Quark- first light

[Johan L]

Lovely quark images!

[Helen]

I've been resisting, given I have some very nice solar kit, but those spicules!!!!  My full disks are generally fine, but I'm usually disappointed with my prom detail.  So.... the EQ6GTAZ sale money may be about to be recycled   and with the celestron evo mount I'll be able to power the quark from the mount too

Which dealers would people recommend?

Helen

[msh1]

I've been resisting, given I have some very nice solar kit, but those spicules!!!!  My full disks are generally fine, but I'm usually disappointed with my prom detail.  So.... the EQ6GTAZ sale money may be about to be recycled   and with the celestron evo mount I'll be able to power the quark from the mount too

Which dealers would people recommend?

Helen

Helen im dealing with Astrograph they test every one that comes in for defects before they send them out to customers 

mark

[Luke]

I can recommend APM Telescopes and SCS Astro. Both have resolved Quark issues to my satisfaction

[ollypenrice]

High praise from someone with your skills Luke!

A couple more detail shots.

AR2335 May 2015

AR2335 May 2015 inverted

Gordon Bennett! Truly incredible. Staggering.

Olly

[Space Cowboy]

Very impressive! These quarks certainly pack a punch!

[Montana]

Wow!!! these are absolutely exceptional :)

Alexandra

[Zakalwe]

I've been resisting, given I have some very nice solar kit, but those spicules!!!!  My full disks are generally fine, but I'm usually disappointed with my prom detail.  So.... the EQ6GTAZ sale money may be about to be recycled   and with the celestron evo mount I'll be able to power the quark from the mount too

Which dealers would people recommend?

Helen

The prom and spicule detail was one of my reasons for buying the Quark. I'm happy with my FD images with the double-stacked Lunt, but I've always struggled with the prominence and spicule detail. I think that the extra aperture of the 115mm is making the difference as it is almost double the aperture of the Lunt.

I bought the Quark from 365 Astronomy. ordered it on Tuesday and it was here on Friday.

[Luke]

Super work, Stephen!

You are too kind, Sir, and modest! I know it's daft but I was excited when I saw you had a Quark, it was obvious you'd do great images with one. Can't wait to see some more!

We also had a Quark first light (visual) yesterday, it's my wife Sarah's. It is very, very nice! Maybe from the same batch? Sarah moved the main active region around the view to check for offband areas, I panned an intricate faint-ish prom around the view to check for sweet spotting. It passed with flying colours Apparently, I will be keeping my mitts off it :-o

High praise from someone with your skills Luke!

A couple more detail shots.

AR2335 May 2015

AR2335 May 2015 inverted

[Zakalwe]

Super work, Stephen!

You are too kind, Sir, and modest! I know it's daft but I was excited when I saw you had a Quark, it was obvious you'd do great images with one. Can't wait to see some more!

Cheers Luke... It was a mixture of nervousness and excitement when I first tried it. I was fearing a poor image...thankfully I am pleased with it's results. The conditions weren't that great on Monday....plenty of find and the seeing deteriorated quite quickly. I am looking forward to trying this under decent conditions.

We also had a Quark first light (visual) yesterday, it's my wife Sarah's. It is very, very nice! Maybe from the same batch? Sarah moved the main active region around the view to check for offband areas, I panned an intricate faint-ish prom around the view to check for sweet spotting. It passed with flying colours Apparently, I will be keeping my mitts off it :-o

His and her's Quarks, eh?

She'll never know that you've swapped them unless she writes the serial number down!

[DrRobin]

This is potentially good news for me, both Stephen and Sarah getting a good Quark, perhaps they have finally got the production consistent and are turning out A class examples every time now. This is of course one of the disadvantages of been an early adopter of anything new, just look at Windows 8.0 and the Apple Watch for two recent examples when it is worth waiting for the second edition.

I am pleased to hear that the field is very even, I was expecting an even field from my Quark, given the design, but it wasn't anywhere near good enough for a mosaic without flats, hopefully the replacement will be better.

Luke might not need to swap the serial numbers on their Quarks, mine didn't have one on it, I checked everywhere prior to sending it back to see if the same one was returned.

Robin

[jetstream]

These images are stunning, many kudos.

I too hope they get the Quark QC figured out- I am waiting for mine to get fixed- for the third time. Actually they replaced parts of it... or the whole thing, not really sure. The banding is severe and tuning only results in different parts of the etalon coming on band, at the expense of other parts.

[Ewan]

Welcome to the Q club.

Great images from your first light & very nice detail.

I found the exact same 'issues' with the Quark in that the EP holder is a little too large and a straight through screw connection just makes sense.

The main thing I have found is test & try your own settings for captures.

You can even stack FR's to gain that fov with great results.

The Quark is a great piece of kit to add to your arsenal & lust for AP.

[Ewan]

OK that's it. I need one.* These are remarkable!

Olly

*Need, that is, in the astronomical kit-buying sense of the word...

Bite the bullet Olly & go get one.........you know you want to

[Helen]

The prom and spicule detail was one of my reasons for buying the Quark. I'm happy with my FD images with the double-stacked Lunt, but I've always struggled with the prominence and spicule detail. I think that the extra aperture of the 115mm is making the difference as it is almost double the aperture of the Lunt.

I bought the Quark from 365 Astronomy. ordered it on Tuesday and it was here on Friday.

Thanks Stephen.  I see you bought the Chromosphere version - was there a reason for that over the Prominence version?

And which version have other people bought?

Thanks

Helen

[Luke]

Quark Chromospheres here, Helen.

Our reason is that the Chromo still shows proms very well, and disc contrast would be significantly lower with the Prominence version.

We have used a few different Quarks, all Chromos. The darkest one of all (perhaps close to 0.3A?), the proms were still very impressive.

The lightest one (close to 0.5A?), as you would expect, did show proms the best. But the cost was a bit less contrast on the disc. The Quarks are not known for being super mega contrasty so especially if you will observe as well, I would suggest go Chromo unless you very much want to focus on proms.

[Luke]

Helen, I forgot to say, is it worth sending a PM to Starman? I think he has the same h-a filter as you and is now also using a Quark?

[ollypenrice]

His and her's Quarks, eh?

She'll never know that you've swapped them unless she writes the serial number down!

They always know.

Everything.

Usually before you've done it.

Olly

[Zakalwe]

From what I have seen, most people are buying the chromosphere model. The images that I have seen with the Chromo version seems to deliver good prom detail.

[ollypenrice]

Are you using any filter other than the Quark? And if so where and what?

Olly

[Ewan]

Apart from an UV/IR filter Olly nothing else is needed even for the 115mm which is a bonus.

I would have waited a few more years to get into Solar imaging to afford something a bit special, to me the Quark is a godsend on my wallet.

What cheaper way is there to get results that the Quark can deliver.

[Stu]

Chromosphere version for me too Helen. Gives amazing results and the proms are excellent still. By operating it at a lower overall focal length than ideal, you can open up the bandpass a bit if you need more brightness in the proms but I doubt you will need to.

[Ewan]

Too late to edit my post but I have just read this, 'Quadruplet refractors of any aperture need an ERF filter', obviously I cannot confirm this but it may be useful to know for some people.

[Stu]

Too late to edit my post but I have just read this, 'Quadruplet refractors of any aperture need an ERF filter', obviously I cannot confirm this but it may be useful to know for some people.

That's correct Ewan. Any scope which has rear lens elements just ahead of the focuser needs a full aperture D-ERF (or I guess an internal sub aperture if you can get access).

As I understand it this is because these elements are often cemented together and being nearer the focal point will receive more concentrated light and heat

[DrRobin]

That's correct Ewan. Any scope which has rear lens elements just ahead of the focuser needs a full aperture D-ERF (or I guess an internal sub aperture if you can get access).

As I understand it this is because these elements are often cemented together and being nearer the focal point will receive more concentrated light and heat

You probably want to avoid any telescope with a corrector lens (or FR / FF) close to the focal plane for any Ha system.  I doubt even a D-ERF will take out enough energy.  Mind given the price of any quadruplet or Petzval telescope most would probably think twice about using one in the first place.  They would be okay for a front mounted white light solar solution though.

Robin