iceman
08-08-2011, 05:58 AM
I'm trying.. I'm trying to motivate myself to get outside and do some planetary imaging again.
I figured the best way is to do it methodically - having a plan and a goal.
My first goal is to get a nice image of Jupiter in the morning sky. My next goal will be to get some nice images of the Sun, in preparation for the Venus transit.
My plan consists of 5 steps:
1. Get a new, more sensitive planetary imaging camera
DONE. The Imaging Source (http://www.astronomycameras.com) have been kind enough to loan me a DMK21AU618 and a DMK41AU02, for the purposes of testing it out and writing a review of each.
The DMK21AU618 is the 'upgraded' DMK21AU04 with a more sensitive CCD.
I'm hoping it'll be in the same league as the Flea3, which has been the planetary imaging camera of choice for the experienced guys over the last 12-18+ months.
2. Wash the mirror
DONE. I got my scope out yesterday, laid it on the outside table (picture 1) and took the mirror out to wash it. It'd been over 2 years since I last washed it, and there was a layer of dust on it which came off ok, but there's some ingrained stains and marks of some kind that just won't wash off. It's like they're underneath the coating.
I tried to show it in the second image below but it doesn't really show up much in the image. I'm not really sure there's much I can do about it?
Any suggestions?
What does re-coating a 12" mirror cost?
I also washed the outside of my scope for the first time in 4 years. Didn't quite come up shiny as new, but it's as white as it's looked for a long time :)
3. Collimate the scope
DONE. Now that really had been a while. Like I expected, it started out very clunky but using Don Pensack's brilliant article (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-390-0-0-1-0.html) to guide me, it started to come back to me and now my scope is nicely collimated.
4. Prepare the Scope, Mount and Camera for Imaging
This really consists of 5 sub-parts:
Get the scope balanced on the mount. I can't remember the best spot to place the scope in the rings, so need to play around with that again.
Polar align the mount. The marks on the pavers have long since washed away, so I need to (remember how to!) polar align and re-mark the pavers.
Align the finderscope
Re-attach the Telrad. It came off a while ago and the double-sided tape has gone.
Get the filterwheel, filters and camera ready. I probably need to clean the filters, tighten the screws in the filterwheel housing, check the 5x powermate, test getting focus, etc. I'll probably start off on the Moon to make this step easier.
5. Set the alarm and get outside!
This has been the hardest step over the past 2+ years. A continuing run of bad weather and bad seeing made it just too easy to stay in bed. Especially in winter!
So the whole process of setting up the scope the night before, setting the alarm to get up at 3am, going out and checking the seeing, deciding whether it was clear enough and steady enough to stay outside and image, and then pack up again before heading off to work - THIS step is the hardest.
If you come away with a good image, it makes it worthwhile and motivates you for next time. If you keep getting bad seeing, the motivation dies very quickly and you start HOPING for clouds or bad seeing so you can go back to bed straight away. That's what started my down hill slide :)
Anyway, there's my goals and my plan.
I'll worry about cooling the mirror etc later - I just want to get out there and get some data!
Obviously data processing is the next step. It's been so long since I've used Registax, I don't really understand v6 yet. Haven't used Ninox or WinNinox for too long, don't really know if there's any other, better alternatives.
And of course TIME - time to process the data. That's going to be a real struggle for me too. I'd like to think I could use the time on the train, but I know that processing images on battery power will drain it in less than an hour.
I'm going to try and get out with the Moon this week while it's in a favourable night-time position but the forecast isn't great. Will see how I go!
Thanks for reading.
I figured the best way is to do it methodically - having a plan and a goal.
My first goal is to get a nice image of Jupiter in the morning sky. My next goal will be to get some nice images of the Sun, in preparation for the Venus transit.
My plan consists of 5 steps:
1. Get a new, more sensitive planetary imaging camera
DONE. The Imaging Source (http://www.astronomycameras.com) have been kind enough to loan me a DMK21AU618 and a DMK41AU02, for the purposes of testing it out and writing a review of each.
The DMK21AU618 is the 'upgraded' DMK21AU04 with a more sensitive CCD.
I'm hoping it'll be in the same league as the Flea3, which has been the planetary imaging camera of choice for the experienced guys over the last 12-18+ months.
2. Wash the mirror
DONE. I got my scope out yesterday, laid it on the outside table (picture 1) and took the mirror out to wash it. It'd been over 2 years since I last washed it, and there was a layer of dust on it which came off ok, but there's some ingrained stains and marks of some kind that just won't wash off. It's like they're underneath the coating.
I tried to show it in the second image below but it doesn't really show up much in the image. I'm not really sure there's much I can do about it?
Any suggestions?
What does re-coating a 12" mirror cost?
I also washed the outside of my scope for the first time in 4 years. Didn't quite come up shiny as new, but it's as white as it's looked for a long time :)
3. Collimate the scope
DONE. Now that really had been a while. Like I expected, it started out very clunky but using Don Pensack's brilliant article (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-390-0-0-1-0.html) to guide me, it started to come back to me and now my scope is nicely collimated.
4. Prepare the Scope, Mount and Camera for Imaging
This really consists of 5 sub-parts:
Get the scope balanced on the mount. I can't remember the best spot to place the scope in the rings, so need to play around with that again.
Polar align the mount. The marks on the pavers have long since washed away, so I need to (remember how to!) polar align and re-mark the pavers.
Align the finderscope
Re-attach the Telrad. It came off a while ago and the double-sided tape has gone.
Get the filterwheel, filters and camera ready. I probably need to clean the filters, tighten the screws in the filterwheel housing, check the 5x powermate, test getting focus, etc. I'll probably start off on the Moon to make this step easier.
5. Set the alarm and get outside!
This has been the hardest step over the past 2+ years. A continuing run of bad weather and bad seeing made it just too easy to stay in bed. Especially in winter!
So the whole process of setting up the scope the night before, setting the alarm to get up at 3am, going out and checking the seeing, deciding whether it was clear enough and steady enough to stay outside and image, and then pack up again before heading off to work - THIS step is the hardest.
If you come away with a good image, it makes it worthwhile and motivates you for next time. If you keep getting bad seeing, the motivation dies very quickly and you start HOPING for clouds or bad seeing so you can go back to bed straight away. That's what started my down hill slide :)
Anyway, there's my goals and my plan.
I'll worry about cooling the mirror etc later - I just want to get out there and get some data!
Obviously data processing is the next step. It's been so long since I've used Registax, I don't really understand v6 yet. Haven't used Ninox or WinNinox for too long, don't really know if there's any other, better alternatives.
And of course TIME - time to process the data. That's going to be a real struggle for me too. I'd like to think I could use the time on the train, but I know that processing images on battery power will drain it in less than an hour.
I'm going to try and get out with the Moon this week while it's in a favourable night-time position but the forecast isn't great. Will see how I go!
Thanks for reading.