AR2827 merging over 9 hours - 1/6/2021

[AbsolutelyN]

26 minutes ago, CraigT82 said:

Wow top work Tristan.... is there anything that 250 pds can't do?! 

 

Thanks Craig. The 250pds has unexpectedly turned out to be best scope I've ever had - and a fraction of the cost of most previous ones too. Looking forward to seeing your 300mm images though. I originally wanted to get one of those but they were all out of stock and it's even more over mount limits than the 250. How is your EQ6 handling it?  It looked to have some serious counterweights!

[CraigT82]

41 minutes ago, AbsolutelyN said:

Thanks Craig. The 250pds has unexpectedly turned out to be best scope I've ever had - and a fraction of the cost of most previous ones too. Looking forward to seeing your 300mm images though. I originally wanted to get one of those but they were all out of stock and it's even more over mount limits than the 250. How is your EQ6 handling it?  It looked to have some serious counterweights!

Yeah not too well in all honesty! Will be fine for lucky imaging though and I'm hoping to get first light tomorrow morning. It really needs an EQ8 but then that is just more weight to move around. Maybe something I can aspire to once we move house and I can have a permanent set up. 

[skyhog]

That's very very good. Nice to see someone with the patience to do these kinds of anims. I have a PST that I use every now and then and my brain tends to remember the sun as relatively static. Might have to have longer sessions now the action is building up. 

[inFINNity Deck]

Hi Tristan,

very nice animation. Did you use ND5.0 or ND3.8 foil? From the Astrobin-page I learned you used a continuum filter as well.

That morning I took the image shown below using a C11 EdgeHD, 4x PowerMate, ZWO ASi174MM, a green filter, and ND5.0 foil. It is not as sharp as yours though.

Nicolàs

[AbsolutelyN]

1 hour ago, inFINNity Deck said:

Hi Tristan,

very nice animation. Did you use ND5.0 or ND3.8 foil? From the Astrobin-page I learned you used a continuum filter as well.

That morning I took the image shown below using a C11 EdgeHD, 4x PowerMate, ZWO ASi174MM, a green filter, and ND5.0 foil. It is not as sharp as yours though.

Nicolàs

Hi Nicolàs. That must have been taken early on, just after I started. I used the 3.8 as I can get much faster shutter speeds - less than 2ms. But unfortunately I could also only get hold of A4 sized film so I 3D printed my own solar filter holder that  stops the scope down to 200mm so it's not using the full 250mm aperture. The solar continuum filter is very good but I found an OIII filter is also very good too. Seeing is the ultimate limiter - sometimes I can't even get focus at all as it's just a blur - so very much luck of what atmosphere you happen to have and perseverance. Get the right conditions and I'm sure you'll blow the socks off my image with a 11" scope. 

 

Edited June 4, 2021 by AbsolutelyN

[AbsolutelyN]

6 hours ago, CraigT82 said:

Yeah not too well in all honesty! Will be fine for lucky imaging though and I'm hoping to get first light tomorrow morning. It really needs an EQ8 but then that is just more weight to move around. Maybe something I can aspire to once we move house and I can have a permanent set up. 

Good luck with it, I'm sure you'll get some great images with the beast - Jupiter and Saturn I assume in the morning. I've switched to a 200mm lens for a change but will have a crack at them eventually.  I guess the plus side of planetary is that you can really push the mount as it doesn't have to track for minutes ... but a lot easier on a more hefty mount. I've got a CEM120 on order but might be months before it arrives. The Tri-Pier has turned up though so I've sourced an adapter and have just mounted the AZEQ6 on it. Makes the sky watcher tripod look like a toy. Hopefully it will help and bit with the 250. 

[inFINNity Deck]

25 minutes ago, AbsolutelyN said:

Hi Nicolàs. That must have been taken early on, just after I started. I used the 3.8 as I can get much faster shutter speeds - less than 2ms. But unfortunately I could also only get hold of A4 sized film so I 3D printed my own solar filter holder that  stops the scope down to 200mm so it's not using the full 250mm aperture. The solar continuum filter is very good but I found an OIII filter is also very good too. Seeing is the ultimate limiter - sometimes I can't even get focus at all as it's just a blur - so very much luck of what atmosphere you happen to have and perseverance. Get the right conditions and I'm sure you'll blow the socks off my image with a 11" scope. 

 

Hi Tristan,

thanks for that info. The ND3.8 is indeed no longer available at sizes above A4. For that reason, and to be able to use it visually, I got myself the ND5.0 instead.

My image was taken at 07:23UTC. I will give it another try as soon as the winds turn southerly as that should give me less hot air from surrounding rooftops.

Nicolàs