Posts Made By: Ivan Gastaldo

Well, here is a question for the GURUS out there...
I'm seriously thinking about getting the HOLY GRENADE..., but the question is:

Considering I currently have a 40mm UO MK-70 (70 degrees)eyepiece (which I love), and the PLEIADES (M45) will NOT fit on the FOV. Will they fit on the NAGLER's FOV (being a wider FOV, but higher mag eyepiece)?

Scope is F/10, 2500mm F/L.



Thanks for your attention, and clear skies to all!



Ivan

Great Job!
Congrats on a beautiful scope!


Ivan

It's been a little while since I took my last shot...
Work has been really busy, and have not had much of a chance to use the scope...
Tonight the skies were somewhat clear, but the seeing was very steady... I had to take the scope out & image Jupiter.
I was amazed at the wealth of detail that this amazing planet was showing tonight... I spent a good 2 1/2 hours on it, just enjoying the views... beautiful!

Here's a sample of what I saw tonight..., hope you'll like it.
Comments are always welcome...


Clear skies my friends!



Ivan

http://www.astromart.com/messages.asp?message_id=183348&page=3

Here's a humble sample of last night's Jupiter at 2 different focal lengths... GRS was transiting, and was a beautiful sight as usual...


Clear skies, my friends!


Ivan

Eric, anything is possible...

What you might want to do is capture as many & long movies as possible, and after checking them out to define which one is the best one, then you can "Cherry Pick" your BEST frames with Registax & then combine them to get a GOOD final shot...

It is hard to tell how good or bad it will be until you try it, but it's the only way to find out.

No matter what, being out there looking at the planets and playing with your equipment sure beats being inside the house, watching Cartoon Network... LOL!



Take care, and good luck!


Ivan

Eric, keep it up my friend...

These are good shots, not perfect, as you said, since the seeing was not cooperating, but you've captured lots of detail for such poor conditions...

Thanks for sharing,


Ivan

Please don't get me wrong... this is just meant to be a constructive thought...

Well, I've been thinking about this one for a while, and decided to drop a line (well, several actually...), specially for the ones that are just getting into Astrophotography and/or Webcam Imaging...

I'm no expert at all, I started not too long ago, and I've learned much in this little time..., specially after watching/talking/editing/taking shots along with imaging experts here...

As with visual observing, we must understand that scopes and "seeing" work together, and we must know the limitations, not only of our equipment, but also the ones that atmospheric conditions drop on us.

It is surely awesome to see very large scale pictures, when the equipment/seeing allow for such, the images present detail that it is simply amazing... and it is GREATLY APPRECIATED...

But, there are times in which those images are just WAY TOO LARGE, and the detail gets lost in the process, most likely because the seeing conditions or the equipment simply could not handle the magnification requested... or the person just did not know how to process the final image accordingly and blew it out of proportion...

BIGGER is not necessarily BETTER, we must learn to BALANCE the different aspects of Astrophotography in order to get a fine & well resolved image at the end...

Like when you visually view a planet, you start with lower mag and push to higher mags until you start seeing breakdown, then you step back to the one that gives you the best image for the seeing conditions. The same is for imaging, you go f/10, f/15, f/20, f/25, f/30.... too much? then step back to the best possible combination... 1024x768, 800x600, 640x480, 352x288... same, drop size if too much...


Any thoughts?



Clear skies!



Ivan



P.S.
Again, please don't get me wrong, this is just meant to be a constructive criticism... specially for the New Imagers, but not geared to anybody in particular...
This is just based on personal experience, and I'm trying to pass it along to all the ones that could use it...

Jupiter was very low and almost on top of my neighbors roof... I could NOT focus accuratedly no matter what I tried... SIGH...

Oh well, as a consolation we were lucky enough to see it, and well, we can still do it again, 13 years from now... LOL!


Clear skies!



Ivan



Equipment: 10" LX-200GPS, shot at f/20, Vesta Pro 675k webcam, 1000 frames stacked with Registax.

Being in the Eastern Side of USA, the Triple Transit was in a tough position to begin with...
It was very low in the sky already, and seeing was getting worse by the minute. Not to mention this was just a few feet from my neighbors roof, which was no help either!


This sequence was from about 3:10am EST to about 4:10am EST, then it was just too close to my neighbors roof to image anything! (you can see the effects of BAD seeing as the sequence progresses...)

Anyways, glad to be able to see it, and glad to be able to share...


Clear skies!


Ivan



P.S.
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