Space Cowboy

Think  I prefer this version using 1.5x drizzle and combining 2 stacks in winjupos.

5 hours ago, si@nite said:

Not lost your touch very nice & as always nicely processed too, keep up the good work Stuart!

Cheers Simon, it's nice to have a planet at a decent elevation again after all these years 😉

9 hours ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

Wow! ... i think those images are fantastic and a wonderful example of not over processing and over sharpening ,  ( not that i am an expert on imaging) . 

Nice . 

Thanks! 

This could be the best one taken at 4.14 ut :

1 hour ago, morimarty said:

They are superb images Stuart. They have a great colour balance lots of contrast and plenty of detail showing not over sharpened too. A brilliant first outing of the season.

Cheers! I like to go for the natural look. Like peeling a ripe orange the fruit should emerge without too much force if seeing is good. 😉

1 hour ago, Kon said:

Very nice images and colour balance Stuart. It seems both the mirror cleaning and the new camera are performing nicely. I assume you will be stacking a few images later on.

Seeing was fantastic this morning. I have loads of captures to go through later tonight.

Thanks Kostas. It was similar to June on Venus at least 8/10 for stability.

Yes I'll be sorting the wheat from the chaff later and using winjupos on a few stacks.

Look forward to seeing your images! Let's hope we get this seeing at opposition!

After taking notice of the fawlty forecast (met office app) and not going out the previous morning I was determined to try today and had success!

First Jupiter of the season and first time with the QHY 585c. Washed the primary at the weekend for the first time for over 10 years so was keen to see if I'd put everything togather properly.

Seeing was very stable and I started at 4am UT. Didn't set the ADC as I was rushing and cloud was forecast as day broke.

2 quick stacks of random shots from each end of the session (about 25 mins before it was too light).

Auto Dob 250 with QHY 585c & 2x ultima plus extension and ADC (set at neutral)

4,01 UT & 4.19 UT (2 min captures).

These are phenominal images for the UK. Cassini can be seen across the front and there is clearly a spot visible on the disk.

51 minutes ago, Kon said:

Thanks Stuart. Awful summer so far, and we do not seem to be getting a break anytime soon. Worth trying 😀.

Yes I'm kicking myself for not trying this morning. Met office showed cloud coming in so I didn't bother and you guessed the rest, crystal clear when I got up at 5.45. Didn't realize GRS was on show either 🥴😵 😡

You did well considering the poor trans. 👍

Very nice start to your planetary season Simon! Some nice banding on the disk there.

Good to see you back in the saddle!

1 hour ago, Kon said:

It seems to have been better with the derotated image but likewise I prefer registax in most cases. It seems to have less control. Worth experimenting until the good captures come.

Absolutely worth experimenting. 👍

1 hour ago, Kon said:

I was surprised 'how well' it came out. I was imaging between 345-445 but it was getting quite light. The best sequence was between 4-415  so around 40degrees. I might have another go before work tomorrow morning.

I also played with Wavesharp, it brought out more details, I think. What do you think?

You can certainly see the effect of the extra elevation even at this early stage.

I've not had much success with wavesharp to date as I find the results a bit harsh and not as natural looking as registax. It seems to remove that outer skin of the gas planet so to speak and takes away the colour vibrance.

Excellent Saturn!

Lots of detail on those Kostas! Weather looks better this coming week (it couldn't get any worse!).

What alt were you at with these? I've got Jup approaching 50 degrees at daybreak by the looks of it?

Good effort Kostas. That June seeing seems a long time ago now 🙂 Hopefully we'll get the good stuff nearer opposition 🤞

17 hours ago, si@nite said:

Very nice Stuart some decent cloud detail in those!

Cheers Simon! Good to see you back on the forum 🙂

Don't know how I missed this post. Fabulous capture Kostas! 

Those look very good considering the conditions you describe Neil. Lots of detail on Jupiter already.

How high was Jupiter Neil? That's quite remarkable for a diddy scope!

13 minutes ago, MarsG76 said:

That is SO cool... the animation of the clouds definitely makes this the best earth based imaging work of Venus I have seen in a very long time...

Thanks! The seeing was so consistent at the beginning of June. 

Nice capture! Look forward to seeing your f15 shots.

Good catch Kostas! 

47 minutes ago, neil phillips said:

Its improving. And nice to do it, with the big optics. each improvement with that, is a acid test of its metal at the moment Stuart, I am still learning about it. its quite new. I re tweaked collimation, it was off slightly off. Checked after the near disaster. Collimation looked the same. It didn't bang that much luckily. Straps might be a good idea actually, anything in mind ? cheers

Cheers 

I've never used straps but if I got a bigger DOB I'd be looking into them. Maybe even a strap that went over the shoulder and clipped onto the OTA.  Sounds good in theory 🙂

Detail showing nicely even at this early stage Neil!

Would carrier straps be any use on the OTA?