neil phillips

1 hour ago, Trevor N said:

Thanks for the generous comments. There was small panic earlier when I couldn't find an image and there was a gap in the middle as I stitched them together. It wouldn't have been the first time that I didn't overlap the images enough. ! Trevor

Ahh gap panic, fun times

5 minutes ago, WestCoastCannuck said:

As always, thanks so much for your thought provoking reply Neil.  You have vastly more experience than I do, and your thoughts are appreciated.  (Helps also that we are more on the same page in tastes than off...  lol)  Your eye is better than mine, and indeed, there was more to bring out, even to MY taste.    Perhaps still not enough for some, but there is more, yet still clean detail to be seen here in this version of the lower region.  (you would have to compare side by side.  lol)  Also brightened a tad...  and did a spot highlight lowering on Tycho rim.  You can really see the difference in Werner, among many other features.  I am happier, if that is possible...  Thanks!

 

 

One thing thats almost never considered on here Mike, is the different monitors we are all viewing on. I do most of my viewing and processing on a 50" plasma tv, it glosses over noise too much, and makes a lot of stuff look amazing. Switch to my Lenovo laptop screen, and it reveals the flaws far better. Always good to check on the laptop if i want a balanced perspective. There is the problem right there, in discussing views with each other. No standard setting point. We are all looking at it on a myriad of different screens. No wonder our perspectives can vary from person to person. 

But anyway its great chatting with like minded lunar imagers. My missus bless her, hears a lot. I prefer this last one i think Mike, can see more of the tiny craterlets, But still a great balance. As long as the balance doesnt go out the window. (we all do it from time to time) Both under and overcooked. Then more detail but with a nice balance. Is a better, finer place to be in my book.

Lovely one that Trevor

Nice capture Simon. Good to see you posting some lunar

Good detail on the floor there Peter. Great to see you working on the moon

My first real look at the CC range. looking good Wouter Small scopes can do nice lunar work. Thats a fact. Will be watching out for more as you get them

Hi Mike as you can see from my pbase stuff i was obsessive about excessive highlights. As i get older it seems to bother me a little less. Often more detail can be seen and a more vibrant image will come from pushing histogram a little more, either at capture or post processing. Or even both. Of course we can always change our minds again. (I often do) But dull images do not excite me as much these days, maybe because of the scope sizes i am using i am not sure.

As usual smooth silky detail in these. And certainly not dull. Maybe your headroom is a little reserved on some of this. Think there is more hidden detail in there. But better to under sharpen than over sharpen i guess. As we have said everyones mileage is different. Certainly think your understated style is a breath of fresh air. 

Just getting that balance can sometimes be tricky. You may not agree. Regardless you ooze quality thats for sure

Cheers Dave

2 hours ago, astroman001 said:

Hi Neil

Excellent image and resolution for a 114 Newt.

Best regards

Peter

Hi Peter good to see you around. Hope your well and doing good. Cheers for the comments

3 hours ago, CraigT82 said:

Have got it, picked it up last Friday but have been away from home this week and so not done anything with it yet. Will be adding a 120mm fan and baffle for the rear plus will wrap the tube with reflectix to reduce tube currents. Also got a moonlite  base plate on order so I can fit my motorised CR2. 

Sounds great dont expect great things immediately often takes work. more blur than your 8" but good seeing good collimation and a IR 685 should do well. Good luck your backs going to need it.

I prefer smaller version too cheers Mike

52 minutes ago, Roy Foreman said:

Thank you Neil.  I guess the advantage of using a large aperture is not one of resolution but of gathering more light to enable faster exposure time and freeze the seeing more. Glad to like the images !

True about the exposure time Roy. But there are numerous examples of larger scopes producing better resolution.  Btw what 16" is it ?

As Crag said lovely detail that 16 " is pulling out lots on the Floor Ptolemaeus 

1 hour ago, CraigT82 said:

Neil this is astonishing! Looking at the 100% image that little scope is resolving details it has no right to. Absolutely everything must have come together for this one. Did you use any filter with the 462c? (Have just ordered a 462c myself) 

The overall tonality is just right for me, the contrast range  is very natural and subtle looking. 

 

Thanks for  saying that Craig. Been putting in a lot of effort to come back to astronomy recently. Money too. Some of of which is yet to see the light of day. When i first started i couldnt control this wobbly EQ2 mount. or wayward cheap RA drive. But practice makes perfect. As you know i have been banging away for weeks now. So yes your right everything had to come together. Enjoying my astronomy again. Appreciate the chats we have had. Congrats on the camera i am enjoying mine. I am sure you will too. Though i do want a 290m again for sure. When you getting the 300p ? If you ever want to pm. No worries. And yes UV IR CUT 

Cheers

2 minutes ago, Nik271 said:

Excellent detail and a very natural look, well processed!

Still some daylight creeping into the image becoming darker later, so not perfect. But seeing good. This small Newtonian really is super sharp. i got good collimation this night. Could see down to the level of pin pricks live on screen. I absolutely adore this little scope. doubt i can do much better without better equipment. Cheers Nik

Celestron powerseeker 114 Newtonian. EQ2 Mount economy RA Drive. QHY 462 C camera. Celestron Omni 2x barlow. F16. 

First is 75% downsized. Second is 100% Around 20 panes with lots of overlap Greyscale

More  happy with the balance of this one

lovely result Trevor

6 hours ago, Roy Foreman said:

Hi Neil - I found that the 19th was a lot steadier than the 20th.  Haven't processed the data sufficiently yet to tell from my results. but I am in a different part of the country to you so that might make a big difference. On both nights I was shooting in twilight, which is normal for me as I find the air is steadier at this time where I live. I was using a red filter which really helps in the battle against turbulence, so I would have thought that your IR filter would have done an even better job - as you were expecting also.  I can't explain this, other than to say that maybe the red / IR filters reduce micro turbulence at the fine detail level, but not the 'macro' turbulence where the whole moon appears to ripple and shift about. Your exposure times might possibly play a part in this also. 

In spite of all this you do seem to have recorded some fine detail, which is what caught my eye. Good luck and hope you manage to resolve this

Roy

 

Cheers for that Roy, as you say so many possibilities probably will never know, but seeing did seem more stable here on the 20th interesting it was the opposite for you. Probably some regional difference. Having said that it wasnt awful on the 19. just more heat but with IR 850 ? Which seemed odd

Good report. look foward to seeing what it can do under good conditions

34 minutes ago, Stu said:

Indeed they are! This is my 8” f8. Lovely for lunar and planetary.

Lovely 8 there Stu must be superb. I see tracking there too

29 minutes ago, Nik271 said:

Superb images! These long tube Newtonians are really good, at F7 or F8 I guess? They don't make make many slow focal ratio scopes like that any more, which is a shame, they seem to be excellent for planetary work.

By the way did somebody get the 'eyes of Calvius' last night, around 9pm? Clavius C and Clavius D were the only craterlets illuminated and they looked like an owl staring at me. I was doing only visual and was too tired to fiddle with the camera, focusing etc. Still was rather hoping somebody took an image of this 

Hi Nik not noticed it yet, but if i do see it, should be able to post at some point. Long focus Newts are killer for lunar. Sky watcher do a 6" F8 for a good price that i would like to try. Infact FLO sell a Bresser 6" F8 Dob that can also be split for imaging. I saw on there website

Some good detail on those Roy 

1 minute ago, Stu said:

Yes, that’s an impressive effort. I tried it briefly in my Tak FC100DC and I could just about see a section of it, but in the 8” it was clear.

Seeing was pretty good last night, some slowish wobble but the detail remained good, and occasionally excellent.

A good assesment of what i was seeing last night too 

6 minutes ago, vineyard said:

Those are lovely. Delicate, sharp & v nicely processed (the textures on the 3rd one in particular) 👍🏾 

Thanks Vineyard much appreciated

2 hours ago, CraigT82 said:

Yeah the ringing is a real PITA, and in the past I've junked images altogether because I just couldn't control it. I'd love to see some kind of paper on what it is exactly and how it comes about. 8

Saying that though it really is barely there in Mike's images and only visible when pixel peeping... definitely doesn't take anything away from the overall images which are top notch. 

100% agree with that. You have a good eye Craig i didnt notice it at first. Some show it more than others. But Mike should not get too drawn into it i dont think. Possibly try and trace it. But clearly that scope is Awsome the resolution and detail is astounding. Some of the best at this size i have ever seen. The processing also looks sublime. Inspirational infact.