Well, my first use of a (2nd hand) C9.25 OTA on my old Evolution mount. I picked up the OTA for sale on IIS about a month ago, I took the plunge to try and cure my aperture fever, moving from a 6" to a 9.25.
I'm pretty happy with how Saturn turned out. I think I can claim that the polar hexagon shows straight sides, which is a definite improvement over the dark blobs I was able to get with the 6" previously.
Andrew
Celestron Evolution C9.25" SCT with 2x Barlow, ASI 224MC, 50% of 30000 frames, stacked in AS!3 with 3x drizzle, sharpened in Registax, final touches in Photoshop Elements, Saturn shown 200% captured.
Thanks guys, this is the best image of Saturn I've taken since starting AA this year, clearly the step-up from 6" to 9.25" has had the desired effect. Thanks again to 5ash who put it up for sale and packed it so well before sending it down
30000 frames is only 5 min at 100 fps, for Jupiter I generally capture for 3 min at around 250 fps. Certainly fills up the hard drive quickly ...
Well, my first use of a (2nd hand) C9.25 OTA on my old Evolution mount. I picked up the OTA for sale on IIS about a month ago, I took the plunge to try and cure my aperture fever, moving from a 6" to a 9.25.
I'm pretty happy with how Saturn turned out. I think I can claim that the polar hexagon shows straight sides, which is a definite improvement over the dark blobs I was able to get with the 6" previously.
Andrew
Celestron Evolution C9.25" SCT with 2x Barlow, ASI 224MC, 50% of 30000 frames, stacked in AS!3 with 3x drizzle, sharpened in Registax, final touches in Photoshop Elements, Saturn shown 200% captured.
Looks great Andrew ..I have a CPC 925 and its great on the Planets better than my 130mm Apo triplet , of course wipes out my new 60mm Tak at 200x , I had the CPC 925 at 500x on Saturn one great night...Soo much detail the 130mm Apo Slightly sharper on an average night!
These scopes were said anecdotally , to be designed by Vixen opticians when they had a relationship with Celestron ..a different format from the usual SCT with a much flatter field and high strehls, and on average sharper IMO...Enjoy!
Bigjoe
Thanks everyone for your kind comments, I don't think it's at the level of a 12/14" as I've seen what they can do in the hands of a master, but I'm happy with what the 9.25" can achieve. I always struggle with processing, not enough and you don't get the resolution, too much and it looks like a lollypop.
Hi Andrew,
Fantastic picture. glad I was able to pass on the scope at a good price. When I saw your pictures with the 6” celestron I suspected you’d excel with the C9.25”. You should post some of your C6 pictures they are amazing for a scope of that size . It demonstrates how in the hands of a skilled planetary imager smaller scopes can achieve above expectations.
Regards philip
Thanks again, I actually just put together a collage of the best planetary images I took in my first year of imaging, some taken with my 6" and Canon 700D, others with the 9.25" and ASI224MC.
I might put it up as a separate thread here, but I just posted it on CN, not sure what the etiquette is for posting the same content on multiple sites...
Superb result for a 9.25, very well done indeed. Don't be frightened to capture more data. My standard is 15 min/Jupiter and 40 min/Saturn. You will quickly see the difference in the images. It is well worth the trouble.
Hi again, thanks for all the positive comments, appreciate the remarks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Solar
Superb result for a 9.25, very well done indeed. Don't be frightened to capture more data. My standard is 15 min/Jupiter and 40 min/Saturn. You will quickly see the difference in the images. It is well worth the trouble.
Thanks Ralph, don't you notice rotation of the planets with such a long capture time? From what I've seen elsewhere online, the standard wisdom appears to be 3 minutes for Jupiter and 5 minutes for Saturn. Any longer than that and you have to start de-rotating the stacked frames in WinJupos (which I used to do when I was using my DSLR on the planets and only able to record at 20 fps).
