Pete Presland

The close up has held up quite well though Neil

still nice and sharp, despite the seeing

Still some nice details there Steve despite the conditions

Very nice, lovely natural look to the image and animation.

Finally managed to finish the White light filter, for the C9.25. A bit of a mission, but got there in the end. I have posted a thread in the appropriate DIY section Good to get a 1st light, even thought the conditions were not the best. The filter fits well and i don't see any problems going forward. All the images are the usual set up Asi174mm, X3 Barlow, 60 seconds imaging runs, stacking 5% of the frames. Sharpened in IMPGG, then light crop and levels in CS2. No false colour again, still not sure what is best mono or pseudo colour 🙂

Posting in a couple of minutes 🙂

Forgot to mention i also i made another solar finder from an old red dot finder scope 🙂

I have been wanting to try my C9.25 SCT for white imaging for ages. I started by making a Prototype out of very thick Cardboard and masking tape in April, which delivered some superb granulation, as well as fine details in the spots While this result was very pleasing the masking tape did not feel very secure or look very long term. So a MK2 version was required. Fortunately, i was asked at work what i was doing, while i was painstakingly cutting out 2 thick cardboard discs. After explaining i was lucky enough to have a couple of CNC cut rings, perfectly round and exactly 200mm in aperture. I drilled six 6mm diameter holes for the nylon fixing bolts that i planned to use to hold the filter in place on the scope. The two rings were then sprayed with several coats white satin paint. The Baader film was then fixed in position with masking tape, then both discs glued together with PVA glue. The nylon screws were then fitted in position. All seemed pretty secure when i tried it on the scope, but i could not leave it at that. I decided to put some shrink tubing on each nylon thread to give the filter more "grip" when in position on the scope. Unfortunately "DISASTER" not only did the film look really stretched due to the heat gun used to shrink the tubing, but i could see damage to the surface of it. Gutted!!! £28 down the drain and all that work. So i ordered another piece of Baader film, talked nicely to my colleague and....... Enter the MK3 version which i have posted the pictures of in this thread. A couple of differences from the lessons learned though. 1st Was not gluing the two halves together will enable me to replace the film if damaged, seems like a sensible idea 🙂 2nd Added large steel washers to the nylon fixing screws, little bit more weight feels a bit more secure. 3rd I used Air stone tubing, warmed by rubbing between my hands to help fitting, these give some purchase when fitted to the scope. Another thing to remember is the A4 sheets that are sold. They are not A4 in size, they are close but not quite, 208mm X 293mm the 2nd film measured. Not a big difference, but A4 should be 210mm X 297mm. Which did not leave much fiving room across the 200mm aperture of the filter.

Not ideal conditions, but you have to make the most of what opportunity you get. Just the Evostar120mm today, as the the filter for the C9.25 is not ready yet. Drift disc at native focal length, then 2 close ups. 1st with a x3 Barlow, 2nd with doubled up Barlow x2 and x1.8.

very nicely captured

good result again Steve, nice to see some new activity again as well. Looking forward to seeing your results with the 174mm, it is an excellent camera!

pretty especially for 73 frames, such dedication Steve deserves a decent end result

I have read similar explanations myself, they do seem to have been around for quite some time. Maybe not like the displays we see currently at times. Earliest sighting is 1885, linked to a Volcanic eruption.

It can be very tiring and frustrating. But the sight of the sky full of ethereal clouds is amazing, I will never forget the first time I saw them!!!! 🙂

According to the Spaceweather.com satellite images, the Noctilucent cloud is starting to come to life. Seems a few weeks later than year, but last did seem to be early to me. I think i saw my 1st ones on the 6thnMay last year, but all the previous years its been June. Hopefully some good displays again this year, looking forward to some more sleepless nights 🙂 e

Excellent images, some lovely Proms as well.

very nice looks like a decent size spot on its way around as well

Very nice Steve, that region is still looking good as it approaches the limb

Very nicely captured, starting to quieten down a little again

Excellent set of images, always good to see some Ca-K images especially

I think the white colour must be a good thing as well, one thing is for certain i think, the seeing needs to be very good for it to perform well at that aperture

I made the 1st one out of two pieces of cardboard, taped together with the film in-between. The aperture was a poorly cut 190mm approx. I was messing around with it at work, when a colleague ask me what i was up to? Long story short he has cut two pieces of hardboard with a perfect round aperture of 200mm. So i have been spraying them white tonight, in preparation for the film. Hopefully the white colour will stop too much warm of the filter surround. I will post a thread on here for definite showing the filter and hopefully the a decent 1st light.

Certainly is Neil. I am working on a new filter for the C9.25, made from hardboard. Hopefully a few more like it when i eventually Finnish it.

Very nicely captured

Excellent Neil, lovely details in the close up