not just any Moon shot

[xelasnave]

This is my first photo with my new 115 mm triplet that I purchased from Glen.
I am so happy:D ...I have not been well and frankly did not even take it out of the box (a beautiful box built by Glen that is a work of art) when I got it home as I became crook the day after I picked it up so....

Tonight I decided to have a look at it...

I expected to have to play with spacing so I was not expecting to do anything other than measure stuff..but I thought "lets set up and see what will need to be done"put on the reducer and the zwo....I rolled the focuser out to where I thought would be a good place to start and pointed it up at nothing in particular..started Sharpcap and I could not believe my eyes when I adjusted the exposure and gain...it was near perfect focus..slight adjustment and it looked perfect..no mask..just zoomed in and adjusted by eye...so no spacing issues it seems.

Anyways as I am still not feeling well I thought to get a Moon shot so ran off about 25 subs and later ran them through Registax...I was going to take RBG but I just captured in L. Lucky I did not have big plans as the inverter started to beep and shut off..everything is 240 vlt so that was it...I was not up to putting petrol in the genny so called in a night.

Anyways here it is...played around in photo shop and I know it could be better but I can not express how happy I am to have got this tonight and how happy I am with the scope...thanks Glen.



alex

[Ukastronomer]

What went wrong, I have never shot more than a single image, never stacking

This is a single shot through my 120 triplet and nothing special not even edited other than a little sharpening and crop

There are times when I believe you can try too hard and be over complicated

[Ukastronomer]

Here is your image after 30 seconds in photoshop, I can remove it if you like, if I spent more time it would be a lot better

Also your levels were way way out

Plus there is little actual detail in the image, may I suggest a DSLR on the scope and download and make this great piece of kit

http://www.mikeoates.org/mas/projects/calc/


.

[LostInSp_ce]

Congrats on the new scope 115 mm is a nice all rounder. Lots of fun times ahead!

[LostInSp_ce]

At this range stacking isn't too beneficial but at higher magnification it can be. Magnify the object you also magnify the atmosphere, so taking multiple frames similar to planetary imaging and then stacking can sometimes produce a sharper/noise free image. Another reason for stacking is to achieve a more uniformed focal plane because at very high magnification the depth of field can look shallow.

[xelasnave]

Hi Jeremy
The reason I was so happy with the image was it was the first with this scope taken within a minute or two of taking the scope out of the box and finding focus instantly without a mask.
And I suppose not feeling well and expecting problems added to my joy. I guess I was negative because it took me a while to get the 80mm sorted.


I do like your image and thank you for posting.
Alex



Thanks but I plan to continue my narrow band journey with this scope ... M42 Lagoon ..those sorts of objects. I have a long way to go and thanks for the link.
Alex



Thanks.
Alex

[Startrek]

That’s a nice lunar image Alex, this new scope looks very promising
Martin

[Crossy]

Hi Alex,
Nice image, different to see that colour, contrast works well. When you say 25 subs, what camera and where they single shots or video into Registax.
I have always shot video but am not convinced stacking in Registax really improves on a decent single shot - need more images to prove one way or other as am only starting out myself.
Anyone else have a preference on stacking video vs single shots for the moon. For the planets the video stacked in Registax or Autostakkert seems to work really well.
Paul

[raymo]

Hi Paul, On nights of superb seeing and the consequently stable atmosphere, or the best possible AP sites such as many mountain tops offer, single images
can approach the quality of stacked video images, but in most cases stacking
is the way to go because it is rare to get the whole surface of the moon
pin sharp at any one point in time from our everyday[or night] AP sites.
The software's job is to select the best frame for each part of the image
from the thousands of images that are stacked. You can be lucky and get a
very nice single image, but the finest images out there are pretty much all
stacked. To answer Jeremy's comment, planetary imaging is always stacked for the same reason, except that the advantage of stacking is much greater;
no single image of the planets will come anywhere near the quality of a stacked one.
raymo

[Ant0nio]

Congrats on your new scope Alex, it's always nice when things go smoothly setting up a new instrument for the first time. Enjoy :thumbsup:
Tony

[Ukastronomer]

post some pics of the scope

[xelasnave]

Can't talk now..leaving for Sydney but here is a photo.
Alex



Single shots, zwo cooled mono, lum filter.
It's has been a long time since I did serious Moon stuff..but I like to take single shots rather than video and go thru them and stack the best.
But this was not about getting a good Moon shot ..it was just to get the new scope with the zwo to produce something...anything really...but to show Jeremy that complexity is good I may do one using all 7 filters and see if I can stack each separately with darks and flats ..and 3x drizzle maybe...not sure about that...but I am back in Sydney with the gear so may do some Moon stuff in an effort to sort things out.
There is no place for a finder scope ...so need to fix a finder scope and a guide scope...plus must make a baffled dew tube...you can't take any photos without one.
Alex

I zoomed in with sharpcap...maybe 200 times..and it looked like a pancake cooking....almost made me sea sick...I think to do a really good image you need some way to use one shot as a template and add what fits and reject what is not in place... Maybe Registax does that...
Anyways too tired to even in pack the car...
I did not want to come back as I had both piers ready to go in the observatory but my Dad had to go to hospital...damn attention seeker...you would think at 97 he would be over it..but no..I have to worry that he is on the way out...no way..I told him he can't go until at least 105... But he better have a good excuse to leave.
Alex

[xelasnave]

I can't compete with your image your scope is much bigger than mine.
Alex

The green Moon was a joke for someone else...I posted the wrong image in fact...try this one.
Alex