Lunar on the ZWO ASI120MC

ZeroID (Brent) · #1 13-11-2013, 06:19 AM

First chance and first attempt under less than ideal conditions. Early evening, still blue sky with clouds and wind. ~1000 frames through the Lunt using Firecapture. Stacked in AutoStakkert and processed in PixBuilder and Paint Shop Pro. Took about 4 hours to stack on the poor wee laptop,

I now see what the viewing conditions can do. The moon was like a jelly on screen. Venus is at it's best at present and hopefully the weather will have settled more so might have ago there this evening possibly with the 2 x barlow.
Lot to learn with this camera, need another screen on the Ob laptop so I can see the image AND the controls. Image is only 84kb and I need to understand processing images of this sort a lot more.

nebulosity. (Jo) · #2 13-11-2013, 06:40 AM

Looking good Brent

Jo

EricB (Eric) · #3 13-11-2013, 08:35 AM

Hi Brent!
Good first given the conditions. The ASI will be able to perform much better under more favourable conditions.

You don't necessarily need to capture 1000 frames for lunar if your PC's struggling. You can get away with 250 (and 200 stacked) if the conditions are good (although, obviously, the more the better).

Processing is critical. Personally, I use Avistack (free) for stacking and Astra Image ($4.95 or $29.99) for sharpening, then GIMP or Photoshop for level adjustments. I find that this combination works very well for Lunar.

Good luck with the camera!

Eric

ZeroID (Brent) · #4 13-11-2013, 02:26 PM

Hi Eric,
Yeah, I need to try other stack\process combinations. I think my stacking took ages because the grid was very small boxes ( 25 pixel ). I have and will try Avistack and Registax. I'm comfortable with my photoprocessing software, it's quite capable, more so than me I suspect.
I'll look at Astra Image, not heard of that one.
Having fun with it all. Just happy to have got something out of it to prove I can make it all work.

EricB (Eric) · #5 13-11-2013, 07:40 PM

Hi Brent,

Each of us has their preference re processing AVis. I tried everything I could find on the Net before settling on my current combo. Registax was great be my computer was struggling with large AVIs. Autostakkert is the fastest and the easiest but not the best for Lunar AVIs in my experience. But I use it for planetary as I fond it better than both Registax and Avistack. It's a question of what you feel most comfortable with.

The main thing is to have fun.

Eric