Venus clouds (21/04/23)

[Kon]

This is a capture from the weekend that I did not have time to process. Seeing was not great despite I captured during daylight. Clouds in UV are not bad considering the conditions and IR was featureless but useful for the false colour image. 8" Dob, manual, asi462mm, 2.5x TV powermate, UV and IR pass filters.

[Space Cowboy]

Some nice detail coming through once again. What technique are you using to focus on Venus Kostas? I'm finding it extremely difficult and I've got tracking!

[Kon]

8 hours ago, Space Cowboy said:

Some nice detail coming through once again. What technique are you using to focus on Venus Kostas? I'm finding it extremely difficult and I've got tracking!

Thanks Stuart. I would love to have some proper conditions during capture. One day ...

Regarding focusing, I assume you mean the UV, I have the gain high until I can see a bright planet, then try to bring in focus. It takes a few attempts. I then drop the gain until I see the planet edge (still bright but not overexposed); if I get a soft edge, I  try to have a tight planet plus see the uv clouds as they are visible. I don't think I have 100% nailed it yet. I do all that at 640x480 ROI. It is fiddly as I only get a few secs to adjust my focusing, that's also manual.

[Space Cowboy]

15 hours ago, Kon said:

Thanks Stuart. I would love to have some proper conditions during capture. One day ...

Regarding focusing, I assume you mean the UV, I have the gain high until I can see a bright planet, then try to bring in focus. It takes a few attempts. I then drop the gain until I see the planet edge (still bright but not overexposed); if I get a soft edge, I  try to have a tight planet plus see the uv clouds as they are visible. I don't think I have 100% nailed it yet. I do all that at 640x480 ROI. It is fiddly as I only get a few secs to adjust my focusing, that's also manual.

You must have the eyes of a hawk to get such good focus in those fleeting seconds without having the planet permanently on screen.

[Pete Presland]

Very nice Kostas, i thought the seeing on the 21st was pretty good from Bedfordshire early that evening. 

[Kon]

7 hours ago, Space Cowboy said:

You must have the eyes of a hawk to get such good focus in those fleeting seconds without having the planet permanently on screen.

Believe me it can get frustrating quite easily but it's my relaxing time out under the skies.