Mars at 50 ... again

[Astro_Bot]

Just goes to show ...

I had a final video lurking from my last session. I'd discarded it because cloud came over and, whilst I picked a gap in the clouds to shoot, I was pretty sure it was/would be affected since cloud occluded the last few seconds. Well, leason learned: stack every video, because that turned out to be the best one!

Taken on 16 Apr 2014, 1434UT. Everything is the same as before, except slightly more aggressive sharpening and a little more post-processing.

Advice welcome. Particularly, as I'm still faffing about with processing, if any of the "master planetary imagers" have some tips, I'm all ears. :)

[Shiraz]

that's a corker image. not sure that you need any tips - your main limitation is probably the seeing and there is not much that you can do about that.
Looks like you have the other issues - thermal control, exposure, collimation, focusing, processing etc. under control.

[Astro_Bot]

Thanks, Ray. I think it's more blind luck than anything. Still, the vote of confidence is appreciated.

Seeing - yes, definitely need some of that. Also, more aperture, better quality optics, high-speed camera, filter wheel, bigger mount to put it on, observatory ... :)

[rustigsmed]

that is a really great effort.
keep 'em coming!

[Astro_Bot]

Thanks, Russell.

[nebulosity.]

The planetary images you have taken over the last few weeks have been absolutely incredible Astro_Bot!!

Great work with the DSLR, haven't seen many DSLR images as good as these :thumbsup:

Jo

[Astro_Bot]

Thanks, Jo. The encouragement is appreciated.

I plan to upgrade the camera when budget allows, but will keep plugging away with the DSLR in the meantime.

[edwardsdj]

Very nice Mars for OSC. Do you decompose the colour video into separate RGB channels or just process the whole thing in colour?

[Astro_Bot]

Thanks. I don't decompose: I process in colour throughout.

As far as I know, the advantages of a mono camera and RGB filters include being able to focus in each band, as well as sharpening and denoising each band separately (for better results), so I'm looking forward to that. With the DSLR, though, I don't see any point in decomposition - more work than it's worth, I think, assuming I understand it right.

[edwardsdj]

It is definitely more work to decompose the colour into separate channels. I have found you can get a maybe 20% improvement though this is obviously subjective. The idea is that you can use different wavelet settings on each channel for the best result.

That is a very nice image though. What aperture do you have?

[astronobob]

Now one understands that quirky similin Avata Astro bot, , Id be stoked with a Mars shot as yours, youve come forward in Leaps & Bounds :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Astro_Bot]

Thanks, Bob. I'm enjoying the learning process.

Doug - If I get the time, I might give that a go. I have a 10" LX200-ACF. For this image I used a 2x Barlow and 2.5x Powermate to give f/50 and a focal length of 12.5m.

[SimmoW]

Really nice result! Wow, those barlows and PMs are working well. And a fl of 12.5metres!!!!

I'm thinking of trying a 3 Barlow and 5 PM with my new Tak which only has a fl of 430mm, for lunar work. You've convinced me it'll be worth a go!