Saturn 22/08 and 21/08

[multiweb (Marc)]

Two shots of saturn in IR with ASI 462MC and Astronomik ProPlanet 742 IR-pass filter. CN-212 at ~8m FL. 10000 best frames out of 3 separate 90s streams joined in Pipp. Bottom one was last night.

[h0ughy (David)]

Nice grab but does look slightly soft

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by h0ughy

Nice grab but does look slightly soft

Yep. I'm in a jetstream red zone.

[Dennis]

Very nice Marc, quite astonishing for that focal length.

Cheers

Dennis

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by Dennis

Very nice Marc, quite astonishing for that focal length.

Cheers

Dennis

Thanks mate. Condition have been less than ideal but I'm having a ball.

I was surprised too at 8m. The mount is really behaving lately. I could track with only occasional nudging in quite a tightly cropped viewport. It hasn't tracked like that in years. Touch wood.

I also figured Jupiter moons are great to collimate the scope so I did a bit of that Saturday night. It was out a little so very minute adjustments. I also have a slight trefoil shape which I think is the secondary being pinched. Likely but the collimation screws at the back so next clear night I'll release the pressure equally see what happens.

Got a couple of streams on Acrux, Antares and RigelKent when I was tweaking. Will upload them.

[N1 (Mirko)]

Those are great results Marc. I like the way the C-ring is shown which is not easy, especially when dealing with poor seeing conditions. It's all too tempting to just clip any fuziness around the outside, and often that removes a lot of this detail as well. I also think the softness goes away completely when one reduces the image scale, with more space around it, but that's strictly a subjective presentation issue. Nice work!

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by N1

Those are great results Marc. I like the way the C-ring is shown which is not easy, especially when dealing with poor seeing conditions. It's all too tempting to just clip any fuziness around the outside, and often that removes a lot of this detail as well. I also think the softness goes away completely when one reduces the image scale, with more space around it, but that's strictly a subjective presentation issue. Nice work!

Thanks Mirko. I'm getting better practice at focusing so just waiting on some decent seeing now. Regarding image scale you reckon I should reduce the final image?

[ChrisM]

Marc, have you been able to do a comparison between visible and IR bandpass views?

I understand that the IR view should provide a more stable image, but am yet to verify that.....

Cheers, Chris

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by ChrisM

Marc, have you been able to do a comparison between visible and IR bandpass views?

I understand that the IR view should provide a more stable image, but am yet to verify that.....

Cheers, Chris

Oh yeah big difference. I don't even bother with color unless the seeing is good. IR is a lot sharper even on the moon. Only problem is less contrast on Jupiter. The bands are subdued and look a lot darker and defined with a straight LUM. IR is also great for collimating I figured recently. My camera is also more sensitive in IR than in visible light which allows a lot of frames to be captured in a short amount of time.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Still going through the SER streams. These ones look a little better. Must have been a better slice with the seeing. 21/08 @ 13:11UTC and 13:05UTC

[Sunfish (Ray)]

Pretty crisp features in that second shot. Unusual flavour to the IR

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by Sunfish

Pretty crisp features in that second shot. Unusual flavour to the IR

Thanks Ray. I seem to have caught a glimpse of that fainter thin outer ring.