Venus in UV with the C9.25/asi462 mm from 14.10.2023

[Pete Presland]

Dreadfully poor conditions this morning, but much better on the 14th. Taken a while to decide whether i can squeeze anymore details from this image, without it looking over the top.

30,000 frames captured, stacked 5% and sharpened in REG6 using the dyadic sharpening.

C9.25, Asi462mm, Baader UV filter, X1.8 Barlow

[Kon]

Excellent wispy clouds with nice features. 

[geoflewis]

Very nice Peter, I really should think about trying to image Venus....🤔

[Space Cowboy]

Nicely captured Pete!

[Pete Presland]

6 hours ago, geoflewis said:

Very nice Peter, I really should think about trying to image Venus....🤔

I guess some of the UV signal would be blocked on your C14, the same as it is on my C9.25. But the results with that extra aperture would be interesting to see.

[geoflewis]

1 minute ago, Pete Presland said:

I guess some of the UV signal would be blocked on your C14, the same as it is on my C9.25. But the results with that extra aperture would be interesting to see.

I never even considered that. I don't have a UV pass filter, hence why I've never really bothered with Venus. I also never considered a particularly interesting target until I saw what @Kon achieved with is dob earlier this year. I should get one (UV filter not dob) and give it a try sometime.

[Pete Presland]

5 minutes ago, geoflewis said:

I never even considered that. I don't have a UV pass filter, hence why I've never really bothered with Venus. I also never considered a particularly interesting target until I saw what @Kon achieved with is dob earlier this year. I should get one (UV filter not dob) and give it a try sometime.

The UV filter i have cost lot of money, nearly £200 i think. I do sometimes think it is probably a bit too much to spend on one filter, which i use on one one planet (when at the right phase) and not as often as would like to.  

[geoflewis]

17 minutes ago, Pete Presland said:

The UV filter i have cost lot of money, nearly £200 i think. I do sometimes think it is probably a bit too much to spend on one filter, which i use on one one planet (when at the right phase) and not as often as would like to.  

That has been my thinking too, but when I chatted with Kostas about it he told me that he was using a very cheap filter, so maybe I don't need to spend £00's.

[Pete Presland]

1 minute ago, geoflewis said:

That has been my thinking too, but when I chatted with Kostas about it he told me that he was using a very cheap filter, so maybe I don't need to spend £00's.

He has been getting some fine results with hie set up, so it is definitely doable with a cheaper filter. The Dob is better suited to UV imaging according to most of the planetary imagers i have spoken to. 

The biggest key as always, is the conditions something money can not buy unfortunately.

[geoflewis]

3 minutes ago, Pete Presland said:

The biggest key as always, is the conditions something money can not buy unfortunately.

So very true, other than international flights to somewhere better.....

[Kon]

@Pete Preslandand @geoflewis I am using the UV filter from Astromania; actually a set of 3 filters for £85 from Amazon. What made a huge difference was moving from the 462mc to the 462mm.

Geof, you are more than welcomed to borrow it if you want to do some testing. 

Would I go for a more expensive, probably not. Back in April/June, Stuart @Space Cowboywas using the more expensive version and we were both pulling very similar features, albeit with a 10". As Pete said it's only for one planet, and maybe Jupiter.

[Kon]

3 hours ago, geoflewis said:

So very true, other than international flights to somewhere better.....

I'll trade you my filter for a flight to Barbados. I think that's fair 😜!

[Kon]

By the way, I thought the glass on the C9.25 would cut a bit of the UV signal but obviously not and that's even more remarkable to get these fine clouds.

[Space Cowboy]

My baader UV filter was £130 so only 40 quid more than the Amazon set Kostas has. Certainly don't regret it but the weather was fantastic in June which made all the difference. Wish I'd invested in a UV filter years ago but they were more expenive then. Always something different on Venus.

Edited October 31, 2023 by Space Cowboy

[geoflewis]

33 minutes ago, Kon said:

@Pete Preslandand @geoflewis I am using the UV filter from Astromania; actually a set of 3 filters for £85 from Amazon. What made a huge difference was moving from the 462mc to the 462mm.

Geof, you are more than welcomed to borrow it if you want to do some testing. 

Would I go for a more expensive, probably not. Back in April/June, Stuart @Space Cowboywas using the more expensive version and we were both pulling very similar features, albeit with a 10". As Pete said it's only for one planet, and maybe Jupiter.

Thanks Kostas, you're very generous, but I'm not ready to start imaging Venus yet. It's very encouraging to know what you achieved with those very reasonably priced filters. I wonder whether as @Pete Presland commented, I'd lose out because I'm using an SCT (I'm presuming it's the extra glass eating the UV).

[Ibbo!]

If you have a Herschel Wedge try the UV filter in the mix esp if there is a decent sized spot.

[Pete Presland]

8 hours ago, Ibbo! said:

If you have a Herschel Wedge try the UV filter in the mix esp if there is a decent sized spot.

interesting, i have never consider it for solar astrophotography. i did use my oiii filter before getting a continuum filter though