Mars, 10-10-2020 (RGB and IR)

[GuLinux]

Hello, this is my attempt at Mars for this year opposition.

Seeing was "ok" (at least, as ok as it can be in London), but I wish I had a bigger scope to get more details 😕

 

Telescope: SkyWatcher Skymax 180

Camera: ASI178MM

ZWO RGB filters (left), Astronomik IR Pro Planet (right)

[JeremyS]

very good @GuLinux!

[Tommohawk]

I think that's a great result, especially for a 180 scope. Everyone wants bigger - even the Hubble isn't big enough anymore!

[alex_stars]

I agree with @Tommohawk. Its great to see wonderful results of scopes in the 7-8" range as these are more "accessible" to most of us. Not everyone can go and grab a C14. Very well done @GuLinux. Lot's of detail!

@GuLinux, would you share your effective focal length of that photo or the sampling scale. That would be great for further comparisons.

Edited October 15, 2020 by alex_stars

[GuLinux]

Thanks everyone

32 minutes ago, alex_stars said:

I agree with @Tommohawk. Its great to see wonderful results of scopes in the 7-8" range as these are more "accessible" to most of us. Not everyone can go and grab a C14. Very well done @GuLinux. Lot's of detail!

@GuLinux, would you share your effective focal length of that photo or the sampling scale. That would be great for further comparisons.

Oh I didn't use any barlow, so native focal length (2700mm), plus a 1.5X resample in software.

I know that on a Mak focal length can vary depending on the focuser position, according to my calculations it looks to be around 2770mm in this specific setup.

 

[geoflewis]

@GuLinux - those are both excellent images, well done.

[Nik271]

Lovely detail there. I still have to capture such a good image with my Skymax 180. At least your image shows its possible. Thanks for the inspiration!

[alex_stars]

Thanks for sharing the capturing and processing details @GuLinux, as said, makes comparing a lot easier. 😉

Just for reference for those who are into numbers, the sampling scale would be around 0.18 arcsec/pixel. I like to compare that number. In my case I need to barlow for that sampling as my ASI224 MC has a lot larger pixels (3.75 µm in comparison to your 2.4 µm).

Clear Skies.

[GuLinux]

1 minute ago, alex_stars said:

Thanks for sharing the capturing and processing details @GuLinux, as said, makes comparing a lot easier. 😉

Just for reference for those who are into numbers, the sampling scale would be around 0.18 arcsec/pixel. I like to compare that number. In my case I need to barlow for that sampling as my ASI224 MC has a lot larger pixels (3.75 µm in comparison to your 2.4 µm).

Clear Skies.

Yes, I think that my choice of camera and focal ratio really plays to my advantage.

The 178mm is a great camera, the small pixel pitch means I can avoid using a barlow, and still get a good sampling rate (slight oversampling), while the good dynamic range of the camera means I can keep the exposure short and bump the gain without significantly  increasing noise

[Luminated]

On 13/10/2020 at 19:04, GuLinux said:

Hello, this is my attempt at Mars for this year opposition.

Seeing was "ok" (at least, as ok as it can be in London), but I wish I had a bigger scope to get more details 😕

 

Telescope: SkyWatcher Skymax 180

Camera: ASI178MM

ZWO RGB filters (left), Astronomik IR Pro Planet (right)

So lucky to get this in London! Wish I had my Skymax already... hoping it arrives before Mars shrinks further...

Curious to know how this compares to your seeing/visual? What mag where you at?

Hoping for clearer sky’s!

[GuLinux]

2 hours ago, Luminated said:

So lucky to get this in London! Wish I had my Skymax already... hoping it arrives before Mars shrinks further...

Ah, yes, telescopes demand is very high lately, and stock is very low in stores..
I was actually thinking of selling my SkyMax, and getting a C9.25 or maybe even a C11, but there would be at least 2 months of waiting, so it's probably better to do it next year, when the major planets are not on "prime time" in the evening

2 hours ago, Luminated said:

Curious to know how this compares to your seeing/visual? What mag where you at?

Hoping for clearer sky’s!

I didn't really have much time to look at it visually, unfortunately  Weather these days changes very rapidly, so I tried to get as many shots as possible before having the clouds rolling in

Mag? You mean visual magnitude limit?

I'm not really sure, to be honest... I think mag 3 or 4 🤔

I live in the suburbs, so it's not *completely* terrible, but definitely not nice either. But at least visual mag doesn't affect planetary imaging

 

[Luminated]

Sorry, I meant magnification, eg 180x?

[Luminated]

 I look forward to having a garden (or even yard) one day...currently use my roof terrace which is ok... but not practical for hefting a C11 - so can only dream of using something like that...people with such equipment are "on another planet" in my universe 😄

(not to mention lack of power sockets - but still enjoy trying to squeeze an image from my ancient Lumia 1020...) - I'll stop with the puns now

Keen to see more of your planet pics

Edited October 16, 2020 by Luminated