Mars

[Bruce D]

We are running away from Mars at a rapid pace, it is already noticeably dimmer than it was a month ago- so I thought if I was going to image it I better do it fast. I recently got a zwo asi planetary camera and I'm just getting some practice in. After some false starts where I only got monochrome output after debayering in PIPP I found that the camera uses a different bayer data scheme than Tim's asi cooled camera. I used sharpcap to capture 5000 frames, PIPP to debayer, then stacked and processed in registax.

The result isn't really worthy to post here with everyone's fine images but here it is so you can see where I'm at-

well, I guess you will miss out, the BB won't let me add the image saying the file has an invalid file extension... apparently the BB doesn't like bmp's.

If I get it figured out or convert the file to a jpeg I'll update the post with the image. Surfice to say my focus is poor, I need to focus on a star first then go to the planet. Also I noted this morning that sharpcap had a focusing assistant function that I will try out.

So the final result was not very sharp, but there were some surface colorations that were almost invisible in the original avi so I was able to make some improvement by processing (I've had plenty of attempts at processing where the result looked a lot worse than the original...).

[TimW]

Try converting it to a jpeg.

[Pete]

Bruce,

It's taken me 2 years to realize that the video codec and video type both impact software that's usable as well as image quality. The camera's standard output may ideal for viewing but not be ideal for reduction to a single frame.

Pete

[Bruce D]

Thanks Tim, I will convert it when I get a chance. I thought I had post bmp files in the past but maybe not, or maybe a long time ago.

Pete the camera is designed as a planetary imager and their website had links for sharpcap and registax so hopefully those applications are optimized for use with the camera... or vice versa but who knows. I'm sure much more experimentation is required!

[TimW]

You can use your bahtinov mask on planets. The diffraction pattern isn't as sharp but it works.

[AndyG]

the BB won't let me add the image saying the file has an invalid file extension... apparently the BB doesn't like bmp's.

The BB accepts JPEG and TIFF image attachments. It's a limitation of the phpBB forum software.

[Bruce D]

Here's the image I took last Friday-

Mars 8_24_18.jpg (8.99 KiB) Viewed 3321 times

At least it's not a featureless ball like I got a few weeks ago. I need to concentrate more on focus, and there's probably a lot more I could have done in processing but I'll learn as I go along.

Captured on ASI224MC camera using sharpcap
best 100 of 5000 frames
debayered with PIPP, stacked and processed w/registax 6
10" Mease LX200 SCT on celestron cgem mount

[AndyG]

Awesome, Bruce! So cool to see that surface detail!

[NGC7000]

Very nice, Bruce! Like Andy says, so great that you got the detail going on there. Do I see a bit of polar cap at the bottom, too?

Tom

[Bruce D]

Thanks guys, you are too kind heaping such accolades on my meager results but yes, I was happy to get something- and getting color took some head scratching. Tom there was a brilliant white highlight along the limb of the planet but I couldn't bring it out in the image. Next time.