Orpington Astronomical Society

Astronomy => Astrophotography => Topic started by: MarkS on Feb 19, 2017, 09:14:51

Title: Venus 18 Feb 2017
Post by: MarkS on Feb 19, 2017, 09:14:51
Venus last night. Altair GPCam on Celestron C11 with x2 Barlow. 1500 frames stacked in Autostakkert.  It took me longer than expected to get the Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector set up correctly - as you adjust the levers then the image slides across the field of view.  I need to play around with it a bit further.

I was going to try Jupiter later on but it became far too misty.

(http://www.markshelley.co.uk/Astronomy/2017/venus20170218.jpg)

Mark
Title: Re: Venus 18 Feb 2017
Post by: Carole on Feb 19, 2017, 10:16:49
Very nice Mark.  It looks B&W - is it a B&W camera or the planet lacking any colour?

Carole
Title: Re: Venus 18 Feb 2017
Post by: MarkS on Feb 19, 2017, 10:24:55
Quote from: Carole
Very nice Mark.  It looks B&W - is it a B&W camera or the planet lacking any colour?

It's a colour camera.  I think Venus should actually be slightly yellowish but I adjusted the colour balance to be more white.

Mark
Title: Re: Venus 18 Feb 2017
Post by: JohnP on Feb 19, 2017, 10:44:35
Nice - did the ADC make a lot of difference?
Title: Re: Venus 18 Feb 2017
Post by: The Thing on Feb 19, 2017, 10:50:56
Quote from: MarkS on Feb 19, 2017, 09:14:51
Venus last night. Altair GPCam on Celestron C11 with x2 Barlow. 1500 frames stacked in Autostakkert.  It took me longer than expected to get the Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector set up correctly - as you adjust the levers then the image slides across the field of view.  I need to play around with it a bit further.

I was going to try Jupiter later on but it became far too misty.

Mark

Nice image. Never much to see on Venus, so much cloud. Must be a pain waiting for clear skies if you're a Venusian!

I have found you need to adjust the ADC before applying the ROI. I have tried using the autoguiding and just adjusting the ADC very slowly so it can keep up and recenter the planet but you have to have really steady hands or FC will lose the planet. I have also found adjusting the ADC with a red filter on the laptop screen is a challenge as well as you can't see the red indicator. Simple solution though...

I did try Jupiter this morning (alarm at 2:00 :{ ) but the seeing was horrendous. Maybe I'll have a result later.

Duncan
Title: Re: Venus 18 Feb 2017
Post by: MarkS on Feb 19, 2017, 11:21:59
Quote from: JohnP
Nice - did the ADC make a lot of difference?

It made a huge difference.  Without the atmospheric dispersion corrector Venus had the usual red fringe on one side and blue fringe on the other.  For one thing, it's much easier to get the focus right when the colours are not all split up.

Mark
Title: Re: Venus 18 Feb 2017
Post by: RobertM on Feb 19, 2017, 20:04:43
That's a great result Mark, you must be very pleased.

Unfortunately Venus needs to be a bit higher to clear my Obs. roof so I don't think it'll be on the radar this time.

Robert
Title: Re: Venus 18 Feb 2017
Post by: The Thing on Feb 19, 2017, 20:12:58
Quote from: RobertM on Feb 19, 2017, 20:04:43
Unfortunately Venus needs to be a bit higher to clear my Obs. roof so I don't think it'll be on the radar this time.
That's what saws are for! Or you need a drop down section such as I've put in mine.
Title: Re: Venus 18 Feb 2017
Post by: Fay on Feb 19, 2017, 21:13:53
Thats a very good Venus Mark. nice with that C11

Fay
Title: Re: Venus 18 Feb 2017
Post by: The Thing on Feb 19, 2017, 21:48:57
Fay, you should have a go at planets with that Meade 8" you've got gathering dust. Go on, you know you want to.