Space Cowboy

Thats brilliant! Raining here in Cheshire once again but great to see the "manual magician" pull another rabbit out of the hat! 👍

Nice start Ian. You've got a terrific scope there! Autostakkert is much better than registax for stacking. Here is an excellent planetary imaging guide to read through showing each step and all the best software to use : https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/812022-planetary-imaging-faq-updated-january-2023/

Great image for only your second go at planetary imaging! Just give your secondary a quick blast with a hair dryer. I have a flextube DOB and don't bother with dew heaters. Though you probably will need a shroud for the primary as my OTA is only partially open.

Looking good! As a northerner I'm also happier with the orientation 😉

I guess Geof avoided the curse by not imaging Venus in June 🤣

Yes I think undersampling is the way to go for sure 😎 The seeing Gods are wreaking their revenge as I feared 😱

Fantastic detail Geof! That colour shot with the moons is an absolute beauty!

Remarkable achievement capturing that detail in last nights poor seeing with an 8" scope without tracking! Bravo Kotas!

Terrific capture Geof! You are certainly producing the goods at the moment! 👍

Seeing was rubbish last night but I've found an image scale that works well for the conditions. 🤪

Those have come out very well! Yet to try my QHY ir850 on Jupiter 🙂

Taken 11.22 UT- 12.41 Oct 27-28th 2023. 10" Flextube Auto track Dobsonian + QHY585c & ADC+2x Barlow+extension tube giving f14.5. Twenty nine 2 min captures using Firecapture. Autostakkert-Wavesharp-Image Analyser and animation generated in PIPP.

You know what they say, it's the taking part that counts 🙂

The best Craig can do is read that cloudy nights planetary imaging guide compiled by the best imagers from around the globe rather than be side tracked by individuals with "alternative" ideas.

Nicely captured Pete. 5% stack sounds a bit stingy in reasonable conditions? 🙂

These images don't prove anything. I've seen far more detailed results with a C11 scope at 5x pixel scale. You are selling yourself short imaging at that focal length. Theory is all very well but in practise more detail is gained by using the longer fl, especially when focusing which needs to be tweaked every few mins to adjust for any temperature , atmospheric or elevation change.

I use IA without any plugins.

The vast majority of planetary imagers focus on the planet not a near by star. Atmospherics, temperature and elevation change effects focus. Bmasks are of no use. The considered ideal focal length is 5x pixel size. An ADC will not work to it's best if undersampling the image. Here is a great source of info on planetary imaging : https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/812022-planetary-imaging-faq-updated-january-2023/#entry12404914

Image Analyser is a free image editing program : http://meesoft.com/Analyzer/index.htm One of its best tools is frequency domain filter which removes noise without blurring or smearing. Hope you don't mind but I've put one of your images throught IA and removed some noise with FDF. Also auto adjusted white balance and removed colour noise. Gives you an idea of what can be done In IA.

Terrific images again Geof! I prefer the processing on these. Much cleaner with more natural colour balance.

Terrific result Kostas! That dual speed focuser must be paying dividends!

That looks a very good image! There is some pixelation which is spoiling the detail especially around the GRS. Possibly something in the processing has caused this. I would try stacking more frames. 800 is not many.You need to stack at least 10% preferably 25%.

Looks like you have good data there but they are very noisy. Have you tried frequently domain filter in Image analyser? To be honest I think you would achieve better results using wavelet sharpening in Registax or Astrosurface where noise is more easily controlled.

Great to see you back Neil! Very nice capture straight off the bat! Io poles showing clearly.

Absolutely! I never take any notice of seeing charts. It only takes a couple of mins clear sky to catch a beauty! Unfortunately I tend to sit tight when there's rain hammering against the windows 🥴