Orpington Astronomical Society

Astronomy => Astrophotography => Topic started by: Kenny on Apr 08, 2015, 22:17:45

Title: First attempt at Venus
Post by: Kenny on Apr 08, 2015, 22:17:45
First attempt at Venus capture this evening. Clearly still plenty of room for improvement. It was bobbing around in the atmosphere a lot and again, similar to Saturn, focusing was an issue (my cheap 6" newt looks laser collimated but it clearly has issues). I think another scope would be a good start. And a better camera  :lipsrsealed: ;).

6" Newtonian telescope on the HEQ5 Pro mount. Celestron NexImage solar system imager CCD camera with x3 Barlow lens (so much more light than with Saturn, in fact the challenge was not over-exposing) captured via SharpCap2. 2 minutes of video at 20 fps captured in SharpCap2. Stacked in AutoStakkert2 retaining only 30% (circa 60% quality curve) of the frames. Smart Sharpened in Photoshop CS2 and cropped.

(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8734/17080836681_7ae337c13b_o.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/s2nKEa)
Title: Re: First attempt at Venus
Post by: The Thing on Apr 08, 2015, 23:21:08
Really good Kenny, you're getting to be a dab hand at planets.
Title: Re: First attempt at Venus
Post by: RobertM on Apr 09, 2015, 07:34:18
You're really on a roll Kenny !!!  I see evidence that your light sabre has tinges of red appearing - the dark side beckons ;)
Title: Re: First attempt at Venus
Post by: Carole on Apr 09, 2015, 09:45:03
Well done Kenny.  I only attempted this planet once and like you said, the challenge is not overexposing, you did well.

Carole
Title: Re: First attempt at Venus
Post by: Kenny on Apr 09, 2015, 11:11:35
Thanks all. Slowly building my catalogue.  8)