Am I doing anything wrong (right) ?

[RosalinaandLuma]

Hi ,

So I have tried some planet imaging with my Meade 8 inch LX 10, coupled with a ZWO ASI 120 colour camera, video as an AVI with PIPP/Autostack/Registax wavelets, and this is my results (im new to this, and basically followed a youtube guide). Weather where I was:  Clear, 14km/hr wind, and 75-80% humidity. To my eye the planets looks as if I was seeing them at the bottom of a pond, shimmering. What I want to ask is the following:

Am I out of focus, I find it almost impossible to judge focus on the camera view on the laptop everything looks a little smudgy always.

Am I just fighting bad weather ?

Am I just poor at using the software ?

(also uploaded a sample of the mars video, after running in video editing since the file was almost 1gb)

 

jup.bmp mars.bmp sat.bmp

Edited October 10, 2020 by RosalinaandLuma

[andrew s]

It's a steep learning curve. Focus is hard but lack of it destroys images as can poor seeing. Just practice practice and more practice.  Try on a star first to judge the conditions then move to Mars.

Regards Andrew 

 

[RosalinaandLuma]

From what I have above, both images and that raw video is it possible to tell if I am fighting focus or weather ?

[andrew s]

Not by me I am afraid.  Regards Andrew 

[Stu Wilson]

Focus is definitely out, not by a mile though.

[RosalinaandLuma]

Thanks @Stu Wilson So I have my stock Meade LX 10 and always felt the focus knob seemed to change position for perfect focus when looking at a tree in day light. So I have sent away for EZ focus upgrade kit that uses thrust bearings instead of nylon washers, they claim it gives a smoother performance with less back lash, worth a shot for $40.

Will update.

[Stu Wilson]

Try using a bahtinov mask too.

Very good piece of kit for focusing.

[RosalinaandLuma]

Hi Promised to update, @Stu Wilson @andrew s

So using the clear skies and earth global wind map, I picked my night and seemed to get lucky (well for Ireland), also got my Bahtinov mask (first time using) and got the following for Mars, still a little blurry. How does it look ?

I tried Jupiter also, but still is a blurry mess, perhaps was too low down in the sky (about 1 hr from setting)

mars14_1.bmp

[andrew s]

Getting better. Seeing is critical. Keep going. Regards Andrew 

[ollypenrice]

Best to convert the image to JPEG and load it straight onto here.

Olly

[RosalinaandLuma]

ahh yes, better

Edited October 15, 2020 by RosalinaandLuma

[Gfamily]

I'd be very pleased with that image!

It's worth checking the position of the Jetstream, as that's going to make a significant difference to the quality of your sky. 

https://www.netweather.tv/charts-and-data/jetstream

It wasn't particularly good last weekend (from https://www.metcheck.com/WEATHER/jetstream_archive.asp) , but was better last night