Some Lunar Close-ups from the 28th April

[Roy Foreman]

Processing was a bit tricky with these as conditions were quite hazy which seems to have an adverse effect on stacking.

16" f/4.5 Reflector

Baader FFC at x3 giving EFL 5400mm F/13.5

ZWO ASI 183 MM

Proplanet 807 IR filter

30% of 2000 frames.

 

Hope you like them and thanks for looking

 

[ONIKKINEN]

Very nice, especially the last one.

[Roy Foreman]

Thank you. Yes I think I prefer the last one as well.

[neil phillips]

good resolution and detail. If you could control the noise it would get even better

[WestCoastCannuck]

Crazy stuff Roy!  Fantastic resolution.  Some serious aperture well applied.

 

Mike

[Roy Foreman]

9 hours ago, neil phillips said:

good resolution and detail. If you could control the noise it would get even better

Thanks Neil.  I had to bump up the gain as the integration times were getting a bit long. The IR filter saps a lot of light. Next time I might use the PP642 which is less strong and still gives great results. I did run noise exterminator but at a gentle setting so as not to wipe out the tiny craterlets. There is always room for improvement which is what keeps us striving for better results !

[Roy Foreman]

1 hour ago, WestCoastCannuck said:

Crazy stuff Roy!  Fantastic resolution.  Some serious aperture well applied.

 

Mike

Thanks Mike, glad you are impressed. I think it is the light gathering ability of the 16" that helps rather than its resolution.  The scope and its mount have now been dismantled for refurbishment and upgrades, so for the next 12 months or so I will be using a 10" classical cassegrain for lunar work. Will be interesting to see how it fares against the reflector.

Cheers

Roy

[Space Cowboy]

Super resolution on those!

[Sunshine]

I must say these are some of the most detailed lunar closeups I have seen, amazing!

Edited May 2, 2023 by Sunshine

[Kon]

Excellent images. The details are exquisite, like flying over the moon.

[Roy Foreman]

3 hours ago, Space Cowboy said:

Super resolution on those!

Thank you Stuart, glad you like the images

Roy

[Roy Foreman]

2 hours ago, Sunshine said:

I must say these are some of the most detailed lunar closeups I have seen, amazing!

Thank you - having a large scope certainly helps !

[Roy Foreman]

1 hour ago, Kon said:

Excellent images. The details are exquisite, like flying over the moon.

Funny you should say that, as I was considering if it was possible to stich images together in a movie to simulate flying over the moon !

Glad you like the images.

[neil phillips]

On 01/05/2023 at 06:24, Roy Foreman said:

Thanks Mike, glad you are impressed. I think it is the light gathering ability of the 16" that helps rather than its resolution.  The scope and its mount have now been dismantled for refurbishment and upgrades, so for the next 12 months or so I will be using a 10" classical cassegrain for lunar work. Will be interesting to see how it fares against the reflector.

Cheers

Roy

Is that the Stella lyra one Roy. 

[Roy Foreman]

2 hours ago, neil phillips said:

Is that the Stella lyra one Roy. 

Yes Neil it is. Mounted and ready to go but need to do some collimation tweaks first. Bit of a pain getting it spot on !

[neil phillips]

9 minutes ago, Roy Foreman said:

Yes Neil it is. Mounted and ready to go but need to do some collimation tweaks first. Bit of a pain getting it spot on !

Should be good. I got the baby 8. (7.3)  though your open tube should cool better. My optics are razor sharp. will be interesting to see what it can do at 10" 

[Roy Foreman]

Neil, glad to hear your cass is razor sharp which bodes well for my 10". It also has 3 cooling fans at the rear. At 17kg it's a bit of a beast. Have you managed to nail collimation on yours or has it not needed it ?

[GordonD]

Astonishing detail - well done. I just explored around Hadley Rille in the full res version of the last one and it is so clear - incredible.

[neil phillips]

25 minutes ago, Roy Foreman said:

Neil, glad to hear your cass is razor sharp which bodes well for my 10". It also has 3 cooling fans at the rear. At 17kg it's a bit of a beast. Have you managed to nail collimation on yours or has it not needed it ?

It did need it Roy. But it wasn't something i was familiar with. The primary seemed ok. But i noticed the focuser was slightly canted. I attempted to rotate the focuser, as I've noticed these things in the past often are not perfectly circular. As luck would have it, as i rotated i saw the lean disappear. When i did a star test i could see there also their was a slight lean, i think i put my hand in front of the tube to see which side was leaning. Then tried to locate the hex collimation bolt nearest. Again as luck would have it. As i started adjusting i could see the star becoming more uniform, Until i got to a point where it looked even with a 10mm eyepiece. The out of focus star on my avatar on the left here is my collimated Cassegrain. As you can see it looks pretty concentric. There are procedures online though.

A much more thorough explanation here. Hope it helps 

Collimating GSO Classical Cassegrain - Cats & Casses - Cloudy Nights

[Roy Foreman]

Thanks very much for that info Neil, much appreciated.  I squared the focussed to the secondary using an ordinary laser collimator, then used a special one for RC and CC scopes to do the secondary and primary, but not convinced it was spot on. Just been out and done a quick imaging run and the results are very soft. Really need a star in a dark sky to do the job properly. Will have a read if your link first.

Cheers

Roy