Well this session was doomed from the start. I intended to take an LRGB capture of Mars just near opposition using my ASI120MMs. All was going well ( except for the seeing ) until my dodgy Laptop battery decided to call it quits, just as I was about to centre and focus the planet. Now before you say "well you should have checked it was fully charged then", let me tell you the Laptop said the battery was 100% charged! So it's off to the computer shop to have it fixed, a new battery I presume.
Here I am, out in the field with no power other than a battery powering the HEQ5 mount. Fortunately, I had brought along with me my old faithful Canon 550d. It saved the evening from being a complete waste of time. Not a great image considering the camera I used and the woeful seeing but something to show of Mars for 2022. Maybe over the next few nights I will get another chance to improve my results.
Capture details: Canon 550d (video crop mode), 200mm f5 Newt, 5x Powermate, combo of 3x 3min video grabs 50fps, 15% best of 9000 frames stacked in AutoStakkert, Wavelets in Registax and CC/resize in PS.
Well this session was doomed from the start. I intended to take an LRGB capture of Mars just near opposition using my ASI120MMs. All was going well ( except for the seeing ) until my dodgy Laptop battery decided to call it quits, just as I was about to centre and focus the planet. Now before you say "well you should have checked it was fully charged then", let me tell you the Laptop said the battery was 100% charged! So it's off to the computer shop to have it fixed, a new battery I presume.
Here I am, out in the field with no power other than a battery powering the HEQ5 mount. Fortunately, I had brought along with me my old faithful Canon 550d. It saved the evening from being a complete waste of time. Not a great image considering the camera I used and the woeful seeing but something to show of Mars for 2022. Maybe over the next few nights I will get another chance to improve my results.
Capture details: Canon 550d (video crop mode), 200mm f5 Newt, 5x Powermate, combo of 3x 3min video grabs 50fps, 15% best of 9000 frames stacked in AutoStakkert, Wavelets in Registax and CC/resize in PS.
Considering the difficulties you had to overcome, you did really well. Definitely a case of what can go wrong will go wrong
I agree. I was doing some observation of the red planet when it was in opposition through the Mak-Cas, and the seeing wasn't good. Considering the conditions and the equipment issues, you've come away with a decent result.
Very respectable shot indeed well done!
Sounds like my night last night, power issue, network issue, and the kicker was a cap stuck inside one of the extension tubes that took me A solid 20min of hair pulling to find why the sky had disappeared
Thanks P & C, Warren and David, things definitely go wrong occasionally. Fortunately I had a plan B for backup. David, that's a good one about the cap stuck in the extension tube, despite the frustration on the night you will look back on it and have a laugh one day.
