Ye Olde Mega Filament - 8th Februrary, 2015

[Luke]

Rather late with this one! The mega filament from about a month ago (!). I kept finding excuses not to do the full disc, but I finally overcame my tiling nerves. The flats I took for the six tiles were not that great, but hopefully they will be better next time now that I am a bag flat convert :-o I think these are also my first full discs with the Quark, despite having had it nearly 3/4 year

Thanks for looking,

Luke

PS The last one makes me laugh. I was trying to get that effect the other day, and couldn't get it... This time, I got it, but wasn't trying to get it. The moral seems to be, Try Not

---

8th February, 2015

Tele Vue 60 (full disc) / Equinox 120 (close-ups), Quark Chromosphere, Grasshopper 3 camera (ICX687), 0.5x reducer

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Very nice indeed. It is back at the moment, although it does look a bit the worse for wear

[dazzaa1966]

Fantastic full quark disc Luke. I'll give it

a go once conditions are favourable.

[Montana]

:) these are all super! and congratulations on a very fine full disc mosaic :)

Alexandra

[Stu]

Fabulous Luke. That filament was quite something wasn't it!!

[Davey-T]

Well done Luke, another frustrating day here, clear blue sky to the North, clouds to the South.

Dave

[sooot]

Great set. Why the bag flat over the focus flat. Ive never done a bag flat so am intrested in the process and results of using a bag

[Luke]

Thanks, all!

Dave, I hope you finally get a good spell soon.

Craig, the bag flat works like this: You get one of those flimsy little bags from the fruit and veg aisle in the supermarket. You keep your scope in focus, get about central on the disc and place the bag over the scope end (very important!: don't forget to take the fruit/veg out first! ).

Maybe use an elastic band or string to secure it in place. Crank up gain as much as you need and exposure time to get a roughly similar histogram and take a few hundred frames or so. Stacking them into a flat (Create Master Frame in AS!2) should kill the noise of the high gain. I am using exposure time of about 100ms, gain on max, gamma on midpoint/regular. Whether there are better settings I don't know, but it seems to work.

The main reason why I am using them is that defocus flats don't seem to work so well with my smaller scopes, with their shorter focal length the corners seem to be too dark because I guess they are not close enough to centre of disc. With my Equinox 120 defocus flats seem fine but I will try bag flats anyway to see if they are a little better.

They might also work a bit better with dust bunnies but I am using them mainly for the more even illumination effect that the bag seems to give, I suspect my imperfect polar alignment wipes out a few bunnies!

It can also be handy that you are still in focus. Sometimes I sneak a quick flat just in case some pesky clouds sneak in, and I don't have to lose time refocusing after being done with the flat. A nice little bonus.

I saw a bit of info on it on Alexandra's Flickr page:
 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/alexandra4/13956739414/in/set-72157628535593245

[Ruud]

Great images, Luke! Thanks for sharing.

[spaceboy]

I have never understood flats and Bias. Get the whole darks thing though

Do you only need flats for solar or do you still need all three ?? I take it a white T shirt or A4 copier paper over the end will work ?

Superb images as always Luke. The Quark sure does do a good job on proms and I can only wonder what the dedicated prom version is capable of.

[sooot]

Cheers luke ,i shall give it a try as i do tend to get uneven illumination to the sides of panes trying to process out can be a pain

I have never understood flats and Bias. Get the whole darks thing though

Do you only need flats for solar or do you still need all three ?? I take it a white T shirt or A4 copier paper over the end will work ?

Superb images as always Luke. The Quark sure does do a good job on proms and I can only wonder what the dedicated prom version is capable of.

think the paper and teeshirt might drop the light dramaticly. Flats will rid of pesky dust and newton rings or as ive found out if i have a drifting image captured a flat will introduce newton rings

[Luke]

I have never understood flats and Bias. Get the whole darks thing though

Do you only need flats for solar or do you still need all three ?? I take it a white T shirt or A4 copier paper over the end will work ?

Superb images as always Luke. The Quark sure does do a good job on proms and I can only wonder what the dedicated prom version is capable of.

Good question! With Quark I take flats, but no bias nor darks, but I am not sure what others do yet. One of the reasons I always use flats for h-alpha is that my Grasshopper camera gives two bands, one at top and one at bottom, in h-alpha, and a flat gets rid of them.

For white light I only take flats if using a strong barlow with my 120mm scope, where dust bunnies are more likely to turn up. I have just used defocus flats with that so far but I guess bag flats will work too, been a while since I had a crack at white light closer up.

Must say, that big AR is shaping up very nicely... But the weekend forecast once again is cloud the entire sunlight hours our way... Can only hope it's about as accurate as usual

I do have a slight temptation to get a Prominence version of the Quark, but must resist I guess, a lot of my imaging is grab and go and I kinda like taking just one Quark. I will have to give in if they ever do a CaK Quark though (no idea if that might be done). Lack of funds is also an issue at the mo, I still need to sell stuff to balance the books

[spaceboy]

I'm happy with my choice of solar scope for entry in to Ha as I'm in and out like a yoyo between clouds and I think I would be pulling what little bit of hair I do have out if I'd gone with a quark from the off. There is no doubt that a quark is worth every penny and I hope to own one at some point in the future.  I'm still not 100% convinced that the UK skies can allow a quark to be used to it's full potential visually but the images people and yourself most notably can capture are simply breath taking. I feel though it would soon become a slippery slope for me as I can't see my SPC900 cutting the mustard so I'd have to make sure I have some reserves in the bank once I did take the leap

[Psychobilly]

Lovely stuff well worth the wait...

I'm my brief foray into solar imaging with the LOHA I was another convert to bag flats they just seem to work.

I'm hoping Sol will still be busy when It clears the trees at home an I can try and remember how to capture and process the data.

Car repairs blew any chance of getting the new cam so it will still be big mosaics with the 618 this year.

Peter...

[Luke]

I'm happy with my choice of solar scope for entry in to Ha as I'm in and out like a yoyo between clouds and I think I would be pulling what little bit of hair I do have out if I'd gone with a quark from the off. There is no doubt that a quark is worth every penny and I hope to own one at some point in the future.  I'm still not 100% convinced that the UK skies can allow a quark to be used to it's full potential visually but the images people and yourself most notably can capture are simply breath taking. I feel though it would soon become a slippery slope for me as I can't see my SPC900 cutting the mustard so I'd have to make sure I have some reserves in the bank once I did take the leap

I would go Quark as entry (and exit lol) if it was me, but that's just me, we are all different!

To try and answer your points, for me personally:

If it is a super cloudy day, I will check out Gong. How is Sol looking? If there is some very nice action and I am keen to see or image it, I will switch on the Quark so it's good to go. Just leave it indoors with long cable and rechargeable battery pack (which has never run out on me) and have my grab and go tripod ready. With Quark powered I don't really see that my SolarMax 60 is any quicker. The SM60 does have the advantage of shorter focal length for imaging and can grab disc in one go with my cam. I will grab the main action with Quark first and have greater image scale on it if there is time for one shot only. The Quark I would not need to tune, it stays on last used setting (in fact, same setting it came with). My SolarMax 60 I would need to quickly tune (tuning gets moved when putting it back in case for one) and also focus would take a little longer with the SM60's backlash-prone helical. Both good options I think IF Quark is powered.

So last Sunday, forecast said cloudy. I won't set up, I thought. Hang on a mo, it's brightening up a bit. Quick check of Sat 24. Rush to turn Quark on. Fly out and set up goto mount and lappy, etc. Quark was good to go by the time goto and lappy were ready. My SM60 would have been no quicker with goto.

The Quark's full potential visually under UK skies: On a typical UK day I much prefer using Quark and ED100 over SolarMax 60, the views are much more detailed. I don't find 100mm very demanding visually, for me imaging is more demanding. The software has to align the points of interest and there could be smearing of details. The eye and brain cope better I find, similar I guess how you will hear John say that you need to give planets time at the eyepiece, but I do recall you saying you find bad seeing is difficult for you. So this is just me!

Like a few weeks ago, imaging was not good in the big scope.. I caught some good views at the eyepiece as focus snapped in now and again. Captured images were a mess. For me the ED100 outperforms the SM60 for detail even in poorer conditions. Though if the view is SOOOOO choppy then I will come back to it later, sing a sea shanty meanwhile, and I would do the same with the SolarMax 60, it would be choppy in that too.

I overestimated effects of seeing before getting Quark. We solar imagers are always going on about seeing, 3/10, 5/10, jet stream, thin cloud, haze, ... I imagined I'd be using SM60 the most and Quark for best conditions. In the roughly nine months since I got the Quark, I have used the SM60 I think three times, and once was because I felt bad that such a lovely scope that has shown me the most amazing sights and that costs a lot of cash was sitting there twiddling its thumbs. I need to sell it, I am uncomfy that it is not being used and the astro wish list contains things that would get more use. If money was no issue at all I would keep it, why not, the pros and cons are different.

For grab and go I prefer Tele Vue 60 and Quark. One, I just adore the TV60, it is in danger of being my favourite scope. It's so small and compact, quirky and brilliant. I like how thanks to Quark it is getting even more use. I can do white light and regular astro with it. I did 17 straight days on hols with TV60 and Quark. I use it for solar lunch at work. It works for grab and go, I do a lot of it and the cons (warm up time, tuning, 4.3x barlow) have proven to be less of an issue than I'd imagined (for imaging I can use a reducer to pull down focal length, and my ASI174 gets me plenty of frames for untracked imaging).

Now the best option will of course come down to personal preferences and circumstances. I know Michael has stopped off a few times while riding his bike to sneak a quick look. Small dedicated h-alpha scope? Perfect fit in that case... If it was just me I might still keep the SM60. But my other half wants to view with Quark in the ED100 while I image with the 120, whereas I might set up the SM60 and Quark. Not gonna set up three things...

One only? Quark all day long for me, but that's just me, some folks may be better with dedicated h-a scope depending on needs, like if you super love full discs then it makes sense to have a shorter focal length option depending on camera.

[spaceboy]

Thank you for your views Luke. It is nice to get other peoples perspectives and preferences on things. I don't want you to think I was knocking the quark in any way though. I think they are a great piece of kit and I do plan on getting one myself as I have a couple refractors I could use it in.

I think for imagers of your quality the benefits of a quark are larger though as you already have nice refractors and cameras. The price point of the quark is very appealing but I think all the hidden extras like TV plossl, power packs, possible ED refractors and UV/IR filters etc made it less appealing for me over a dedicated scope which pretty much works straight out of the box. Again not knocking the quark one bit. It was more down to what I had at my disposal at the end of the day. I was also well aware that some of the amazing images we see on the lounge require a knowledge base of imaging that far exceeds mine so I'm sure even if I had your identical setup the chances of me getting results like yours would have been remote. All things one has to consider.

Anyway forgive me for taking your thread slightly off topic and distracting from a fine set of images

[Pete Presland]

Superb set of images, that was a stunning filament to watch and nice to see its return!

[Luke]

Thank you for your views Luke. It is nice to get other peoples perspectives and preferences on things. I don't want you to think I was knocking the quark in any way though. I think they are a great piece of kit and I do plan on getting one myself as I have a couple refractors I could use it in.

I think for imagers of your quality the benefits of a quark are larger though as you already have nice refractors and cameras. The price point of the quark is very appealing but I think all the hidden extras like TV plossl, power packs, possible ED refractors and UV/IR filters etc made it less appealing for me over a dedicated scope which pretty much works straight out of the box. Again not knocking the quark one bit. It was more down to what I had at my disposal at the end of the day. I was also well aware that some of the amazing images we see on the lounge require a knowledge base of imaging that far exceeds mine so I'm sure even if I had your identical setup the chances of me getting results like yours would have been remote. All things one has to consider.

Anyway forgive me for taking your thread slightly off topic and distracting from a fine set of images

I don't think you're knocking the Quark, I hope you don't think I am knocking you knocking the Quark

It's a really tricky line between trying to pass on your personal experience - but I feel I have to be honest as people are making some very expensive purchasing decisions - versus it may be coming over as pouring cold water on other options! I am sorry if I have done that. I am probably far too much of a Quark fan because it made a dream come true for me that I thought was beyond my grasp! :-o It eased a sore that had been itching for months.

I think we are looking at the Quark from different angles.

For me the competition for Quark was not Lunt 50/60 or SolarMax 60 (although in my experience for my needs the Quark treads on their toes more than expected).

I look at it from the angle of wanting more aperture, having used a 60mm for some time and wanting a little more detail. I agonised for months over the various options. My preference was probably Lunt 100 double stacked (double stacked SF100 simply impossible for my funds), but it was out of budget by some way and I was unsure I would want to pay so much even if I did have funds. At the time I still thought my SM60 would get by far the most use. As it's turned out larger aperture has been used and I enjoy it more than I was expecting so I would now be prepared to up my budget a bit having got hooked. Though Lunt 100 DS would still be too much for my funds.

So let's look at cost of Lunt 100 double stack.

I would want a good focuser, so probably the Feathertouch, and I'd like pressure tuner.

Widescreen Centre has single stacked with the B1200, PT and Feathertouch for £5549.00, or the B18000 for £5999.00.

F1 Telescopes has the internal double stack module with PT for the LS100 at £2,000.

So about £7.5-8k before I start to look for cheapest prices from a good retailer.

This is why for me Quark is a no-brainer.

Let's say I am more like starting out and considering Quark versus Lunt 50. I would want the bigger blocking filter and it double stacked. That looks to be about £1900 from FLO right now if I got my maths right.

So let's look at Quark + SW ED100 + battery + cable + 2 inch UV/IR cut + TV32 Plossl + 0.5x reducer.

£799 for Quark, £625 for Skwatcher DS-100 Pro from FLO, £50 for battery and cable, £80 for 2 inch Astronomik UV/IR (L), £110 Tele Vue 32mm, £20 0.5x reducer.

Grand total: £1684. I may not have included some postage in there. Also you might be able to sell the 0.85x reducer included with the DS-100 (I sold mine). You don't have to use the TV Plossl, Shaun likes his less expensive Vixen's, and the TV32 may have usage in other scopes (I use mine for DSO too). The UV/IR cut might have other uses. Perhaps not. The ED100 for me certainly has other uses. It is a very good convenient frac for planets, lunar and some DSO accepting the more limited aperture. I love it for observing. It was bought nothing to do with imaging, as a trusty 100mm frac for night time stuff. It would also be cracker for white light with Herschel wedge.

So for me that actually works out a bit cheaper than if I went Lunt 50. I could almost squeeze in a 66mmm scope too for similar price to cover full disc/shorter fl/ more compact grab and go, I have a sweet little 66mm I got from Telescope House, that was south of £300. Or go slightly over on the very nice SW ED80, looking a bargain £350 at FLO. Sure, you don't have to double stack, but I would want to if going Lunt 50 and that would then make it 0.5A (Quark Chromosphere is 0.3A to 0.5A).

If funds allowed I might choose the Lunt 100 DS over the Quark, I reckon I would find 100mm fine for imaging for my taste, and I love observing too and I just know I would love the contrast of the DS unit. Not saying I would get it, but it would be very tempting and something to really think over.

To any folks who have agonised over Quark or 50/60mm dedicated h-alpha scope, if it was me and I'd gone for the latter, I would try to double stack it at some point, doesn't matter if it takes a year or two to find funds. Then I would feel like I had maximized one of its key advantages over Quark, of better contrast when double stacked. I would also really focus on the grab and go aspect of the smaller scope, try and get a really nice compact light sturdy grab and go mount and really make the most of the advantages.

Anyway I will try and stop going on and on about Quark (though I do have a review that's almost ready), it's probably just becoming a drone, and just do some images

  

[spaceboy]

I just hope the skies are clear at SGLX as I'm looking forward to finally taking a look through a quark for myself. My plans to do so at PSP2014 were thwarted by clouds

[Zakalwe]

Those are world-class images Luke.

My jaw is on the desk and my flabber is well and truly ghasted!

[Luke]

Wowsers. thanks, Stephen! Looking forward to seeing some more of your solar pics, I don't think I've seen any from you for a while?

[David Smith]

Brilliant Luke. Last couple look like a tear across the disk.