Chris

lol It does as well! Thanks neighbours for coppicing that tree

Probably the best placed meteor I've captured to date. Canon 5D mk1 with 28mm lens. Shame about the vignetting but still happy with it

Looks amazing Garry, lets hope it is the last you'll buy. I can't imagine you'd need anything better!

It's probably fair to say that most of us use Canon cameras for astrophotography, and for good reason - they're easy to mod, simple to operate, and then there's the software support. I've personally lost count of the Canon cameras I've used, but amongst them there has been a couple of Pany Lumix cameras which have done a good job, namely the G80 and now the GH3. Not the best low light performance but they do have some good traits. Anyway, I've noticed there isn't a lot info regarding astrophotography with Lumix cameras, so I thought I'd start a thread for Lumix users which might be interested in using their cameras for a spot of astro. I've just finished a light hearted video on the basics of widefield imaging with a GH3, and I have a few others which I'll post below to get the ball rolling. Please post any thoughts, experiences, tips for these cameras below Oh yeah, Olympus counts too as they share the same lens mount, lens eco system, and M43 size sensor. I do want to try an Olympus at some point.

Just been reading about this, thanks Stu. Goldy locks zone, rocky, water and, methane, all very good signs!

Cheers!

Some Lunar footage from the StarQuest 130p using my modified Logitech webcam and 2.5x Revelation Barlow, so working at 1635mm focal length. I think it did really well, and I even noticed a spooky Lunar feature! I'm wondering if this feature has a name, does anyone know?

lol thanks Rob, well I've had one Obs sanctioned at least, and I have a nice spot lined up for it middle left when facing the back garden. For now the Dob can live in the garage and be rolled out on the dolly I bought for it (it's good to have access to 360 degrees of the sky from home ) There is a street light straight out the front of the house, but at least it's sodium so I can use my LP filters. I bit more house decorating to do, then I can start on the Obsy. p.s. I like your new avatar with Buzz and the Orange 66

Same here, I think our classic 5D's are more like 13-14 years old. I think they were first released in 2005!

Pics? Here's a video Oh and I also accidently bought a huge Dob whilst I was at the guys house too lol

"not bad for wide open like" lol I'd need to stop down my Nifty fitty to f4 to get close to that!

I think I can just about make out the milky way if I squint No seriously though, that's really quite special!

Much appreciated Ruud Would you believe the original footage was over 40 minutes long! Lots of editing to get it down, I get carried away

Thanks Rob Yeah I was really sceptical about the factory fixed primary cell idea, than I owned a couple of the Heritage 100p's which are factory fixed at f/4! and they both held well. I was fairly confident that the SkyQuest collimation would be fine and indeed it was I'm enjoying the scope so far, there are of course a few little foibles as I've mentioned above, but this whole package retails for just 173 quid! SW really are the masters at making budget quality scopes Funny you should mention a hankering for a 6" f/8 Newt on an EQ. I recently picked up an old Meade heavy duty pedestal EQ mount with RA drive. It has rings already in place for a 6" Newt, so I was either thinking of buying a replacement Newt for it, or extending the pier tube and putting a big 6" f/8 achro on it. The 6" f/8 would be more practical. This is all in aid of the budget mk2 obsy I'm going to erect in the garden Oh and the extra slip ring is a good call, as soon as I loosened the rings in the video the OTA tried to escape!

Sorry, changed to public

Camera setting for Jupiter: [Logitech HD Webcam C270] Resolution=1280x960 FPS=30.00 Colour Space=RGB24 Output Format=AVI files (*.avi) Frame Rate Limit=Maximum Exposure=15.6ms Timestamp Frames=Off Brightness=128 Contrast=32 Saturation=32 Sharpness=24 White Balance=3690(Auto) Backlight Compensation=0 Gain=50 Camera settings for Saturn: [Logitech HD Webcam C270] Resolution=1280x960 FPS=30.00 Colour Space=RGB24 Output Format=AVI files (*.avi) Frame Rate Limit=Maximum Exposure=3.9ms Timestamp Frames=Off Brightness=128 Contrast=32 Saturation=32 Sharpness=24 White Balance=3690(Auto) So the frame rate was around 4 times faster for Jupiter. That's the answer, cheers!

Ah that could well be it! I completely forgot about this aspect! I'll check the source files and see what the rates for each AVI are. here are the AVI's anyway https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRDjDCvcdos&feature=youtu.be

It's a non tracking mount with the same scope, barlow lens, and modified webcam. I'll create a private video on youtube and link it here so you can see the difference in apparent velocity. The orientation is a bit different so could have some bearing as the chip is slightly rectangular, but the speed is at least twice if not three times as quick to my eyes. Anyway I'll sort out the footage and you can see what you guys think : )

That's the thing, Saturn does orbit slower because the Sun has less pull on it and it's settled at a point where the gravity is balanced with centripetal force. Like you say it's how it appeared which is contrary, and the difference was massive!

I took some AVI footage of Jupiter and Saturn back to back and noticed that Saturn appears to move way way more quickly across the EP/sensor than Jupiter. I've never really noticed the big difference before, and giving it some thought I think it's mainly due to the rotation of the Earth raking out more distance out at the orbit of Saturn compared to Jupiter in an equal amount of time. Am I right? Is this the main reason, or am I missing any major reason? I know that actual movement of the planets will be negligible compared to the rotation of the Earth, but still I've got the feeling I'm missing something? Thanks and any thoughts?

Super nice scope, congratulations!

Very nice find, like you say other than the focuser issues it looks great for it's age.

First light already! Lovely and clear here so bagged Jupiter and Saturn both visually plus a bit of AVI footage with my modded webcam. Added thoughts after first light: Good thing - Collimation was good which is a crucial as it's factory set, and the image remained sharp and contrasty at 140x suggesting the mirror should be pretty decent. Bad thing - The bolt for the vixen clamp hits the bolt on the slow mo control whilst on it's travels. I was using the slow mo's to track Saturn and suddenly it stopped dead! Good thing - The clutches are in an excellent place and really easy to find and use in the dark! This is a big thing in my book bad thing - The tripod is the weak link in the rigidity and it did take a while for vibrations to settle, although perhaps only to be expected at the price point. The Mount head kind of deserves a tripod upgrade, so buyers of this package do have an upgrade path (good thing). Good thing - I really like the focuser screws for holding the eyepiece. They are large and Knurled, and more importantly don't end in a point like with some cheap scopes. EP's are safe with these screws, yah! Bad thing - it wont reach focus with my modded webcam without a Barlow. Not too much of a biggy as you want to be using a Barlow for Lunar and planetary anyway.