PatG

Thanks for the tip Charl, do you mean a focal reducer? I.e. Fitted to the nose of the camera?

Hi Charl / All I also had a try at this AR today. This was the first time using a Quark & a camera, I used an Imaging Souce camera model DBK41 AU02AS. It took ages to work out all the settings and to achieve focus, so spent most of the morning with my head under a blanket trying to see the laptop screen - So this is my first attempt at imaging in HA. Image looks a bit dark, so not sure if I underexposed it, and struggled to work out how to lighten it up, I stacked it in Registax5. Comment and suggestions appreciated. Pat

Morning Mike Thanks for the comments and feedback. It is motivating to be able to discuss these obscure but fascinating objects. I had NGC5350 down as 'just' a barred spiral so your comment about the added ring classification will give me something to read up on - you learn something new every day! Thanks also for the heads up on the Hickson thread, I will check it out, and also keep an eye out for your H 68 - good luck with the hunt. Pat

Hickson 68 from this evenings session. A fine compact cluster. Reading up on this one - This group is thought to lie on the filament of galaxies that run between the Coma cluster and the Virgo cluster and it is about 100 MLY distant. NGC5350 is classified as a Type A Seyfert galaxy so has an AGN.

Hi Bill Great capture., the bridge is definitely discernible. I had a go at Arp 104 / Keenan's System this evening. Here is my capture for comparison. Using a smaller scope a 100mm F8 refractor with circa 0.5 focal reduction and lodestar mono x 2 also - so a much wider field but no sign of the bridge! Pat

Great images Paul I grabbed a brief session looking at these sunspots at about 4pm onwards. It was my first time using a Quark Chromosphere and it took me a while to get things organised but once it had warmed up, located the Sun and achieved focus, the active regions showed some tantalising detail and also some nice activity / proms on the nearby limb. By chance - Did anyone see the satellite transit across this region at about 4.20pm? - that was a first for me and pretty cool. Looking forward to a proper session tomorrow hopefully and possibly having a go with the camera. Pat

Thank you for the feedback / advice Catburglar. Yes it’s a 200mm SCT. Now that you mention it I think I had two spacers (total 15mm) between the FR units and the camera last night which i think is different to previous configurations, albeit this was some time ago. I will reduce spacing and lower FR. The comment about tilt is also a potential weak point. I do have a single screw type clamp, I will swap out with a better clamp, that achieves a more uniform compression - Thanks once again, really helpful. Pat

A poor attempt by comparison to the other images on this thread but, this is a capture from last night of Arp 104 / NGC 5216 & 5218 or Keenans System at circa 185 MLY. May not be much to look at but rewarding none the less!!

A selection of captures from last night. Variable success. Seem to have some distorted star shapes, particularly in on the left. Not sure of cause, maybe to do with focal reduction (using a MFR5 from Mallincam) which is fitted to the front of the camera or simply a little out of focus or a combination of both. Struggled with focus quite a bit last night. Windy gusts also contributed to the challenge. Another aspect I found difficult last night was the adjustment of histogram, in order to bring out some detail this was either making images dark round the edges or too light, images seemed to lack contract. All done with basic mean stack in starlight live. Need to gain better understanding of the stacking options. Any feedback, comments, suggestions welcome and appreciated.

thanks Malcolm. I turned it clockwise and its tightened up nicely. Panic over👍

Going to try a bit of EAA this evening. Hopefully to observe some galaxies. Its clear skies here in Somerset, although a bit windy! Going to be using a LX90 200mm SCT on a HEQ5 with a Lodestar x2 mono camera and some focal reduction. Contemplating whether to use either an Astronomik UHC or a Ha filter, or a basic IR/UV cut out. Which would you use??

IMG_1775.MOV Please see attached video to help explainIMG_1775.MOV

Thanks both. I will double check with the supplier.

Thanks Malcolm, I can freely rotate the whole focuser housing relative to the main tube, just trying to understand if it is supposed to do this?

Hi All Is the focuser housing / draw tube assembly designed to rotate within the main tube by design? No mention of this in the manual. Any feedback appreciated.

Thanks for the tips Neil

Looking for recommendations for simple to use & intuitive AVI stacking software please. Using Sharpcap to capture short AVIs but not getting on very well with Registax 6. Seem to be struggling with going through the limit and stacking processes resulting in distorted images. Suggestions appreciated.

Quick image of Sunspot 2965 from this morning. Very rusty as this was a first attempt at solar for quite a few years. Using an Imaging Source DBK41AU02AS camera on a FC100DZ with Hershel wedge. Captured half a dozen AVI in Sharpcap but could only get one of those AVI to stack in Registax, so not sure what im doing wrong there - any tips on camera settings / processing workflows welcome.

Thanks Stu, good to hear!!

Thanks for the feedback guys. Good to hear this is an effective combination. I have a Lunt 2” Hershel wedge so plan to give it a try this weekend as the weather looks promising… Mark - I see from your photos that you have a solar filter in front of the objective, is this necessary with a quark? What make is it? - Im keen to understand if there are any concerns using the Tak FC100DZ for solar, mindful that it is a premium scope and don’t want to damage it in any way.

Is anyone using either of these combinations? How does it perform? Be interested to hear any feedback / suggestions / advise.

Hi Tony Thanks for the feedback, its good to be able to do some EAA again. I just love the fact that it allows one to observe DSO that would otherwise be out of the reach of the visual observer, particularly when faced with severe LP. This evening I was using a 100mm refractor at F8 on a G11 mount with a Lodestar Mono X2 camera and using Starlight Live software on Windows 10. Its the first time I have tried this configuration for EAA, but it seemed to work OK. It was only a brief session. I started off trying to use Sharpcap but it kept crashing and Im not familiar with it so switched to SLL. I've not done darks and flats before but at some point I will give that a go. Fingers crossed for some more clear nights. Pat

Thanks Martin, I did wonder if they were hot pixels.

Hi All Here are a few captures from this evening. A bit rusty as it has been a few years since I last did some EAA. I started off the evening with some visual astronomy, mainly in and around Gemini and Eastern side of Orion as restricted field of view from my back garden. Mainly looking at double stars and the brighter clusters. As everything was working well, and alignment seemed OK, so after an hour or so, I slewed to Betelgeuse and swapped the eyepiece for the Lodestar Mono x2, and connected up to laptop in doors running starlight live. A quick manual focus looking at the laptop screen through the kitchen door and I was good to go! These are the results: M1 - The Crab Nebula NGC 2403 Galaxy in Camelopardalis M81 - Bodes M82 - Cigar How wonderful to be able to see stuff like this through the light pollution of Central London! Only a brief session as work tomorrow but I got my fix.

By coincidence I captured NCG2403 this evening. What a lovely galaxy. My attempt is a poor cousin to the images above but this was my first evening on EAA for several years so good to get back in the saddle! Not sure what's causing the seagull shaped star trails - any ideas? Pat