Kon

Some great details on your close up considering it is just a single mobile capture.

It has been nearly year since I did any solar imaging. I could not resist the nice skies this afternoon. 8" Dob, manual; full disk using a Nikon D3200 and closeup with asi462mc, 2.5x TV powermate, Baader solar filter. AR3190 is massive and it was great trying to capture some details.

I could not resist imaging Venus in the beautiful sunshine this afternoon (I will be posting some sun pics later in the solar section). It was just visible in the finderscope at 4pm. It is still low so i only tried with the IR pass filter and it is showing its phase nicely. I also tried my UV filter but i think it needs higher up as it was quite messy. 8" Dob, manual, asi462mc, IR pass, 2.5x TV powermate. Resized 125%.

Excellent images! It is getting smaller, isn't it?

I bet he was complimentary, it's a very detailed map. Good to know about future maps on how to present them. Thanks for letting me/us know.

It's looking really professional with the annotations now.

I am not sure you need to subscribe, try reach out to some editors or their submit photos pages.

You should be able to rotate the label. It can be done in Gimp, even with basic editing software, Affinity should be able to do it . https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/118791-how-to-rotate-text-or-text-box-in-photo/

Fantastic map! One of the best I have seen. Your eureka moment in shifting the origin has really 'cleaned' it nicely from the image I saw earlier this afternoon. But as you said, it nicely brings the key features in front. Another task for cloudy/rainy days, are you going to annotate it?😁 I am also happy for you that you managed the last couple of sessions to finish it, I remember your frustration. You should try submit it to some magazines, it's worth being published.

These are really sad news. I had only interacted with him through this forum and always excellent advice and very supportive. My condolences to his family.

Thanks for your kind words! In my first proper year of planetary imaging, I found Mars the most exciting due to the change in dynamics over a short period time. Looking forward to next season as I have learned a lot of new things that I would love to try.

I use Asicap but that should not matter; I am tracking and focusing manually so focusing is quite a tedious process. I tend to focus on the planet every couple of captures or as the seeing is changing. I use a 640x480 ROI and try to get it as sharp as I can there. I use a higher gain duirng focusing but drop it later for the capture. I do not zoom on the planet. My approach is to defocus a bit and then try to bring it back to focus and move back/forwards from there. If I feel that it is not good, i defocus again and start all over. It works for me and others might have a different technique. As I am getting more experienced, I abandon captures if the planet is 'boiling' due to jetstream or currents as you cannot get a focus and it looks soft on the screen. Saying that, there occasions that the jestream or windy conditions may have a constant speed that do not affect seeing as much so unless you get out it is hard to just look at charts alone.

Worth taking a look at his Youtube video. 100hrs of data!

Constellation of Taurus with Mars and Pleiades in frame. Nikon D3200 with a 18-55mm at f3.5. Stacked 9 images in Siril.

The adapter please. If I read correctly you have the standard focuser but replaced the holder with the adapter?

Which model is it? I see similar 'issues' with my collimation (I use a Cheshire) when the focuser moves it is as if my collimation is off. As long as i do not mess with the focuser then it is all good.

Yes absolutely. Having a baseline and then do changes as different data will behave differently. I think it is key on how far you can or can't push in Registax will be key to more post processing quality.

I used to have the 8, 15 and 25mm BSTs. The 25 was not great at the edges with stars showing as seagulls. The 15 was excellent for DSOs, and the 25. The 8 excellent as well. I had the 2x starguider/bst barlow as well. In UK the nights that will allow you to use the 5 are quite limited.

Very nice images. I think some of the best I have seen from you. Your Mars is showing nice clouds as well.

Thanks Stuart. Awful conditions but nice to be out. The video you sent me has helped a lot to get a nice routine. It's a shame Uranus was not in a phase to show the difference between north and equatorial difference in IR..

I am still amazed that we can see clouds and changes in the poles with our moderate equipment from our gardens. Even the motion of moons across Jupiter are mesmerising, at least in my eyes.

It was my first imaging for 2023 albeit awful windy conditions last night. I could not resist the clear skies after the dreadful start to the year with rain and clouds. Despite the wind, the seeing was good but my Dob was vibrating like crazy. I managed Mars and Uranus in colour and IR. Mars is showing some clouds in the southern hemisphere and the north polar hood has shrunk a lot since I last imaged it. 8" Dob, manual, asi462mc, 2.5x TV powermate, UV/IR cut and IR pass filters. Mars is shown at original capture size and Uranus at 200%.

Fantastic image Stuart. I think this might be your best Mars image this season.

Nice capture. Why did you derotate just 120s? Is there much benefit over no derotation? I thought AS!3 could compensate for short videos like this.

Nice set of images. Your focus could be down to seeing rather than collimation. Did you try a star test?