I did some imaging!

[iceman (Mike)]

I'm trying to get myself back into imaging again..

Starting off easy, I got the PST out today to look at the Sun. It looked quite nice through the eyepiece. Some good sunspot activity and a few small prominences.

I then hooked up the DMK21AU618 and DMK41AU02 that I've got on loan from Astronomy Cameras and captured some data.

I had some difficulty getting them to focus initially. The DMK21AU618 required a 3x barlow to come to focus (not enough in focus), but eventually I found a few things I could unscrew from the front of the camera, plus a different 1.25" nose piece, to allow it to get closer to the focal point and get to focus at prime focus.

The Sun doesn't fit in the FOV of the DMK21 even at prime focus. Can probably get about 75% of the disc. With the DMK41, it fits with about 75 pixels to spare top and bottom, so no problems there.

The PST really suffers from an uneven illumination across the field. There's a real bright spot in the middle of the image, and to stop that overexposing, the edges are much dimmer than I would like.

I tried capturing a few different settings and might ultimately have to HDR them to get an evenly illuminated image.

I'm keen to get the 12" out and capture some images of Jupiter, but I know I'll need to spend a few hours washing the mirror and re-collimating first. It's been a loooong time between drinks. There's probably a family of spiders living in the tube by now.

Anyway it was nice to be out in it again. I fumbled around for quite a while, I've certainly forgotten a lot of things.

Looking forward to processing the images.

[Poita (Peter)]

I find it both encouraging and slightly scary that the guy who took those Jupiter images is fumbling a bit getting back into imaging. I don't know if that gives me hope or despair!

Do you think the PST hotspotting is to do with the 40mm aperture, or a property of the filters themselves?

I actually did have a spider family inside my C8 when I finally got around to cleaning and collimating it!

[multiweb (Marc)]

Good for you. First step is the hardest. You'll be hooked again and back into it in no time.

[Rodstar (Rod)]

Good for you Mike! We missed you at the Pony Club last Saturday, by the way. Next time......

[iceman (Mike)]

Next time for sure, Rod. Will be putting it in my diary.

The July one just crept up on me and I hadn't organised the time off

[sheeny (Al)]

Good on you Mike.

While I'm still dabbling with some solar stuff, I too am at that stage where I need to get back into my spectroscopy. I've had such a run of bad weather and clashes with other things that I needed to do that I've kinda lost touch... out of the groove so to speak. Its just too easy for other things to get in the way.

Glad you're back in the saddle.

Originally Posted by Poita

I find it both encouraging and slightly scary that the guy who took those Jupiter images is fumbling a bit getting back into imaging. I don't know if that gives me hope or despair!

Do you think the PST hotspotting is to do with the 40mm aperture, or a property of the filters themselves?

Its a property of the PST itself. I'm not sure what part causes it, but its not the aperture size. I use the SM40 Ha filter (that I originally bought to double stack my PST) on the front of my ED80, and the images are as flat and uniform as you could ask for.

Al.

[atalas]

His back! good stuff dude.

[cventer]

Originally Posted by iceman

I'm trying to get myself back into imaging again.

Anyway it was nice to be out in it again. I fumbled around for quite a while, I've certainly forgotten a lot of things.

Looking forward to processing the images.

I know the feeling Mike.

I have not had my scopes out for over 5 years now.

Have just started to back into things. Had the scope out on weekend getting polar aligned and getting guiding, mount control and testing the setup setup.

Took a few test snaps and tried to process them. I can't believe How much I have forgotten and how steep learning curve is especially related to stacking, aligning, processing etc.... Seeing how much everyone here has improved over past 5 years I will be very embarassed to post anything for a long time

[iceman (Mike)]

I noticed you'd come back - nice one Chris, great to have you back.

I know what you mean too - it's the same for planetary imaging. There's so many talented folks now.