Sunspot 960 - Mewlon + DMK “tame” the jet stream! Well, sort of!

[Dennis]

Hello,

After being goaded by Ponders to ‘get out there”, the morning skies began to clear in Brissie so I tentatively began the long set up process. An hour later I was looking at my 1st light sunspot through the Tak Mewlon 180 f12 DK Cassegrain and DMK Firewire ccd camera.

It was not a pretty sight; the seeing was all over the place, so I had a look at the jet stream to see if my equipment, technique or collimation were off, and saw the attached map – ouch!

Well, having got this far, I decided to shoot at the native F12 (2160mm) prime focus and with the magic of the Tak mirror, DMK ccd camera and Registax I was able to rescue some of the results.

Takahashi Mewlon 180 DK Cassegrain (180mm f12).
Imaging Source DMK 21AF04.AS Firewire ccd camera.
Baader astro solar film (photographic)
Prime focus using stacked Baader IR cut and Solar Continuum filters.
Processed in Registax. 128 frames from 2100.

Cheers

Dennis

[ving]

it still looks very pretty dennis. you have done a good job under the conditions :)

[[1ponders]]

Very nice Dennis, especially given the conditions. :clap:

I would love to see this group through a narrow band Ha. There looks to be a hell of a lot of activity around that trailing edge.

[h0ughy]

awesome!!!! well done Dennis.

[iceman]

That's a great shot Dennis, a very interesting group.

Great to see you get an image again!

[WadeH]

Thats a great shot Dennis! Makes me feel very envious of the gear and knowlegde that a lot of you have. Well done.

[ballaratdragons]

Wow! That is a great image Dennis!!!!!

Very nice detail!

[Dennis]

Thanks guys - here's one with the same set up + Vixen x2 Barlow. Only managed to stack 80 frames from 2100 then the seeing really collapsed.

Cheers

Dennis

[bluescope]

Great detail Dennis .... must order a continuum filter !

:thumbsup:

[Dennis]

Thanks Steve!

I’ve had the Baader Solar Continuum filter for almost 12 months now and initially thought it was a dud! On the Vixen 4” refractor and the Celestron C9.25 (with a ToUcam) it just didn’t appear to work? I could not see any improvement to images with the filter fitted compared to images with no continuum filter fitted.

So, I was really surprised today when I used it for the very 1st time on the Tak, with a DMK camera. Not sure what made the difference?


The seeing was certainly more rubbish today, compared to previous efforts with the other ‘scopes.
Maybe the DMK optimises the filter advantages/characteristics, whereas the ToUcam didn’t?
Not sure if I can put it down to the Tak optics?
Maybe the Mewlon achieves thermal stability (open tube) better than the other 'scopes?

Anyhow, I am now a happy little vegemite and can’t wait to try it under better seeing conditions.

Cheers

Dennis

[iceman]

You know Dennis is back when he's gracing the pages of SpaceWeather again.. this time in the secondary feature image position.

Still, great to have you back Dennis!

[h0ughy]

:2thumbs: :sunny: :prey2: :clap:

[Dennis]

Thanks again guys, it was nice to be out with the 'scope again.

Hey Dave, you fooled me, yet again....I tried clicking a couple of the hyperlinks in your screen capture....:doh: :doh:

Cheers

Dennis

[h0ughy]

:rofl:

[[1ponders]]

Nice Dennis. :thumbsup:

I haven't checked SW for a while, I like the new layout.

[beren]

:D Dennis can you rescue my shots.....well done fine images indeed

[RB]

Congratulations once again fine Sir, beautiful work indeed.
:2thumbs:


:mad2: :mad2: :mad2:
He always gets me too Dennis !

[matt]

Beautiful work, as always, Dennis.

You certainly know how to make a return to the imaging scene:) :thumbsup: