saturn 25th March

[neil phillips]

a couple from tonight, feels like im flogging a dead horse lately

[WayBig]

very nice, I was observing saturn last night, cassini and the cloud bands were very clear and the atmosphere reasonably still - I could hold focus at what I thought was a ridiculous x363 mag, I tried to pick out the storm that you've caught nicely there but couldnt see that.

[Space Cowboy]

Looks like I need to find a dead horse they look pretty good to me Neil! Bonus point for the moon

[neil phillips]

Transparency was killing the signal, seeing wanted to be calm, but just never quite achieved it. Always glimpses of what i could be getting. the colour is way off. because of the low signal, and my attempts to generate colour and detail. still working on them, but it could have been so much better, well for the uk that is. after Johns unbeliveable recent post. Saturn hasnt looked right to me here lol. John you have sensetized me.

Thanks stuart

and Chris

[neil phillips]

bit more neutral

[JonTT]

Seriously, how do you DO that? I'm also in the UK and with a nice scope (LX200 14") Imaging Source Camera and the same sky as you, and my best effort last night (also posted as March 25th on the boards) pales into oblivion!

[johnh]

I think the colour has too much pink (I keep getting this) and is too washed out but at this alt to expect everthing to come together is too much. Transparence just ruins things when its bad as contrast is killed along with detail. Storm head shows well though, just a quick fiddle.

Been out last 2 nights combined 9 hours with nothing to show as seeing was avg.

John.

[neil phillips]

Yeah its weird John because im persisting in using a technique of more time on red less on blue. and when histo is bad it, just dominates and looks washed out as mentioned. i reduced the red on the bottom image and added a little contrast. ( image before yours ) but its not enough. But getting rid of the washed out appearance adds noise and makes it too dark in my opinion. tried to get somewhere between yours and mine here, cant seem to get everything, with sub standard data. im also processing too smooth, forever obssesed with noise. sometimes a little noise might be worth it. your tweaks, are changing the way i think about my processing on saturn thanks for the input John its helping

Jon TT i dont know i just refocus a lot. process like a lunatic. get it wrong, get it right. my optics are good, but a little small for saturn 245mm

[oldfruit]

Great images, loving the orange hue on what i assume is Titan?

[JonTT]

So I take as high a frame rate as I can (30fps if possible) to keep blur to a minimum. Is that the right approach or is it better with longer exposures?

[neil phillips]

That might be colour missalignment on Titan. its likely. Old fruit

image starts out looking like one of mine. ends up looking like one K mans. getting rid of the washed out appearance, adding conrast Darryl ( i only mean that )

[neil phillips]

these are all 1/30secs 30 fps gain maxed out Jon. not sure what to suggest its a shame you didnt live closer, as we could experiment

Think i can see where i was trying to go with the Top image John. all 3 moons visable crepe standing out. the extra red helps. but colour just too far off to work. drives me nuts it really does

[astroman001]

Neil, you did well to use 30 fps. All my recent images have been at 15 fps 1/15 sec for R + G and 1/8 sec and 7.5 fps for B + IR, gain maxed out for all.

Good images one and all though.

regards

Peter

[neil phillips]

Its pros and cons Peter, shooting at 1/30 secs helps problems but also creates them too. Im really learning a lot this time around on saturn. superb seeing would likely be best at 1/15th secs to avoid noise and the washed out appearance. under good trans i can just get away with 1/30 th but even then its noisey. i may experiment more at 15th secs i may also have to get a new flat im not convinced the light cone on the very edge of the secondary is helping. My laser has just died too. and i think collimation is slightly off. not by a massive amount, but a little. Almost feel tempted to refit the old cell. But no i need to work with the problems and perfect it i think ? cooldown is much improved. and i havent even got the fan running yet

[astroman001]

You don't put a time on the image, what III longitude were these taken at? You have captured the head of the storm and I would like to image when it's next on show.

[Vega]

Awesome Saturn shots. Gonna throw my TouCam in the bin at this rate! lol

Matt

[neil phillips]

Hi Peter yes im getting too lazy aplogies. the time stamp on my pc is saying 00:19 for the blue thats british time. I dont know the longitude. I wanted to get this too Peter, even further back would be nice. ive got some going further back, but quality is worse i feel. good luck on getting it. hope the time narrows it down

[leenewtoastro]

Looks like I need to find a dead horse they look pretty good to me Neil! Bonus point for the moon

moon! do i not see 3?