Mars under good seeing (15/12/22)

[Kon]

I did not plan to be out last night as I have been fighting a nasty cold but I did not want to pass the opportunity of good seeing as next week it is cloudy weather. Mars was showing good features at the capture window. I only managed one run but pretty happy with the results. I can see clouds at around 8 o'clock and on the right hand side running from N to S. 8" Dob, manual, asi462mc, 2.5xTV powermate. Happy for feedback especially if you think it is over pushed. Original capture size and 150%.

[PeterStudz]

Very nice @Kon. Although I haven’t much of a clue re processing it’s been interesting to see how you’ve got into this over the recent months and how your results have improved - well done! 

I was out observing Mars at the same time. The seeing was good and helped by  Mars facing us in a more “interesting” way. Certainly for visual. I could also just make out those clouds that you mention at “8 o’clock” and briefly mentioned  it in “what did you see tonight”.  It’s nice to know that I wasn’t imagining it!

Edited December 16, 2022 by PeterStudz

[Kon]

56 minutes ago, PeterStudz said:

Very nice @Kon. Although haven’t much of a clue re processing it’s been interesting to see how you’ve got into this over the recent months and how your results have improved - well done! 

I was out observing Mars at the same time. The seeing was good and helped by  Mars facing us in a more “interesting” way. Certainly for visual. I could also just make out those clouds that you mention at “8 o’clock” and briefly mentioned  it in “what did you see tonight”.  It’s nice to know that I wasn’t imagining it!

Thanks Peter. Yes it has been a nice journey and I am really enjoying it. I give it another few weeks before I take a break from imaging and enjoy the visual aspect again.

Seeing must have been really good to spot the clouds at the eyepiece. I just saw your report on it. These are some fantastic observing skills. Was that with your platform?

[geoflewis]

That's really nice Kostas. I was also out last night, but the seeing was difficult and I've been banging my head all morning trying to squeeze the best i can from a few runs that I got. I'm trying PIPP and de-rotation of SERs in WJ, but they're not playing well for me currently.

[Kon]

34 minutes ago, geoflewis said:

That's really nice Kostas. I was also out last night, but the seeing was difficult and I've been banging my head all morning trying to squeeze the best i can from a few runs that I got. I'm trying PIPP and de-rotation of SERs in WJ, but they're not playing well for me currently.

Thanks Geof. Last night was one of the best nights in terms of seeing for me but due to my cold and high temperature I could not continue. Looking forward to see what you may have got.

[PeterStudz]

23 hours ago, Kon said:

Thanks Peter. Yes it has been a nice journey and I am really enjoying it. I give it another few weeks before I take a break from imaging and enjoy the visual aspect again.

Seeing must have been really good to spot the clouds at the eyepiece. I just saw your report on it. These are some fantastic observing skills. Was that with your platform?

Observing techniques and skills are a whole topic in itself, something I enjoy and am still learning (do you ever stop?!). 

It helped in that I’ve got familiar with Mars. If it was the first time I’d seen it, or hadn’t seen it for some time, I probably would have missed it. The clouds were also over a darker albedo feature. Over or near Mare Sirenum I think. This did help too. 

I’ve tried to do everything in order to improve contrast. Eg flocking everything including the inside & outside of the draw tube. And I used a dew shield, obviously to try and keep dew away but also to try and keep stray light out. Originally I did this with the idea of helping with DSO in my light polluted garden. But in practice any befits here are so subtle that you don’t really notice. But with bright objects (basically the planets and moon) it does  give a tiny improvement. And here we are tying to look a something really subtle.

Although I don’t like to use it for very long I have a blue filter. I don’t think it helps with albedo areas at all, but it brings out anything white. And once I’ve noticed it using the filter I can notice it more without.

Making sure my eyes are NOT use to the dark (I’ll look at my phone screen for a while, then go back to the eyepiece) helps with colour contrast on small bright objects like Mars. 

Yes, I was using my DIY EQ platform. It’s really handy not having to nudge the Dob especially at high magnification. Having Mars sit in the centre of the FOV for minutes on end does help with picking out subtle features. Also when near zenith. I don’t know about others but I find nudging when the OTA is getting towards the vertical far from straightforward. And obviously it’s at this stage when you can get the best seeing. So once I’ve got Mars in the FOV I can let the platform do the work. It’s more relaxing too and if I’m relaxed I tend to see more. 

[Mart29]

On 16/12/2022 at 09:21, Kon said:

I did not plan to be out last night as I have been fighting a nasty cold but I did not want to pass the opportunity of good seeing as next week it is cloudy weather. Mars was showing good features at the capture window. I only managed one run but pretty happy with the results. I can see clouds at around 8 o'clock and on the right hand side running from N to S. 8" Dob, manual, asi462mc, 2.5xTV powermate. Happy for feedback especially if you think it is over pushed. Original capture size and 150%.

Lovely images! 

[Space Cowboy]

Nice detail on that one Kostas! Glad you were able to get something despite your cold.

[CraigT82]

Really nice Kon loving the surface details on view