an error the first time I started the app. "Windows has blocked this, do you really want to open it?" Maybe after I said "yes" I needed to close it and open again for Windows to believe what I wanted to do.

[livid sierra]

Well at least it works now

Use ser from now on lol

[noble apex]

is it possible to shoot jupiter or saturn with a 450/114 scope?

[livid sierra]

It's possible

But definitely need to Barlow up to get some resolution, though it will be small still

[noble apex]

Oh okay, I thought that reduces resolution

I got a 2x barlow

[livid sierra]

It increases resolution

[noble apex]

oh wow

[white prawn]

Barlow increases the focal length by the amount indicated. My 1000mm F/L OTA w/ 3x Barlow is 3000mm f/l. This increases apparent size and resolution of image that you're viewing.

However, increased f/l can lead to dimmer image, so more gain is needed w/ Barlow than compared to w/o.

[tiny topaz]

Do you know if firecapture can also do this?

[livid sierra]

For sure

[tiny topaz]

When using pipp I’ve always exported it as an avi file and autostakkert can read it even when it’s still in video form

[tiny topaz]

Huh okay I’ll have to check that off but also I’ve been told that if I record up to around 6 minutes AS3! Will derotate it for me

[livid sierra]

AS! does not derotate the actual rotation of the planet, that's what WinJupos is for

If you're talking about field derotation, AS! can do that but it's a bit finnicky and not really necessary so easier to just record short enough videos so field rotation isn't an issue

[white prawn]

I got it going today. This might make my life easier. Or if I don't have the "winjupos file naming" box checked I might be stooged until next planetary season after I'm sure that it is checked.

[tiny topaz]

Hopefully it works out for you and I think I’m in the same boat as I didn’t know that there was a winjupos setting in firecapture until now so I may just have to wait until next planetary season as I don’t think I’ll have time to try your method

[somber stratus]

It technically does align the surface features

[livid sierra]

Technically yeah

[somber stratus]

It’s analogous to seeing variations. Just an offset in the x-y plane

That the APs account for

[limber reef]

What webcam u use?

[stark abyss]

I ball web cam face to face c8

[limber reef]

Can i have a pic of ur webcam

[stark abyss]

These ??

Ooow

Wait

Ait

[limber reef]

Oh nice

Does that camera work on windows 10? @stark abyss

[carmine void]

Woah how’s that thing taking pics that good

[stark abyss]

Ya

[stark abyss]

I don't know lol

I randomly found it

[noble apex]

impressive for a damn webcam lmao

[limber reef]

I googled it and it’s 20mp

Megapixels

[coarse aspen]

5"

[thin aspen]

Nice

[cloud copper]

Is a Zwo adc + a 585mc a good combo for planetary with a 12” dob

Found them second hand at just 440 euros total

And I could negociate to 400

Should I take the deal?

[noble apex]

yes

$400? Thats not far of the new price of a 585mc

[cloud copper]

Sound like a good deal to me, it would cost me 600 and something if I were to buy them new

No

400 is for both

A 585mc and an adc

[noble apex]

ohh with the dispersion corrector

[cloud copper]

Yea

[noble apex]

Yeah take that

[cloud copper]

And a ir uv cut

[noble apex]

nice deal

[cloud copper]

I will

[noble apex]

planetary gnna be killer

[cloud copper]

Yea, just gotta save up some money for an Eq platform

And my setup will be complete

[noble apex]

nice man!

[untold spear]

so apparently 8" / 10" GSO dobs are out of stock in my local store, there's only 10" / 12" / (and so on) Skywatcher Flextube. It said GSO dobs will restock in next 3 months.
And then we have Lunar occultation of Saturn on 25th July. I'm afraid I'll missed it.

Should I buy 10" SW Flextube
or should I wait for 3 months to buy GSO 8" dobs?

[cloud copper]

I’d say a 10”

[somber stratus]

I'd argue the SW dobs are better tbh

lighter, more portable too

optically sound

[untold spear]

[untold spear]

wait I think Ima go with SW 8"

[white prawn]

Go w/ larger. If you're doing planetary aperture is king. Which is why I'm kicking myself for selling my house for an 8" instead of a 16".

@somber stratus aren't GSO really decent quality though?

[somber stratus]

yeah there's good, just SW aren't bad

[white prawn]

Fair

[untold spear]

Yea I heard the mirror quality are better with GSO?

I think I have the recording from my friend

[somber stratus]

what aperture

[untold spear]

GSO 8" dobs. 12mm eyepiece + 2x barlow + 6x digital zoom through phone

he said

[somber stratus]

I mean I'm hitting diffraction limit on occasion with my SW 16" so they're probably similar

[somber stratus]

just looks like great seeing tbh

would need an image from an astrocam to tell how close he might be to diffraction limit

But yeah, I think both models are fairly optically sound.

[untold spear]

lmao I'll visit him one day. To test with my cam

[somber stratus]

Where is he based?

These are raw video from the SW 16". I assume the smaller models have similar optical quality given you collimate well.

Obviously seeing remains the key factor

[untold spear]

we both live in Malaysia

[somber stratus]

ah ok explains the seeing

[high hull]

man i really gotta collimate the dob

[olive saddle]

That is incredible for raw video, would you say this quality is accurate to what you'd see in the eyepiece, albeit zoomed out?

[somber stratus]

Yeah, just zoomed out as you say.

[steep apex]

You guys should give me your seeing conditions

[white prawn]

I mean, as much as I don't care for the clouds right now, I don't really want to send them to a fellow astrophotographer.

[tiny topaz]

How can you tell that you’ve hit your diffraction limit?

[high hull]

math prolly

[untold spear]

@somber stratus I've been wondering.
since SW flextube is collapsible, will the focal length decrease if I don't extend the tube?

Ok I don't think it work

[high hull]

i think it wouldnt focus, or you just discovered how to get f0.1 telescopes

[untold spear]

Physics stuff

[high hull]

also yeah focal poi t is far away stuff like that

[untold spear]

Yeah I remembered, it's parabolic mirror so the focal length is fixed

[thin aspen]

What causes these (I think diffraction rings on Jupiter moons) and also how do I make them as cyclical as possible?

[hasty hull]

The ring is called the Gibbs phenomenon

https://skyinspector.co.uk/mars-edge-artefact/ this article goes in depth about it

[somber stratus]

Ringing being asymmetric is collimation related

[heavy mirage]

Not sure if you already do but you can try placing an AP on each moon in AS3. Also, stacking only the best frames helps as well.

[main flume]

How long can I shoot Jupiter for if I derotate it?

[heavy mirage]

Technically forever, but I think 15-20 mins works well. During opposition you can probably get away with more because the phase/terminator isn't as prominent.

Edit: probably not forever, maybe 10 hours, basically one full rotation since the features change dramatically even in that span of time

You'd be shooting like 90 second videos in series for 20 mins or whatever

Usually I shoot it for as long as I can, then just derotate the frames that are within 10 minutes of each

[sharp ridge]

With Damian Peaches method you can push 1-2 hours

but usually 10mins is alr plenty

[heavy mirage]

What is Damien Peaches method? Can you send a link (assuming it's free)

[sharp ridge]

its on his patreon

with a new winjupos update, it allows better blending of map sections quite far apart rotationwise

but ngl i wouldnt need it for now

[somber stratus]

I came across something similar myself and Ken mentioned it was basically the DP method. It’s along the lines of derotate two ~10m images to the same reference time then mask the limbs so one contributes to one limb and the other to the other limb

And the centre disk has twice the data

50/50 blend

[heavy mirage]

Neat, though sounds somewhat painful lol

[somber stratus]

yeah

is a little

[limber reef]

Is it worth getting filters

[white prawn]

Yes. UVIR generally work. IR pass filters for Venus and interesting effect on other planets. Other filters for other planetary work. Not sure about the whole list.

[limber reef]

For camera use @white prawn

Cuz i saw that some webcams have a Uv ir filter

[white prawn]

Normal camera use? Like DSLR? And when you say webcam, do you mean astro cams? Just trying to get on same page.

[limber reef]

Astro cam

@white prawn

[white prawn]

Okay.

Speaking as an owner of an ASI585. I've used it so far with a UVIR cut filter. I noticed that there is a difference at least on screen when using that filter. I'd have to look and see if it has one built in.

I haven't tried the IR Pass filter that I have yet; same for the #38A filter, simply because by the time that I bought them planetary season was over. I bought both of those for imaging Venus to try to get clouds. I expect the recommendation would not have come unless they were worth it.

[coarse aspen]

ASI585 does not have one built in

[white prawn]

@limber reef so I checked back on my discussion w/ Tom. Notes:

IR Pass 850 or 685. 850 for Venus, 685 for general use and Venus. IR Pass 685 also helps imaging Jupiter, Saturn, Mars under poor seeing and lunar stuff. Planetary #47 filter or #38A w/ UVIR for Venus ..

[limber reef]

How do i know which I’m getting

@white prawn

[white prawn]

How do you know which filter you're getting? You look up the filter you want and buy. I bought mine from Agena Astro. I bought an IR 685 a 38A for my purposes. I already have a UVIR so if I want I can use both 38A and UVIR to image Venus. But if you're doing planetary, similar to me, you might get the same ones I did.

If you're asking about size then 1.25" is pretty standard size.

[cloud copper]

Guys, what’s better when imaging planets, higher gain and lower exposure or higher exposure and lower gain?

[somber stratus]

lower exposure, higher gain, up to a limit

[somber stratus]

Venus you can just splash out on a UV filter. Gets the ultimate contrast but it's a bit more expensive.

685 can be a 610/642/720/742 too. Not too specific for general use.

[fading plume]

Yes

[heavy mirage]

Do you slightly up the exposure and lower the gain during very good seeing conditions? I mean seeing must be perfect conditions to take take full advantage of that so I'm not sure if it's really worth it.

[somber stratus]

Meh at that point tracking accuracy also hurts you so I just leave the settings the same

The gain in SNR is so marginal

[hasty hull]

🪐

[fading plume]

He tiltin

[cloud copper]

With the 12”?

[slate juniper]

thats trippy:D

[coarse aspen]

Saturns going to become pretty interesting soon

[hasty hull]

Yep, first planetary image with the 12

Garbage seeing but still hype

[cloud copper]

Yea, you have one of the first images of Saturn this season

[cloud copper]

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGexrTqgM/

His seeing is nice

He got some great details

[hasty hull]

Yeah southern hemi is already having it reach like 40° by dawn

[main flume]

What is a good video duration for Mars?

Is 10min good?

[high hull]

i thought the rule of thumb was like a minute for 6 hours of rotation or something

so like jupiter thats like 2 mins

[hasty hull]

Depends on the angular size but at opposition probably like 3 minutes

[steep apex]

That’s some good seeing for 25°-30° altitude

[ruby tartan]

Bruh

Perfect seeing for saturn, but trash optics

[livid sierra]

I was gonna say that looks like Mars lol

But damn that does look like nice seeing

What’s with your optics?

[somber stratus]

Time to fix optics

[sharp ridge]

When Tom touches a telescope, it instantly becomes diffraction limited

Lucca fly him down to Brazil to heal it

[somber stratus]

[cloud copper]

What diffraction limited means?

[dark cargo]

Basically maximum resolution that the scope can possibly do.
If the mirror and seeing is perfect, the waves of light interfering with each other will limit how much resolution you can get, otherwise you'd be able to use as much magnification as you wanted to with any aperture.
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffraction

See also dawes limit

[cloud copper]

So I need to collimate my scope perfectly and have perfect seeing?

After that I can zoom in how much I want

[dark cargo]

Nope, that would be true if diffraction did not exist. Since it does: physics limits the resolution by how big your aperture is.

[cloud copper]

Ohhh

[dark cargo]

Rough limit for resolution with a scope for planetary is where each pixel is 1/3-1/4th the length of the dawes limit of the scope. You can figure out the barlow you'd need with your camera using this formula: 5(or 7 as the max) times pixel size in um divided by focal ratio

You do need good seeing to use this through, so there is nothing wrong with using less barlow in worse seeing.

[cloud copper]

Ok, thanks for the info

[ruby tartan]

I don't know, I don't take photos anymore because of this.

Bruh, this is going to be a fortune, will it be ready before Saturn's occultation by the Moon?

This happens visually too

[sharp ridge]

Do you have a pic of a star?

[ruby tartan]

No

This image was when I received the telescope, everything seemed normal

Here

If I remember correctly, I pointed it at the sun without a filter to test if it would burn wood, could this be the cause?

November

It seems normal

[left spindle]

yep it says on my small reflector scopes manual that doing that can cause internal heat biuldup and can cause damage to the optical elements

[ruby tartan]

☠️

[livid sierra]

Did it burn the wood tho

[ruby tartan]

Yes

[cloud copper]

It shouldn’t, I did that many times with mine and it’s fine

[ruby tartan]

I made an adjustment here in the mirror cell, I'll wait for the night to test it.

[somber stratus]

No unless the sunlight hit the secondary

If it was just the primary out of the cell before you mounted it, not a problem at all.

[cloud copper]

If it hit the secondary is there a problem, on my old scope it was just fine, I was doing sun projections on paper often and the optical were good.

[somber stratus]

depends on the aperture

[cloud copper]

6”

[somber stratus]

the light cone is more focused when it hits the secondary so it can get warmish

[cloud copper]

It was a bird jones tho

[somber stratus]

also the focuser assembly if you're not pointed perfectly at the Sun

[cloud copper]

Ig I won’t be doing that with my 12” XD

I don’t wanna ruin it

[somber stratus]

Generally it's a stupid idea though. Refractors are fine if they're like tiny 3" things

yup

[cloud copper]

Ok, so solar filter it is, no projection

Does anyone here have a file for an extension tube to put in between my camera and barlow. I can 3d print it

[heavy mirage]

So, do you need a new primary or new secondary?

I'm debating on cleaning my mirrors on the 10" dob. I've had it for at least 3 years now and feel like optical quality has not been as good as when I first got the scope. I don't know if cleaning the mirrors will do any good for planetary. The mirrors probably need to be extra dirty to have an effect

[dark cargo]

I've made this one that can generate any length of a 1.25" extension tube, just need to install openscad and change the spacing value to what ever you want.

[clear pier]

can confirm that extension works great

[white prawn]

I still think it's funny that using this on my 72ED solved my mixed focus issue, see #1232205779109679215
https://a.co/d/7uPmpV5

[sharp ridge]

It's still good to do so and it's quite simple

[heavy mirage]

Yeah I watched a couple videos a while back and bought distilled water and lint free towels but haven't really got to cleaning them

[somber stratus]

Truth be known I don't even take the primary out.

I just use cotton buds soaked in distilled water, and wipe radially to push the dirt towards the edge of the mirror. I then just use a powerful hairdyer (on cool mode) to push the remaining drops off the primary. Prevents them drying again. @heavy mirage

Looks crystal clear afterwards. No mirror removal required.

I'd definitely clean it around now though, as pollen is known to decompose the mirror coating if it sits there. Spring is the worst time for this.

[heavy mirage]

Yeah that makes sense, I just don't want stuff stuck at the edge of the mirror so I'll probably just end up taking it out for cleaning.

How often do you clean the mirrors? And how much of a difference does it make for image quality for planetary? @somber stratus

With school and and all I'll probably end up cleaning them towards the end of spring. Haven't really had any time nor good weather to do astro for a while

[somber stratus]

It doesn’t get stuck at the edge of the mirror.

I clean every 3Mo maybe, and minimal difference, it’s just the mirror coating and preventing decay that’s important.

[main flume]

Alr thanks

I would've thought you could shoot it for longer than Jupiter since it rotates slower

[hasty hull]

Yeah you can do it longer than Jupiter

For Jupiter I don’t do longer than 90s normally

I’ve seen Jupiter blur at 3 minutes, especially during a transit or something it’ll be more noticeable

[steep apex]

Unless your aperture is less than 5” then you can go for 3 minutes

[coarse aspen]

Oh, mirrors are different from lenses?

The coatings I mean

Fracs coating are super fragile for cleanings

[somber stratus]

Not sure. I don’t think it’s an issue on lenses

[white prawn]

I presume everything on the optics is "no touchy"

[coarse aspen]

Cleaning will inevitably cause damage

Unavoidable

But how much damage until it becomes noticeable is the real question

[white prawn]

https://tenor.com/view/matrix-sound-of-inevitability-serious-gif-12768604

[somber stratus]

Yeah, absolutely for cleaning. I said that regarding the pollen decomposition. Not sure if it’s dependent on mirror coating or glass. It’s acid basically.

[white prawn]

I guess this begets the question. At some point, do we replace the mirror or the OTA? Or just cross fingers and hope that our fifth-great-grandchildren will be answering that and not us?

[somber stratus]

You can pay to get mirrors recoated.

[white prawn]

Worth it to do that vs. new OTA?

[somber stratus]

But even if it ‘looks’ bad, you’ve likely only lost a fraction of the light collection by area. You’d have to lose 20% of the coating to make a real difference, which basically never happens.

[somber stratus]

Depends on how good your optics are.

And if you want to keep them

[white prawn]

There are days on which my equip would see that and say "Oh, a challenge it is then." 😁

[white prawn]

I was disappointed to see the optics in my current OTA were only rated "mediocre" by telescopicwatch.

Where can I get something rated high? Or does that exist with a Newt?

[somber stratus]

Each serial number will be different so you can’t really say such a thing. You just gotta test each mirror

[ruby tartan]

I think I solved the problem with my telescope

For some reason, I'm not getting focus with my ADC, with or without barlow the focus stays inside the focuser

[ruby tartan]

Tétis and shadow

[ruby tartan]

Some lunars from this morning

[ruby tartan]

Saturn and Mars this morning

[steep apex]

Really nice

[tiny topaz]

You can see Tethys in the Saturn image

[steep apex]

And it’s shadow which is cool

[ruby tartan]

Thanks, guys

[cloud copper]

I cleaned the primary mirror of my telescope

It’s a 12” one

I did it with just water and a cloth

Here is the before and after

Is it ok if I cleaned it with normal water, I couldn’t find any distilled water?

[somber stratus]

yeah, you'll probably find dried water still shows up as the minerals deposit. It won't damage the mirror though

[fading plume]

99% of the time it’s ok. Depends how hard your water is.

[somber stratus]

yeah salt is the only thing

but it's far better than leaving pollen etc to decompose

[cloud copper]

No, I dried the mirror with a nice cloth for glass and I don’t see any dried water on it rn

[somber stratus]

Also, I'd try to avoid wiping with a cloth. Can damage the coating if you're not careful.

probably fine though

I use an air blower to get rid of the large drops

[fading plume]

Sandpaper is perfect for removing stubborn dirt.

[somber stratus]

lmao

[cloud copper]

Yea I tried that, works perfectly

[fading plume]

40 grit. Rub as hard as you can.

[green pebble]

I did that and my telescope does not show an image no more

[cloud copper]

Now I’m cleaning the inside, it has some dust that can fall on the mirror

[somber stratus]

that will rarely be an issue

it's dust floating through the OTA that's the problem

unless you throw the OTA around, the stuff on the side won't move.

[cloud copper]

I will just to make sure

[somber stratus]

sure

[cloud copper]

I have to clean the spider webs

XD

Found this one hiding inside

[cloud copper]

Everything is done, but first I have to check the collimation with you also, I’m my opinion the collimation is perfect but I need a second opinion XD

[tiny topaz]

the inner circle seems a little off center

but im not the planetary goat so take my opinion with a grain of salt

[tidal crow]

microwave (plz dont)

[ruby tartan]

I always clean with normal water, but always dry with toilet paper and a hairdryer

[cloud copper]

I think a cloth is good, right?

[high hull]

chainsaw

[cloud copper]

Tried that last week, my views are better now

[ruby tartan]

If it's a microfiber cloth I don't think it's a problem.

[cloud copper]

It is

Lucca, what do you think about my collimation, is it good?

[ruby tartan]

The secondary seems to be a little off

It is not centralized

[cloud copper]

Not centeralized in the eyepiece hole or in the reflection?

[ruby tartan]

Yes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00zSzDr8SXA

[cloud copper]

@ruby tartan, the secondary seems pretty aligned rn, but I can’t get the reflection centered

[cloud copper]

This part

[coarse aspen]

That doesn't have to be centered perfect

Your scope just has an offset

[cloud copper]

Oh, perfect

Everything is centered now

[olive saddle]

Would a microfiber cloth work good for cleaning a telescope mirror? The same ones that you use to clean camera lenses

[coarse aspen]

no

distilled water and cotton balls

only

[somber stratus]

I'd say no

I just hate the idea of wiping the primary with a dry cloth

wet cotton balls as Zegery says

[coarse aspen]

yeah it hurts to think about

[olive saddle]

Ah ok, good to know! Thank you both!

[ruby tartan]

Somo hubble files from 1994

[tiny topaz]

looks like a basic Tom image

[ruby tartan]

1994 hubble bro

1 year before he didn't even focus

[tiny topaz]

I know I'm just saying Tom gets those images now with his equipment which are way smaller and cheaper.

[ruby tartan]

This shows the technological evolution

[tiny topaz]

Exactly not trying to disprove you any way, as you mentioned its crazy that in 30 years we went from needing space telescopes to get that detail down to a dob and planetary cam. Just think of another 30 years where people may be able to match JWST

[white prawn]

Might be prohibitively expensive for the average guy, but the equip will be available.

[cloud copper]

What’s up with those dark brown spots at the South Pole?

[somber stratus]

I think the next major advancement will have to be consumer adaptive optics.

[ruby tartan]

impact

[cloud copper]

Guys, when imaging planetary nebulae with lucky imaging untracked, should I use fire capture or sharpcap?

[fading plume]

Sharpcap stretch ability is handy.

[heavy mirage]

Livestacking feature is pretty neat too. But I don't think it is as effective as manually stacking the subs

In terms of sharpness and stuff

By manually I mean using dss or whatever

[steep apex]

Shoemaker levy impacts?

Really nice processing

The marks are crazy

[cursive inlet]

I’ve fantasised about something like that happening again on Jupiter so much lmao

[dusky holly]

I've fantasised about something like that happening again on Earth so much haha 🙂

[unkempt igloo]

🤔Isn't that what you are using now?

[cloud copper]

What’s that?

[high hull]

mirror wiggles to neutralize atmo seeing

[dark cargo]

Many scientific observatories have mirrors that can deform to decrease the effect of the atmosphere on the image, so more details basically.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptive_optics
There are some consumer products that tilt the mirror, but that is not quite the same, just keeps the object in the same place afaik.

[cloud copper]

Can you buy such a mirror yet?

[somber stratus]

No

That was my point

[dark cargo]

https://hartsci.com/product/#product-1 huh apparently this exists, but I have no idea how it actually works. Does mention deforming the mirror in the AO+ brochure? Considering it has no stated price that is not going to be affordable by anyone short of a multimillionare.

[cloud copper]

It will take a long time for this technology to hit the market in an affordable form

A decade at least in my opinion

[summer field]

You can already buy deformable mirrors and shack-hartmann sensors on Thorlabs, the deformable mirror alone costs 20k€ 😄

[wispy pagoda]

First sun pic, really not great but hey it's first time

I tried with my deep sky ha filter as I saw some people using it and getting a bit more contrast on the cells but it just made the image too noisy for me

[brisk yacht]

dang that's actually a pretty cool image even for the first time

[steep apex]

Guys help me I need clear skies

[heavy mirage]

getting ready for the season

[steep apex]

I need that

[heavy mirage]

All I need now is some free time

[steep apex]

Yeah same that’s why I’m waiting for summer since end of course exams are near

[heavy mirage]

Good morning, here is Saturn

[ruby tartan]

If it's your land, why don't you make a path and a concrete area?

[somber stratus]

concrete is worse for seeing, so I'd probably leave it tbh

maybe have raised platform for each of the legs to get it off the grass/mud

[thick lotus]

I got three square concrete paving stone type slabs and put them where mount legs go

[heavy mirage]

It's not my land, it's a field right next to my backyard

[heavy mirage]

I used this

But maybe I'll use some wood blocks for now

To keep the platform legs off the ground too

[somber stratus]

I have the exact same

three porcelain slabs

[thick lotus]

yep works like a charm

[ruby tartan]

[dusky holly]

You shall suffer

[steep apex]

Yeah I have a flash flood warning for my area now

[ruby tartan]

This morning's Saturn, first light from Neptune-C-II

[ruby tartan]

Saturn in IR685 did not yield, seeing was very weak

[ruby tartan]

Mars this morning

[ruby tartan]

Mercury

[thick lotus]

I have never tried mercury, usually so close to sun. Looks awesome though

[white prawn]

Okay, just how big is your OTA again? That's a bit of detail.

On a side note, I'd need tracking to get Mercury. No way am I hovering that close to the sun w/o help.

[ruby tartan]

GSO 12"

[white prawn]

😭

[coarse aspen]

I recommend waiting for a good opportunity when its as far as possible, and preferably at sunset

If you do it at sunset and you just place your scope in a shaded area, which guarantees the sun will not touch it

Sunrise is riskier because the sun is coming into view

[sharp ridge]

@ruby tartan https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/922147-reminder-first-titan-transit-of-2024-may-13/#entry13446422

should be well placed for you

maybe its already happening

[thick lotus]

Yeah I had Person here at Finland who melted the secondary baffle tube in his mak when doing goto to mercury :p

Being in shade is definitely the best policy

At least he did not have the camera in yet

[somber stratus]

lol

[thick lotus]

Still feel more comfy in shade though. It ended up being fixable though, plastic cone of right fimension and some glue

Now at age of 3d printing it would have been even easier

[somber stratus]

tbh you should keep the side of the OTA in the shade anyway if you're doing daytime planetary

reduces tube currents massively

[night plaza]

What telescope do you have??

[wispy pagoda]

Hey @somber stratus and @main flume , sorry to bother
I'm making a conference on space for my class's goodbye party and I'd love to use some your sun footage (with proper credits), is that ok?

[somber stratus]

Sure

[wispy pagoda]

Thanks!

[ruby tartan]

Here it would be 7 am already

[ruby tartan]

GSO 12" f5

[thin aspen]

Does anyone here connect to there goto dob with a phone?

[heavy mirage]

I have tried using the phnoe but the app was pretty buggy, and would either crash or lose connection. I do use the synscan app on my laptop and it works great.

[steep apex]

I view it as an alternate in case something goes wrong with the actual remote

[thin aspen]

I might try that as it’s broken on all my iOS devices cause of the update….

[cloud copper]

3 of my best captures tonight, 12” dob, imx224, gso2.5x, 3750fl

Another good one

[noble apex]

sick man

[cloud copper]

Thanks

[cloud copper]

Guys, what setting do you recommend for close up lunar imaging? I have a 12” dob imaging at 3750fl

With an imx224

3.75um pixels

Max res 1300 900

[coarse aspen]

Just exposure it properly

[cloud copper]

Any tips for doing that?XD

[coarse aspen]

I would say expose at 5ms ish, maybe higher depending on seeing, and adjust gain from there

At that point I just eyeball it

Bright but not clipped

[hasty hull]

Yeah I always eyeball my settings

For the moon it’s like always different too

Different phases are brighter

[somber stratus]

at least <10ms, if not 5ms to freeze the seeing. Gain is whatever is needed thereafter

[cloud copper]

Ok, sounds good, what about Saturn’s exposure? Where should I be with that?

[hasty hull]

I use like 10-12ms on saturn, it’s kinda dim tbh

Compared to Jupiter, Venus mars etc

[somber stratus]

yeah 10ms again like willaf said

[cloud copper]

I hope that this morning I’ll get my first Saturn image this season

[somber stratus]

certainly no more than 15ms in my experience

[cloud copper]

And the first ever Saturn image with my new 12”

[cloud copper]

Ok, I’ll try about 10

[somber stratus]

Don't expect much given the (probably) low altitude

for Saturn

[cloud copper]

I hope noise won’t ruing the image

[somber stratus]

if you're running exposure-limited fps, the SNR is roughly the same when you stack it out

[hasty hull]

I expect I’ll get my first decent chances in super late May/early June, it’ll actually rise over the 30° treeline then

I’m super hyped actually I’m itching to use the 12 for something fun

[cloud copper]

At exactly 5pm Saturn will be at about 16° alt

[somber stratus]

I.e 2000 x 10ms is roughly the same as 1000 x 20ms noise wise. Total exposure time is the same.

technically the 10ms will be worse but it's so marginal

ya just gotta make sure the camera is recording all of the time, and you're not limited by the fps rate of the camera.

[cloud copper]

Btw, should I be worried by the rotation of the planet?

[somber stratus]

Up to 2 mins is fine for now. Maybe go down to 1 minute if seeing is good/later in the year. I run 1-min SERs

A bunch of them of course.

[cloud copper]

I think 2 mins will do for me, seeing is often not that good here, so I need some data to get a good chance at a decent image

Should I bother with gamma or leave the factory settings

?

[hasty hull]

Do you mean field rotation or physical rotation of the globe

[cloud copper]

The rotation of Saturn around its axis

[hasty hull]

It’s rotation speed is similar to Jupiter, but given its smaller angular size you should be able to get away with like 4 minutes before any THEORETICAL smearing would happen

And that’s only if any features would be visible

It’s possible but I’m not sure how active the dynamic storms are rn

But tbh, if the seeing isn’t amazing you might as well record for longer just to have more clean frames to stack with

[coarse aspen]

Pretty sure you can split your videos if they're too long

I forgot how to do it without compression

[heavy mirage]

You can split videos in pipp, just make sure debayer is off and use .ser as output

That said, I recommend using .ser for all planetary stuff

[somber stratus]

or you could just run 1 min vids and not bother splitting

if you derotate, it's the same SNR

[tiny topaz]

Does anyone have a video on how to use the ZWO ADC. Im going for my first Saturn and Mars this weekend and as you know they’re pretty low to the horizon

[left spindle]

webcam doing fine

[ruby tartan]

I had no plans to capture this morning, but spending the night playing helldivers made me change my mind

[ruby tartan]

A little Mars

[ruby tartan]

IR685 version

[tiny topaz]

You’re working with a 12” dob right?

[ruby tartan]

Yeah

[tiny topaz]

Right on, do you think if I pair my 8”, with an ADC, 2x Barlow and 585mc that I can get some good footage of Saturn and Mars? Or would I need more FL for Mars

[ruby tartan]

If your seeing allows it, you should get some legal registration on Saturn, Mars is another story, it's still very small

[cloud copper]

When imaging the moon, should I record in RGB or luminance(L)?

[ruby tartan]

G

[cloud copper]

just in green?

[ruby tartan]

[cloud copper]

Ok

[ruby tartan]

Saturn

[cloud copper]

really nice!

[cloud copper]

a wider view

[noble apex]

wow that’s brilliant

[white prawn]

Is that a single frame?

[somber stratus]

Judging by the line artefacts at the top & bottom, it's likely a stack

[white prawn]

Was thinking single frame w/ ADC and filter, and under 10/10 seeing conditions.

[fading plume]

Stack under 4/10 seeing

[left spindle]

getting good data yay

[cloud copper]

Check out this 20” planetary killer

[tidal crow]

Light b̶u̶c̶k̶e̶t̶ barrel

[carmine void]

without that stroller for scale i wouldnt have known its that big

[tiny topaz]

How does this secondary mirror alignment look?

I personally think it has to go left a little bit but it’s tough because it looks like it’s too high but also too low

[thick lotus]

try to get a picture where you see the focuser tube edge well, then you can draw some circles in photo editor and actually measure

you only need to do that bit once so might as well do it thoroughly

[tiny topaz]

I don’t have a photo editor unfortunately that I can do it with quick but is this any better?

Just have to adjust primary now I believe, but just want to get it ready as I can get: ISS, Lunar, Saturn, Mars, Neptune, and possibly mercury tonight

Just if anyone can confirm that it looks centre then I’ll move onto the primary which should be easier given the circle outline is there

[cloud copper]

Windows gave me a looong update just before I started imaging Saturn

This is not fair XD

[oak shale]

what went wrong here?

[green pebble]

Life...

[thin aspen]

Probably stacking error

[oak shale]

Hmm wil check again then. Thanks

[oak shale]

Haha having the same problem but it's vertical lines now🥲

[zealous smelt]

Try using bigger or fewer alignment points. My moon images look like a checkerboard if I use too small or too many APs

[thin aspen]

Try drawing your own APs

[left spindle]

Use astrosurface to stack? My images have them too but on a wayyy lower magnitude

[oak shale]

ill try that next too, now using manual bigger alignment points. dont know about astrosurface yet

[tiny topaz]

What’s your camera chain look like? (I.e what Barlow do you use + if you use an ADC). Also how were you able to get such sharp shots of Mars and Saturn m, just tried last night and Saturn came out blurry even after stacking and Mars was so small and shaky that I couldn’t make out any surface detail

[ruby tartan]

My current setup is a PO Neptune C II + barlow 3x celestron x-cel, I normally use ADC too

And for the details, I'm using a 12" and a place that generally has good seeing all the time

[tiny topaz]

How do you get it to focus when you have the ADC in? I tried last night and wasn’t able to dial in the focus but I only tried once.
Maybe having my 8” makes a large difference vs your 12” but my seeing was also pretty bad especially because of the low horizon imaging

[ruby tartan]

So, I could do it, but for some reason, I can't do it anymore

[thick lotus]

Well if seeing is bad no device will help you and focusing will be hard

You can try to back off image scale with less barlow or such if possible

[tiny topaz]

Oh I meant like I couldn’t get Saturn to focus down into a point, and I will have to try it again without the Barlow like you mentioned to try and focus it

[thick lotus]

If you use barlow put it before adc

And if it seems that you lack out travel in focuser could be as simple as needing extension tube

Most adc like long focal ratio so usually with newton, barlow is good

Most*

[livid sierra]

Have you tried debayering in PIPP before stacking?

[hasty hull]

Jupiter officially past solar conjunction :>

[whole osprey]

It wanted to be a crt screen.

[steep apex]

Can’t wait to see this years Jupiters cloud belts, hopefully it’s different

[coarse aspen]

The time has come

[tiny topaz]

Does anyone have tips on how to stack lunar videos that are untracked and don’t show the whole disk of the Moon? When I’ve tried using PIPP before where I selected a certain region to stabilize and track and then my output video usually freaks out and doesn’t look great

[left spindle]

Use astrosurface (if u can)

[zealous smelt]

For pipp stabilisation, make sure to place the AFB over a high contrast region like a crater with shadows so the software can identify it. I also recommend using ROI in pipp so you get a cropped output video without black bars which can ruin the stack

[oak shale]

Hey I did but I guess I selected the wrong pattern. Tried again and that was probably the problem

[thin aspen]

I had this issue and I believe I just put it into autostakkert.

[deep island]

Use higher AP size numbers and select multi-size ap. Maybe will work

[oak shale]

Thanks for the tip but it probably was the debayering pattern. Searched for the right one and it was grbg instead of gbrg

Pretty cool results too, only 6 frames for this mosaic made with a 130 pds, 2x focal extender and a svbony 305 pro

[tiny topaz]

Saturn and Lunar tif image

[heavy mirage]

Saturn 2021-2024

[noble apex]

insane

[zealous smelt]

What’s the quality standard for UV/IR cut filters? Prices vary from £20-40, id like to save money but not risk degrading image quality

[white prawn]

Not from Amazon, not from Svbony, you're set.

[clear pier]

i have the zwo one it’s quite good

[thin aspen]

I have the svbony one, is it bad?

[sharp ridge]

svbony is fine

astromania is also fine even though its on amazon

[white prawn]

@thin aspen @sharp ridge I say not from Svbony because I've purchased 5 products from Svbony and had 6 disappointing experiences with them. "Steve, how can you have 6 disappointing experiences w/ 5 products?" They were that bad. For me, anyway.

[white prawn]

Def going to agree with this though. I feel like I lucked out on it.

[thin aspen]

Ye that makes sense, I think I would be put off too

[stuck basin]

Got Saturn AGIAN with my phone but with my 9mm eye piece and a 3x barlow(I know only 2x is recommended but it the only one I got)

Here’s uncroped

[limber reef]

Get a 2x

Buy the celestron omni 2x Barlow for like £30 i got mine for £7 cuz somebody didn’t know what it was

[tawny cave]

mars is a lot smaller than i expected

this is with a 8inch newt (1000mm fl), 2x barlow and 10mm lens

i’ve never seen mars during opposition before. Does it big enough so that you can visually see the icy poles/other surface details?

[coarse aspen]

Yeah

On my 5" without a barlow I could see ice caps and the darker surface features

[somber stratus]

I mean it is 5 arcsec across atm

[white prawn]

@tawny cave Keep in mind that @coarse aspen regularly gets about 20/10 seeing so ...

[coarse aspen]

At low magnification that seeing wouldnt really matter

[white prawn]

I didn't think that one would be able to see the polar caps on a 5" OTA though. Not denying it, just being funny about you having a seeing advantage with a bit more frequency than ... well, me for example.

[tawny cave]

lol

[tawny cave]

i have a 16inch dob so this should be enough once opposition comes around

[stuck basin]

mars has no detials

[ruby tartan]

Old saturn data, 2022 with a 8"

[noble apex]

What was the effective focal length?

[fading plume]

What 5” does to a mf

[stuck basin]

What’s a 5? If your talking about a Barlow lens u was meant useing one

[fading plume]

The apparent size

[ruby tartan]

f/20

[white prawn]

You got that from an 8"?

WTAF am I doing wrong.

[ruby tartan]

Yes

2022

But the planet was in opposition

[white prawn]

Dude. My best so far with my 8" is this ... what am I doing wrong. The color is meh.

[ruby tartan]

Just try my data

[ruby tartan]

From this image

[shell epoch]

What camera

[white prawn]

585

[shell epoch]

What camera?

Could also just be better collimation, better mirrors, better camera settings, ect

and filters

[white prawn]

Orion SkyView Pro ... ZWO ADC, Celestron X-Cel 3x Barlow

[ruby tartan]

qhy 462c

[shell epoch]

What kind of barlow?

like the brand?

[white prawn]

Celestron X-Cel

[shell epoch]

ah

Well, I have no experience with this. But astrotom said that he uses cheaper Barlow lenses because they have less glasses in them. and don't dim the object as much

I think atleast

checking

lol

[white prawn]

I was recommended to get the higher quality glass; something about better output on the image.

[white prawn]

But once I figured out processing I got the best Jupiter images I've taken with the Celestron. I had an Astromania that wasn't a slouch, either. But Celestron was 2x the price of Astromania.

Sigh. "Get pricey optics, the more lenses correct the image and have less color separation" Now "Get cheap optics, they have less lenses to dim the image."

😑

[shell epoch]

Ig it depends more on what you need it for

[white prawn]

Here's a single shot of Jupiter taken with the Celestron. I don't think it suffered from the lenses.

[shell epoch]

Yea. But he said that Saturn especially is very dark in UV with expensive optics

Nice shot though

[white prawn]

Not sure who's going to cry first, me or my wallet.

[shell epoch]

My best shot/s of Jupiter are out of focus. So I need to get myself a collimation laser or cap. Idk

[white prawn]

That shot is after I collimated with a cap.

I can't bring myself to trust a laser.

[shell epoch]

I'll go with that than. For now at least

[shell epoch]

I did get a laser. But it was the wrong kind 💀

[white prawn]

Eep.

[shell epoch]

quick reprocess

This was taken late November 2023

[ruby tartan]

Some images with the 8"

[white prawn]

It's GOT to be the camera at this point. GOT to be the camera

[shell epoch]

What equipment did you use?

[white prawn]

Derotated.

[shell epoch]

Looks pretty similar in detail to me

[white prawn]

His image is bigger than mine.

[ruby tartan]

GSO 8", qhy 462C

[shell epoch]

https://www.highpointscientific.com/qhy-qhy5iii462-planetary-color-and-nir-cmos-imaging-camera-standard-kit-qhy5iii462c-std?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cse&utm_term=QHY-QHY5III462C-STD&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=20618277309&utm_content=&utm_term=&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw9vqyBhCKARIsAIIcLMFMe0BkgS5XnChjqUMOux6eEWujht7jt4BIM44b3AFLWyp2c7i2VasaApriEALw_wcB
this camera?

[ruby tartan]

Yes

Now i have a neptune c ii and a GSO 12"

[coarse aspen]

you only care about dimming for dim objects like neptune and uranus

[thin aspen]

I think Tom was referring to imaging in UV, I remember asking about it. In UV the surface brightness is so low that, yes probably using cheaper barlows will help with surface brightness. I think this is because good barlows are designed to remove/correct the UV/IR to get a more “colour corrected image” therefore removing the UV you want when shooting at that wavelength. You have one of the best barlows so I wouldn’t worry getting a different one.

[somber stratus]

More likely seeing

Brazil has great seeing most of the time

[somber stratus]

Yes was referring to UV. Single elements are better as per transmission. That being said I have used this ‘cheap’ barlow for ISS imaging and it gave me the best result yet, so it’s not that bad.

You might lose the equivalent of 0.1” seeing to the poorer optics

This was cheap 2x & ADC

[limber reef]

Which eyepiece should i use for planetary

[woven tundra]

If you have a low budget, a 6mm goldline

I have one and it's good

You can also add a barlow to it or to another eyepiece

[fading plume]

I like my hyperion 5mm.
The 8-24mm hyperion zoom is the one i find using the most, however.

[vestal hatch]

6mm goldline (sometimes called a redline) by any brand

usually you'll see svbony ones around

[woven tundra]

What budget zoom eyepiece do you recommend me? Because the hyperion one is as expensive as my current telescope

[deep island]

👃🏻

[hasty hull]

you use an adc?

[white prawn]

Yes

[hasty hull]

Should be helping with the color fringe

[white prawn]

That's not fringe as much as not the right colour.

[ruby tartan]

I just got my second IOTD

[somber stratus]

large

[sharp ridge]

Huge

Still never got to doing one

[hasty hull]

Eh, definitely seeing some red and blue in the rings

Especially in the front portion

Color of the planet itself seems correct to me

But yeah if you get that adc adjusted correctly it should really help even in good seeing

[cloud copper]

Which Neptune version do you think is the best? I heard the newest one might be the best for planetary out there

[coarse aspen]

@somber stratus Titan can be resolved, but no detail is present similar to how Venus is in visible light. Would it be possible to use UV like you would for Venus to get detail on Titan, or is it just way too small and dim?

[somber stratus]

Not sure there is detail in UV? possibly. Would have to look into it.

I know CH4 has details but that's too long a wavelength and you lose res

Blue has the best chance in terms of resolve.

UV has shite seeing/transmission etc so meh

[coarse aspen]

Ah ok

I knew Venus has some UV, I didn't know if Titan was like that

[somber stratus]

Ok so UV only detects hazes & high atmosphere. The false colour (surface) detail you see from Cassini are using 727/889nm CH4 narrowband

[vestal hatch]

<$100, buy a goldline 6mm

[woven tundra]

I have one 😆

[thick lotus]

Is there a specific reason why you would want a zoom eyepiece?

they all are a bit narrow on the wide end :/ even the baader

if only the fov behaved in opposite way

[woven tundra]

I have a 25mm and a 6mm, so I wanted some middle mower eyepiece

Also I have hard from Damond Scotting that it feels cool

[woven tundra]

And a 2.5x barlow

[somber stratus]

2.5x & 25mm gives equivalent of 10mm without a barlow

[thick lotus]

I had the baader zoom but I sold it, compared to 27mm panoptic the wide end was like looking through drinking straw

I think if you want ultra simple travel / grab and go setup then it makes sense

cause you wont need to carry many eyepieces but it is at cost of fov and i do not get why you would want high ep fl with small fov

smallest magnification is what you most often use anyway

[somber stratus]

Getting a barlow is more worth it tbh. I've tried similar magnification on Planets with and without a barlow, and the short fl eyepieces are almost always worse than the longer 25mm with my 4.5x barlow/ADC imaging train.

Maybe that's just a crap quality 6mm/10mm I have though...

[thick lotus]

... i just realized what subforun this is on... if planetary is only thing you want it for ignore everyting i said lol

fov wont matter then

image quality itself was good

[high hull]

those zoom eyepieces are great for lunar though

*with visual at least

entire moon in fov, then you can zoom in.

phone astro with the one i have sucks though

[thick lotus]

yeah I would think that operating the zoom would be pretty much impossible with the clamp on

[woven tundra]

I trough it was ask a nerd forum

Wow guys, thank you for the advices

Then my next question, what middle powered eyepiece should I buy for around 100$

[woven tundra]

Yes

[woven tundra]

I didn't think about that

[thin aspen]

I have heard gold lines are good.

[woven tundra]

So maybe the 15mm?

[heavy mirage]

The celestron x-cel 18mm works quite nice for planets paired with a 3x and ADC on the 10" around 300x (5400mm / 18mm), but I am thinking of getting a 12mm-15mm for some closer views.

It also works great for viewing galaxies and nebula

Any recommendations for a 12mm eyepiece? I was thinking an x-cel or omni but I can stretch my budget a bit

[heavy mirage]

I got an x-cel 2.3mm and it is 💩

[sharp ridge]

I use xcel 12mm + adc + 3x barlow

Great views at ~800x

[heavy mirage]

I assume that's with the 16"?

12mm seems like ideal for planetary, do you think it's worth going for a 9mm?

[sharp ridge]

Not really

Too much mag

Unless a 2.5x barlow or smth

[fading plume]

As a user of an 8mm, i much prefer my 17.

Both are the big multi element saxon eyepieces.

[woven tundra]

But I have a 150/750 mm dob flextube from sw

Ok, so high magnitude eyepiece is bad, but eyepiece with barlow lense is good

[heavy mirage]

Sounds like it may be good to stick to a magnification no more than twice the mirror size in mm. But yeah a nice barlow and adc would be ideal. With a 3x/ADC and 12mm you'll be at around 280x, with 15mm 225x.

[woven tundra]

And if I already have a 2.5x barlow?

I don't want to buy another one

[fading plume]

Extend it by a few mm, or use as is.

[woven tundra]

Oh I see

So the 18 mm x-cel is good?

As a mid power eyepiece?

[fading plume]

I like my hyperion mark iv zoom.
my 17mm saxon is also good, cant speak for the xcel but i imagine its ok.

[limber reef]

Is skywatcher good

Tubes

[woven tundra]

More precised?

[limber reef]

The tubes

[woven tundra]

Baader hyperion?

[fading plume]

Yup

[woven tundra]

Kinda expensive for me

[white prawn]

Welcome to Astronomy and Astrophotography.

[olive saddle]

photography in general tbh

[tawny cave]

😧

[green pebble]

There is no way someone imaged this

[dark cargo]

"Maxar Technologies Inc. is a space technology company headquartered in Westminster, Colorado, United States, specializing in manufacturing communication, Earth observation, radar, and on-orbit servicing satellites, satellite products, and related services."
Ah yes cheating by taking the photo from space, by a satellite that is probably designed to take photos of the earth?

[thick heron]

First time out with my 400P since January.

[white prawn]

I need a 400mm aperture.

Even better, 610mm

[green pebble]

Ah, now it makes sense

[white prawn]

Honestly I want to know what aperture and F/ratio needed to get that from a GBOTA.

[tawny cave]

a satellite

[cloud copper]

Some new lunar images that turned out nice

12”dob

[tiny topaz]

Orion XT8 dob, ZWO 585mc using fire capture, and a quick stack in ASI Studio and a slight touch up on my phone

[left spindle]

Is the pic with the black backgroud taken during daytime?

[left spindle]

Moon thru 114/900 scope and webcam (yes the colours are true)

[woven tundra]

Some craters + The Kangaroo Mountains (4th image)

Taken with a dobson heritage 150mm

[mossy juniper]

Ah yes, a fellow southern ontarian dealing with garbage tier seeing. I understand

Haha I just realized that I replied to a message from friggin FEBRUARY

[tiny topaz]

Oh I know, literally any day that can be clear just has terrible seeing lol, and all good no worries

[carmine void]

How do I know when my seeing is goood and bad?

[tiny topaz]

It’s mostly just judgment, if you were to look at the Moon or even just stars you can kind of see if the air is shaky or not

[thick heron]

Promising results with the 400P this morning.

[limber reef]

Which eyepieces?

My out of focus Saturn pic

[limber reef]

@thick heron

[thick heron]

No eyepieces. Only lenses I use are barlows to magnify the image.

[limber reef]

Oh did u use a camera

[limber reef]

?

[carmine void]

Yea most ppl either use astrocameras or dslrs

[limber reef]

I gotta use my phone for now

I might try and find a rlly cheap svbony camera and just use that for now cuz my phone makes it impossible to take pics properly

[carmine void]

If your budget is super super tight you could find something on aliexpress

[limber reef]

It’s only cuz im gonna be getting a job soon and I’m gonna save for a Uranus c

[carmine void]

Nice good for you

[limber reef]

What camera u got

@carmine void

[carmine void]

a cheap touptek imx290

[limber reef]

Never heard of them lol

I need to get a camera

But ima wait and just skip straight to a good one instead of buying 2 then buying a good one

It’ll end up cheaper aswell

[white prawn]

Nice.

I'm at a point right now where I would trade in my SkyView Pro setup, the EvoStar 72ED, near all the eyepieces I have, for an EQ6R-Pro and 16" Newt.

[heavy mirage]

Not gonna work, 16" is way too heavy for a eq6

[white prawn]

Then the appropriate mount

At that point probably a pier

[white prawn]

Heh, EQ6R capacity != ∞

[fading plume]

How do you think he got an image?

[clear pier]

eye screenshot

[coarse aspen]

just get a dob

fun with planets

[white prawn]

I'm looking to increase size of aperture

[coarse aspen]

16" dob

[white prawn]

And I want GoTo

[coarse aspen]

they make goto dobs

[white prawn]

Otherwise I can't find the ice giants

[coarse aspen]

you just can't do long exposure DSO with them because of field rotation

accurate enough for planets

[white prawn]

True

Unless I could derotate the field

[thick heron]

Daguerreotype, of course.

[limber reef]

Phone?

[tiny topaz]

The seeing must have been phenomenal

[livid sierra]

Single stack from this morning

[white prawn]

I've had clouds and bad seeing for a while 😦

[livid sierra]

Me too

[left spindle]

same

[stuck basin]

Me too and I live in Arizona

[tiny topaz]

https://tenor.com/view/ups-oops-gif-25712345

I woke up early to try and capture Saturn footage but I forgot my laptop adapter

[limber reef]

😭😭😭

[steep apex]

That open band below the southern band has expanded 👀

[cloud copper]

Guys what’s the best camera for planetary form these 3, all of them are around at the same price sh

Neptune c II imx 464

Zwo 585mc

Zwo 462mc

[dark cargo]

585, larger sensor and newer tech than the other two. No idea how the other two are a similar price through. Could also try to find a 664 cam, smaller sensor and cheaper than the 585/uranus but same technology afaik.

[cloud copper]

I found a 585 and a Neptune c II at the exact same price

Which one should I choose?

[dark cargo]

585, it's the same sensor as the uranus-c. How much is the c II? must be pretty overpriced to cost as much as the 585

[cloud copper]

I’m from Romania so the 585 is 500euros new and 300sh

The Neptune C II is 400 new and 300sh

Overpriced but there’s nothing I can do about it since my parents don’t want to buy stuff online via card

@dark cargo

[dark cargo]

Damn ok that is pricy. Try looking for a asi664 or neptune 664, might be a bit more reasonable price to performance wise. But the 585 is practically the best sensor you can have for planetary and does have decentish fov for untracked DSO.

[cloud copper]

The 664 is 100 euros more than the 585sh

[dark cargo]

i see, that makes perfect sense. Worse sensor for more money

[cloud copper]

Yea

Is the 664 better than the 585 and is it worth the 100 euro difference?

[dark cargo]

no it's a direct downgrade to the 585. Pretty sure its same specs but just a smaller sensor. I think it's more expensive because player one cams are overpriced in europe. or just because the camera for it is newer.

[somber stratus]

664 is cheaper no?

on player one anyway

[cloud copper]

New it’s cheaper, but I found a 585mc sh that’s 100 euros cheaper than a new 664mc

[somber stratus]

ah

All you gain is FOV

the pixels themselves are basically the same, spec wise

[cloud copper]

I think I’ll go with the 585

I need a bit more fov since I’m untracked

And it’s cheaper

[carmine void]

i would like to know what sort of settings (expsure/gain) i should use to capture mars and saturn, i have a heritage 130p dob with a touptek imx290 (untracked)

i've never done planetary before so id appreciate any help

[white prawn]

I use that. The Player One equivalent is the Uranus-C

Personally I'd use the P1 just to not be in the ZWO garden.

[thin aspen]

If seeing is bad use lowest exposure possible then increase the gain until the histogram is around 80% full.

[carmine void]

I think my seeing isn’t too bad, also what does a 80% full histogram look like

How much integration time would I need to bring out any detail?

[rain mauve]

Any recommended telescope for planetary imaging?

[fading plume]

Biggest dob you can afford, after you sell your kidneys.

goto ideally.

[rain mauve]

._. Really?

[fading plume]

I quite like my skywatcher 14" goto. But its a bit of a pain to move. Manageable though.

[rain mauve]

I see

Any other recomendation?

[fading plume]

Could go for one of the hubble optics dobs. They are lighter.

The skywatcher 20" goto is surprisingly lightweight too.

Base is 45kg and the tube is 30.

[rain mauve]

💀💀

10k dollar wow

[fading plume]

its the same weight as the 14"

[rain mauve]

Any cheaper telescope?

[fading plume]

how cheap

[rain mauve]

Umm budget around 500-1k dollar

Is it possible?

[fading plume]

Whatever shows up on the used market.

biggest aperture.

[rain mauve]

Biggest aperture like f11?

[fading plume]

thats focal ratio. Doesnt matter a heap for the scopes native ratio.

[rain mauve]

I see

Alright thanks tho

[fading plume]

i run my scope (native F/4.6) at F/21.

[carmine void]

hey lmc do you know what exposure/gain id need to do for untracked planetary?

[fading plume]

5-20ms exposure, depending on seeing.
Adjust gain to suit.

[carmine void]

seeing isnt too bad

[fading plume]

you'll get a feel for it. 20ms is better for signal, but seeing blurs more.

[carmine void]

gain is the confusing one for me

[fading plume]

You'll catch glimpses of detail through the seeing. At some point you wont if you raise exposure too much.

[fading plume]

adjust so nothing is clipped. Aim for the peak to be at like 50-70%

[carmine void]

oh alright, and do i need loads of integration time to get any details?

[fading plume]

like 3 mins of total recording is about the limit.

depends on the object

derotation is a good idea

[carmine void]

mars and saturn is what i plan on

[carmine void]

is that a piece of equipment or something in processing?

[fading plume]

Saturn is pretty featureless. 3 mins technically, 5 mins is ok.
Mars is 3-4 mins i think.

processing

[carmine void]

gotcha

[fading plume]

take multiple recordings back to back and then aligns them

without blurring detail

[carmine void]

alright thanks alot, cant wait to shoot em

[cloud copper]

the 20" are great, I've used one and its super light for its size

[fading plume]

I need to buy one. When i have a house big enough for it.

[cloud copper]

I've used a skywtcher 20" but the manual type

not the goto since the person that has it only uses it for visual astronomy

its a shame that he doesnt do planetary yet

I might convince him XD

[fading plume]

What a waste. Still, must be great for visual.

[cloud copper]

its super good

he aslo has a GREAT set of TeleVue eyepices

the televue ethos are some realy high quality eyepices

but expensive as

[fading plume]

Eyepieces are the one thing i am not sure i need quality for. I have a few 2" eyepieces. Hyperion 5mm and zoom and a 8mm and 17mm Saxon.

They are enough for me.

I refuse to look through an expensive one in case i buy it.

[cloud copper]

Do you do visual?

[fading plume]

Occasionally

[cloud copper]

You should invest in a Televue, totally worth it

[limber reef]

Should i do video or photo when stacking

[carmine void]

Video for planetary and moon

[limber reef]

Dso?

[carmine void]

Dso images

[limber reef]

What exposure

@carmine void

[carmine void]

are you tracked?

[limber reef]

Nah

Rawdogging fr

[carmine void]

check pinned msg in #🤓-ask-a-nerd

[short granite]

Does this advice also apply to mirrorless cameras? I've been stacking photos from my a6100 (attached to my telescope) of the Moon and I feel they come out better cause I'm using the full sensor that way.

[carmine void]

I don’t know if it applies to those cameras, I’m sure someone else can answer that

[white prawn]

Take a vid using the mirrorless and compare it to stacking the photos. I suspect the primary difference may be in size b/c of the use of full sensor. Either way you're stacking images, the real difference is how they're obtained.

[short granite]

I will try it next time. Tricky thing is that 1080p 60fps and 4k 30fps video crops and I can't get the full disc of the Moon. But i will try.

[white prawn]

Not even the 1080 60fps captures full disc? (presumably at full zoom)

I have a DSLR - Canon T7/2000D. Can capture full disk w/ kit lens when using video mode but the video mode might be different, and probably a different sensor/size.

[tiny topaz]

Is there any tips when imaging Saturn to bring out more surface colour? I find when I record Saturn I just get the standard yellow-ish colour of it and that’s about it. For context I use (8” dob, 585mc, uv/ir cut, and have used 2x and 3x Xcel). Is it something to do with gain or exposure when capturing?

[white prawn]

All of my Saturn shots have had their surface colour brought out in post.

For example, I started with the left, ended with the right.

I had to do RGB balance/alignment, adjust gain and saturation.

[hasty hull]

An adc would help

[white prawn]

That one was with the ADC

[hasty hull]

I think it was out of tune, the color fringing and whatnot

I just ordered my adc and the learning curve is gonna be rough probably

[white prawn]

😑

[white prawn]

I also just recently learned something in post-processing that's been helping so we'll see.

[white prawn]

My best Jupiter so far was taken with OUT the ADC because I was going on a clear night and good seeing while Jupiter was high up so wasn't imaging through as much atmosphere. I didn't use the ADC b/c on a couple of previous nights/attempts I lost over an hour of possible imaging time because the ADC wouldn't focus.

[livid sierra]

@hasty hull first thing you have to do with your ADC is figure out whether it’s a righty or a lefty, most likely a righty but it’s really simple to figure out. And then see how the horizon is angled through your eyepiece, I recommend making a marking on your focuser aligned to the horizon and then you can always just align the ADC to that marking

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/525563-for-users-of-the-new-zwo-adc-important/ how to figure out if it’s a righty or a lefty

Some of the early ZWO ADCs are lefties, so you probably have a righty but it won’t hurt to check

[white prawn]

Good info there, I was reading after a frustrating night that if the ADC didn't work set up in one way, that I could just rotate it 180° and it would likely work. There was no explanation, just "If you put it in and can't get a good image, put it in rotated so the tab is on the opposite side."

... which I have not had a chance to try since then

[livid sierra]

I found this thread pretty early on after I first got an ADC

Also this only goes for ZWO ADCs afaik

[white prawn]

What do you know, I own a ZWO ADC. 🙂

[tiny topaz]

I would use my ADC but I can’t seem to get anything into focus whenever I plug it into the imaging train

[livid sierra]

Where in the imaging train are you placing it? It should be focuser —> Barlow —> ADC —> camera

Often putting it between the focuser and Barlow makes it impossible to reach focus

[tiny topaz]

I believe I put the ADC in the Barlow like how you had it but I can’t fully remember I’ll have to retry it whenever I get a clear night

[hasty hull]

Oh wow thanks, had no idea about this

[cloud copper]

Guys, should I upgrade my 224 to a 585 or should I buy a ADC first

12” dob 3750fl with a 2.5x Barlow

1500 native fl

[white prawn]

I would personally update my camera to the 585/ Uranus-C

[fading plume]

Depends what you feel limited by. FOV and difficulty in tracking? Uranus c.
Or if you often feel the need for an ADC, get that.

[white prawn]

TBH my thought is based from the fact that I was using a DSLR before the 585 so the difference was phenomenal - then I collimated my OTA.

[tiny topaz]

Can someone tell me from this video + photo if I’m doing something wrong when imaging Saturn or if I’m having terrible luck with seeing conditions (Canadas finest)

[dark cargo]

Seeing does look fairly bad, which might be just because its low on the horison.
Why are you stacking 100% of your frames? Should be closer to 15-50%ish, try looking at the green line graph in autostakkert to see how the quality drops off.
Also the stacked image will look garbage until you sharpen it in registax

[tiny topaz]

Oh okay and I don’t think I’m actually stacking 100% of the frames while on Autostakkert. Just to clarify when stacking frames on AS!3 I need to select normalize stack and then choose a percentage? Because I’m just confused about the option right above it saying “Frame percentage to stack” as I have that at 100. (In the image) and when I put the image into registax I find the sharpening doesn’t bring out any detail on the planet, it just kind of makes the blurriness worse and creates artifacts.

[dark cargo]

yes the 100 in the greenbox is the percentage of frames you stack. The other three boxes on the right just allow you to stack other % of frames at the same time. I usually do 15,25 and 50 But have a look at the green graph. Also i think you'd want to untick normalise stack, pretty sure that just stretches the images so they are a similar brightness.

[dark cargo]

also also, windows key + shift + s then copy paste into discord to take a screenshot of any area of your screen. How does the green graph look like in AS? I think the issue with registax is that the 100% stack is just garbage, since it includes all the bad frames

[tiny topaz]

😐 I haven’t been using that this whole time lol, guess I’ll have to go back and reprocess some old data. And I don’t have discord on my laptop that does the processing so if you don’t mind I can take a cropped image of the graph for you.

(Not cropped because I took it while on discord, my bad)

Just did the smaller stacking size and you were right 🥲, welp I’ll have to reprocess stuff for sure now

[livid sierra]

Indeed what LMC said, though an ADC will likely improve your images more than a different camera

[cloud copper]

I can handle 3750 with a res of 640

But I’ll need more fl for more details so I’d also need more fl

[cloud copper]

Is there a reason to upgrade a 224 to a 585 for the sensor alone?

[livid sierra]

585 has a larger fov and smaller pixels so you’d be closer to good sampling, but ADC would help with atmospheric dispersion which especially during the start of planetary season is useful to have an ADC for. Not sure what latitude you’re at but for me the highest any planet gets is around 60° and I always use an ADC.

[cloud copper]

I live in Romania

Here Jupiter gets at a max of 66°

Is my 3750fl enough, should I buy a bigger Barlow lens?

[heavy mirage]

Adcs typically increase focal length by a factor of 1.5 so you'd be around 5600mm. It's a good FL but I feel like you can go a bit more with a 12". However if you do not have GoTo, hand tracking at this FL is going to be difficult

[cloud copper]

Sadly I only have a manual scope

What Barlow lens should I buy?

[heavy mirage]

I'd stick with the value you currently have and see how it goes

Barlow*

[cloud copper]

So you say that I should buy an ADC and stick with the 224?

[heavy mirage]

Well, it may be worth upgrading your camera soon as well since you can probably use larger fov

Sorry half asleep typing

[cloud copper]

XD

[cloud copper]

Yea, I’d love some larger fov

I use 640x400 to get 300fps

But tracking can be difficult

At 1300x900 I only get around 100fps

[heavy mirage]

Yeah, also I don't know if you need 300 fps, typically I shoot below 100 fps for Saturn

[cloud copper]

Really? I thought the more the better

[heavy mirage]

It's good to find a balance between exposure and gain, really high fps typically means high gain and very noisy raw data

I typically stay within the 10 - 15 ms range for exposure

But it may not matter as the capture time is the same

[tiny topaz]

Here’s my attempt at Saturn from a couple days ago

[cloud copper]

My first attempt at imagining mars

[limber reef]

That looks like my saturn

Unfocused

[shell epoch]

Yall

[shell epoch]

When I say Saturn looked good in my telescope 4mm eyepiece. I mean it look incredibly similar to this, but live

[limber reef]

Fr

I put a 4mm in when i had saturn it looked beautiful