Astro : Mars

Hi All
This is my first go at taking a photograph of Mars and for my first go i'm
really proud of it!! lol

8" LX200 ACF, Phillips Toucam,

500 frames stacked using registax.......i think, i'm still feeling my way
around that bit of software!!

4/1/10 @ 23.25 from Cowfold Sussex uk

Clear skies and -5c .......the lessons learnt for the night is:-

1) Thermals are a must!!
2) Lens heater is next on the list of things to buy lol

Happy new year everyone.

Paul

Paul wrote:
Hi All
This is my first go at taking a photograph of Mars and for my first go
i'm really proud of it!! lol

8" LX200 ACF, Phillips Toucam,

500 frames stacked using registax.......i think, i'm still feeling my
way around that bit of software!!

4/1/10 @ 23.25 from Cowfold Sussex uk

Clear skies and -5c .......the lessons learnt for the night is:-

1) Thermals are a must!!
2) Lens heater is next on the list of things to buy lol

Happy new year everyone.

Paul


Good start, better than my first Mar shot.

Looks like you are imaging at prime focus. Most planetary imagers work
at about f/30 using a good quality 3 element barlow. That should
increase your image scale and still be within your seeing limits.

Rick

--
Correct domain name is arvig and it is net not com. Prefix is correct.
Third character is a zero rather than a capital "Oh".

Hi Rick
Thanks for the advice mate and i'm glad you liked it, i do have a barlow in
the tool kit
so next time i'm out with the scope (snowing at the moment) i will
give it a go!!
Getting a sharp focus with the webcam was a problem but sure that was down
to
45% camera and 55% me!!

Paul




"Rick Johnson" wrote in message
. com...
Paul wrote:
Hi All
This is my first go at taking a photograph of Mars and for my first go
i'm really proud of it!! lol

8" LX200 ACF, Phillips Toucam,

500 frames stacked using registax.......i think, i'm still feeling my way
around that bit of software!!

4/1/10 @ 23.25 from Cowfold Sussex uk

Clear skies and -5c .......the lessons learnt for the night is:-

1) Thermals are a must!!
2) Lens heater is next on the list of things to buy lol

Happy new year everyone.

Paul


Good start, better than my first Mar shot.

Looks like you are imaging at prime focus. Most planetary imagers work at
about f/30 using a good quality 3 element barlow. That should increase
your image scale and still be within your seeing limits.

Rick

--
Correct domain name is arvig and it is net not com. Prefix is correct.
Third character is a zero rather than a capital "Oh".

Meade's electric focuser for that scope helps a lot. Allows small
adjustments if done through a computer without the backlash of the
moving mirror system. It can't carry heavy big chip cameras like my
STL-11000XM but sure can handle a webcam. Then with a focus mask on a
bright star you should be able to find a good focus then slew back to
Mars. Hartmann mask is the easiest to make but the Bahtinov mask gives
better accuracy as it is rather seeing independent and gives a good
focus even in very bad seeing. They can be made or purchased, just
Google the term. Hartmann masks are so easily made I'd not buy one but
they can be purchased as well. Triangular holes work best for me with
this mask, three small ones are my preference, about 1" in size for an
8" scope.

You want to work at as large of an imaging scale as possible yet keep
exposure times very short to freeze seeing. This balance, most
planetary imagers I know, is at about f/30. This may result in a bit of
empty magnification but it gives the image processing tools plenty of
room to do their thing. Later, once the best image is achieved you can
downsize it to eliminate the empty magnification. I often find working
at 2 or even 4 times the image scale my seeing allows for deep sky work
gives me a better final image than working at the original image scale.
I then reduce the image back to the original scale though often I can
go to 2x and see more detail more easily.

Visually empty magnification is just that but it isn't always empty when
processing an image I've found.

Rick


Paul wrote:
Hi Rick
Thanks for the advice mate and i'm glad you liked it, i do have a barlow
in the tool kit
so next time i'm out with the scope (snowing at the moment) i will
give it a go!!
Getting a sharp focus with the webcam was a problem but sure that was
down to
45% camera and 55% me!!

Paul




"Rick Johnson" wrote in message
. com...
Paul wrote:
Hi All
This is my first go at taking a photograph of Mars and for my first
go i'm really proud of it!! lol

8" LX200 ACF, Phillips Toucam,

500 frames stacked using registax.......i think, i'm still feeling my
way around that bit of software!!

4/1/10 @ 23.25 from Cowfold Sussex uk

Clear skies and -5c .......the lessons learnt for the night is:-

1) Thermals are a must!!
2) Lens heater is next on the list of things to buy lol

Happy new year everyone.

Paul


Good start, better than my first Mar shot.

Looks like you are imaging at prime focus. Most planetary imagers
work at about f/30 using a good quality 3 element barlow. That
should increase your image scale and still be within your seeing limits.

Rick

--
Correct domain name is arvig and it is net not com. Prefix is
correct. Third character is a zero rather than a capital "Oh".



--
Correct domain name is arvig and it is net not com. Prefix is correct.
Third character is a zero rather than a capital "Oh".