WestCoastCannuck

14 hours ago, Alkaid said:

Fantastic image!  😃

Thanks Steve!  :)))

Mike   

15 hours ago, Kon said:

Stunning details. It's like flying over the moon.

5 hours ago, Altocumulus said:

Absolutely gorgeous detail...

Thanks much to you both!   Very appreciated!

Mike 🙂

From Oct 15th, 2022...  first light weekend with my CPC1100. For whatever reason,  I had not tried putting these images together till now. So glad I did. Was pretty good seeing and the view is very nice!  

Lots to see here starting with the dramatic 365km long Serpentine Ridge running down the from the upper right.  It is part of the 620km diameter inner ring of the Serenitatis Basin.  You can see the wall of Posidonius at the edge of light, top right.  The Serpentine Ridge system rolls right down into the Plinius Rilles,  then Plinius Crater itself with its the dramatic low lighting showing off its high walls and ejecta.  A feature of interest in this view just to the east, seemingly floating in space is the heights of Mons Argaeus, a mountainous massif 65km long. The summit is approximately 2560 meters above the plain of Mare Serenitatis. (wikipedia) Directly south of the Serpentine Ridge is another favourite ridge system known as Lamont - a ring shape with ridges extending out around it.  

To the west of Lamont you can see Rima Ariadaeus, what looks a bit like a broken, straight road then another favourite of mine, the Amoeba shaped Rima Hyginus.  There are many, many more small features here to find with a Moon Atlas!

Hope you enjoy.

Mike

Clear skies to all!  (Seems a rare thing for quite a while now. ;(  )

Mike

😎

Wonderful.  In addition to the epic terrestrial captures,  your posts are very interesting and informative to read on our favourite topic of the moon!   Always learn something.

Best regards

Mike

On 11/02/2023 at 19:12, astroavani said:

Excellent mosaic, I did not notice flaws. Very good overall tone without exaggeration, as expected the resolution leaves a little to be desired due to the smaller aperture, in this the C11 would be killer but as you said, we have to respect the seeing.
As I only have C14 most of the time I do everything I can to dodge the seeing.
One question: Have you tried using a 685 IR pass filter with the C11?
This will help you a lot to dodge the seeing and although you lose a little resolution in relation to RGB, the difference in aperture from the C11 to the 140mm can compensate.
Just making a mosaic with C11 will be a lot more work, although the result will be excellent.

Thanks so much for your kind comments Avani!   I am well pleased with this image.   If only I had had the C11 out longer to acclimate properly,  I believe the results may have been very good.   Unfortunately,  the clear sky was a surprise and I was unprepared.   I had to close up session before C11 was properly ready.    In spite of the thermal issues  I DID get one half decent image,  much to my surprise given the data  (I was not even going to try processing the video looked so bad!)

I have only had the C11 since October,  and in that time I have only managed three nights with it.  (Clouds and more clouds!)   I indeed used the Baader 685nm on all my imaging attempts.  (290MM camera).   Results not too bad,  but looking forward to better sky!   Also have 742nm Astronomik  and 807nm Astronomik.    Need a good LONG session to experiment.   Hopefully soon!

Very best regards

Mike

From same night as above, with scope not properly acclimated.    Two piece mosaic.  C11 at prime.  290MM and 685nm.

Setup of the night.....

1 hour ago, Swoop1 said:

Thanks for your critique Mike- any input on my images is welcome. 

I intend to get a pass filter at some stage but first want to concentrate on getting my basics right- framing and focus.

How do I balance the RGB during capture?

Matt

Hey Matt!  You are very welcome.  :))

THE only filter you need is the IR/UV cut.   

Basics are key for sure!   I wish I could help you with getting your tracking better.....  but alas I only have simpler Alt/Az mounts.  

Balancing your RGB in capture depends on the software.   Which capture software do you use?

Mike

Heya Swoop.   Nice clean details caught here.   I use ICE myself,  and would be lost without it.   I expect a copy of it can be found somewhere!   Best of luck.

Though unasked for,  I will assume you won't mind some suggestions.   My apologies if that is not the case.    

On colour,  with the 290MC you will benefit from an IR/UV cut filter.    I just use a cheap Svbony myself - was all of $20 I think - their filters seem pretty good to me (I also have Baader and Astronomik) .  Next thing is to balance the RGB channels during capture.   In Firecapture you have to enable the sliders,  not sure with Sharpcap - but its there as well.   During stacking in AS!3 make sure "RGB Align" is checked.  If you do these things,  you will have a much easier image to work with to obtain nice colour.    And....  that is pretty much the end of my limited colour knowledge.   I still have MUCH to learn myself on that.

Perhaps you are aware,  but in case not,  you could add a 1.5X barlow to your setup (if the seeing supports) to aim for critical sampling of your scope/camera and a closer look at things.

I look forward to more!

Clear skies!

Mike

Very nice image with tightly packed and clean detail.   A wonderful area!   I quite like it just as you have done it.

Mike

I am probably the LAST person to offer advice on colour work....  but in this case I can I think.   Your colour looks much like my early efforts.   (I am still struggling,  but getting there) 

What I did manage to vastly improve it was to balance the colour channels during capture in Firecapture.    You have to find it in the settings to enable the sliders.    I assume that sharpcap is much the same (also assuming you use one or the other).   F20 is good for your camera and scope combo.   :))))))

Good efforts!

Mike

For whatever reason,  I have had few opportunities to go for this view.    As you say, right on the edge like this the light is very fleeting!   Must have all ducks in a row to capture well.   You got some great detail here.

Clear skies!

Mike

As I mentioned already elsewhere......  a truly stunning work and a view of this often imaged target I have not seen in such a way.  Fabulous.   Thanks so much for dropping by and sharing here in my favourite forum!!

Mike

On 06/02/2023 at 09:17, Trevor N said:

Lovely image Mike. It’s very smooth but detailed and realistic looking. For some reason I’ve always shot in mono and never thought of using the colour camera on the moon. It’s encouraged me to have a go. ! Trevor 

Thanks Trevor!   I had not thought about colour myself till recently after seeing some very striking images from others - just another avenue of exploration in our wonderful world of imaging!   Still have much to improve - need more practice!  (that is....  more clear nights *sigh*

Wonderful to connect again with you!

Clear skies

Mike

Hey Trevor!   I had that EXACT same scope!  My first!!   Its a lovely scope,  and I found the single speed focuser to be super smooth and easy to get focus.   I thought of picking up another one for my grab and go setup,  but went with the smaller 102ED.   The 100/9 gives slightly better views I think - but a bit longer than I wanted.

Nice shots,   especially the last.

Hope you are well my friend!

Clear skies!

Mike

Here is my old 100ED (first scope)...  with my old C8 (first reflector).   

Just now, Andy ES said:

Mike

That looks great, did you make it or buy it from somewhere? 

Cheers 

Hey Andy.  It's a JMI Medium Heavy Duty Wheely with 5 inch wheels.   Perfect for CPC1100.  When set up Correctly and the provided silly excuse for feet are replaced, it's solid as a rock.

7 hours ago, CraigT82 said:

That’s a real beauty Mike, what a superb tool that big frac is… is there really that little CA on the limb or do you process it out? 
 

The colour for me is spot on, this looks so much more ‘lifelike’ to me than mono images. 

Thanks much Craig!!   Yes,  I have gone through many scopes in my lunar obsession and the APM 140  is still the best of them really with its sharp and well corrected FPL 53 doublet optics - not the equal of better triplets of course for colour aberrations,  but plenty good enough for me!   In the seeing I usually have,  it often matches what I can get with 8 inches and almost ALWAYS can turn out something nice, even in not great seeing.  haha   This night was another where it shined,  and larger aperture did not seem to give more.

And yes,   I can happily report that I did ZERO CA removal on this image.   Limb was as you see it here  - pretty clean.   It gets rather obvious at some crater rims when blown up 200 or 300% -  annoying to me,  but really hardly anything and not in-your-face  at the already huge 100% size.    I guess the lack of CA must also be a credit to whatever coatings are on the 1.5X barlow I used - a Seibert Optics 1.5X "Telecentric" barlow. 

I really like the colour too,  yet I am sure it can be improved a lot without it being too much.    I suck at dealing with colour in spite of being a serious hobby photographer for many decades.   I know approximately what I have to learn and I am looking into it.    I did at least ONE thing right here though - I got all my colour levels (RGB) aligned IN capture while shooting.   I did almost nothing to arrive at this colour - just a little playing with saturation.   Colour temp is as captured.  :)))

I expect that in the future,  on good nights when I have the time (and opportunity) my work will be a colour mosaic with the 140,  hopefully some more colour closeups with the C11,  and then some targeted maximum hi rez mono attempts with my 290MM.    

Here was my setup from that night - pretty fast to get going and likely my usual from now on.   (Have the CPC on a roll out now to save my back)

Clear skies!!

Mike

4 hours ago, Kon said:

Excellent image. The full resolution is amazing. I wonder if you could have pushed the saturation a bit more for the mineral colours to pop more. Still an excellent image.

Thanks much Kon!  I am pretty pleased with it!   Oh yes.... there is more colour to bring out,  and I likely will at some point,  but on this first result I stopped for now.   I rather like the understated colour here.

Clear skies!!

Mike

Finally got another (cold) night in.   My first decent night since October and back to crap since then.   Temp was dropping quickly  and my C11 data was garbage,  but my faithful 140mm came through.    This is the first colour image I have made that I am happy with.  Could be better....  but I am getting there.   Hope you all enjoy.    Capture details at lower right of pic.

Hope you enjoy!   C and C  most appreciated,  positive OR negative. 

Clear skies!

Mike

😎

24 minutes ago, CraigT82 said:

Very nice Mike, tough to beat sheer aperture on the moon 

Thanks Craig.  You are so right!  At least for closeups!  

1 hour ago, neil phillips said:

Loving that bottom shot Mike. You're going all low gamma on these. Or something similar

Thanks Neil!   No gamma!  Lol.  I still may have a go at  the data again though...  🙃 

3 hours ago, Mr Spock said:

Lovely set of images 👍

Thanks Spock!

1 hour ago, Chris said:

You get a sense of the powdery lunar surface looking at these, great set! 

Thanks Chris!  Mission accomplished!!

3 hours ago, ONIKKINEN said:

Looking very nice, all of them. Especially the long 3 panel mosaic looks very dramatic and imposing with this light.

Regarding RGB, the image must be well colourbalanced before attempting to pull out anything with saturation. Registax 6 auto RGB does a decent job most of the time, give it a try and see if it works out for these ones? Usually necessary to tweak a bit afterwards, but its much easier when there isnt a single overpowering hue masking the image.

Thanks much!  I will give registration a try.

Hey all.  Finally got finished (for now) my processing on my second night with the C11.   Given tracking issues I had with the C11 (working on sorting that) I am frankly THRILLED with the images.   I wish I did more with the 11 on this night - due to frustration I mistakenly gave up too early thinking I was not getting anything useable.   

I am nowhere near resolving to capability...  but resolving more than I ever did with my 8,  so I am off to a good start.  :))))

First off my 140 mosaics.  I still and likely always will love doing these.

I struggle HUGELY so far getting decent colour out of my colour cam.   Maybe I will get there one day.  Probably the answer is to just forget about it,  and layer a DSLR colour image in the mix over my mono.   Anyways,  here it is.  APM140 F7 + 2X barlow and qhy 5-iii 485c.   (8.3mp - 2.9um pixels)  It is 7 panels.   Shows slightly more resolution than the smaller scaled 183MM mosaic that follows.  Looks more mono than anything.   The alternative was purple.

Next,  my usual 2 piece mosaic with 140,  183MM, 1.5X barlow (could have ramped this up I see now) and 520nm narrowband filter.   Slight brown tone added.

And now, we move to my CPC1100 shots.   All with 290mm and 685nm bandpass filter at prime.   All images the best 600 of 10K frames.

First off...  my favourite of the night.  2 piece mosaic.  Easily my best capture of the Lamont Mare Ridges.   The Arago domes show up fabulously here too in this libration and scale.   Hyginus and Ariadaeus rilles also show well.

Next,  a 3 piece mosaic of part of the VERY busy lower terminator.    Way too many features here for me to list....  just enjoy the cruise!

Finally,  a single panel capture I am mainly sharing because it has my best Hadley down in the lower left corner.   Still,  also has a nice view of the upper area of  Mare Serenitatis and the lower portion of the Caucasus Mountains.   Valentine Dome is also visible.   

So,  I have bested my best efforts of close work with any of my other gear - past and present (C8, 180MAK, VMC200L) - on my first two nights with this bigger 11 inch instrument.  I am happy.  Now just need to fine tune and go for gold!  haha   (SEEING and sky permitting of course  LOL)

To close off....  the new double mount setup for imaging.   So far,  I am finding the beastly CPC1100 manageable.   I will no doubt be putting it on a wheeled cart at some point though as I ever rapidly approach 60 turns around the sun.

Clear skies to all!!

Mike

35 minutes ago, astrolulu said:

The last lunar landscape in this series is again a shot of the Mare Crisium. This is another photo, which I present as a comparative material, because during the processing of subsequent photos I came to the conclusion that I treated the first shot too aggressively during sharpening. I am curious about your opinion - which one is better?

 

 

Here's an earlier shot:

 

 

For my own taste,  I indeed prefer the new version with the less aggressive sharpening.   I also prefer the brighter view of the new version.

Clear skies

Mike

On 19/10/2022 at 20:58, neil phillips said:

Hi Mike seeing here recently hasn't been great. I was surprised it came out so focused. I think the scope being well cooled and collimated, really helped. Something you will want to pay a lot of attention too with your large SCT. They hold heat for quite some time. Think you can get SCT coolers. Anyway, cheers for your views. Btw i will be in the market at some point for something bigger for next year jupiter is high. I keep wondering if to try and get a secondhand SCT 11 is my max. Let us know over time what you discover about yours strengths and weaknesses. Ect. 

Cheers

Heya Neil!   I will certainly be using the C11 as much as I can and will share my adventures and thoughts about it,  the good and bad.   :)))))   I will admit to being thrilled with it so far - but I did get ridiculously lucky on weather and seeing for my first light.  haha

Great images all!   Love the mosaic!   Maybe just my monitor,  but I do find the mosaic a bit dark to my taste,  but beautiful!  Tremendous details too.  Of your mono efforts,  I am particularly taken with the last.    Wonderful contrast and punch.

Clear skies!

Mike