This is the first light of the ASI 120 MM camera, the most recent addition to my instruments. The Moon below is a mosaic made with the N 150/750 and through a Barlow lens.
Saturn 2018-09-20
The same file, two different processings. Raw data obtained with N 150/750, barlow, ADC, tubes, ASI 224 MC, 2% of 40k frames.
Some Saturn Pictures
Some Saturn images with the N 150/750 + ASI 224 MC gear.
2018.09.12. 20 34 07
2018.09.12. 20 34 07
2018.09.12. 20 34 07
2018.09.14. 20 42 08
2018.09.14. 20 22 49
2018.09.14. 20 22 49
2018.09.14. 20 22 49
2018.09.16. 17 13 37Z
Looking for Neptune – 2018-09-12
Neptune and Triton, I think
Neptune is not that hard to find, in theory. Add light blinding pollution, a not so accurate polar alignment and some passing clouds, and it becomes a PITA.
The other thing is, that IF the object I photographed is indeed Neptune AND Triton, the moon is off compared to Stellarium. I intentionally photographed a reference star too, so I could put it on a map. However, the map itself is the DSS and some stars may have just moved away.
The gear: N 150/750, 2x Barlow and empty extension tubes, the ASI 224 MC camera, on the HEQ5 mount, in the city. 2018-09-11 22:26Z, ie 2018-09-12 1:26 local time.
Saturn reprocessed
Saturn 2018-09-02
Saturn’s Moons, and some star – 2018-09-02
While recording the planet, I also exposed a few frames for the moons. Then I used Stellarium to align the properly exposed planet to the rather noisy background. The outcome had a surprise too, a 10.15m star I failed so far to identify. Below I show the steps of the process the picture went through from the stack, via composing, to the final image. Mimas is more like a wishful thinking — there are some lighter pixels there though –, but Enceladus is clearly there. The moons on the final picture are from the pixels of the original recording, the Stellarium layer was nothing but a guiding tool.
The Rotating Mars – 2018-09-02
Mars, rotating
Using the N 150/750 tube with the ASI 224MC, on the HEQ5, I imaged how the red planet rotates around its axis. While this is trivial, this is my first attempt, after being more than successful with Jupiter. Meanwhile, I got news that the ADC is coming after all, so I may image Saturn and Mars using an ADC, hoping for better results. Also, in a few days I’ll have been an amateur astronomer for twenty years
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Saturn – 2018-09-02
Saturn, 2018-09-02
Tonight I put up the N 150/750 scope, with the almost-for-free extension tube to get meaningful sizes for the projection of the planets. Because the ADC I order from the internet still has not arrived, the dispersion is severe. However, there is a trick: to get the most out of the Cassini division, I used only the red channel as luminance, so lots of editing went into each Saturn-picture. The seeing was surprisingly good at first glance, but the stack quality revealed it was more of wishful thinking. Camera: ASI 224 MC, mount: HEQ5. The grey 1.25″ extension tube is from the nearest hardware store.
Mars – 2018-08-31
Mars, final picture
Using my MC 102/1300 with the ASI 224MC, on the HEQ5 installed on my balcony, I captured Mars. I, as usually, took 10k frames with a small ROI, and kept only the best few hundred frames for stacking. I used the usual software stack, Sharpcap for capturing, (PIPP and) Autostakkert for image stacking and Registax for the wavelets. Then some good old photo editing to get rid of the ringing and other artifacts. (tovább…)
