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Posts Made By: Stephen Fugardi

February 11, 2008 11:36 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Saturn f45, 2/8/08

Posted By Stephen Fugardi
With below average seeing and heavy dewing, last Friday night, I tried image Saturn with my C11 and DMK21. In an attempt to increase the image size, I used a double stacked barlow, 2.5x inside 1.8x. While the image size filled most of the screen, the reduced brightness caused me to have to decrease the shutter speed and increase the gain. The result was a grainy, soft image (resampled at 75%). I used 500frames for L, and 200frames each for R,G,B. Next time out, I will stick with the 2.5x setup and try both DMK LRGB & DMK L, Toucam RGB. Hopefully, we all can get some decent seeing this month.

Regards,
Steve

PS: I tried f50 and had to tilt Saturn at 45deg just to fit it in the screen!

February 17, 2008 06:58 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Saturn f25 RGB 2/16/08

Posted By Stephen Fugardi
With more below average seeing/transparency between 11-12pm tonight, I imaged Saturm using DMK21 with C11 @2.5x. Gain 820, Br 0, Gamma 120%, 15fps for R,G but 7.5fps for B. Best 800 frames stacked each. Need at least average seeing to get a decent Saturn, not sure I'll get it here in CT before the opposition. It appears I could go higher in gamma to push the R,G frame rate to 30fps and B to 15fps. Sure wish the DMK had 5fps increments like the old Toucam.

Regards,
Steve

February 21, 2008 06:43 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Lunar Eclipse from CT

Posted By Stephen Fugardi
4Meg Powershot A80 afocally attached to a 55mm eyepiece using C11, ISO 200, 0.5sec exposure taken at 10:48pm, approx 5min before the totality end. The star to the right came very close to being occulted by the moon. Seeing was bad but at low magnifications it didn't matter. I've got 100s of images to check out and managed to capture the second half of the eclipse in 1min intervals, which should make for a decent movie. Quite a night

Regards,
Steve


February 25, 2008 07:35 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Saturn f25 RGB 2/25/08, near opposition

Posted By Stephen Fugardi
Best 700 frames of each channel stacked using C11, DMK21, & 2.5x powermate taken shortly after midnight close to peak transit. The brightening of the rings was most obvious in the blue channel. Seeing was above average for the first time in months, and I actually captured 2 moons in the Lum channel which I did not include yet since it seemed to take away from the true colors. R,G 1/15s 15fps 760Gain, 0Br, 140%Gamma, B 1/8s 7.5fps. This is my best Saturn ever, hope you like it

Regards,
Steve

February 25, 2008 04:11 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Mars f50, 2/24/08 RGB

Posted By Stephen Fugardi
With above average seeing, 2.5hrs past peak transit, 10pm, I stacked the best 430 RGB frames from my C11, DMK21, 5x powermate. With the disk of Mars already down to 9.5", I tried to over magnify it during my capture which unfortuneately ended up with a noisy image. Settings used: 900Gain, 0Br for RGB, 100%Gamma R 30fps 1/30s, 110Gamma Green 1/30s, 120Gamma Blue 1/15, 15fps. It's likely my last attempt at the red planet. Too bad we didn't get much good seeing near its opposition.

Regards,
Steve

February 27, 2008 04:32 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Titan f25 RGB, 2/24/08 Resized 3X

Posted By Stephen Fugardi
Using my DMK21 USB camera, Astronomik Type2 RGB filters, 2.5x Powermate and my C11 Compustar, I captured Titan just before midnight on 2/24/08 with above average seeing. The best 100 frames per channel were hand picked and stacked using Registax. Camera settings were:

R 0.5s 3.75fps 900Gain 0Br 170%Gamma
G 0.6s 3.75fps 900Gain 0Br 170%Gamma
B 0.7s 3.75fps 900Gain 0Br 200%Gamma

I used photoshop to resize R,B slightly larger to match the G diameter image before combining the channels. Afterwards, I resized the final RGB composite image 3x. While no detail can be seen, Titan's disk is resolved. I love this mono camera.

Regards,
Steve

March 13, 2008 09:32 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Titan f25 RGB 3X, reprocessed from 2/24/08

Posted By Stephen Fugardi
While waiting better seeing conditions, I went back and reprocessed my C11 DMK21 Titan RGB avis from the opposition, trying to hand pick the best ones from each channel. The result is a less blurry image but still no surface details. For Titan, the G channel proved to be the strongest. With clouds moving in, I was only able to take 4min of each channel. I would guess that under perfect conditions, some surface details could be captured.

Regards,
Steve

March 31, 2008 03:22 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Sunspot 988, 3/30/08 C11 f10

Posted By Stephen Fugardi
Using a baader solar filter on my C11 at prime focus with DMK21 @1/1250s 60fps 750gain, best 400frames stacked. This spot is easily seen at 50x.

Regards,
Steve

April 18, 2008 09:15 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Saturn f25 LRGB 4/17/08

Posted By Stephen Fugardi
After getting a late start, 90min past transit, I imaged Saturn with below average seeing/transparency for the first time in almost 2 months. It was nice to be out in just a sweatshirt for a change! While my image isn't great, it is interesting that 3 moons were easily visible at this magnification including Titan. The best 400 LRGB frames were stacked from my DMK21, C11, & 2.5x powermate with the camera turned at an angle to fit the moons in the shot. Enceladus was about to transit after 12:30am, however, the low altitude made it too difficult to observe. Hopefully next year, Titan can transit across the ringed planet.

Regards,
Steve

April 23, 2008 05:54 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Saturn 4/22/08 f25 LRGB Toucam + DMK

Posted By Stephen Fugardi
Tonight under below average seeing and an hour past transit, I captured some Saturn avis. I used Dan Peterson's no filter method on the Toucam to capture the color. Previously, I had always used an IR/UV filter. Then using the DMK21, I captured the lum and combined the best 300 frames of each using Ed Roach's method. Considering the poor seeing conditions, my final image is decent. I've got R,G,B avis to go through and will post a comparison of the different processing methods.

Regards,
Steve

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