geoflewis

Thanks Neil, I look forward to seeing those results. Good luck with the new rig.

Thanks and yes, a few non astronomy folks who I've showed some of the images, were borderline disbelieving that I captured them from my back yard.

Thanks Avani, I was trying to demonstrate Mars getting closer, then fading into the distance. I had seen other similar presentations, so not entirely my own creation. Nike is well known in UK, but if that is the reason it was discarded, then that is crazy indeed....!!

Thanks Avani. For us in the northern hemisphere Mars is either small when high altitude like this apparition, or low down when at it's largest as in 2018. In 2020 it was a bit of both with Mars reacing 40° elevation from the UK. For you in the southern hemisphere it is the opposite, Mars is at it's largest when also at it's highest elevation.

Thanks Gordon, I'm pleased that you like it and appreciate your generous comments..

Thanks Kostas, I kept going, but it became increasingly difficult in what was often either poor seeing, windy conditions or both. I actually got one more, possibly slightly better Mars a few days later on 23 February, which was the final image in the montage posted separately. Here is the image for anyone interested...

Thanks Kostas, I think we all had a lot of fun with Mars this apparition, with it riding nice and high. I’ve now got my QSI CCD camera on the C14 for galaxy season, but there’s nothing but cloud currently. I have considered having a go at Venus, but I don’t have a UV filter and really want to focus on galaxies the next couple of months. I’m looking forward to a higher altitude Jupiter later in 2023; it’s been a long wait for it to gain a decent elevation as seen from the UK, so hopefully we’ll be able to capture some decent data.

Thanks everyone, your feedback is very much appreciated.

Thanks Stuart, yes, many mostly fun hours and quite a few of those resizing the captured images the last couple of days, so that I could accurately display the changing relative apparent diameters. I didn’t consider that when changing amplification, capture ROI, etc., and different display resolution during processing. Fortunately, WinJupos came to the rescue allowing me to convert the images to a consistent arcsec/px scale. It certainly had me scratching my head for a while….. 🤔

Thanks Carole

Thanks everyone, it's the first time I dedicated such a long period to a single target, so it was good to compile a fairly complete record of this apparition. With Mars riding so high from the UK this apparition, I felt that it was too good an opportunity to pass up.

Thanks Craig, yes I posted a Mars map a couple of months ago.... Yes, there had been a major dust storm prior to me starting my series, but I did catch the last knockings of it.

Here is a montage of some of the images that I captured during the 2022/23 apparition of Mars. The images have been sized to accurately display their relative apparent size and phase. I was a bit late starting on 18 Oct 2022, with the last image centre right captured 23 Feb 2023. The centre image was captured when Mars was close to maximum apparent diameter of 17.2 arcsecs, whereas by 23 Feb 2023, it was half that size and looks even smaller due to it's shrinking phase. There are 2 versions, the 2nd being annotated with the dates of each capture. Thanks for looking.

Some lovely aurora pics here. I didn’t check on 26th, but popped out locally (near Tacolneston Mast) and captured this weak aurora at around 10pm. 10s handheld exposure with iPhone 13.

Lovely capture Stu, unfortunately I'm totally clouded out here....

Sorry for being so late to this one - really good details there and an excellent annimation.

Well done, I too am finding Mars a difficult subject to image now at <9" apparent diameter....

Very nice result Kostas. I've done very little Venus imaging, never had the gear for it, plus it's difficult to access from my observatory early evening due to neighbour's trees, though one of then fell down a couple of years ago so things might be btter this apparion. I don't have any UV filter, so that is on my want list, but whether I get it is another matter.....

I've continued to check in on Mars, which is now getting quite small. At just 8.8" it is now only slightly more than half the apparent diamter that it was some two and a half months ago at opposition, but some of the larger details are still coming through.

Superb individual images and mosaic Dan

I've used a push style golf bag trolley to transport my C14, using the trolley straps, plus some extra bungee straps to hold the OTA it in place. The broad wheels handle rough ground well if moving over a field, etc. and pushing is easier than pulling and easier to keep an eye on the load. I still needed to take it easy, i.e. slow pace, but it's doable.....

Ok, now I understand what you mean. I think I'd use that slot for something more useful.

Not sure what you mean by 'keep things parfocal', i.e. what is a clear filter parfocal with? Personally I wouldn't use the camera without any filter though, at least I can't think of any time when I would do that.

The Astronomic L2 is an IR/UV cut filter, essentially all luminace filers cut IR+UV, that's what they do. Check the specs on the Astronomic website - L2 is the general purpose one of the 3 versions, L3 the most agressive cut filter.... https://www.astronomik.com/en/uv-und-ir-block-filter/luminance-filter-l-1-l-2-l-3.html FWIW I use the old Astonomik Type 2 Lum as my UV/IR cut for planetary imaging.

Do these links to PHD2 documentation about calibration help...? https://openphdguiding.org/man/Basic_use.htm#Automatic_Calibration https://openphdguiding.org/man/Tools.htm#Calibration_Details