Kon

9 minutes ago, neil phillips said:

Some good detail coming through. Nice unforced processing. Good to see the 12" going close

Thanks Neil. I tried not to push to much as seeing wasn't great but also inspired by your excellent processing to avoid edge crater artefacts (there are a few but i would sacrifice details over tidying 1-2 craters).

I am really excited what the 12" can do under good seeing; the IR was boiling, but I still managed a few decent frames. These are stacks of 3% of 8000 frames with 1ms exposure; any higher exposure and I was losing the finer features but the light gathering of the 12" is amazing compared to my 8".

I have to say that you were spot on to always tell me to get some kind of tracking. It is a game changer! The biggest advantage I have found so far is refocusing constantly without losing my target. Planetary season will be fun but the moon is an excellent target to get all teething out of the way.

I managed some decent images last night despite the jetstream.  The craters and mountains are: 1. Ptolemaeus/Alphonsus/Arzachel, 2. Sinus Fidei, 3. Vallis Alpes and Montes Alpes. The shadows casted in the 1st and 3rd image are really intriguing. 12" Flextube goto, asi462mm, IR pass 685nm, 2.5x TV powermate. I also tried a colour image for image 1 using my asi462mc.

28 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

Nice images Kostas. I found that nailing sharp focus can be difficult under poor seeing conditions although you have done a good job here. I hope to be back out there the next time clear skies come around.

Thanks Ian. The seeing was just awful. with the overhead jetstream. I have been imaging tonight and it is a bit better. I will post the images later. Looking forward to your captures.

8 hours ago, Astroscot2 said:

Very nice Kon, I've just come back in doors after a disappointing session, windows 11 decided to update and configure plus I was unable able to get good image runs without continual buffering.. Maurolycus gives me a smile under this illumination, such a happy looking crater 🙂.. your seeing looks to have been better than mine.

Mark.

Thanks Mark. I will never unsee the smilly crater now 😂. 

Yes I hate when updates decide to happen during imaging. I hope the weather improves so we can get some high resolution images.

Another go on imaging craters despite the awful seeing. I opted for an IR pass filter 685 tonight. Maurolycus is showing some details although I could not resolve the small craterlets inside. Aristoteles and Eudoxus had better seeing and I framed them to capture the mountain shadows on the left. 12" FlexTube, GoTo, asi462mm, IR pass, 2.5x TV powermate.

First attempt with the 12" GoTo to get high resolution images of craters. I am blown away despite the awful conditions tonight. I am really looking forward to what it can do under good seeing. 12" FlexTube GoTo, asi462mc, 2.5x TV powermate, UV/IR cut filter. Pushed the colour saturation to reveal the mineral colours. 

2 hours ago, Roy Foreman said:

Excellent. The slimmer the crescent the more difficult it becomes to get any sort of image. You have done really well 

Thanks Roy. I am hoping to get it even younger/thinner if I can. It's more of a challenge for me rather than anything else.

3 hours ago, neil phillips said:

Very cool. Surprising how much detail is hidden in the earth shine. Nice job.

Thanks Neil . I pulled more out of the image than I thought it's possible.

2 hours ago, John said:

DSO's in another galaxy. NGC 604 in Messier 33 is an obvious contender. Some of M31's globular clusters are observable visually as well.

That's one I always forget about. On my to- see list.

Dust storms on Mars. Observing Mars is challenging itself but getting the finer details needs really stable seeing.

For excellent transparency nights and darker skies, Barnard 33 (Horse Head) and  colour on M42.

Clouds on Venus.

Observing anything under UK skies in recent months is a challenge itself 🤣.

See here about the screws:

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/420499-gas-giants-knobs/

Regarding the washer modification, you need to undo all the secondary screws to allow the washer to insert. It's worth doing it as the base of the secondary is rather soft and eventually the screws will dig into it. I wouldn't bother doing it until you start playing with the collimation. I have done it on both my Dobs .

31 minutes ago, Swoop1 said:

Very nice @Kon

I look forward to retirement when I can get the gear set up and image this sort of stage of the moon.

Currently, I see it like this as I walk home but it has hidden itself behind my neighbours tree by that time.

Thanks. The benefit of working from home somedays, I can pop out for a quick imaging session. There is also the benefit of a dob that I can place anywhere in my garden to avoid obstructions (the earthshine was captured between a gap between my fence and  an access gate).

2 hours ago, bosun21 said:

Very nice Kostas. A period of poor health has put the brakes on any astro for me at the moment, however your images give me inspiration. I would have never thought about trying to image a moon so young. Now added to my list. Thanks.

I am really sorry to hear Ian. I hope nothing serious and you can be under the skies (whenever they clear) soon. Thanks for comment too.

1 hour ago, Stu said:

Fantastic! I tried for it last night in binos but too much patchy cloud low down to pick it up. Great images 👍

Thanks. I almost gave up as the clouds kept coming but it cleared in the end.

My 'youngest' new moon at 0.9 days and 1.45% illumination. Captured at daylight. The earthshine was captured at 7 degrees elevation when it was starting to get dark; 20 frames were stacked. I am really surprised how well it came out considering I could not see any details in the raw images apart from the overall moon shape. Skywatcher 300P FlexTube GoTo, Nikon D3200.

On 07/04/2024 at 05:02, neiil phillips said:

Another basically adjusting a previous process Which at full size. Has revealed some very fine Hi resolution detail on the floor of Clavius and elsewhere. Some of which i am not sure ive even captured before. Craterlets down to the size of a pin head. At the limit of the scopes performance under UK skies.  Yes I pushed the levels. As Clavius was deep in shadow. But its not too offensive

Click for full size

Spectacular image and no noise at all. You should be very happy with these. Apart from the craterlets, it's the fine details of rilles in many of the larger craters including Clavius, I am not sure I have seen them in photos before. By the way are these with IR pass? 

Excellent processing Neil. I see you haven't lost your touch been away for a while. Nice resolution on the craterlets.

11 minutes ago, John said:

Nice capture 😀

I managed to snap it once back in 2020 with my old mobile phone at the eyepiece when it was close to Venus in the sky. Nowhere near as nice as your shot but at least you can just about see a phase:

 

Thanks John. Nice snap with your mobile. It's a nice sight with the phase. My young kids always confuse the crescent Mercury and Venus for the moon 😆 when they look at the eyepiece.

29 minutes ago, PeterStudz said:

I’d be more than happy with that! I’ve been hoping to just see Mercury, but from my garden it’s obscured by housing and/or trees. I’d thought of driving somewhere but when it’s been clear in the evening I’ve been busy… one day! 

Thanks. I only get a small observing/imaging window between my neighbour's house and a big tree. It's worth getting somewhere to see it once.

I managed to see and image Mercury on the 29th March.

Mercury from a few days ago. Awful conditions at the low elevation. The crescent phase is showing but no chance to pull surface details. 300P Flextube GoTo, asi462mm, IR pass 685, 2.5x TV powermate.

I had a go at Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks yesterday. Visually it looked quite bright and I managed to do some imaging too. I had to use my Nikon on prime focus but I still could not get the full beauty of this comet. 120x4s stacked. 300P FexTube GoTo worked a treat with the tracking. Processed in Siril and Gimp. It is a bit noisy as I did not get any flats and I have pushed a bit hard to reveal the tail.

These have come out really nice. M13 seems much sharper, probably better focusing.