WestCoastCannuck

Agreed on phase! It was lovely viewing out my way!! I kept up with my DSLR for a few years before I finally made the switch. hehe Astro cams are fun though! (and quite the time hog for processing) Clear skies! Mike

In spite of forecast rain, it was clear when I looked out the window at 3:30 AM. Got up, and got to work. Great visual... and OK imaging. Seeing was only fair.... and I only JUST managed to image this one set before too many clouds rolled in. Sadly, I overexposed and blew out Byrgius and area, but I still rather like it. My colour is getting better to my eyes at least. Clear skies! Mike 140 F7 @ F14, QHY5III485C. 11 panels.

Some outstanding detail in there Roy! Especially given the conditions.... you can see a couple of the panels had bad seeing..... an often seen thing in my own work. The damn seeing won't stay still! haha Really well done in my book. The sharp sections are quite something! I did almost the exact same phase with my 140 in the wee hours. :)))))) You can really see the 9.25 pull ahead in the detail..... mine coming shortly. Clear skies Mike

Thanks much Jim! Hoping for another chance on these coming phases. Clear skies! Mike

Thanks Luke!! May the force be with you! 😎

Thanks guys! :)))))

Crazy.... two busy weekends in a row. Was 2019 last time I got so many sessions in this kind of time frame. No complaints! :)))) Now... just need to fine tune my C11. All three mosaics shot with my APM 140. QHY5iii485C for 6 and 7, and ZWO183MM for 8th. Managed one half decent closeup of Clavius with C11 and ZWO 290mm on 7th. October 6th. 50% Waning. APM 140/7 @ F16.8 - QHY5iii 485C - 7581 X 4518 pixels - 7 panels. October 7th, 40% Waning, APM 140/7 @ F16.8 - QHY5iii 485C - 4448 X 7690 pixels, 8 panels Clavius and area, C11 + 290mm + 685nm upscaled to F13. 1214 X 2482 pixels. 750 of 7500 frames. October 8th, 32% Waning, APM 140/7 @ F12, ZWO 183MM + 520nm filter - 3836 X 6142 - 2 pc mosaic Clear skies! Hope all are getting quality sky time! :))) Best regards Mike

Thanks again! I look forward to giving it a try! 🙂 Best regards, Mike

I will! Thanks! I have not used Registax since I first started out imaging about 6 years ago (I didn't like it) ... will have to download it again. But I will give it a go the next time I image. (Set all to default, deal with it in Registax).... I can do this to a stacked file in Registax? Or must it be the video? Thanks much Sunshine!! :))))) Very best regards Mike

Thanks much Hawksmoor! :)))

Thanks much Craig! I like the colour one better as well actually - even though the colour itself is not great. haha Also, to my eyes the colour shot actually has more detail in some areas in spite of its less contrast. This is also what I thought in capture. The seeing was just better - It was easier to get focus on Friday in spite of having less contrast to work with. Cool you have the same cam! You are the only other person I know with one. I really like it in spite of my issues with it on the moon. (not the cameras fault). Its not speedy no.... but a steady 44fps at 9MP is not bad. I really look forward to seeing your lunar work with it! Mike

Thanks much for your comment Onikkinen! My APM 140 never disappoints... best scope purchase I have ever made. As a doublet, its surprisingly easy on the back for handling given its size, and the views are fabulous to my eyes. I expect I will have it until I can't lift it anymore. And yes.... Lunar colour capture from a One shot is EXTREMELY finicky. Especially for those like me who don't have much in the way of photoshop type skillz. I get good colour on Jupiter... no problem. Reason being, there is already lots of colour present you can actually see IN capture. For me though... balancing the colour channels on the moon is so far impossible. When I DO balance the Histograms in CAPTURE, the end result is overwhelmingly purple so obviously ANYTHING BUT balanced. This can't be seen until opening the captured file. For the above shot, I tried just using the same colour channel settings in Firecapture as I did for my successful Jupiter shots. It was better - as in NOT overwhelming purple, but instead a less strong but definite RED hue. Unfortunately, this hue turned out to be almost as difficult to deal with - though as you can see, I got a useable image - if not great colour. I think it is something to do with my Firecapture settings, but I can't see what and I am DONE with it. lol Next thing I am going to do is learn Sharpcap Pro that I just bought. Perhaps I will have better luck with that. Once I FINALLY get a more balanced stack.... then I can move on to learning how to get the most out of a decent colour capture. Mike

The weather gods have been amenable lately. Managed two sessions in a row this weekend. Here are Friday morning's 98% and Saturday morning's 94% moons. I used my 140/7 refractor for both. Friday's was shot with a colour cam with MUCH frustration. I have put my colour attempts on the back burner again till I sort out the latest issues. Colour terrible, but details pretty good. For Saturday I went back to my tried and true mono shooting adding my usual light colour tint to end result. First up, Friday's 98% at F17, QHY5iii485C camera. 16 panels. Best 500 of 1500 frames each panel. 44 Megapixels. Version 2 below... added Oct 05, 2023 Next , Oct 1st's 94 %. 140/7 refractor at F11, 183mm camera, 520nm Narrowband filter, 9 panels, best 300 of 3000 each panel. Light colour tint added in processing. 49 Megapixels. Clear skies!! Mike

Thanks Kon! Was a nice bonus finding the transit when I set up! Mike

Was another lovely morning..... seeing did not support larger aperture, but fine for my 140! Had to get this morning in.... clouds coming.

Thanks Martyn!

Thanks much Roy! Looking good weatherwise for Friday wee hours.... I will try again if so, and put the 11 out too! I will likely try the same sort of shot again with my 140, and see what I can do with the same camera on the C11 if the seeing is good enough - time permitting. For this shot, I reduced the FOV to about 2.4mp which allowed me 7,000 frames in 90 seconds. OH... I must mention that the "balance" in exposure is completely artificial. I expose purely for Jupiter in capture. When stacking, the moons are JUST barely visible enough to put an alignment point on them. After stacking and sharpening, I open up the file in Lightroom for final tweaks and watermarking. It is there that I bring the exposure of the moons up to a nicely visible brightness. I am adding nothing to the picture, it is all captured in the same frame, but without brightening the moons they are barely visible. :)))) Clear skies!! Mike

Thanks Sunshine! I will be sure to try again soon if I get the chance! Be awesome to have a nice night with my 11. One day... :))) Mike

Thanks Stuart! Thanks Craig! I was pretty happy how well it came out. Colour was good without any extra effort, and details were he best I have got so far in my admittedly few attempts to date. :)))

Thanks knobby! 😁.

Thanks siatnite! 😀

I don't try the planets too often.... I want to more in future. I did not put my 11 inch out as I generally don't max my 140mm refractor. Seeing was good though.... shoulda put out the 11. Next time! APM 140/7 + 2.5X barlow + QHY5Ciii Cheers Mike

Thanks much Roy!

Lovely work.

Congrats on the 11! A great result in first light. Also... a similar view to one I had and shot of my first light weekend with my CPC11 a year ago! h------ttps://flic.kr/p/2oru9Y5 Clear skies Mike