barkingsteve

Been a while since i done any EAA with the 925 but i dusted off the 0.63 reducer and selected a few targets tonight.

C925 on evolution mount with 0.63x reducer, 294mc pro at -10c with altair astro tri-band filter. Master dark and flat applied in sharpcap, all captures are 8 second exposures and saved as viewed from Bortle 8-9 skies.

Bubble - NGC 7635 - 41 frames

Eagle - M16 - 30 frames

Swan - M17 - 29 frames

Dumbbell  - M27 - 37 frames

Iris - NGC 7023 - 35 frames

This one is the ir/uv cut - the ccd version.

https://www.astronomik.com/en/clip-filter-eos-mit-astronomik-cls-ccd.html

You can stack filters, it's not efficient and you may suffer from reflections possibly in some cases. As David mentioned above, most lps filters have ir/uv cut and with astronomik cls they do both, one with uv/ir ( cls ccd ) and one without ( cls )

The ones without are generally for visual as you cannot see ir/uv the ones with the cut are for cameras as they can see ir/uv

I have used a 2.5x barlow if 'seeing' allows. I use sharpcap to capture a .ser file, usually around 3,000 frames then stack in AS3 and sharpen in registax. I am by no means an expert, i am still experimenting with gain, exposure, etc.  Planets are low and an ADC ( atmospheric dispersion corrector ) will help, but i haven't had much success with mine, others have. Take a look at the planetary imaging section.

I think we all had that 'wow' moment some time or other    I use my 294mc pro for imaging planets, you just need to use the region of interest to get rid of the vast nothingness and improve frame rate.

I use clear outside, met check weather and met office cloud cover. Usually one of them is correct 😕  no point going beyond a few days, let alone a few weeks, predictions are nowhere near accurate.

https://www.metcheck.com/WEATHER/now_and_next.asp?zipcode=Barking&locationID=57900&lat=51.5&lon=0.1

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/uk-cloud-cover-forecast/#?tab=map&map=Cloud&zoom=5&lon=-4.00&lat=55.74&fcTime=1594245600

2 hours ago, seemoreStars said:

WOW barkingsteve, very impressive!!

How much difference does the "642 ir pass filter" contribute to your images?

Hi seemoreStars,

    I now always use an ir pass filter on my mono camera when imaging the moon, it basically helps cut through the atmosphere so to speak, As you are imaging in a narrower band, it is less effected by poor seeing. You still need a steady night though for good images  There are slightly better bandwidths i think but i find the 642 works well for me. Perhaps one of the experts could explain it better but that is the gist of it.

As others have said, the 925 seems a tad long and heavy for the evolution arm. If they sold the 8" with the sturdier tripod, that would be a fine combo. The evo 925 is ok for visual but if doing EAA, any kind of breeze will cause you headaches.  I now use a 130 pds with the mount for dso EAA

Also i find sky portal lags heavy all the time and sky safari loses connection allot, even from 2 foot away, though i think this is due to a severely cluttered wifi network, i usually pick up 10 plus signals in my garden 😕 could be time to try cpwi with the pc or learn the handset controls  

That is tycho. you need to flip vertically and horizontally  

now check your moon map.

21 minutes ago, Neil H said:

Hi brilliant photo what program do you use to stack then to put it together sorry silly question new to images

Hi Neil,

I use AS3 ( Autostakkert 3 ) to stack the images, i then use Registax to sharpen with the wavelets. I then use  ICE ( Image Composite Editor ) to stitch the images together and then finish off with photoshop, playing with lighting and shadows. Apart from photoshop, the other programs are free 👍

5 panel terminator mosaic. C925 with 178mm and 642 ir pass filter. Best 20% of 1k. 

37 minutes ago, PembrokeSteve said:

Hi,

Excellent images, I expect it was a bit windy for you as well !

Regards,

Steve

Hi Steve,

Was a little gusty, especially difficult for the 925 on an evo mount  

32 minutes ago, Star101 said:

Great images 👍

How many frames for each shot did you take and what percentage of those shots did you use?

 

Dave

Hi Dave,

Best 25% of 1k frames for the 294 mosaic and best 20% of 2k for the 178 mono shots. I was trying for a full 178 mosaic but high thin clouds put paid to that idea. I did manage to put together a full terminator shot, though still suffering a little due to clouds.

Between dodging clouds and rain, i managed a few shots tonight. C925 - first image is 2 panel mosaic with the 294mc pro, the rest is with the 178 mono and 642 ir pass filter.

The extra threads on the Ryzen  really helps with photo processing, multitasking, etc. so if it is not a dedicated gaming machine, Ryzen is the way to go these days.

Hi Geoff,

I am 12 miles from central London, so pretty built up 😕 i have hundreds of houses, flats and a major A road within 1/2 mile south of where i am imaging.  I get to see the planets for a couple of hours due to the houses opposite and an annoying neighbour's tree. Seeing is so important when imaging the planets, so yeah seeing was poor on the night. This image was the best from about 10 files, some with a barlow but i have had no luck whatsoever using a barlow so far.

I have tried with an altair astro ADC and for the life of me, i cannot see any difference when i play with the levers. I am sure i am using it right but had no luck with it. Hoping for more clear skies soon so i can get a bit more practice in   but might have to wait a few years until the planets are at a higher altitude before i can get an image i can shout about  

1 hour ago, BRADLEY 1953 said:

Great images, lovely view of Petavious.     

Thank you guys, the 178 mono is a beast at F/10. To be honest i had to manually focus as it was early evening and i had no star to focus with a mask. Looks like my eyesight isn't as bad as i thought   here is an enlarged shot of Petavious

Welcome,

Have you considered a nice pair of bino's? if it is for a camping trip then they can be used day and night  

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/observation-binoculars/celestron-skymaster-pro-15x70-binoculars.html

may need a tripod for extended sessions though, they get heavy after a while.

5 hours ago, markse68 said:

has the sharpening caused the moire pattern? Shame about the conditions last night- i watched Io appear off the limb closely followed by tack sharp Ganymede shadow which should have been followed by GRS! but thin hazy cloud swept in obliterating Antares first then the planets so i packed in. something nasty has been eating my feet out there so the change in weather is actually a welcome relief! 

Sharpening doesn't help but the colour channels alignment is different from the top of Jupiter to the middle. I am still pretty new to imaging the planets so not sure what could be causing this. i have tried again with the data but still the same issue though i have eased back on the sharpening a tad and dropped the 1.5 drizzle.

Poor conditions but had to give it a shot. C925 and 294mc pro camera, best 20% of 2k stacked in AS3 and sharpened in registax.

Evening moon shots. Was going to be a mosaic but middle section data was corrupt. C925 with the 178 mono and ir pass 642. best 25% of 1k stacked in AS3 and sharpened in registax. Final processing in photoshop.

Hi Ian and welcome.

Don't let living in London hold you back. There are plenty of options from visual to EAA, narrow band imaging or just lucky imaging the moon and planets, all are viable thanks to technology these days 👍

Hi Peter,

Half the morning  here is one i took earlier in the night of the 4 main moons, i actually bothered to correct the image for this one  

C925 with the 385c camera and neodymium filter. best 20% of 5k frames stacked in AS3 and sharpened in registax.  

and a cheeky Saturn and Mars while i was waiting.

The 327 is usb 2.0 and the 290mc is usb 3.0. The 290 will give you a higher frame rate, especially in roi which you will help for 'lucky imaging' the planets and moon.  If the choice was between these 2 cameras, i would go with the 290mc. If not, then for around the same price bracket i would consider the 385c which has a larger pixel size, usb 3.0, high frame rates and will give you a slightly larger fov.

The problem with a small sensor is getting enough stars in the fov for the live stacking to work, so a slightly larger sensor makes life a little easier in that respect. 

Hi Peter,

I stacked in AS3, sharpened with the wavelets in Registax then some post processing ( levels, HDR toning, shadows/highlights ) in photoshop.