Swoop1

Very nice images Neil. Detail is popping out very clearly. The rille and cataena in the first image followed by the tiny (to the eye) craterlets on the mare surfaces in subsequent frames is something for others to aim for.

@jamiejet- You could try an Omegon Minitrack clockwork tracking mount on top of a standard photography tripod- https://www.omegon.eu/?q=minitrack I have an a6300 which I occasionally use for planetary and wide field imaging and my Minitrack does an OK job.

Thanks for the lesson Ags! Another applicant for inclusion as a Ceresophile.

Hello everyone, my name is Matt and I'm a Lunatic. Great find Marvin!

Gorgeous little lass Mike! Are they Fruit Loops on the tray in image one? No. 2 Son loved Fruit Loops as a sprog during holidays to The States.

Recessing will give you a tad more room and sometimes a tad makes all the difference.

Nice set of images Roy. I like the first one because it is reminicent of the sort of views seen in Apollo footage during TEI burns etc- the Command Module skimming a bare few miles above the surface as it makes its way home. The last one I like because the Mare Imbrium/ Montes Alps region is one of my favourites. The rest are enjoyable as well for various reasons. I like the way some of the small crater chains look like footprints of birds scurrying accross wetland mud.

Thanks @Pondus

Thanks @Moonshed

C6 SCT/ HEQ5PRO/ ASI290MC. Best 40% of 2000 frames, stacked in Autostakkert! and levels tweaked in GIMP.

As someone who struggles with Deep Sky imaging, in my opinion, there ain't nothing wrong with that image Nick. Yes the trapezium is blown out but you have teased some pleasant detail from the surrounding nebula. With data you capture later using shorter exposures to capture trapezium detail, layering with the nebula detail from this will look really good.

@michael8554- This is a sporadice issue that has appeared before. Other video runs from the same evening are fine. I will look into the manual frame rejection and see what I can come up with. @Enceladus Dan I don't think it is drift causing staking artefacts- the frame was almost exactly the same start to finish. I did used to get wandering mount issues but I have returned to using the handset that came with the mount as opposed to Cartes du Ciel/ Green Swamp Server which were the GoTo programmes I used when the mount would decide to do its own thing.

Where is the obligatory cat/ dog/ child footprint?

I enjoy many different facets of our pastime but, err towards imaging more than visual at the moment. I have however, found Deep Sky very frustrating- not skilful enough at post processing to get results I am even close to happy with. More recently I have been doing quite a bit of Lunar imaging and, I find myself relaxed and content- get home from work, grab dinner, head outside and set up and have an hour or so capturing data. Leisurely processing in the following days and getting results that, though nowhere near as good as some on here (@astroavani I'm coming for you! 😉) I am quite content with what I am producing. Lunar imaging has been declared my bag for now.

I used to use GS Server/ Cartes du Ciel and slew/ track that way but found my mount had a habit of wandering off target. I have recently returned to the Syscan handset- go through the initialisation, select Moon, once slewing has finished, refine with the Syscan controls and all is then good. From switching on to data capture- 5 minutes or so.

C6 SCT on HEQ5PRO. ASI290MC. best 40% of 2000 frames stacked in Autostakkert! no other processing apart from a slight crop to remove rough edges

ASI290MC 2000 frames captured via ASICAP. 40% stack in Autostakkert! Thanks in advance. Matt.

2 pane mosaic of the area, each pane a 40% stack of 2000 frames via Autostakkert! and stitched in ICE

Your images put my deep sky efforts to shame Frenchy- well done! As you say, the results make the work of installing your pier worth it.

I'm not certain but I spy a crutch in the images. If tezz has mobility challenges, DIY for some of the suggestions may be more than tezz would want to attempt? Sorry if I'm off base tezz. Very nice obsy BTW though I'm a bit distressed they didn't put their sliipers on to prevent muddying the floor😉

Decided to try adding the glass element from my basic X2 Barlow to the nosepiece on my Sony a6300 adapter tonight and did a single frame grab sequence of tonight's moon. Here is the result stacked in ICE with no further processing

Nice Sean- I like being able to see skies from different locations to mine. My favourite allows stargazing during the day from here- Subaru Telescope webcam on Mauna Kea, Big Island, Hawaii

A micro Astrocaravan? Can't wait to see the build thread for that baby!

Welcome from a Kent exile (Aylesford)

Got hold of an ICE download. product below-