Sun In White Light 04-12-2013. 13:15 , Scopium Wedge first play.

[Steve Ward]

Not exactly the ideal day for testing new toys , thick cirrus masked everything today , clear blue arrived 3 minutes after he dropped from view ... 

Still , you can't leave toys sitting around , so it had to be tried out ... 

It was fitted to the ST120 today , need to try out various tube/filter combinations though as the ST120 meant pushing the shutter speed to 1/1600s which always results in a darkening at the bottom of the frame ( top here as I had to flip the image )  

Hopefully a Continuum ( on order ) , OIII orUHC will cure this along with flats if required.

I'll try it on the ED80 first though as the reduced aperture should help too.

Time will tell , forecast better for tomorrow.

ED80Pro + ND3.8 + 1.8 x Barlow + OIII.

ST120 + 'Scopium' Wedge + 1.6 x Barlow.

1000D + ED80Pro + ND3.8 + 1.8 x Barlow + OIII.

1/400s @ ISO 200 , 40/100 , Reg 5.1 , Gimp 2.8.

1000D + ST120 + Scopium wedge + 1.6 x Barlow.

1/1600s @ ISO 100 , 33/100 , Reg 5.1 , Gimp 2.8.

Day by day album ... http://www.astrobin.com/users/steveward53/

[JamesF]

Interesting image to compare.  In some the ND3.8 seems to have shown more detail whilst in others the wedge seems to edge it.  Be interesting to see what you get when you have the filter in with the wedge and on a decent clear day.

James

[Luke]

Hooray, great first light, Steve

The continuum should slow things down enough, it makes quite a difference to the exposure time with my Lunt 1.25 wedge.

I had a quick white light attempt despite a milky sky, not managed to get it to stack yet...

I think I caught slightly better sky with my h-a effort, and was rewarded with an airplane transit

[Steve Ward]

Both sets of subs were pretty poor , not exactly a real comparison test ... 

I just didn't have the time to try things today , he appeared at 13:00 and disappeared at 13:45 ... 

[JamesF]

Both sets of subs were pretty poor , not exactly a real comparison test ... 

I just didn't have the time to try things today , he appeared at 13:00 and disappeared at 13:45 ... 

He didn't even turn up for the game, here

James

[DrRobin]

Nice one Steve. It looks like you can see slightly more granulation around the spots with the wedge. I would use the same scope, same filter and same camera, then you might see the difference better. What this test does show is how well the Baader home made filters work, I found that. The thing it shows is the exponential curve that you get on, 10% improvement requires a 100% investment.

Robin

[Montana]

Wow! the wedge is very crisp, I like it

Alexandra

[Steve Ward]

Had a bit of a re-jig ready for take two today , ED80 , Wedge , OIII , etc , etc. 

Took a punt and clambered up 'there' to prepare  ,  a proper gust whipped the covers out of my hand and whisked them off in the general direction of the Emerald city ... 

Found another cover , retired indoors ... 

Only good thing to come from it was finding my long misplaced LP filter shoved up the focuser tube ... 

[Luke]

Yikes, I was thinking you were about to say you dropped the wedge!

Wonder if the weekend will be kind to us.

[DrRobin]

Wow, there is dedication for you. Mind I am having a go at M27 at the mo and hoping to get Jupiter later. There was frozen rain on the obs roof and the decking is like a skating ring, best not drop my Canon.

Robin

[Steve Ward]

Aiming for an early go tomorrow , then a quick trip over to see Neil at Greenwitch to pick up the Continuum in the afternoon , no excuses now ... 

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Nice images, difficult to declare a winner