-
Posts
3,270 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
23
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Gallery
Events
Blogs
Everything posted by Kon
-
Orion Optics UK VX12 - Opinions?
Kon replied to Flame Nebula's topic in Discussions - Scopes / Whole setups
What will limit you in UK in terms of imaging is the weather and location as planets do not rise high very often. I am envious of friends from mainland Europe with constant good seeing. Some short of tracking will make your life easier. -
Nice images. You have resolved the craterlets and rilles very nicely on the close ups.
-
Orion Optics UK VX12 - Opinions?
Kon replied to Flame Nebula's topic in Discussions - Scopes / Whole setups
Although I do not have a VX 10 or 12, I have been extremely happy with my Skywatcher 200P (8") Dob. It is hard work and at time frustrating but you can push it to its limits. These are a few of my manual captures on Jupiter, Saturn, Venus and ISS. I have recently got a 12" GoTo but I have not had good weather to test it properly but I love the fact it keeps the planets at the centre of the camera without nudging it every so often. And, yes it is big compared to my 8". Have a look for Tom Williams at Astrobin, possibly one of the best planetary imagers. He is using a 16" GoTo Dob. Loads of good examples in SGL too with Dobs (most GoTo) so it is a bit unfair to say this. Have a look at the planetary imaging section at SGL from @Space Cowboy who is using a Skywatcher 10" GoTo. -
This is my first ISS with the new 12" Dob. I do not have tracking ISS with the GoTo yet but a friend is helping me out. Awful seeing with a 5 min break between clouds. I focused on the moon and even with the IR filter it was boiling. Only 7 frames were of decent quality to stack. Several modules are visible, SpaceX Dragon, Progress and Soyuz. 12" FlexTube GoTo, asi462mm, 2.5x TV powermate, IR 685 pass filter.
-
Uranus with northern polar hood and five moons (05/03/24)
Kon replied to Kon's topic in Imaging - Planetary
Thanks Reggie. I can't wait for the planets to be back again. -
You are aiming for 5x the pixel size of the camera. The less elements between the camera and telescope the better. I never found benefit from binning but you can try during the processing.
- 1 reply
-
- 1
-
What is possibly going wrong? (With answer from ChatGPT)
Kon replied to AstroRookie's topic in Getting Started With Imaging
I am not a DSO imager but I recently got a second hand 12" Dob and I was getting flaring in Jupiter's moons. I thought it was collimation but in the end I had some pinched optics; is it likely to be after you cleaned the mirror that you may have tightened the clips around the mirror a bit tighter? Just a thought. -
Great first effort! I am sorry you are hooked into imaging 🤑.....I am glad I got into planetary than DSO as it seems to be a much more expensive part of the hobby. Enjoy and looking forward to more of your posts.
-
Uranus with northern polar hood and five moons (05/03/24)
Kon replied to Kon's topic in Imaging - Planetary
Thanks Ian. Yes give it a try; I captured this one jsut after sunset, it does not need to be dark as long as you can find it. I love my 462; I have both the c and m versions. Both are excellent in IR sensitivity so you can use your c for IR captures. The only reason I bought the m was for Venus due to its sensitivity in UV. I used the m last night as it already had the filter on it. Your c with an IR pass filter is effectively becoming mono. I added the colour in Gimp (or whatever software you use for editing) by colourising the planet layer only. Regarding collimation, the moons are not perfect and you can see why I keep pushing to get it to work, but I found the problem and resolved it, most likely pinched optics (see my other long thread). -
I think I have a solution. It was probably pinched optics; I took the primary out and although the retaining clips where loose (credit card could fit), it was the side nylon screws between the retaining ring and mirror that I had tightened quite a bit. Collimation and star test revealed nice concentric rings and no flaring at the stars. Out of focus star (the infocus was awful to make any judgments).
-
Not flat but at a high angle. My issue is flaring on Jupiter's moons thus my concern something is not quite right.
-
I will give it a try with rotating the primary. Regarding the secondary, there is no cell just the glue at the back on the he holder, the standard skywatcher setup. I will rotate the primary and if it persists in the same direction, is it likely to be secondary? I agree seeing is not great but stars at the eyepiece are not pinpoint but have a bit of flaring. The clips are not touching the mirror as far as I can tell, but I can do the credit card check. There are 3 nylon screws between the retaining ring of the cell and primary that I have quite tight, these are on the side. Could that be it? I will loosen them and check.
-
Uranus with northern polar hood and five moons (05/03/24)
Kon replied to Kon's topic in Imaging - Planetary
Thanks Pete. Yes the moons were added as another layer; they are from the same capture and popped by stretching the image. -
if so, what's the remedy? Or nothing it can be done? But I wonder how much it is bad seeing. I need t orepeat the star test with my camera. Unless the primary had not cooled down although it was out for a good 3 hours when I did the star test.
-
So I am still having issues with collimation. This is the star test and something is not quite right, and I cannot point to it. Out of focus looks alright but the in focus is a bit odd. Ignore the bad seeing. To me it is the lack of symmetry; the primary was not locked so i do not think it is pinched optics (I had the primary out a few weeks ago and the retaining clips are loose too). Any thoughts?
-
I had another bash on Uranus and I managed a decent image despite ongoing collimation issues (I am not happy yet). Uranus with its five moons and norther polar hood. Captured with IR 742 filter and false coloured. Skywatcher 300P (12") Flextube Goto, asi462mm, IR pass 742, 2.5x televue powermate. This is a 10min capture and stacked the best 25%.
- 13 replies
-
- 41
-
Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks
Kon replied to andrew63's topic in Observing - Widefield, Special Events and Comets
I just got my first glimpse of it. It is rather bright even at the 9x50 finderscope, but I could not observe any tail. -
Try focus on the moon features not using a mask. You will get much better results. Yes experiment with the software. There is plenty out there 😁. We are usually drawn to the more bold features and we tend to oversharpen. I still do it with my planets but having other critical eyes to feedback is great. Looking forward to more captures.
-
Great first images. As we discussed on the other thread, include a UV/IR cut filter to correct the colours or IR pass to help with bad seeing. For this set, I would convert to monochrome so you don't have this colour cast. I would go a bit easier on the sharpening as the edges of the craters are a bit blown. In my eyes, the third and last images are almost there but the very white is a sign of over sharpening. Worth trying Astrosurface instead of registax.
-
Buy Cheap buy twice? or a bargain?
Kon replied to Adaaam75's topic in Getting Started Equipment Help and Advice
Jupiter is way past its best and it is better to wait until later in the year. The moon is excellent to practice your setup and processing skills. Post your pics on the lunar section and ask for constructive criticism. It has really helped me asking for honest opinions to improve my imaging and processing; I have thick skin so I am happy to be told something is not good.- 27 replies
-
- filters
- overpriced
-
(and 5 more)
Tagged with:
-
Buy Cheap buy twice? or a bargain?
Kon replied to Adaaam75's topic in Getting Started Equipment Help and Advice
For colour you will need to use the UV/IR cut filter. But if seeing is not great, then the IR pass will give you better results.- 27 replies
-
- filters
- overpriced
-
(and 5 more)
Tagged with:
-
Thanks Geof. I have plenty of time until later in the summer to have it spot on. I have always been frustrated with my Saturn and I knew what I needed but now having the goto setting up the adc should be 'straight' forward.
-
Buy Cheap buy twice? or a bargain?
Kon replied to Adaaam75's topic in Getting Started Equipment Help and Advice
Yes IR should help with bad seeing but at a loss of resolution. If the weather is stable, then uv/ir cut will be better plus you can reveal the mineral colours with having a colour capture. The weather is not any better down south but we can only hope for better skies.- 27 replies
-
- filters
- overpriced
-
(and 5 more)
Tagged with:
-
Buy Cheap buy twice? or a bargain?
Kon replied to Adaaam75's topic in Getting Started Equipment Help and Advice
No it will not help with seeing unlike the IR. As Geoff said above, the UV/IR cut will give correct colours. It does not cut colours but cuts UV and IR that can mess the colours. Imaging Venus in colour will not give you much details (I have seen a couple but very subtle). For details on Venus clouds you need a UV pass filter. In the image above, I imaged in UV and IR. I assigned the UV in blue, IR red and I made a synthetic green of combining 50:50 the UV and IR. I colour balanced and edited the saturation. With the UV/IR cut you will get colour images of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. This is Jupiter from last year with the 462c and UV/IR cut filter. Without the filter you will get weird colours. You can also image in CH4 and IR and make a false colour that brings different features. See my interpretation on Saturn with the false colour from the mono images. These are all with the 462c (except Venus 462m)- 27 replies
-
- 1
-
- filters
- overpriced
-
(and 5 more)
Tagged with: