Kon

I have been drooling over the recent sun spot pics here since my skies have been horrible. I got back from work and managed a quick session with the sun getting low and light haze. Seeing these sun spots was amazing. Managed a few images with my 8" Dob, Baader solar filter and asi120mc-s. Is it me or one of the sun spots looks a bit like the Freddo chocolate character?

Thanks for doing that, it looks very nice and clearly shows the features from both captures together; it gives it a different perspective. Ps I am not sure if you noticed the spot that looks like a carved halloween pumpkin.

Very nice. I wonder how a merged/composite of the two would look like, to bring together all the different details between the two setups.

I am really enjoying your bicolour images.

Very nice, and the colour balance is excellent.

Not much to image today with the nearly full moon, so i had a go with my Nikon at prime focus. Mineral colours brought out in Gimp.

That's really nice! You like a challenge, don't you? I though you would have learned from your sun mosaics (which are also awesome) 😉.

That's fantastic! A lot of details.

I agree so many different features; they changed within 1.2hrs. I read that the Valley is also referred as the snake and cobra head. I saw these features in the later observation, but I still prefer the less illuminated one. Yes Aristarchus had the nice banding as well .

I was out with my 8" Dob and I got captivated by the rilles and mountains around Herodotus and Aristarchus. I was observing around 845pm and I could make a dark looking rille with very sharp edges. A quick check online, revealed that it is the Schroter's Valley. Looking at it again as the Earth's shadow is moving, the Schroter's Valley is much brighter and with new features appearing. I was surprised between the two observations as with the more light it appears to be less shallow than I first thought. The Montes Agricola also showed nice features and shadows. I finished my session with a look at Schickard and Phocylides. I could make the cratelets inside Schickard. My highlight is defiantly the Schroter's Valley. I managed an imaging session of the area as well, so very happy.

Another clear night and a few more closeups of the Aristarchus/Herodotus craters and the area around Schickard. I was observing the Aristarchus and Herodotus and I was fascinated by the Schroter's Valley. Very clear in the EP. I shot with my 8" Dob and asi120mc-s. After some advise from @neil phillips earlier this afternoon, i shot at full resolution and I think the quality is much better.

At 1280x960 ~75fps and last night I was shooting at 1024x768 ~95fps and for Copernicus 640x480 ~150fps. With my hand tracking i was getting around 7000 frames per area but i think it introduces vibrations as I was manually trying to keep the ROI in the centre.

I have being eyeing them for a while...

Thanks Neil. Yes it is with my 8" Dob manual tracking; part drift part moving it manually. I noticed that Autostakkert struggles to give me decent stacking with the drift only for a wider area so I tend to do manually hold the ROI at the centre of the camera. I also changed my camera setting last night (not sure it is the right thing but it increased my fps) by going to fast read and overclock 30%; i used to have it on auto.

I imaged the Clavius, Gassenai and Copernicus craters tonight, although the lighting was only nice for Gassenai. I worked out a higher frame rate for my camera so i had a lot more data to play with tonight. Clavius with 2x barlow, but i think it was too much since it came out a bit soft. I used Gimp and Topaz Sharpening. Happy to receive any feedback.

Very nice, i really like how the sun light casts the shadows in Clavius

Fantastic sketches. The views with the 12" under bortle 1 skies must have been amazing!

I agree Joe, they do draw your eye...I seem to go from smaller to larger. I wonder if we have observers that go for a more random pattern!🤪

Another stunning lunar session tonight between passing clouds. Golden handle nicely lit. I also observed/noticed that the floor of Sinus Iridum is not flat but had long bumps (not sure the right terminology) and loads of cratelets. Hippalus showed some nice rilles. I finished with Clavius. The incoming clouds ruined the fun but I am glad to have got a quick session, and temperature-wise, it felt very pleasant being outside for a change.

Excellent report and what a session with such an old telescope!

Last night it was taking magnification extremely well. I wish I had a higher mag EP than my 6.7, with my 2x barlow it was softening the views.

Thanks. It was a lot more spectacular visually.

Even sat24 was showing thin clouds all over UK. How is that possible, it's supposed to be satellite images.

Last night the seeing was fantastic and the moon looked really sharp. I managed a full disk and some close ups. Archimedes and the Apollo 15 area, and the Straight Wall in Thebit have been imaged.

I found the name of that wall; it is actually called the Straight Wall or Rupes Recta. If you are take a look the shadow looks incredible, in my eyes.