Mart29

Hey, anyone using or used one of these? 

Thinking of adding one to the collection.  What would the planet views be like ? 

Options are , buy this or spend the money on a few more DeLites for the Dob 

On 18/01/2023 at 00:00, Stu said:

Having seen examples of the capabilities of Google Pixel phones for long exposure imaging, I fancied giving one a go. I bought a used Pixel 6 Pro in as new condition for a decent price, and tonight was able to give it a try out.

I setup the Rowan Astronomy AZ100 Goto mount on Planet tripod with my FC100 and a 24mm Panoptic. I used my Televue FoneMate mount, unusual for me as I normally hand hold the phone.

The process is very easy, connect and align the phone to the eyepiece, centenary and focus the image, and select NightSight mode. As soon as the phone is absolutely still, it switches to long exposure mode (the shutter button switches from a crescent moon icon to stars), then you just press the shutter and off you go. Quite amazing.

Stunning images,  Stu! Well impressed 👏 

1 hour ago, Hal-9000 said:

I have a 6.6 focal ratio telescope with 10mm and 20mm eyepieces, but when I put my 2x Barlow lens on the telescope I can’t seem to focus on any object. Does the Barlow Lens magnify too much for the scope or is there a way I can fix this?

Sometimes you literally need tiny tiny movements on the focuser knobs . The difference for me being in focus and out is literally a couple of millimetres. 

Also , the barlow and eyepiece should be outside to cool for 30 mins plus or it looks misty / out of focus 

8 minutes ago, markse68 said:

That's really great Mart!

Mark

Thanks mate!

16 minutes ago, Stu said:

So you should be, excellent images. Single shots I assume? Which phone and scope are you using?

Thanks mate. Yeah, single shots. Used the 200P but swapped the 10 Edge eyepiece for the 11mm TeleVu with x2 barlow.  

Used my Samsung Z Fold , which has a crap camera compared to some.  Some nights the Celestron HD Edge 10mm is the best but others the 11mm TeleVu DeLite is unbeatable 

47 minutes ago, geoflewis said:

It took me over 2 months to capture the data for this map, with eight source images being used from data collected from 31 October 2022, through to 3 Jan 2023. As is usual for the UK conditions, even on the clear nights that I could image, were very variable and conditons at Mars itself changed, with imaging starting when there was a dust storm in the southern regions and a strong polar hood to the north. Also some images were captured when Mars was waxing, through it's full phase at opposition on 8 Dec 2022, concluding when Mars was already showing a waning phase.

I tried a couple of versions, in the end opting for a map with the 0° longtitude in the centre, partly as I fell it presends some of the major surface details better, but mostly because the data at the 180° region being quite thin and showing a strong dark band when displayed at the image centre.

It is my first full map of Mars, so thanks for looking.

 

Amazing work and effort put in! Really good 👍 

Took a while to get the scope cooled to get anything like detail, but timed it right tonight!

Best I can manage until the seeing gets better. Used , x2 barlow and TeleVu DeLite 11mm 

12 minutes ago, PeterStudz said:

I find it very rewarding. As always you can see far more than the smartphone images show. I made a filter for my 200p and it’s not difficult. Although I did buy one readymade for the 1145p - at the time it was all very new and I was playing safe. The bigger aperture does show more detail but is a bit longer to setup. 

I ain't making one mate, I would be scared to look 🤣 will look at purchasing one tomorrow.  

Crap conditions for me this evening but happy with a little round Europa 😀 

20 hours ago, PeterStudz said:

Manage to get out at between 11:30 and 12:15 for a short grab and go session on the sun before the rain came in. There’s a lot of activity at the moment with plenty to see. Mind, I had to pick my moments between the clouds.

Took a few quick shots with my new iPhone 14 Pro at the end of the session.  Although had to keep the magnification low as I had an annoying dust bunny show up in the pictures which also meant keeping the sun to one side and not in the centre of the FOV

Skywatcher Skyhawk 1145p, BST Starguider 12mm, single shot using the stock camera app in RAW. Cropped, basic editing in Snapseed and stock camera app. First time I’d taken something using RAW and given the small aperture of the telescope, low magnification and low winter position of the sun it’s come out OK. Look forward to experimenting some more. 

Great photos! Never done the sun , maybe it's time to get a filter 

14 minutes ago, Mandy D said:

Very nice! Lovely natural looking colours.

My life is complete 🫡

Things are getting tuff with Jupiter and Mars now. Mars is moving far away and Jupiter not at its best . 

Managed to get two images I'm very happy with on the phone but will change to eyepiece only for abit now and concentrate phone snaps on the Pleiades and individual stars 🙃@Mandy D look no blue! 😄

Thought I would order a print of a Mars capture on mobile phone , just for curiosity.  

Wasn't expecting great things but all in all , not to bad

13 hours ago, geoflewis said:

As per my 'taster' post earlier today, I spent approximately 4 hours last night imaging Mars while Syrtis Major was rotating from the limb, to just past the Central Meridian. I have now finalised processing the images and have created 2 separate montages, one for the 3 final images from before midnight (hence dated 2 Jan) and 2 after midnight (hence 3 Jan). The final images are all de-rotated stacks of best 20k frames per video. The 1st four images each comprise best 20k frames from each of 3 SERs, hence 60k frames in total and the last one is from 2 SERs, so 40k frames integrated. The longer time gap between some of the images is where the quality from the SERs that I captured between those times wasn't good enough to fully process and also why the last image from the session has less data included.

The images are annotated with relevant details of capture and equipment used.

Thanks for looking.

Great images! I would definitely get some prints done and framed 🙃 I have Mars in my living room but having your own images will be sweet

2 hours ago, Mandy D said:

Yes, I would have liked to launch him into space! It is just one of several bad experiences with Dover customs. I usually end up in their customs shed when I pass through!

I'm glad your VX6L survived, but shame about the TV. I hope it was a case of "Oh well, I wanted a new one, anyway!"

Definitely was time for a new one 😅

35 minutes ago, Mandy D said:

Yes, dropping is not recommended! A UK Dover customs officer lifted the back (mirror) end of the box carrying my 250PX in the back of my Land Rover and deliberately dropped it about a foot. He got a serious rocketing from me about that! Didn't budge the collimation, though, which seriously surprised me.

I enjoy the word "rocketing" here 😅

33 minutes ago, Mandy D said:

Yes, dropping is not recommended! A UK Dover customs officer lifted the back (mirror) end of the box carrying my 250PX in the back of my Land Rover and deliberately dropped it about a foot. He got a serious rocketing from me about that! Didn't budge the collimation, though, which seriously surprised me.

😅 I sent the VX6l flying over and it went through the TV screen in the living room. TV dead , scope all good 

6 hours ago, spacedobsonian said:

If you had to buy a small reflector dob (<6 inches) would you pay £20 more for a parabolical mirror BUT lose the ability to collimate?

Would you buy the cheaper, spherical mirror, collimatable reflector dob or a £20 more expensive, parabolic mirror, not collimatable reflector dob?

Honestly as @Mandy D said , i also have only collimated my 200p once and the difference you should normally get is so small you aren't going to notice unless the scope has being dropped etc. Lots of tool's about for collimation but don't let it put you off as a simple star test is more than enough .

4 minutes ago, Mandy D said:

@Mart29 Nice! You certainly have some detail there. The sky looks really hazy to me, yet we are capturing good data. I was going to go after the night-time part of the Moon, but no chance with the haze.

Wish I had stayed out but the warmth called me! Did you use the dob for the moon?

Just now, Mandy D said:

That last one is impressive!

Thanks mate, I really need to spend more time on the moon this year, so many features I need to tick off!  

This is the sharpest I have ever done , I'm not great with a full capture but close ups seem to work. Love your full moons !

I messed around with a few close ups 😅

7 minutes ago, Mandy D said:

@Mart29 This is what I just captured.

Amazing image! Very sharp mate 🙃

Just now, Mandy D said:

I like the new colours, @Mart29. The moon peeking out from behind the planet is nice. I love capturing things like that. I got a 7th magnitude star just before it passed behind our own Moon a few nights ago.

I've just been shooting our own Moon and will post a photo shortly. It is the sharpest I have ever managed.

Can't wait to see that! Cool, I will try and keep the WB at that and wait for better seeing!