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Lion Nebula SH2-132 - RC71

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Posts Made By: Stephen Fugardi

March 20, 2010 04:21 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Mars f32 3/17/10

Posted By Stephen Fugardi
Taken a couple of nights ago in good seeing. 3x barlow with the camera pulled out yielding approx f32, best 800frames RGB stacked. Mars is shrinking fast.

Regards,
Steve

March 20, 2010 04:28 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Saturn f25 RGB 3/17/10

Posted By Stephen Fugardi
Also captured in good seeing, 800frames stacked from 1/15s RG. 1/8s B max gain avis. Processing Saturn data is more difficult than Mars, since the delicate rings distort so easily.

Regards,
Steve

April 23, 2010 11:40 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Saturn & Tethys Shadow Transit 4/20/10

Posted By Stephen Fugardi
Under good seeing but poor transparency, I was lucky to capture a shadow transit of Tethys shortly after it reached peak altitude. My usual f25 1/15s only gave a poor 50% histogram so I backed off to 7.5fps 1/8s R,G and 3.75fps 1/4s B all at full gain to achieve 75%. Best 800 frames stacked. Tethy's shadow can be seen just over the ring slightly left of center at the top of the first dark band. With my optics newly realigned, my improved collimation really made a difference.

Regards,
Steve

September 17, 2010 03:41 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Jupiter f27 9/15/10

Posted By Stephen Fugardi
Taken yesterday morning 1:36am around transit in 3/5 seeing and transparency. C11 @f27 60" RGB Flea3 runs 40fps 90% histograms, best 1000 frames/ch stacked.

Regards,
Steve

November 16, 2010 03:59 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Jupiter f27 w/SEB Activity 11/14/10

Posted By Stephen Fugardi
Taken in 4/5 seeing, C11 Flea3 RGB f27 at 45fps, best 2000 frames per channel stacked in Reg. I was able to cool my scope and observatory down early enough to take some decent data for a change. I was imaging with my 20" box fan hanging from a bunge cord in the doorway which seemed to help control the temperature improving the image quality. That night I was able to view Jupiter at 572x! The SEB outbreak resembles a "hand holding a gun" in the middle right of the globe

Regards,
Steve

December 13, 2011 11:03 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Jupiter f25 RGB 12/12/11

Posted By Stephen Fugardi
I was fortunate to have average seeing with good transparency Sunday night. Using my C11, 2.5x powermate, Flea3 camera with FireCapture software, I combined the best 2500 RGB frames taken at 60fps, 60sec per channel, histograms 67%. Sorry for not posting in ages.

Regards,
Steve

December 13, 2011 11:10 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Mars f40 RRGB 12/12/11

Posted By Stephen Fugardi
Woke up at 4am to good seeing Monday morning. Using my 3x TV barlow, the calculated f ratio was approx f40 acording to FireCapture. I tried my 5x but there was barely any B data at max gain and 30fps. Using the 3x, I ran 90s R,G 60fps, 120s B 45fps, 60% histograms. Best 3000 frames stacked and combined as RRGB with WinJupos resized 150%. Mars is rediculously small vs Jupiter but the polar cap looks great at 312X. Of course my computer crashed after 2 avis, but I was at least lucky to get some decent data.

Regards,
Steve

January 12, 2012 12:54 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Saturn f28 RGB 1/11/12

Posted By Stephen Fugardi
Taken in good seeing, approx 37deg elevation, 19fps R, 13fps G, 8fps B, gains 28.5 for R,G 31 for B. Gamma accidentally set to .9 for RG. histograms 66-69%. 2000 frames R,G and 1000 for B. Stacked with AS! sharpened with Reg6 then aligned & combined with IP, the presented with Torsten's excellent web image maker in FireCapture. I lost my original settings so there is room for improvement. Fortunately, I was able to get 2 RGB runs in before having to wake up the kids for school. Data is a bit noisy due to high gains and less frames, so I opted not to resize the final image. The first Saturn on the season through the eyepiece is always the best, and this one did not disappoint.

Regards,
Steve


January 12, 2012 12:59 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Mars f31 RGB 1/11/12

Posted By Stephen Fugardi
Taken this morning in above average seeing. Best 3000 frames per channel stacked and resized 150%. 70fps R (90s), 65fps G (90s), 44fps B (120s). Olympus Mons nicely visible in the center, toward the right. Also there a large grouping of clouds further to the right. Detail in the polar cap shows darker inner ice. Histograms 66% for R,G 60% for B. I've got some decent Saturn data that I will be processing later. It's always nice when you wake up at 3am to good conditions. BTW, those clouds were no visible to my eye through the unfiltered 8.8mm eyepiece.

Regards,
Steve


February 24, 2012 03:18 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Mars f34 2/21/12

Posted By Stephen Fugardi
Taken Tues morning just before transit, 3/5 seeing, best 2500 frames per channel @ 65fps for 150sec each avi, resized 150%. Flea3 with a 1.8x barlow with about 6" of extension. The color is off but the detail is one of my best for Mars.

Regards,
Steve

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