AbsolutelyN

I noticed a brighter patch in the blue channel too .... thought I think it might be Mt Olympus looking at a map

I remember my first photo of Saturn, taken on film with eyepiece projection through a 8" VC200L .... it wasn't as good as this! Well done. 

1 minute ago, JamesF said:

As more sensitive cameras with smaller pixel sizes have become available I think those f-numbers have come down over the years.  I certainly recall that when I started getting into planetary imaging there were people quite regularly working on the high side of f/40.

James

That's interesting thanks, which camera is a the best at the moment? I've always wanted a 183MM which I suspect would double up as planetary and deep sky.

1 hour ago, morimarty said:

I think that is a cracking image. A 5x barlow should put you in the ballpark.

Thanks, I suspected I need more focal length to go forwards. I might need to save for one as just pulled the trigger on a 250PDS to get a bit more aperture, wish I could afford a C11. Might need to have a go with a 3x plus a 2x until then.  I keep seeing huge f numbers on really good images and I'm only at f/15 with the 200PDS. 

1 hour ago, MarsG76 said:

Great images.... way better than the rubbish seeing and transparency I'm experiencing here is letting me capture.

You should see the quick snap of Jupiter I just tried .... nothing more than a blob! Might try to wake around 3am again for another crack at Mars - at least that's quite high in the sky. 

12 hours ago, baggywrinkle said:

Great images and better detail than with my colour camera. I have ordered some filters.

My 224MC did a respectable job the other night and you can use an IR filter with it. I'm going to try colour again with the IR filter. 

Another version based on the best of above but I've tried to get more detail in from the IR image. Not sure if it's an improvement or not.  

4 minutes ago, CraigT82 said:

Very nice set of images, nicely done. My preference is for the top left image as that seems to be least affected by the edge rind effect, which i think is worst on the IR and is being introduced by that into the IRRGB images. 

You could try combining the IR with the RGB but masking the limb so that it brings through the detail of the IR on the disc but not the edge effect? 

Thanks. Yes that's the most natural. Processed them a bit quick before work, I'm wondering if that one is RGB and the others are IRRGB as I added IR to most. I'll have a go at re-processing later with a bit more control. 

Had another go at Mars this morning after fiddling with EQMod for an hour trying to understand what was up with it... it lost all config so was pointing at ground thinking it was on the equator. 
This time used a 120MM mini with EFW and RGB and IR filters rather than one shot colour as I've never tried mono on a planet. The 850nm IR filter really adds contrast. Seeing was not particularly good, mars was bouncing about all over but grabbed a few clips and combined into this images with 4 colour versions and 1 IR. 

Currently using a 3x televue barlow so 3000mm on 200pds. Any idea if there would there be anything to gain by adding a 2x to the 3x or switching to a 5x barlow? 

Second attempt at best image:

Oriented correctly.

Well not all OSC .... ZWO are unexpectedly releasing a ASI294MM - mono version of the 294MC. I was expecting a 2600MM so surprised with this one.

First review here:
https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/726990-zwo-asi-294-mm-pro-first-impressions-and-test-images/ 

1 minute ago, gorann said:

Thanks!

I did remove the optical window since I am using a Ha filter for the ASI1600 (as suggested by both Celestron and Baader). Why should I put it back for the ASI2600 next time I go RGB - does it have any function that you know of?

I don’t know ... I was wondering if it affects the focus position and is needed to be in place if not using a filter (ie osc). Just curious as planning to try osc on my rasa 

Another fantastic image Gorann. Wish we had as many clear skies here! Could I ask do you remove the RASA8 optical window for the 1600MM and put it back in for the 2600MC? 

14 minutes ago, CraigT82 said:

Some good info here from Martin Lewis...

https://skyinspector.co.uk/mars-edge-artefact/

Note that there will be an article on this effect in next months BAA journal (if you're a member) but I assume it will be added to Martin's website afterwards too. 

That's an excellent article, many thanks for the link

Amazing, fantastic details. I think I might have to try my mono camera and wish for more aperture. 

7 minutes ago, CraigT82 said:

Really nice work, tons of readily identifiable features to be seen there. The edge rind effect is due to diffraction apparently and is tough to deal with but you've doen a good job withe the third attempt there 

Thanks - I would have never guessed it was diffraction. I assumed it was some kind of stacking artefact or from the wavelets. Do you know if atmospheric artefacts like this can be avoided with mono camera RGB filters?  

2 hours ago, morimarty said:

I really like the colour balance definitely to my taste. You have also captured some nice surface detail too. The 8inch PDS is a great all round scope.

Thanks, it's amazing what you can get with such a modest scope, quite pleased for first attempt in years. Bit of a learning curve to process though. 

This is my first attempt at Mars in about 5 years, taken at about 3am this morning with 200PDS, 3x barlow and ZWO 224MC. 
It's stacked with AutoStakkert!3 and then I've sharpened it up in PixInsight. Does anyone have any ideas on removing (or what causes) the white arc by the polar cap? Tried a few de-ringing options but always lost too much detail when trying to remove it. Any thoughts much appreciated.
 

Third attempt merged with a de-ringed version to try to remove the white arc.

Second attempt with better colour balance:


Processed with Registax wavelets + touched up in Photoshop (removed atmospheric dispersion)

Original stack and simulated comparison

56 minutes ago, tooth_dr said:

Thanks.  Also like you are not getting many clear nights.   It was very wet on Sunday, but with forecast was to clear up in the evening. I sat up until 12 until the sky finally cleared, and with the two scopes running, 4 hours in each generates enough data to get a reasonable finished image.

I think we are in the wrong part of the world of this hobby. We had one clear night about two weeks ago - forecast 100% clear and not a cloud in sight or rain on rain radar until went to bed at 1am. 2.30 am after going to bed it rained on my scope. Luckily all ok. Now figured out how to get text messages from SGP so when it loose guide star will (hopefully) wake me. 

2 minutes ago, tomato said:

I have just set up my new RASA 8, I noticed the adapter rings have a soft backing material which would compress to some degree upon tightening, maybe half a millimetre or  so?
 

I presume you have removed the optical window as recommended by Celestron if using filters?

Yes filter removed. Image quality is acceptable, I just wish could get it exact. There are some interesting threads on Cloudy Nights about the adaptor - https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/681876-rasa-8-spacer-ring-3d-file-share/  

Look forward to seeing your images with the new RASA, it's an amazing scope. 

On 24/08/2020 at 09:14, Whirlwind said:

That's the wrong way round.  1/3 of the filter thickness adds to the telescope's optical backfocus or subtracts from the camera's optical distance of the camera setup.  So in your example your camera's optical backfocus would be 19.5 + 6.5 - (1/3)*2 = 25.33mm.

You might want to check that the adapters are well seated and not protruding by a mm or so

Brilliant thank you -  easy to get this wrong or confused 

Stunning and I really like the colours. However I don't know where on earth you are finding your clear skies .... been hopeless here recently. 

I've been looking at the backfocus distance for my RASA 8 + filter draw + 1600MM and seems to be concluding that my camera back-focus is too much. Would anyone be-able to sense check this for me? 

Rasa backfocus from the M42 adaptor is 25mm.

I have Starizona filter draw which is 19.5mm
Then the 1600MM which is 6.5mm

That's already 26mm so 1mm over.

Then I have filters - 2" Baader which are 2mm thick so I think that adds roughly 1mm more bringing it to 27mm.

My HA (Baader f/2) filter gets nice stars. The RGB ones are 'reasonable' but not perfect. 

Am I right that they are not perfect because the spacing is 1mm to 2mm too much? 

Any thoughts appreciated.
 

Excellent image. I'm interested in APT but find the user interface a bit daunting. Can I ask which tutorials you used? 

Perhaps I got lb and kg mixed up. 17kg is not that bad. 

Indeed. I was very tempted to this as not too far away at all but googling the scope specs sounds like it's in region of a 35kg OTA which is just too heavy for my mounts. Will make someone a very nice scope if they have a capable mount.