ISS at 88degrees (4am)

[Kon]

This is my first ISS with my new camera, asi462mc. Seeing was good. I tried using an IR pass filter to see if it makes a difference compared to my previous attempts with the asi120mc-s camera. The weather is supposed to be really good all week so it will give me time to optimise the capture with the new camera and try different filters. I particularly like the last image since you can see the separate panels including their tilt. I think the new camera has a great potential for high resolution ISS captures. 8" Dob, manual tracking through  RACI, asi462mc, IR pass. PIPP (ISS mode), Autostakkert and Astrosurface.

[CraigT82]

Very nice! Be interesting to see what features are visible, have you tried identifying any of the modules? 

[Wiu-Wiu]

Manual tracking! Nice job! 

[Kon]

29 minutes ago, CraigT82 said:

Very nice! Be interesting to see what features are visible, have you tried identifying any of the modules? 

Thanks Craig. According to NASA website, Crew-4 Dragon, Soyuz MS-21, Progress 80 and 81 are docked. In the current orientation, only Progress 81 is visible at the top of the last image. I d not like passes greater than 80 degrees as you do not get much of the side features. I hope I can get some more images this week at different elevations.

 

[neil phillips]

1 hour ago, Kon said:

This is my first ISS with my new camera, asi462mc. Seeing was good. I tried using an IR pass filter to see if it makes a difference compared to my previous attempts with the asi120mc-s camera. The weather is supposed to be really good all week so it will give me time to optimise the capture with the new camera and try different filters. I particularly like the last image since you can see the separate panels including their tilt. I think the new camera has a great potential for high resolution ISS captures. 8" Dob, manual tracking through  RACI, asi462mc, IR pass. PIPP (ISS mode), Autostakkert and Astrosurface.

I am no expert on this. I have never even taken one. But at 88 degrees I would have thought IR is not needed. As such the lower transmission (despite the 462c IR advantage) will slow your exposure down more and or increase gain. Better to have a faster exposure and higher frame rates. Think I remember you saying you can do ROI if that's the case. I would say just use UV IR Cut with the much higher transmission. Capture in raw 8. Do ROI get your frame rate and exposure up as much as you can. Keeping gain around the 250 mark ( just a rough guide ) read noise wont be too bad. Should produce a cleaner sharper result. I am guessing here Kon. Up to you to try if you want, and see if this correct. But once again a great result. Will follow any experiments with interest

[Kon]

11 minutes ago, neil phillips said:

I am no expert on this. I have never even taken one. But at 88 degrees I would have thought IR is not needed. As such the lower transmission (despite the 462c IR advantage) will slow your exposure down more and or increase gain. Better to have a faster exposure and higher frame rates. Think I remember you saying you can do ROI if that's the case. I would say just use UV IR Cut with the much higher transmission. Capture in raw 8. Do ROI get your frame rate and exposure up as much as you can. Keeping gain around the 250 mark ( just a rough guide ) read noise wont be too bad. Should produce a cleaner sharper result. I am guessing here Kon. Up to you to try if you want, and see if this correct. But once again a great result. Will follow any experiments with interest

Thanks for the comments and as you know I am always open to suggestions and constructive feedback. This was part of experimentation, but unfortunately with this target it is once at a time 😆.  I had seen some really nice results with IR pass online and I though why not try it (seeing was good this morning and like you said I could have skipped it). The images were quite noisy/grainy even after stacking and I think the weaker IR signal was the issue with that. If I manage to wake up at 2am tonight, I want to shoot with the UV/IR cut (but more decent passes in the next 1-2 weeks). I was at gain 290, exposure 0.5 ms and 300fps so I think I am at the upper limit of capture but if the noise can be suppressed that will give me nicer details.

[morimarty]

I am totally amazed Kon at the detail you are consistantly capturing (absolutely fantastic mate)

[Kon]

26 minutes ago, morimarty said:

I am totally amazed Kon at the detail you are consistantly capturing (absolutely fantastic mate)

Thanks Martyn. I think there is a lot of room for improvement, Neil's comments above are spot on, with the help of better processing.

[neil phillips]

2 hours ago, Kon said:

Thanks for the comments and as you know I am always open to suggestions and constructive feedback. This was part of experimentation, but unfortunately with this target it is once at a time 😆.  I had seen some really nice results with IR pass online and I though why not try it (seeing was good this morning and like you said I could have skipped it). The images were quite noisy/grainy even after stacking and I think the weaker IR signal was the issue with that. If I manage to wake up at 2am tonight, I want to shoot with the UV/IR cut (but more decent passes in the next 1-2 weeks). I was at gain 290, exposure 0.5 ms and 300fps so I think I am at the upper limit of capture but if the noise can be suppressed that will give me nicer details.

Yes i didnt know your settings. Your ROI Must be good to be at 300fps. Quite amazed your manual tracking is that good. But good it is. what ROI Was you at ? But it appears the negatives of IR  is what you noticed. So yes getting a cleaner result is probably the only thing you could try. Dont think you can get any faster. ROI would be Postage stamp size. Your probably so good at moving your dob around. After all the planetary imaging. You have become somewhat of a expert. No other word for it. 

[Kon]

16 minutes ago, neil phillips said:

Yes i didnt know your settings. Your ROI Must be good to be at 300fps. Quite amazed your manual tracking is that good. But good it is. what ROI Was you at ? But it appears the negatives of IR  is what you noticed. So yes getting a cleaner result is probably the only thing you could try. Dont think you can get any faster. ROI would be Postage stamp size. Your probably so good at moving your dob around. After all the planetary imaging. You have become somewhat of a expert. No other word for it. 

I was shooting at 640x480, it can get smaller , 320x240, 🤣 but there is no way I can frame ISS in that tight window. Aligning and tracking with the RACI is not too bad after a few practices; the lower elevations are easier, whereas at 80 and over I have to do the awkward flip of the dob while tracking (most of the time, i momentarily lose my target at zenith).

[maw lod qan]

Excellent, again!

You are getting really good with this very difficult object to image!

[Kon]

31 minutes ago, maw lod qan said:

Excellent, again!

You are getting really good with this very difficult object to image!

Thanks. I enjoy the challenge of capturing it.

[neil phillips]

52 minutes ago, Kon said:

I was shooting at 640x480, it can get smaller , 320x240, 🤣 but there is no way I can frame ISS in that tight window. Aligning and tracking with the RACI is not too bad after a few practices; the lower elevations are easier, whereas at 80 and over I have to do the awkward flip of the dob while tracking (most of the time, i momentarily lose my target at zenith).

That is impressive 640x480 especially overhead. Madness Kon

If you can coax a cleaner result then Even better. But really showing those with dobs What mementos they could be getting. With a bit of skill and a decent camera.