Mars 09.10.2020, first time for me at 0.15"/px.

[alex_stars]

Dear Stargazers,

yesterday evening, despite some average seeing conditions, I managed to push by Skymax 180 to 0.15 arcsec/pixel resolution, using a 2.25x barlow and my ASI224MC. Best 10% out of 9040 frames, stacked and processed with PSS.

That imaging resolution is a first for me, so I am quite happy with the result 😃

Clear Skies everyone.

[AbsolutelyN]

Great image, some good details coming thorough. I'm finding that getting the image scale up gives better results with one shot colour cameras.  

[M40]

Excellent alex_stars 👍 I have the same telescope and I used the Hyperion zoom set to 8mm and a DSLR camera and got this as a first time picture , makes for an interesting comparison. I used a yellow filter on the first and a blue filter on the second. 

[johnturley]

Great image very similar to what I saw visually last night, note that the South Polar cap is looking really tiny, would not be surprised if it disappears completely as it appeared to do in 2005.

John 

[alex_stars]

HI @johnturley and thanks. Yes we should keep an eye on the South Polar cap. Let's see if it disappears or not.

Clear Skies!

[alex_stars]

Hi @M40, nice images. Did you stack those and did you calculate their resolution? Do let us know a bit more on how you processed those, for comparison reasons.

[astroman001]

Well done, a 3x or 5x Powermate will help increase image scale.

Peter

[alex_stars]

1 minute ago, astroman001 said:

Well done, a 3x or 5x Powermate will help increase image scale.

Peter

Thanks Peter👍. I plan to increase the scale by using different spacers between the Hyperion Barlow and my camera. I should be able to get beyond 3x that way.

[M40]

3 minutes ago, alex_stars said:

Hi @M40, nice images. Did you stack those and did you calculate their resolution? Do let us know a bit more on how you processed those, for comparison reasons.

Oh if only I knew how to stack them :D, nope I quite simply bolted the DSLR camera body to the hyperion zoom and took individual pictures. I have a lot to learn about the telescope and even more to learn about the camera🤣. My son told me I need to change the shutter speed........ Apparently he is going to teach me some camera basics, lets hope some of it sticks 😎 The camera settings were 1/100 F00 iso6400. That should give you a clue as to how much I know about camera settings 

[johnturley]

2 hours ago, M40 said:

Oh if only I knew how to stack them :D, nope I quite simply bolted the DSLR camera body to the hyperion zoom and took individual pictures. I have a lot to learn about the telescope and even more to learn about the camera🤣. My son told me I need to change the shutter speed........ Apparently he is going to teach me some camera basics, lets hope some of it sticks 😎 The camera settings were 1/100 F00 iso6400. That should give you a clue as to how much I know about camera settings 

All the more remarkable for a single shot image taken with a DSLR, I don't know whether you can take movies with your DSLR, I process movies taken with my Canon 6D with Registax and Lightroom, but the problem I gather with the 6D is that the sensor is too large for planetary images, and that I need to use eyepiece projection with a 9.7mm (or shorter focal length) Plossl eyepiece to give a reasonable sized image scale. 

John 

 

[M40]

2 hours ago, johnturley said:

All the more remarkable for a single shot image taken with a DSLR, I don't know whether you can take movies with your DSLR, I process movies taken with my Canon 6D with Registax and Lightroom, but the problem I gather with the 6D is that the sensor is too large for planetary images, and that I need to use eyepiece projection with a 9.7mm (or shorter focal length) Plossl eyepiece to give a reasonable sized image scale. 

John 

 

Yep, it can do movies. I bought a used Canon EOS100D simply because its as light as the budget would stretch too, however looking at alex_stars picture, it has already put thoughts in the lady wifes head about future presents and camera's rather than telescope upgrades 😎

[alex_stars]

I agree with @johnturley, given your, @M40, current setup, these single shots are remarkable indeed. Well done.

Not sure if you need the colour filters with your DSLR?

Also, when recording videos for planetary imaging, watch out that your DSLR is not compressing the video, else all your beautiful detail is gone. In the end a dedicated camera makes life a lot easier for planetary imaging. And you can get the entry level ones for not too much money.

Looking forward to see more images.

Clear Skies.