Hughsie

In my case I get much lower exposure times, higher fps, I can collect more frames over a short time frame with not much noise.

Hi Gav. Correct. I put the Powermate in the diagonal and the camera in the powermate. Btw, I never have the diagonal fully inside the focus tube. The tube from the B1200 diagonal is quite long so I can introduce some back focus without extension tubes. For my set up and 2.5x powermate, the diagonal is about 15-20mm pulled out. When I swap out to a 3x Barlow I pull the diagonal out more and further still with the 4x powermate. If I don’t do this then I will never achieve focus. I use SharpCap Pro for image acquisition. The Pro version allows you to stretch the image live on screen by selecting the ‘lightening bolt’ button on the histogram. I then move the mid tone line to introduce greater contrast making the image on the screen easier to see (at this point I also have a black sheet over my head to assist viewing). With the image on the screen clearer and pointing at a feature on the Sun I then use the fine control on the focuser to dial in focus. Hope this helps. John

Hi Gav. Other than the solar disc image which did not have any Barlow/powermate attached, I use a double stacked 60mm Lunt with stock Lunt B1200 diagonal. On this occasion I added a 4x TeleVue Powermate then a ZWO ASI174mm with tilt adapter. I apply unity gain for this camera of 189 and today I binned the camera 2x2. This enables me to work at low exposure settings and achieve high fps. 2,000 frames are captured and 10% stacked. I also posted earlier this week images captured with the same equipment, swapping out the 4x powermate for a 5x powermate, again with the camera binned 2x2 to reduce over-sampling and achieve low exposure/high fps. Flats are also acquired at the same gain using a crumpled old sandwich bag and lacky band!

A short observing session today which was interrupted by haze and the clouds coming in. Full solar disc as at 08:24:51 UT. There are four active regions on the disc today. Starting in the northern hemisphere we have AR13008 and AR13009. The latter is classified CAO, comprised of 6 sun spots and located at N16W27. In the southern hemisphere we have two much larger regions of activity, AR13007 and AR13006. Some prominences are also visible mainly on the western limb. AR13006 is now approaching the western limb and is pictured here close to a filament and the largest prominence on the limb today. This area of activity is comprised of 27 sun spots and is classified EAO. So far today it has been producing C class flares but it has produced an X1.5 class flare on 10th May 2022, peaking at 13.55 UT. AR13007. Now off the eastern limb this area contains 34 sun spots having increased by 14 in the last 24 hours. Classified EKC it has produced a single C class flare so far today and managed an M2.2 class flare yesterday peaking at 19:31 UT. AR13008 is smaller in comparison having only 5 sun spots at this time, however, it is growing in size having added a further two sun spots in the last 24 hours. Classified CRO it has yet to produce any flares. All the best, John

Hi Roy. The double stack provides a lot more contrast hence more detail compared to a single stack. When processing I try to enhance that further typically using the unsharp mask tool at different pixel sizes. Also, I very rarely colour my images as I feel it hides detail, though I continue to experiment with colour offline with my images.

Please find below a selection of images of our Sun captured on 9th May 2022. Descriptions and equipment used as listed in the border of each one. Thank you for taking a look. All the best, John

Beautiful hi-res imaging

Your a brave man Steve. I’m nearby just north of Colchester and even the ducks are looking for shelter from the rain. Well done for hanging in there and grabbing some nice white light images.

Please find below a selection of images captured on this day showing the activity on our Sun. Most of the activity today was located on the southern hemisphere with only a few filaments and a filaprom visible in the north. Here we can see active regions (L-R) AR13006, AR13004 and AR13001 plus some fine filaments. Centred in the image is AR13001 with some lovely filaments surrounding this single sun spot. This region of activity is classified Hsx. Here we have AR13006 just coming off the eastern limb. Classified Cao, AR13006 is comprised of 8 sun spots and is actively producing flares. A total of 7 flares occurred today the largest being C3.3. As this image was being captured a C1.7 flare erupted peaking at 10.24 UT. Moving back west we have AR13004 centred in the image. This consists of 25 sun spots and is classified Dkc. Since emerging, AR13004 has also been active, producing 5 flares today and on 3rd May 2022 a whopping X1.1 class flare. Returning to AR13006 this time with a standard greyscale image revealing the bright region around the sun spots. Heading up to the northern hemisphere we have two nice prominences on the north and north west limb plus a filaprom. Back south we have some nice prominences on the south east limb and a long filament on the solar disc. Thank you for dropping by and have a great weekend. John

Below are a selection of images of our Sun captured on 30th April 2022. The solar disc. It appears relatively quiet compared to last week but we still have AR’s 12994 and 12995 (Western Limb). Worthy of note is AR12994 which has been producing some fantastic flares, including an X1.1 flare later on this day. Here is a closer view of the North West limb at 09:59 UT showing a nice prominence close to AR’s 12994 and 12995. Next we have two active regions in the Southern hemisphere. AR 13001 (L) and AR 12999 (R). We can see some bright plage around 12999 and some filaments stretching between the two sun spots. A lovely pyramid prominence on the South West limb. A follow up to the image above captured at 09:59. Located towards the bottom right edge of the disc is a dark spot on the limb. This is the conclusion of the M4.8 solar flare that erupted at 09:48, peaked at 09:58 and ended at 10:06 (all times UT). The image is inverted so although the spot is black it is actually a very bright region. This next image is of the North East region of the solar disc and shows a series of filaments approaching the limb where a prominence has erupted. I don’t believe this is a filaprom, but close. Back to AR 12994. The M4.8 solar flare has passed but there is still activity in this region. Here you can see on the Western limb the arch of the solar flare which has slowly dissipated. Finally, a short time-lapse covering 10:31 UT to 11:25 UT showing the activity on the Western limb near AR 12994 after the M4.8 solar flare. It’s a little jerky as some frames were removed due to passing clouds. Thank you for checking in and having a look. All the best, John

Sunday morning on 24th April was a very windy morning here that I almost didn’t bother setting up. Here is a selection of what our Sun had to offer.

Second time-lapse. This is a time-lapse of a prominence on the South West limb of the solar disc. Using the above equipment this time-lapse is made up of 107 video files spanning 500 frames each at c40fps. Each video file is separated by 30 seconds. Imaging commenced at 08:58:34 UT and finished at 10:15:25 UT. Each individual video file was stacked in AutoStakkert3! to construct 107 individual images representing 25% of the best 500 frames. These 107 images were then processed in PixInsight, aligned in ImPPG and a GIF created in PIPP.

Get an All Sky camera they said, you can capture meteors, fireballs and meteor showers they said. So I did. Last night was the peak time for the Lyrids meteor shower and unfortunately it was overcast for most of the night plus I managed to have a piece of crud land on the dome. Having said that it was a remarkable success during those brief moments when the clouds cleared (though you do need to squint to see these!). First up at 01:12:47 BST we have a meteor...hooray...no wait a minute...that’s the satellite, Noss 3-7 r. Next we have a fine entry to our atmosphere at 02:37:56 BST...No, sorry that’s Starlink 1838 on its merry way leaving Hercules and off to Vega. Awash with success, I then spotted another Lyrid meteor...oh wait, that’s another Elon, this time Starlink 1616 following in the footsteps of its cousin 1838. Finally, the last opportunity before it seriously clouded over and you guessed it, it’s our favourite Starlink satellite 1871. Take a bow sir. You can’t win them all so onwards and upwards to the next night. All the best, John

Ironically I have an angry spot facing the Sun! Lovely detail you have captured there.

I mentioned time lapses in the original post but hadn’t got around to processing any of them, however, I have just finished the first one. Here are AR12993 and AR12994 ‘in action’. This short GIF is made up of 80 individual SER files. Each SER file is made of 500 frames and the best 25% were stacked to create 80 individual images each one separated by 30 seconds. These were then thrown into PixInsight, ImPPG and PIPP to produce this little nugget.

Thank you Rob. When this weather gets more consistent you will have to pop down and take a look. All the best, John

The haze that has been present these last few weeks lifted for a second day in a row allowing a nice morning observation session. The focus was on time lapses and to give the 5x TeleVue Powermate an outing but frankly this was pushing my 60mm Lunt beyond where it should be imaging. It was fun nonetheless albeit a bit blurry. First we have the usual solar disc. A six pane mosaic using a 2.5x Powermate. Then we have active regions 12993, 12994 and 12995 through the 2.5x Powermate. Moving slightly to the East on the disc we have AR12995 and slowly coming in to view AR12996, captured with the 5x Powermate. We then head back to our friends AR12993, 12994 and 12995 for a closer look at 5x magnification. Thanks for dropping in and every a great weekend. John

Presented are a small selection of images of our Sun captured on 20 April 2022. Presented in RGB and monochrome depending on your taste buds. Solar disc - 6 pane mosaic captured using a TeleVue x2 Powermate. AR12993/4/5 - Captured using a TeleVue 4x Powermate. Equipment Lunt 60mm DS THa/B1200 solar scope. ZWO ASI174mm camera and tilt adjuster. SkyWatcher EQ6R-Pro mount. TeleVue x2 and x4 Powermates. Hutech Hinode Solar Guider. Software AutoStakkert3! PixInsight for processing. Affinity Photo Panorama tool used to combine mosaic. Exposure time/data Solar disc - 5.1ms, Gain 189. 250 from 1,000 frames stacked for each pane. AR regions - 13.1ms, Gain 189. 350 from 1,000 frames stacked. Thank you for taking a look. John

That made me stop and think and you probably heard the penny drop when I realised how true that is.

Thank you Olly. For my shorter focal length scope (568mm reduced) I would typically use the RGB master at a low stretch, up the saturation and then blend in the L channel. Going by your comments, am I correct that I should stretch the RGB master further then blend in the L channel to suit? Do you have any thoughts about lowering camera gain to increase full well depth to avoid over saturation of the cores? I have seen on Astrobin some images using a similar focal length (1600 mm) and gain as low as zero or slightly higher, say 75, well below unity gain for the ASI1600mm? Thank you for your kind feedback, it is much appreciated. John

The ones which my astro club share with me do seem to be close to the horizon. However, I have only been up and running for a few weeks and with the clouds we have had down in East Anglia, its too early to say that they are avoiding the camera.

I recently acquired an Allsky camera unit and equipped it with a ZWO ASI120mm-s camera I was no longer using for guiding along with the stock fish eye lens. Still coming to terms with software and settings and identifying what is and isn’t a meteor or fireball. Fortunately my camera loves planes and satellites but there is a team in my astro club who have taken me under their wing and are more experienced and knowledgable in these things. They assure me this one is a fireball (see bottom left hand corner) and I only caught it by the skin of my teeth!

With galaxy season in full swing I reluctantly decided to use my StellaLyra RC8 to capture some of the smaller galaxies in view. I say ‘reluctantly’ as this beast as consumed time and extra funds to get it to a point where collimation looks reasonable. Couple that with getting my head round whether to bin or not to bin then throw in off axis guiding as well and I hope you can sense my pain. So what do we have... First up is Messier 94. Equipment RC8 SkyWatcher EQ6R-Pro ZWO ASI1600mm Pro Cool, Bin 2x2 Gain 139, offset 39. Chroma 1.25” LRGB filters ZWO 8 EFW OAG with Lodestar x2 Data Captured across 4 nights (22nd to 25th March 2022). Luminance 229 x 120s Red 70 x 120s Green 74 x 120s Blue 75 x 120s Darks, Flats and Flat Darks x 50 each. Next is Messier 100 captured with the same equipment, however, this time camera binning was left at 1x1 and down sampled in PixInsight. Data Captured across 2 nights, 1st and 2nd April 2022. Luminance 244 x 60s Red 41 x 120s Green 44 x 120s Blue 19 x 120s (clouds stopped play) Darks, Flats and Flat Darks x 50 each. M94 suffers from being captured just after a half moon and more time should have been spent removing gradients. In both images there appears to be some colour bleed around the edge of the stars. Naturally all data was aligned and then the resulting master of each channel was aligned again. The capture of M100 then software binning in PixInsight seem to have produced a better image but then I have to weigh that up with the Moon not being present too. Finally, the brightest stars. In M94 the large star above the galaxy suffers with a glare between the diffraction spikes. I reduced the Luminance exposure time to 60s in M100 to counter this but it still remains (see large star in the bottom left). I don’t know if this is symptomatic of the ASI1600mm as I have seen it in my refractor images too. All thoughts and feedback welcome. I am just waiting on the next clear night when I have resolved to complete a star test and hopefully fine tune collimation. Thanks for dropping by. John

I find it easier to seek forgiveness than to ask for permission!

Lovely clear shot of the new activity.