orion25

Simply brilliant, Kon! You're using that Astromania filter to the hilt! Regards, Reggie🤩

Brilliant shot!

Apparently, Venus and Mars were not afraid of bees 😛 Images were taken using a 70-300x zoom lens/Nikon D3200 Venus Mars Cheers! Reggie 🤩

Excellent work, Stuart! I'm glad you figured out the artifact issue,. Wonderful images Regards, Reggie

Brilliant! Keep up the good work, Kon! 👍👍 Reggie

Thanks, Michael

Oh, my stars! Thanks, Nik271. T Lyrae is what I saw and imaged Friday night. Yes, it is gorgeous

It rivals R Leporis (Hind's) as my favorite carbon star. The red color really stands out!

Nice work! Brilliant! Reggie

Thanks to #PHIL53 for suggesting I check out this spectacular red giant carbon star in Lyra, not too far from the "double-double" Epsilon Lyrae. It's not visible to the naked eye and can vary in brightness from magnitude 5 to 11. Here is a prime focus shot: Cheers! Reggie

Boy, were you right, @PHIL53! T Lyrae is a striking red carbon star! I just saw (and imaged) it for the first time Friday night. Thanks for the suggestion! Regards, Reggie

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There is also evidence of red cedar structures (called "Woodhenges") built by the Mississippians to acknowledge the equinoxes and the solstices, like Stonehenge in Great Britain. Here is another informative article about the Cahokia culture, the largest Mississippian culture we know of north of Mexico: https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/march/12/cahokia.htm Regards, Reggie

Thanks for reading my post, my friend. Information about Mississippian cosmology is limited but research indicates only a basic knowledge of the cosmos, based on the four cardinal directions and movements of the sun and the moon. Seasonal factors in relation to the sun were obviously important to the Mississippians who were an agricultural people. The "Harvest" and "Hunter's" moons likely assisted them with nighttime harvesting and hunting. It is unknown if eclipses were considered significant but there is some evidence of the acknowledgment of Venus as a "morning/evening star" from iconography on gorgets (round pendants) discovered at archaeological sites. Research indicates that Mississippian astronomy was likely NOT to have been significantly influenced by Mesoamerican culture (as once thought) due to the latter's differing point of reference for the four cardinal directions and other specific cultural views of the sky, but Venus was important in Mesoamerican cosmology also. Here is an interesting read: http://rla.unc.edu/Mdvlfiles/paper/Daniel-Hartung 1981.pdf

I finally got to test out my new Antlia UV filter with my 180mm Mak/ASI 224mc imaging setup and got some pretty good results. It cost about half the price (around $200 US) of the Baader or Astrodon UV filters (around $400) and seems to show similar performance to the less expensive Astromania UV filter (part of 3 filter set: UV/IR/CH4 pass, for about $150 US). Focus can be a challenge, but you can no doubt get some cloud detail! I deactivated the debayer in Firecapture and imaged Venus in monochrome to eke out as much detail as possible. Cheers! Reggie 🤩

Wow! Brilliant images, Luke! Keep 'em comin'! Regards, Reggie

Some of the best Venus images I have ever seen! Keep up the good work, Kon Regards, Reggie

Thanks, Kon

Not baad at all! Or is it, lol (baader, that is). Beautiful image, Luke!

Wow! I see Munch's "The Scream" also! Great work!

Gr88888888 post! @Kon

Brilliant images, Kon! WOW! You're getting some great images with that Astromania UV filter; it's a pretty cracking budget alternative to the Baader and the Astrodon! Regards, Reggie

Thanks for the advice, Kon Your post was really informative and helped a lot. Thanks for sharing your experiences. I got an Antlia UV filter on the way.

I got my Astromania Planetary filter set last week and played with some imaging using my Orion 180mm Mak and ASI 224mc camera. I wasn't expecting too much because of the cheap price of the set (around $80 US for the UV, IR, and methane filters) but I was pleasantly surprised to get some good detail! This is a first image that I plan to improve upon. No ghosting, but it seems to be a bit out of focus. I have the Antlia UV filter on the way which is a bit more expensive (around $200 US), but still cheaper than the Baader or Astrodon; it has great specs and I expect good things from it. Cheers! Reggie

Wow! Thanks for sharing your experiences with this set. I just got my Astromania filters and I'm playing around with my Venus images. I got some good UV detail surprisingly with my 180mm Mak. Despite having a color cam (the ASI224mc) I didn't get the ghosting effect. I'll post the images, soon. I agree that this filter set is a good bargain to get a UV. Reggie