Mars 28-07-03 (4" refractor)

Pete Lawrence wrote:
One downside of a clear night is the amount of information to process.
I have picked out 23x43s MOVs representing the best of my captures.

Does that mean 23 MOV files each 43 seconds long?

I've still got about 10 files to process (these representing the best
period, when Mars was climbing higher in the sky).

Does this mean you are selecting the best ten of the 23 MOV files? If
so, I assume you are going MOV to AVI, then AVI to BMP and stacking all
the individual BMPs with Registax. How many BMPs (or JPEGs) does that
amount to? I ask about this because I am about to travel the same path
with the same and/or similar (E-100RS) camera. Still awaiting the EP
adapter (not to mention that we had thunder, lightning and rain here in
the Los Angeles area last night!).


However, here's one of the better results. It still needs tweaking
and is a bit dark for my tastes. I'll post the full details of the
capture session on my website when I'm finished.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/p.lawre...s-28-07-03.jpg

Basic information: Taken afocally through an f9 Vixen FL-102s
refractor on a GP-DX mount. Olympus C-2100uz digital camera in movie
mode (320x240, ISO 400, 12.5fps). Full zoom (10x, focal length 70mm)
on the camera. 5mm Lanthanum eyepiece.

Ah .. you found a way to mount your 5 mm Lanthanum Good! Best I can
accommodate is my 10 mm (plus a Barlow) -- which should work; my 4 mm
Lanthanum is to bulky for the adapter I have coming.



Session time 00:00 -- 01:00 UT on the 28th July 2003. Seeing 5/10,
transparency 5/10.

Not too sure if I can get much more out of a 4".


You may be right That is a very fine shot of Mars.

Phil

One downside of a clear night is the amount of information to process.
I have picked out 23x43s MOVs representing the best of my captures.

Does that mean 23 MOV files each 43 seconds long?

Yes - I had 37 MOVs taken on that night. 13 were taken at a less than
maximum zoom and so were dismissed. 1 gave awful stacking results.

I've still got about 10 files to process (these representing the best
period, when Mars was climbing higher in the sky).

Does this mean you are selecting the best ten of the 23 MOV files? If
so, I assume you are going MOV to AVI, then AVI to BMP and stacking all
the individual BMPs with Registax. How many BMPs (or JPEGs) does that
amount to? I ask about this because I am about to travel the same path
with the same and/or similar (E-100RS) camera. Still awaiting the EP
adapter (not to mention that we had thunder, lightning and rain here in
the Los Angeles area last night!).

I'm fiddling at the moment. I am laboriously converting the 23 MOVs
into AVIs, Registaxing them, saving the projects, saving the basic
Registaxed results, enhancing the results and saving the enhanced
result.

I've experimented stacking the results as well. So far the final
results seem ok - i.e. no artificial elements creeping in (as far as I
can tell). There is a continuity between all of the results too.

Ah .. you found a way to mount your 5 mm Lanthanum Good! Best I can
accommodate is my 10 mm (plus a Barlow) -- which should work; my 4 mm
Lanthanum is to bulky for the adapter I have coming.

My 5mm had a colar on it that prevented it from sliding all of the way
down into my camera adapter. I simply screwed a cheap lens hood to
the front of the camera. This gives me a futher 5mm or so depth to
the front of the camera. My 5mm will now fit ok.

Session time 00:00 -- 01:00 UT on the 28th July 2003. Seeing 5/10,
transparency 5/10.

Not too sure if I can get much more out of a 4".

You may be right That is a very fine shot of Mars.

Hmm - I'll have to look for another scope ;-)

--
Pete
Homepage at http://www.pbl33.co.uk
CCD/digicam astronomy

One downside of a clear night is the amount of information to process.
I have picked out 23x43s MOVs representing the best of my captures.

Does that mean 23 MOV files each 43 seconds long?

Yes - I had 37 MOVs taken on that night. 13 were taken at a less than
maximum zoom and so were dismissed. 1 gave awful stacking results.

I've still got about 10 files to process (these representing the best
period, when Mars was climbing higher in the sky).

Does this mean you are selecting the best ten of the 23 MOV files? If
so, I assume you are going MOV to AVI, then AVI to BMP and stacking all
the individual BMPs with Registax. How many BMPs (or JPEGs) does that
amount to? I ask about this because I am about to travel the same path
with the same and/or similar (E-100RS) camera. Still awaiting the EP
adapter (not to mention that we had thunder, lightning and rain here in
the Los Angeles area last night!).

I'm fiddling at the moment. I am laboriously converting the 23 MOVs
into AVIs, Registaxing them, saving the projects, saving the basic
Registaxed results, enhancing the results and saving the enhanced
result.

I've experimented stacking the results as well. So far the final
results seem ok - i.e. no artificial elements creeping in (as far as I
can tell). There is a continuity between all of the results too.

Ah .. you found a way to mount your 5 mm Lanthanum Good! Best I can
accommodate is my 10 mm (plus a Barlow) -- which should work; my 4 mm
Lanthanum is to bulky for the adapter I have coming.

My 5mm had a colar on it that prevented it from sliding all of the way
down into my camera adapter. I simply screwed a cheap lens hood to
the front of the camera. This gives me a futher 5mm or so depth to
the front of the camera. My 5mm will now fit ok.

Session time 00:00 -- 01:00 UT on the 28th July 2003. Seeing 5/10,
transparency 5/10.

Not too sure if I can get much more out of a 4".

You may be right That is a very fine shot of Mars.

Hmm - I'll have to look for another scope ;-)

--
Pete
Homepage at http://www.pbl33.co.uk
CCD/digicam astronomy