Vallis Alpes with a QHY5

[cybereye (Mario)]

Hello!!

Well, well, well. This is my first post in any of the "professional" sections of Ice In Space. Sure I've posted in the Beginners Astrophotography section but I thought it was time I bit the bullet and tried my luck in the big league.

I must admit I feel somewhat like I did back in 1970 at my first day at Marist Brother's Kogarah as a 10 year old in a playground where there were 18 year olds. I didn't really know what to expect and I was scared, nervous and yet excited!!

Anyway, here is an image of Vallis Alpes that I took with my QHY5. Some of you may be familiar with my image of Saturn that I took and I took this the same way. I used a 2x Barlow with my 8" f/6 newtonian on a HEQ5 Pro mount. I've calculated that my effective focal ratio was about f/14 to f/15. I took a 1000 frame avi and stacked the best 250 frames in Registax6.

This was very difficult to process - I'm not quite sure why - and I may have over-worked it a tad. However you can just make out the rille on the valley floor which I am quite pleased with.

Thanks for taking time out to have a look at this image and I hope to post here more often!

Cheers,
Mario

[supernova1965 (Warren)]

That's a great shot Mario wow

[DavidU (Dave)]

Nice work Mario. In good seeing that would be even sharper.
That QHY5 & 8" Newt is a great combo,

[Shiraz (Ray)]

Hi Mario. What an excellent image. looking forward to more. Regards Ray

[michaellxv (Michael)]

Nice work Mario. Super image and well done getting that rille on the floor.

[renormalised (Carl)]

A nice mario there, Mario

Great shot right down the length of the Alpine Valley.

[Clayton]

Hi Mario,
This image is much better than it looks IMO.
This is meant as a compliment, I have taken images that looked better but were not near as good as this one

[Clayton]

What I mean is that it doesn't look tack sharp, but you still have some very fine detail like the rille in the Alpine Valley

[cybereye (Mario)]

Originally Posted by Clayton

What I mean is that it doesn't look tack sharp, but you still have some very fine detail like the rille in the Alpine Valley

Rob,

Seeing was pretty ordinary that night and that's why it's taken me so long to get something I was happy to post. I could have pushed the sharpening - trust me I tried! - but I lost more than I gained.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts on this image. I'm very, very happy with my little experiments with the QHY5 and it is fast becoming one of my major imaging tool besides just handling the guiding for DSO images!!

Cheers,
Mario

[Matt Wastell (Matt)]

Hi Mario

Lots of detail in that one!