assouptro

Lovely job! you have got to be happy with those! Second one for me also 😊

Hi Stargazers! Its been a long time since I posted an image here I have been slowly gathering data in between clouds, showers and full moons for another project when I turned my scope towards the Elephants Trunk during the recent brief warm and clear spell Although there was a full moon that week, it was low on the horizon so I carried on regardless I captured 8hr 40min SHO data: 170min Sii 160min Ha 190min Oiii All captured with an Atik 460 Binned 2x2 Through a 12" Meade lx200 scope (not considered an imaging scope by many) with a Starizona LF 0.7 focal reducer Captured in Artemis Capture, registered and integrated in APP Tweaked in Pix and Ps Thanks for looking Bryan Tip of the Trunk.tif Here is a more saturated version with more star reduction for the folk who like to see a more colourful image sorry for the magenta stars , I’ve been staring at this image for too long now! 😊

I have found mine holds collimation well (bobs knobs was the first of many upgrades although in hindsight not a necessary one) I collimate or at least check collimation if I have traveled with it in the back of the car or if I can see signs in any images of miscollimation, sometimes once or twice a year for me I have tried all sorts of tools and gadgets but rely mainly on a star test I agree with Yuklop regards the wedge I originally had one made by a friend who worked at an engineering firm but ended up with a really heavy duty Astro Engineering mega wedge which I bought second hand and still own I was also impressed by the fork mounts ability to carry a large payload (when balanced) Some of the other upgrades that made a difference to me were the Peterson Ez clutch Ez focus and engineering gears upgrade, each upgrade made imaging with it just a bit easier Adding a few images taken with the telescope although most were taken mounted on the azeq6 Not ideal for Ap but quite capable if you are willing to work at it and have patience! Cheers Bryan

Just chipping in I have owned a 12” lx200 gps for about 15 years, I have imaged with it on a Wedge and in the last few years now use it de-forked on a Azeq6 (which it is too heavy for) and I have really enjoyed using it It definitely throws up some challenges and I can end up having to be selective with the subs due to any gusts of wind above 5mph I have ended up with a small arsenal of scopes and lenses to choose from these days but still enjoy close up imaging on some nights with the old beast! Olly is probably right in suggesting the use of smaller Pixels allowing the same resolution with shorter focal lengths which will give more consistent results in less time but I’m not in a rush to part with my 12” scope and get a lot of satisfaction from producing a final image That’s all, just had to get that off my chest Thanks Bryan 😊

Thanks Mandy I agree, the first image was my preferred angle, I added the second after following a thread where the “proper orientation” of an image was the main subject of discussion so I thought I should re-present it more accurately to satisfy the purists in this hobby I was so lucky to be observing from the right angle at that moment, one that will unlikely happen again, and in Wales too! Yup, it’s a special image 😊 Thank you for your kind comment Bryan

Hi iwols I use a mono camera most of the time so tricky to compare but it does look “blurred” It could be that there was high thin cloud blurring the sun? That does happen I tend to stay at 10ms frame rate call up the histogram and adjust the gain to get the histogram around 80%, that normally gets surface detail (I also normally have my quark knob all the way round or up to 2 clicks off the end, unfortunately I can’t say which end! You have to wait a couple of min for it to get to the right temp) for the prominences, I turn the gain and gamma up, the surface is white ( over exposed) but the proms appear You could have a faulty Quark? I have heard they can be a big of a lottery? Was it bought new? I hope you get it sorted? Cheers Bryan

Thanks Pete I was lucky to be viewing at that moment as it kept that shape for a couple of minutes 😊 Cheers Bryan

Thank you 😊

Thanks 😊 Camera pointgrey Blackfly with imx174 cropped @51 fps Daystar quark originally attached to a solar scout but re-purposed to fit scopes with a 2” adapter 2” Baader 35nm filter on the front scope ed100mm f6 revelation Astro refractor thanks again bryan

Hi guys! here is 50min condensed into 10seconds (97 subs 30s apart) I spotted this prom brewing and thought I’d have a go at capturing it for a vid I’ve lost a lot of resolution converting into a .mov but thought I’d share it anyway Thanks for looking Bryan IMG_3379.MOV

You should be excited Andy! Brilliant job! Thanks for sharing Bryan

Thought I’d better update this image to correct its orientation This is probably a better representation of its proper place on the sun? cheers Bryan

I am on a camping holiday in wales, I brought some Astro imaging equipment and my Quark the sun has been really interesting and it’s been such a privilege to have had the time and the weather to “play” to my hearts content! Whilst looking today I saw AR 3032 traversing the limb and for a few minutes it resembled a dragon! I have captured a solar Dragon whilst on a Welsh cliff side! 😊 Thanks for looking Bryan

Thanks Michael That’s really helpful Bryan

Hi knowledgeable folks! I have recently purchased a Starizona Lf field flattener focal reducer which has a working distance of 55mm If used as advertised I should get a focal reduction of f7. I am fairly close to that 55mm and using astrometry.net I can see I have achieved f6.8 with 0.45 arc seconds per pixel instead of 0.7 which should be 0.43 arc seconds per pixel native focal length of my scope is 3048mm f10 (12” Meade lx200) The question is, do I reduce or increase the distance of the camera to the focal reducer to get the right spacing? Or am I “close enough”? Thanks in advance to anyone who can answer this Bryan

Version 2 for me has a more natural feel to my eye nice image! Thanks for sharing Bryan

Sublime!

I like all three Rodd It’s really easy to get to a stage where you think you are finished and prematurely post only to see it on another screen and realise you aren’t seeing what you thought you had posted! really nice image, and such dedication! Thanks for sharing Bryan

It is! Thanks for taking the time to comment Bryan

Thanks for the comment I truly hope there is some element of truth in that! It would be awesome to think evolution and scientific discovery could eventually allow us to exist in more than 3 dimensions! Bryan

Thanks for the comment I find this hobby sometimes puts things into a different perspective, one where it doesn't matter if I've remembered to submit a meter reading, as a poor example. We are very lucky to exist at all, let alone in this time of discovery and scientific progress and I sometimes get frustrated by the lack of awareness of our privilege Existential rant aside, thanks again for taking the time to comment Bryan

Thank you I was quite happy that I managed to squeeze some detail out of it as I was imaging at bin 2x2 with an Atik 460 (6mp) so by my reckoning around 1.5 mp? thanks again for the comment Bryan

Thanks for the comment! I was hoping they would be in one of the outer spiral arms, close to the edge (a bit like us) where it’s quiet enough for life to have a chance to evolve, 😊 Bryan

Here is one of this seasons galaxy pix Whilst imaging this I got to wondering if someone on a distant planet in that galaxy was taking images of the Milky Way? Then I fantasised they might be taking an image that would include me taking an image of them? Then the maths kicked in and I realised if the said extra terrestrial was to image the milkyway including my timeline it will take the light emitted by our sun around 38million years to reach them! I suddenly felt mortal and insignificant! ah well. here is my insignificant image of NGC 4565 The needle galaxy in Coma Berenices Thanks for looking Bryan

Beautiful image Adam! Are you happy with the 2600? cheers Bryan