A better Mars with my 6" newt

Garyh · #1 13-12-2007, 02:26 PM

Hi folks,
Well after my NGC-1532-31 shots on the 9th I turned the scope at Mars again for my second attempt at this little globe!
Patchy cloud started to roll in here and there but was still fairly clear to the north-west.
Done a dozen avi`s of about 3 min each with the toucam hoping to catch a extra still moment over the next 2 hours. Most were very average but in my 8th video I caught some nice steady seeing for a good 10-20 seconds...

Played with different settings in registax to try to get the very best from this clip ad this is what I came up with..
Stack of the best 60 frames out of 2400 with my 6" newtonian and a x5 powermate and toucam pro II. Slight wavelets applied and some contrast and a little saturation in PS and thats about it..
Very happy with this attempt..

I can see why David mentions about chasing the seeing..its a real waiting game
for just that perfect moment..

All comments most welcome..
CS...hopefully soon!!
Gary

iceman (Mike) · #2 13-12-2007, 02:37 PM

You're doing a great job, Gary!

On this image, you can see that the colour channels need re-aligning. The red channel is sticking out to the right a bit. Just use the channels palette in PS or use the "RGB Align" tab in Registax.

Great image!

Garyh · #3 13-12-2007, 08:12 PM

Thanks Mike for that!
I did use the RGB align in registax but maybe I forgot to apply it..

Still don`t know how to use half the functions there yet!
I will have a fiddle in PS to get it better.
Havn`t worked out the best way to give it some more contrast as yet?
But half the fun is learning..

cheers Gary

Prickly · #4 13-12-2007, 09:36 PM

Hi Gary,

For a 6 inch scope I reckon its superb. Dont know whether you spent any time looking visually. The grey markings look quite subtle and I'm just curious how obvious this all was through the eyepiece in comparison.

Cheers,
David

iceman (Mike) · #5 14-12-2007, 06:35 AM

Hi Gary

When you capture the best data, the contrast will be there. You could try using curves or levels and slide the midpoint, or use the gamma function in registax. That might help with contrast.

davidpretorius · #6 14-12-2007, 03:49 PM

again, you have done very well!