Pete Presland

15 hours ago, scitmon said:

 

Getting the target in the fov was a big challenge.  I was hoping I could attempt plate solving but quickly realised that was a non starter with the skymax's very narrow fov.  My finder wasn't aligned so I had to rely on polar aligning, slewing to target and then doing a spiral search.  This was still not straight forward, and it just took time and perseverance to get it.  Other than aligning the finder in daytime before hand, any one have any tips with this?

 

Once you have the finder aligned , use a long FL eyepiece to centre the planet.

Have the exposure setting very high, when you put the camera in to the telescope and you should see a large out of focus disc as you insert the camera.

You can then adjust position as required. The more you practice the easier it gets. Aligning the finder scope is an essential part of the scope set up, whatever you are doing.

10ms should be fine as long as the seeing is not too bad. It might be referred to as lucky imaging, but there is nothing lucky about planetary imaging.

A fine looking image Nigella

i have been using a similar time of around 9-10ms, but a histogram of 70%, i will definitely try a higher one next time out.

A fine looking image, especially considering its current position.

Nice animation, always nice to see them.

So hard to know just how good or bad the data is, then where to stop with it

Nice looking image Peter, always good to see the GRS in view

2 minutes ago, geoflewis said:

Very nice image Pete, smooth with plenty of detail coming through.

Previous effort was this and that was the not the first effort either

Good looking image, it was certainly cold on Thursday night!

15 minutes ago, geoflewis said:

Thanks Pete, that's what I keep striving for....

It is not an easy thing to achieve, every time i think i am happy with a final result i am unhappy the next time i look at it. The image i have just posted is prime example of this. 

One of the better images from Thursday 30th Nov, Jupiter & Europa with GRS just coming around the limb.

120 second SER video, stacked 20% in A/S3, resized & sharpened in Reg6. conditions better than lately, but always nice to be under the stars 🙂 C9.25,asi224mc,ADC,X1.8 Barlow

A fine end result, a very good looking image. Interesting to read about your thoughts regarding speed 10ms and having histogram up at 85%.

its a magnificent image, the processing looks very good to me. A nice balance between maintaining a natural looking image and a good level of detail. 

22 minutes ago, Barv said:

Thanks Pete. Looks like you've been busy winning prizes!  🙂

I have got some extra mugs at home for sure, been a difficult year to be honest. I have been suffering from sleep related (i think) Migraine Aura, o Astronomy has had to change a little to fit around work and getting enough sleep. Not had one now since late August, glad of the dark evenings for Astronomy at a managable time 🙂 

Superb image, the processing looks spot on.

weekend weather looking promising at the moment as well, should be well positioned by then

Looks like very large complex area of spots already

8 hours ago, geoflewis said:

Thanks Pete, I lost touch with the hobby for the best part of 30 years, due to family and work comitments, but since I retired in in 2012, work at least has been one thing I haven't had to juggle in my life...

It is a great time to be an astronomer, imaging wise anyway. The digital advances have been spectacular in recent years, does not seem 5 minutes ago i was using an Philips Toucam Pro ( + Selotape) for the planets. 

Unfortunately the unrelenting march of light pollution has killed it for many visual astronomers.

22 hours ago, PeterStudz said:

Nice image and I really like your composition.

I should make more of an effort to try  and do similar with my phone camera. After all, it’s with me most of the time!

exactly, so convenient to try and take astro-images

Looked beautiful On Saturday.

Excellent effort! 

Superb capture, really cool to such detail with a camera phone

Excellent capture, very nice level of detail visible

Even caught the Orion Nebula as well 🙂