Peter_D

Hello, Here's my effort capturing Saturn last evening. Now the gas giants are rising earlier, it's easier for me to capture them. However, it seems to me that my local seeing is worse at these earlier times than was the case earlier in the summer at 03:00 or 04:00. We have hot weather at the moment and that affected seeing. Equipment: Meade 2080 8 inch SCT, Vixen GP-E Mount, Zwo ADC, 1.5x TS Optics Barlow, Baader UV-IR cut filter, Zwo asi224mc. 37000 frames captured in 5 mins, best 10% used. Clear skies Peter

Well done Suffolk County Council - they sound, if you'll pardon the pun, like an enlightened bunch!

Here's an image of Jupiter from 14.08.21. I captured 21,000 frames in 3 minutes and used the best 5 percent. Moons from left: Ganymede, Europa, Callisto, Io. Equipment: Meade 2080 8 inch SCT, Zwo ADC, Zwo asi224mc, Baader UV-IR cut filter. Clear skies Peter

It will be too heavy. I have a Vixen GP mount from which the EQ-5 is derived and its recommended load is 7kg using a 200mm reflector or cat. You could probably get away with 8-9kg but over that you would be putting too much strain on your mount. I would recommend a EQ6 for your scope if you want to use a GEM.

Here's an image from last night with Jupiter at 22 degrees elevation. It was quite cool and I thought seeing would be better but a lot of moisture in the air. I took 35,000 frames in 3 minutes and used the best 10%. Meade 8 inch 2080, Vixen GP mount, TS Optics Crayford, Zwo ADC, Flip Mirror, 1.5x Barlow, Zwo asi224mc, Baader UV-IR cut filter. Image resized to 70% of original (shouldn't have used the Barlow!) Clear skies Peter

I had a cloudy secondary that was caused by condensation. It cleaned up nicely using de-ionised water. Your primary looks in pretty good shape with some clouding but only at the extremities. I would leave it for now if it were my scope.

Fantastic first results! Other people might do it differently but I generally just use the top 2 sliders and very rarely the third in Registax. I don't touch the bottom 3. I use the zoom feature to make sure I'm not adding artifacts from the wavelets.

Here's an un-Barlowed wider image of Jupiter from yesterday night. I captured 21,000 frames in 3 minutes and used the best 5 percent. Moons from left: Ganymede, Europa, Callisto, Io. Equipment: Meade 2080 8 inch SCT, Zwo ADC, Zwo asi224mc, Baader UV-IR cut filter. Clear skies Peter

Here's an image of Saturn from yesterday when it was around 20 degrees elevation. I was able to capture 45,000 frames in 5 minutes and I used the best 5 percent. Equipment: Meade 2080 8 inch SCT, Zwo ADC, Zwo asi224mc, Baader UV-IR cut filter, 1.5x Barlow. Clear skies Peter

Please Craig, could you explain why the 1.3 times Barlow would hit the sweet spot for the asi224mc and C8 Edge? (Apologies OP for asking this)

IIRC, Celestron SCTs have a little infinity symbol (∞) to indicate the direction to turn the focusing knob to focus on astronomical objects so at least you know if you are turning the focuser the right way. The Moon is an ideal candidate to practice your focusing, even during the day. It's also good to roughly align your finder scope before any stars are visible.

All good advice given. When selecting a mount for a telescope, you have to consider both the weight and the length of the telescope (OTA). The longer the telescope, the more prone it is to vibrations and it will have a longer 'settling time'' after each adjustment of the focuser. In the past, good quality scopes were generally over-mounted - the mount could handle the scope and any accessories you would add later. Now, you see scopes bundled with EQ mounts that are just borderline for the scope from the outset.

Hi, I am thinking about getting a EQ5 Goto upgrade kit for my Vixen GP mount. My question is whether you need setting circles to set the Home position? My problem is my Vixen mount was the 'E' version that unfortunately didn't include setting circles and it doesn't seem you can buy replacements. Thanks Clear skies Peter

Hi, Here's another entry 🙂 The colour balance seems to be a bit better this time. Callisto transiting with Io to the right. Date and Time: July 29, 23:08 UTC Jupiter at 23 degrees elevation. Equipment: Meade 2080 8 inch SCT, Vixen GP-E Mount with SW Dual Motors, 1.5x Barlow, Zwo ADC, Baader UV-IR Cut Filter, Zwo asi224mc. 22,000 images, best 10% used. PIPP, Autostekkert!3, Registax6. Final image reduced to 40% of original size. Clear skies Peter

Hi, I was imaging Jupiter last night. In the image, you can see Callisto just to the left of the GRS and Io to the right of the Jovian limb. I was a little bit late for Io transiting unfortunately. Date and Time: July 29, 23:08 UTC Jupiter at 23 degrees elevation. Equipment: Meade 2080 8 inch SCT, Vixen GP-E Mount with SW Dual Motors, 1.5x Barlow, Zwo ADC, Baader UV-IR Cut Filter, Zwo asi224mc 22,000 images, best 10% used. PIPP, Autostekkert!3, Registax6. Final image reduced to 40% of original size. Thanks for looking, Peter

On a night of good seeing, use Polaris to check and collimate your C8. SCT collimation needs to be spot on (pardon the pun) to get sharp images when seeing permits.

Hi, Does anyone have recent experience of this Goto upgrade kit for EQ5 type mounts? https://www.bresser.de/en/Astronomy/BRESSER-StarTracker-GoTo-Set.html Clear skies Peter

Thanks Craig..The next step will be WinJupos I think

Hi, Last time I tried capturing Jupiter, my polar allignment was off and I really struggled - a pity, because seeing had been excellent that night. Last night, I got up half an hour earlier and spent time making sure my PA was accurate. As it turns out, it was just as well as a bank of cloud was approaching and I realised this would only give me half an hour imaging time. Seeing was poor - I had a 2x Barlow and I could see Jupiter's image shimmering like it was under water. I started imaging: because the PA was good this time, I was able to capture 11,000 stable images in two minutes - this is much more than last time. I'm happy with my resulting image - it doesn't hold a candle to some of the brilliant images of Jupiter already uploaded this year but it's definite progress for me.🙂 Date and Time: July 23, 11:28 UTC Jupiter at 21 degrees elevation. Equipment: Meade 2080 8 inch SCT, Vixen GP-E Mount with SW Dual Motors, 2x Barlow, Zwo ADC, Baader UV-IR Cut Filter, Zwo asi224mc 11,000 images, best 10% used. PIPP, Autostekkert!3, Registax6, Moto G8 Power Photo Editor. Thanks for looking, Peter Peter

Thanks Geoff. I have a Vixen GP - I'm using it with a de-forked 8 inch Meade SCT for planetary. It's been ok thus far but I included a flip mirror in my set up that has probably just made the movement arm just that little too long. So my option is to get the EQ5 upgrade Goto soon or keep saving for a HEQ5.

Hi, Here's an image taken from last weekend in western Germany. The seeing was pretty good so I was a little bit disappointed with the initial results. I watched a couple of videos on You Tube, reprocessed my data and am happier with the results. I didn't crop the image as I had done previously so you can now see Europa, Ganymede (transiting) and Io in the frame. Information: Date and Time (UTC): 17.07.21 23:44 Jupiter's elevation: +20 degrees Equipment: Deforked Meade 2080 8 inch SCT, Vixen GP-E Mount with SW motorset, Zwo ADC, Baader UV-IR Cut Filter, Zwo asi224mc. 6000 images. Best 15% used. PIPP, Autostekkert!3, Registax6. Clear skies! Peter

Thanks for the feedback! I decided to reprocess the data and ease off on the cropping: I think it's a better result. Plus I have Europa and Io now in the one capture.

Thanks for the feedback! I think I will have to upgrade my motor kit as I've added a bit of kit to my planetary / lunar SCT set up and it just seems to have crossed the boundary where the old non-Goto motors can handle it adequately.

Hi, Quick question: are the motors in the Skywatcher EQ5 GoTo upgrade kit more powerful than those in the non GoTo kit? https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/language/en/info/p7293_Skywatcher-Zweiachsen-Schrittmotorsteuerung-fuer-EQ5-Montierung-mit-Autoguider-Port.html https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p415_Skywatcher-SynScan-GoTo-Upgrade-Kit-for-GP---EQ-mounts.html Thanks for any info Peter

Hi, I was having difficulty tracking this morning so I left the Barlow off for this Saturn image. The set up was the same as the Jupiter one I posted earlier. I am just wondering if the colours seem off in this Saturn image? Equipment: Meade 2080 8 inch SCT, Zwo asi224mc, Zwo ADC, Baader UV-IR Cut Filter. 10000 images, best 15% used. PIPP, Autostekkert!3, Registax6. Clear skies Peter