Second Light for the new PST setup

[NickH]

Man I love this setup. Have included the full prom shot for the entire lower side of the solar disc (as I was seeing it anyway!), and two close ups of the main proms. None at full resolution, all cropped massively. The disc shot is a bit of a composite job, but the combination of the DMK cameras (I have to have one now...decided), and the "new" PST is just blowing me away.. I really cannot wait for some action on the surface now. The detail in the left side prom is just amazing, clarity and resolution is just eyewatering, and this shot taken at 5pm local time tonight, with the sun low in the sky. The right side prom looks like a shark...amazing detached prom, that just hung in the air..

Around 6GB of frames involved in this lot, and I still have two more fuller low resolution disc shots to process. This set is just a quick and dirty straight out of Registax, quick colour/levels in CS2, and imerge to composite the big shot. The resolution/size etc is massively cropped to fit

[beamish]

Awesome Nick, just awesome. Glad to see someone's able to get some observing /imaging done. That "new" set-up would appear to be paying off big time.

Karlo

[jonifive]

Those images are just incredible.

JV

[jgs001]

Wow, very very nice

[NickH]

Thanks everyone. I have now finished processing it properly and have uploaded a full scale version

http://www.sendspace.com/file/6x3x4q

Hope you like it

[Beyond_Vision]

Absolutely superb shots Nick, its no wonder that you are happy with those.

Regards

Kevin

[Sam]

You're doing some amazing things with that setup Nick - excellent shots!!

[Mark at Beaufort]

Excellent solar photos Nick. I have never been successful taking photos through my PST which I purchased nearly 3 years ago. I tried my Canon DSLR but could never get focus - perhaps the new PST has a longer focal range?? Must admit I don't know what a DMK camera is - can someone advise me? Finally what is the best set up for taking solar photos through the PST - do you need to take multiple shots and then process in Registax or similar?

Mark

[NickH]

Multiple shots using a webcam is the best way, DSLR will get a wider shot, but can be very difficult to focus.

DMK is a camera made by a company called Imaging Source, they are very high frame rate cameras, starting at around £230

[Mark at Beaufort]

Thanks Nick. Does the webcam simply slot into the eyepieces mount or do you need some extra brackets?

Mark

[NickH]

The webcam you get an adapter for, and then it just drops in to the PST eyepiece holder. The low profile adapter is the one that will reach focus easily.

Also, the Sun in H-Alpha and CaK light is a monocrhomatic light source, so a mono camera works best (they tend to be more sensitive, and you actually use the enture CCD resolution, rather than about a third of it (which is what a colour camera will do with the Sun in narrowband)

A modded webcam (modified for greater sensitivity and long exposure) will also work very well on planetary imaging, lunar imaging, and as an autoguider..