A little help with Lunar imaging please...

[tooth_dr]

I've been kinda interested in Lunar imaging, but I spend most, if not all of my time, dabbling in deep sky stuff. I'd quite like to improve my skills, and at the same time I'm enjoying exploring the Moon in better detail since I got my 10" newtonian.

I've attached some images I took over the past two nights, and would like to hear where I could improve things.

I'm using Registax 4 and 5, I capture 3000-4000 frames at 10FPS with a monochrome webcam, I usually set the quality to 80%, and the setting 'classic'. I adjust the wavelets slightly and tweak a bit in CS2. I also use a UV/IR blocking filter, but have a set of dichroic RGB filters too that I could use. I collimated the scope on Friday to a reasonable degree with a cheshire EP.

I was using WXastro capture, and have settings at IVUV, and the histogram was 160 in some, and 230 in others.

It could also be last night that the Moon was too low to image, as the images were taken from 11-1am when it was still low in the sky. The telescope was outside for 90 minutes so it should be sufficiently cooled at that time?

Just looking a few pointers - the first image looks very harsh, some are out of focus looking, etc.

Many thanks

Adam

[GazOC]

As you say the bottom 2 are a little soft on the focus, that just comes with care and practice. The top is a little overexposed and might do with cutting back on the exposure time and/ or the gain.

When the moon is low down I find its often better to image through a red filter even if this means you have to go to 5 FPS.

[kookoo_gr]

nice photos for first attempt. the last 4 photos are a bit blurry. try to have a good polar alignment so the target won't drift out of sight and for the registax to be able to process the images. second and most important, image when the target is high enough in the night sky so you won't have any issues with thermal currents from the surface of the earth. if its windy at high altitudes then you will have bad seeing and the image will be blurry. also pay attention at good focussing. if you dont have a motorized focuser focus your target as best as possible and wait until the wobbling of your telescope is gone, then readjust the focusing if nessecary. i ussualy image the moon at 900-1200 frames, 3000-4000 frames are way too much in my opinion. which camera do you use?

[tooth_dr]

Thanks guys.

GazOC - I was going to image through a red filter but it won't come out of my filter wheel and I cannot get focus with the new newtonian using the wheel (I bought ithe filters second hand and the red filter cell was cross threaded so won't come out). I'll have to remove the filter itself and order a new filter cell. So far I've found focusing seems to be much more critical with the bigger newt. I always found it easy with the smaller newt I used before his one, maybe I need more practice!

kookoo_gr - I was using a black and white re-chipped toucam webcam. Polar alignment wasn't great to be honest, and I had to make very small adjustments to keep the image in the screen. My impatience got the better of me last night, and with the first proper clear night in three weeks since buying the new scope I had to image something. The mount/new scope isn't set up for holding a guide scope yet so deep sky was out the window, and I cannot see Jupiter from my location any more. A low Moon was the best option, but clearly the altitude is an important factor.

I'll have to try again with a difference filter and the Moon better positioned.

Thanks

Adam

[michaelmorris]

Adam

I think your comment that the Moon was low might be a pointer here. Lunar and planetary imaging is VERY heavily influenced by seeing and that may be a factor as to why you are getting 'soft' images. The sharpeneing process tends to brighten highlightsry to underexpose images. so always try to underexpose images.

Tony Gondola and Bob Pilz have produced some excellent guides to processing lunar images. I haven't got the relevant links on my work computer but try just Googling thier names and you may find the relevant links. Both of them use the excellent Foucsmagic sharpening software as a photoshop plug-in as a major part of the post-processing workflow.

[tooth_dr]

Many thanks Morris for your reply.

With the low Moon I struggled to get the focus sharp, and part of the problem may have been the timing of the target. I will try to underexpose my images too. I'll search the names in Google after work today.

Thank-you

Adam