Some Mars Shots from 20th Sep

[PembrokeSteve]

Hi

On the evening of Sunday 20th September, I finally managed to get Mars using my Intes MK67 Maksutov and ZWOASI178MC camera. 
As usual, the MK67 did not let me down and it seems to pair up well with a x2 barlow, which was used for every image.
I am starting to use the ZWO178MC at BIN2 now to get a faster frame rate, and it seems to pay off.  Camera gain set at 180.
Images processed through Autostakkert , and then a combination of GIMP and Affinity Photo. 
Registax was not used as converted  images were quite sharp already.

Regards,

Steve

 

 

[MarkAR]

Very nice Steve.

[Stargazer33]

Nice captures Steve. One thing I've learnt for planetary imaging, reduce your region of interest - ROI - so you only have a small area of sky around the planet. You don't need all that sky and it really drags the fps rate down. You can always add more background later if you prefer a larger frame. You'll also be able to keep binning at 1x1 so keeping more detail. 

Edited September 23, 2020 by Stargazer33

[Tommohawk]

45 minutes ago, Stargazer33 said:

Nice captures Steve. One thing I've learnt for planetary imaging, reduce your region of interest - ROI - so you only have a small area of sky around the planet. You don't need all that sky and it really drags the fps rate down. You can always add more background later if you prefer a larger frame. You'll also be able to keep binning at 1x1 so keeping more detail. 

Completely agree. Its a nice image and I don't know this camera but I can't see the need for binning with such a bright target. As Bryan says you should get plenty of FPS by using ROI without the need to BIN. Which capture software are you using?

[PembrokeSteve]

Thanks Bryan and Tom, I am using Sharpcap when doing my imaging. I will stick with Bin1 on my next session and reduce my ROI as you advise. Thanks for advice,

Steve

[Tommohawk]

Also, if it's like the ASI290 you will get faster frame rates by using 10 bit capture. It's a bit more noisy but with zillions of frames stacked it shouldn't matter. Also USB3 of course if you have it.

[Pete Presland]

very nice sharp captures.