lunar mosiac closeups 29th August

[neil phillips]

First lunar for this scope Orion 245. For around 6 years. Since i gave up. Its been a while. Seeing was a bit iffy. But IR685 pulled some detail out. Mosaic was started around 29 degrees. The close ups Somewhat higher. Might spend some more time processing them. But here is a quick and dirty process. Its good to see this old scope doing lunar again.

Orion 245mm Newtonian F6.3 ZWO 178 M camera Player one IR685 Filter. Celestron 2X barlow plus slight extension for the closeups. ( next time will drop the extension ) 

SW EQ5 Mount single axis drive

Some slight ringing on the shots here and there but not too distracting. 

Except Plato and Arzachel all closeups are 50% and 75 % renditions 

The bottom Plato is a different capture at FULL SIZE you can see why i have been downsizing them. Next time i will kill the barlow extension. Its not needed. 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 31, 2021 by neil phillips

[wornish]

Amazing detail in the close ups.

[Trevor N]

Excellent detail there Neil. Particularly like the Clavius  and Tycho shots. 

[neil phillips]

Cheers Dave Much appreciated. Just had my second jab. Needed some distraction. As i have a vaccine phobia. And side effects. This has been helping

Waited Months to get a chance to use the Newtonian Trevor. Lunar rays havent hit the mirror for over 6 years. Considering seeing was a bit wobbly. Quite pleased how its performed. A bit rusty to say the least. in time hopefully will improve on these. Thanks Trevor

[Pete Presland]

Superb set of close ups Neil, particularly on Plato and Vallis Alpes.

[vineyard]

Those are just stunning - the proverbial "as if in orbit".  If I had to pick just one, the third one (second image of Clavius) 👌🏾 

[neil phillips]

1 hour ago, Pete Presland said:

Superb set of close ups Neil, particularly on Plato and Vallis Alpes.

Many thanks Pete i was never sure i would i ever get to do hi res again with this scope. So its quite poignant to me. Amazing how attached to our scopes we can become.Its not so much the equipment itself. but the memories i guess

Edited August 30, 2021 by neil phillips

[neil phillips]

1 hour ago, vineyard said:

Those are just stunning - the proverbial "as if in orbit".  If I had to pick just one, the third one (second image of Clavius) 👌🏾 

Thanks for your thoughts 

[Swoop1]

Great set of images Neil.

If I had to choose one as favourite, I would go for image 10 as it has a more moody atmosphere to my eyes.

[neil phillips]

13 minutes ago, Swoop1 said:

Great set of images Neil.

If I had to choose one as favourite, I would go for image 10 as it has a more moody atmosphere to my eyes.

Glad you found it interesting Swoop I like the Orontius capture 5th in from the bottom

Edited August 30, 2021 by neil phillips

[WestCoastCannuck]

These are outstanding Neil!!   So nice to see that bad boy in action again!   You caught more than I have ever!   The rille in  Rima Hyginus is well defined.   Something I have yet to do.....  can see just a trace of it in a couple of mine from the same night.

A fruitful night!  You make me want bigger......  but I keep thinking I am not maxing what I have...  so no point.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

[neil phillips]

8 minutes ago, WestCoastCannuck said:

These are outstanding Neil!!   So nice to see that bad boy in action again!   You caught more than I have ever!   The rille in  Rima Hyginus is well defined.   Something I have yet to do.....  can see just a trace of it in a couple of mine from the same night.

A fruitful night!  You make me want bigger......  but I keep thinking I am not maxing what I have...  so no point.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

Hi Mike thanks for that your a gentleman my friend. Its all proportional to apeture. I like doing work with the small refractors. But they can only go so far. I think what your doing with the 140 actually is about as good as it gets at that size from that perspective. Even the bresser 127 which i have found to be pretty darn good so far. Cant touch what your doing with that lovely Frac. So Really your at the top of your game. The only way you will get more resolution is to go up. Its just physics. I know what you mean about not perfecting what your doing with the scopes your using now. But to be honest, it kind of doesnt matter. Those fine things will come and go, as we try new things. have good days bad days. good seeing bad seeing. What matters is your perfecting your art along the way. As a example the mosaic i posted i had to leave dark. Even after our conversation.

The levels across the entire surface did not deviate by more than a few percent. I know because i was watching the numbers. Levels wise its nearly perfect.  Yet the background is not uniform. I have a huge street light i have to shoot over. That i suspect is creating havoc with the background. As i build the mosaic and the scope is moving the glare changes affecting the background. So now i am struggling to make that mosaic look right. Which is a [removed word] because the data is ok even starting at around 29 degrees. It needs brightening post processing. But the background is stumping me at the moment, untill i figure how to make it uniform. The point i am making is. We can continue to perfect what we are doing. But dont cut yourself off. By telling yourself its pointless going bigger. Trust me Mike you will love it. And with your skill. Hold onto your hats is all i can say. Its up to you. But i reckon. A C9.25 might be up your street. Your eye has grown. And with it the urge to get more resolution. You only live once Mike. 

[WestCoastCannuck]

3 minutes ago, neil phillips said:

Hi Mike thanks for that your a gentleman my friend. Its all proportional to apeture. I like doing work with the small refractors. But they can only go so far. I think what your doing with the 140 actually is about as good as it gets at that size from that perspective. Even the bresser 127 which i have found to be pretty darn good so far. Cant touch what your doing with that lovely Frac. So Really your at the top of your game. The only way you will get more resolution is to go up. Its just physics. I know what you mean about not perfecting what your doing with the scopes your using now. But to be honest, it kind of doesnt matter. Those fine things will come and go, as we try new things. have good days bad days. good seeing bad seeing. What matters is your perfecting your art along the way. As a example the mosaic i posted i had to leave dark. Even after our conversation.

The levels across the entire surface did not deviate by more than a few percent. I know because i was watching the numbers. Levels wise its nearly perfect.  Yet the background is not uniform. I have a huge street light i have to shoot over. That i suspect is creating havoc with the background. As i build the mosaic and the scope is moving the glare changes affecting the background. So now i am struggling to make that mosaic look right. Which is a [removed word] because the data is ok even starting at around 29 degrees. It needs brightening post processing. But the background is stumping me at the moment, untill i figure how to make it uniform. The point i am making is. We can continue to perfect what we are doing. But dont cut yourself off. By telling yourself its pointless going bigger. Trust me Mike you will love it. And with your skill. Hold onto your hats is all i can say. Its up to you. But i reckon. A C9.25 might be up your street. Your eye has grown. And with it the urge to get more resolution. You only live once Mike. 

AARRRGGH.   You are NOT helping my treatment for Aperture fever.  hehe.   I have my eye on one bigger.  But cannot afford.  Maybe one day. 

 

I expect your background will take brushwork in LR or similar to fix.  Been there.....  about half the time for my mosaics.

 

Just posted my stuff from 28th.  Was a lovely morning. 

 

Best

 

Mike

[neil phillips]

1 minute ago, WestCoastCannuck said:

AARRRGGH.   You are NOT helping my treatment for Aperture fever.  hehe.   I have my eye on one bigger.  But cannot afford.  Maybe one day. 

 

I expect your background will take brushwork in LR or similar to fix.  Been there.....  about half the time for my mosaics.

 

Just posted my stuff from 28th.  Was a lovely morning. 

 

Best

 

Mike

He he. Shame i am not your bank manager off to take a look. 

[WestCoastCannuck]

OH....  I meant the rille in the Vallis Alpes of course.....   oops

[neil phillips]

12 minutes ago, WestCoastCannuck said:

OH....  I meant the rille in the Vallis Alpes of course.....   oops

Yes i figured that. Did wonder for a sec

[CraigT82]

Fantastic Neil, can't wait to see what you can do with the Orion once you've got back into the swing of it

Edited August 30, 2021 by CraigT82

[neil phillips]

3 minutes ago, CraigT82 said:

Fantastic Neil, can't wait to see what you can do with the Orion once you've got back into the swing of it

Hi Craig cheers. Your 12" will show more.  But my next project is to do a 2x full mosaic. So the closeups here. But as a full mosaic.

 

Will likely kill the hard drive and a portable 500 gig ssd. Its hungry doing 6000 frames per capture. As per the closeups. With the 178 M 

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Superb detail captured in those shots!

[Mr Spock]

A lovely set of images. Very nicely processed too.

[neil phillips]

Thanks guys. Its been great doing lunar imaging with the old beast again