Search found 638 matches

by nickatnight
Mon Sep 25, 2017 5:27 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: AR2681 and AR2682 - CPC925 w Quark - Sept. 24, 2017
Replies: 7
Views: 1718

AR2681 and AR2682 - CPC925 w Quark - Sept. 24, 2017

Got out for the first time in a bit. Here's an animation and a still, shot with CPC925 w Aries DERF, 3x Baader, Combo Quark and ZWO 174MM camera. Processed with AS!3, AstraImage, IMPPG, Photoshop, DVS and PIPP. Comments and suggestions welcome. 2 hours activity of AR2682: http://cdn.astrobin.com/ima...
by nickatnight
Mon Aug 21, 2017 9:16 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: Couple of Eclipse shots with Lunt 50 DS
Replies: 11
Views: 2237

Couple of Eclipse shots with Lunt 50 DS

Missed the beginning running my son to school, but got a few shots of it with the Lunt 50 DS and ZWO ASI174MM camera. Chose that camera to give lots of elbow room. Should have an animation to share eventually. First shot I captured of eclipse. eclipse-frame1_lunt50_174MM_20170821_v1b.jpg And this is...
by nickatnight
Fri Aug 18, 2017 6:53 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: Sunspot AR2671 is a pretty cluster - August 16, 2017
Replies: 9
Views: 2022

Re: Sunspot AR2671 is a pretty cluster - August 16, 2017

Thank you Alexandra, Mark, Pepe and Val. Hoping for a bit more this weekend.
by nickatnight
Fri Aug 18, 2017 6:50 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: Few images of AR12671
Replies: 10
Views: 1823

Re: Few images of AR12671

Excellent variety of images. Detail is outstanding in all wavelengths.
by nickatnight
Fri Aug 18, 2017 6:48 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: The Sun is Round(Not This Morning)
Replies: 10
Views: 1829

Re: The Sun is Round(Not This Morning)

Nuclear. Well done.
by nickatnight
Fri Aug 18, 2017 6:47 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: litle animation 14 of august
Replies: 10
Views: 1724

Re: litle animation 14 of august

That's great work Paul. Looks beautiful to me in both cases. Second one well worth the load time.
by nickatnight
Fri Aug 18, 2017 6:43 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: AR2671 and a nice prom
Replies: 2
Views: 882

Re: AR2671 and a nice prom

Excellent. That prom shot is gorgeous!
by nickatnight
Fri Aug 18, 2017 6:42 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: Still there
Replies: 2
Views: 822

Re: Still there

What a great spread. Nicely done.
by nickatnight
Fri Aug 18, 2017 6:41 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: Today's SUN (20170818) HUGE PROM
Replies: 7
Views: 1456

Re: Today's SUN (20170818) HUGE PROM

Beautiful captures, Pedro.
by nickatnight
Thu Aug 17, 2017 4:49 am
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: Sunspot AR2671 is a pretty cluster - August 16, 2017
Replies: 9
Views: 2022

Re: Sunspot AR2671 is a pretty cluster - August 16, 2017

Thanks Franco and Valery!

This is turned fully clockwise, Valery, and is the best contrast I can get with this Combo Quark. I was also using the full chip of the ASI174MM.
by nickatnight
Wed Aug 16, 2017 8:12 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: Sunspot AR2671 is a pretty cluster - August 16, 2017
Replies: 9
Views: 2022

Sunspot AR2671 is a pretty cluster - August 16, 2017

Did a quick session for an hour this morning after checking out AR2671 on GONG. Shot with Aries DERF, CPC925 @ 7050mm, Baader TZ3, ZWO ASI174MM camera in FireCapture @ 10ms for 1000 frames, stacked of best 50. Processed with AS!3, AstraImage and Photoshop. Comments and suggestions welcome. Crop at 1...
by nickatnight
Tue Aug 08, 2017 12:59 am
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: AR2670 and a few Proms - CPC925 and Combo Quark - August 7, 2017
Replies: 5
Views: 1185

AR2670 and a few Proms - CPC925 and Combo Quark - August 7, 2017

Sunspot came out really nice, proms not so much. Shot with CPC925 with Aries DERF, Baader 3x telecentric, Combo Quark, tilt adapter and ZWO ASI174MM camera. Processed with AS!3, AstraImage and Photoshop. Comments and suggestions welcome. AR2670: ar2670_cpc925_b3x_quark_20170807_v1_ps1.jpg And a few ...
by nickatnight
Wed Jul 19, 2017 8:29 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: Early ( wobbly) session 17'th July with Tal/PST mod
Replies: 6
Views: 1315

Re: Early ( wobbly) session 17'th July with Tal/PST mod

Nice shots. What temp in the UK is too hot for dogs? Mine lay out in the sun when it's 110F. But they're more like rats than real dogs.
by nickatnight
Wed Jul 19, 2017 8:23 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: AR2665 Flare Animation to Limb - Triple Stacked SM90 - July 15, 2017
Replies: 15
Views: 2644

Re: AR2665 Flare Animation to Limb - Triple Stacked SM90 - July 15, 2017

Thanks folks. I've had varying results with the deflicker filter. Nothing beats clean even captures, that's for sure. On a recent attempt with deflicker it made an even fade from beginning to end, which although evened it out, was not really the result I wanted. I think feeding it even-ish levels fr...
by nickatnight
Wed Jul 19, 2017 8:15 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: AR2665 Mosaic over time
Replies: 7
Views: 1508

Re: AR2665 Mosaic over time

I did enjoy your series. Thanks for all the work!
by nickatnight
Wed Jul 19, 2017 8:11 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: Last 12665 17 7 2017
Replies: 8
Views: 1699

Re: Last 12665 17 7 2017

An excellent farewell.
by nickatnight
Wed Jul 19, 2017 8:09 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: Last gasp for AR2665 on July 17
Replies: 7
Views: 1141

Re: Last gasp for AR2665 on July 17

That is a last gasp on the edge. Well done.
by nickatnight
Wed Jul 19, 2017 8:08 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: Firts light with SolarSpectrum 0.3A, C8 Edge-HD on July 14
Replies: 12
Views: 1937

Re: Firts light with SolarSpectrum 0.3A, C8 Edge-HD on July 14

I see we all are dreaming of this etalon. Looks fantastic.
by nickatnight
Wed Jul 19, 2017 8:07 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: Mr Wilson with a DSLR.
Replies: 12
Views: 1962

Re: Mr Wilson with a DSLR.

Beautiful sets of rises.
by nickatnight
Wed Jul 19, 2017 8:01 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: First session with ARIES D-ERF UPDATE 18.07.17
Replies: 44
Views: 7342

Re: First session with ARIES D-ERF UPDATE 18.07.17

These are wonderful. I need to come to Switzerland for lessons.
by nickatnight
Wed Jul 19, 2017 7:57 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: Faint Loops
Replies: 7
Views: 1366

Re: Faint Loops

Very nice Derek. Especially like the water reflections.
by nickatnight
Wed Jul 19, 2017 7:55 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: Experiment
Replies: 18
Views: 2743

Re: Experiment

Excellent. A successful experiment for sure.
by nickatnight
Wed Jul 19, 2017 7:50 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: This is really bad seeing
Replies: 4
Views: 896

Re: This is really bad seeing

How long did you wait for a hole? :-)
by nickatnight
Wed Jul 19, 2017 7:47 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: Prominences 18th July
Replies: 12
Views: 1817

Re: Prominences 18th July

That's just fantastic work. I dream of getting clean results like these.
by nickatnight
Wed Jul 19, 2017 7:39 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: Full disk from July 18
Replies: 9
Views: 1456

Re: Full disk from July 18

That was a lot of fun to scroll around. Great collection of proms in that image.
by nickatnight
Wed Jul 19, 2017 7:34 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: 19th July disk
Replies: 12
Views: 2357

Re: 19th July disk

I rested today, as the disk on GONG looked sparse, but you produced some lovely images. Thanks for shooting a quieter day.
by nickatnight
Wed Jul 19, 2017 6:41 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: 2665 Farewell Animation - CPC925 w Quark - July 17, 2017
Replies: 6
Views: 1248

Re: 2665 Farewell Animation - CPC925 w Quark - July 17, 2017

Thanks all. Next time in such seeing I will throw on a focal reducer. I just got a .5x c-mount reducer so now I have .63x and .5x to use with this setup when seeing is not so great. I agree, Jozef, regarding the sharpening. I appreciate you giving your honest opinion. Over sharpening is one of my do...
by nickatnight
Tue Jul 18, 2017 6:29 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: 2665 Farewell Animation - CPC925 w Quark - July 17, 2017
Replies: 6
Views: 1248

2665 Farewell Animation - CPC925 w Quark - July 17, 2017

Took this AR all the way to the trees. Seeing wasn't very good, but I'll take what I can get with these limb shots. This is 207 frames, reduced 50 percent, from captures between 11AM and 1:16PM PST. Captured 200 frames every 40 seconds with AutoRun in FireCapture. Shot with CPC925 with Aries DERF an...
by nickatnight
Mon Jul 17, 2017 3:28 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: AR2665 Flare Animation to Limb - Triple Stacked SM90 - July 15, 2017
Replies: 15
Views: 2644

Re: AR2665 Flare Animation to Limb - Triple Stacked SM90 - July 15, 2017

Thanks Derek and Alexandra. Pleased you enjoyed the animation. Here's where I got VirtualDub...I used the 32bit version for Windows10. http://virtualdub.sourceforge.net/ and here's the deflicker plugin I had to install separately. http://findfiles.com/11684/details-msu-deflicker-virtualdub-plugin.html
by nickatnight
Mon Jul 17, 2017 4:21 am
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: Sunday's AR2665 - SM90 Double Stack Etalons - July 16, 2017
Replies: 2
Views: 690

Sunday's AR2665 - SM90 Double Stack Etalons - July 16, 2017

It was after noon before I had a chance to image today, so not the best seeing. May have over-sharpened the stills, so I under-sharpened an animation to compensate. ;-) Not as much activity near the limb as I would have preferred. Shot with two Solarmax 90mm etalons with BF15 and 3x TV Barlow on AT1...
by nickatnight
Sun Jul 16, 2017 8:35 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: Sol from the 15th of July 2017.
Replies: 7
Views: 1191

Re: Sol from the 15th of July 2017.

Wonderful stuff.
by nickatnight
Sun Jul 16, 2017 8:33 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: First session with ARIES D-ERF UPDATE 18.07.17
Replies: 44
Views: 7342

Re: First session with ARIES D-ERF UPDATE 15.07.17

What an amazing collection of images and animations! I think the setup is working. ;-)
by nickatnight
Sun Jul 16, 2017 8:29 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: Almost gone
Replies: 6
Views: 1073

Re: Almost gone

That's super! Looks like a monster at that scale!
by nickatnight
Sun Jul 16, 2017 8:06 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: AR2665 Flare Animation to Limb - Triple Stacked SM90 - July 15, 2017
Replies: 15
Views: 2644

Re: AR2665 Flare Animation to Limb - Triple Stacked SM90 - July 15, 2017

Thanks Eric and Valery. The flare was obvious during capture, and I thought I saw some bright spots near the limb after, but it wasn't until I animated it I really knew what I captured.
by nickatnight
Sun Jul 16, 2017 6:18 am
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: AR2665 - Image and Hi Res Animation - July 14, 2017
Replies: 11
Views: 2380

Re: AR2665 - Image and Hi Res Animation - July 14, 2017

Thank you very much everyone.

Time to get testing with the tilt adapter. Those interference rings have to go.

GreatAttractor - thanks for the tip on VirtualDub deflicker...now installed and using.
by nickatnight
Sun Jul 16, 2017 6:10 am
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: AR2665 Flare Animation to Limb - Triple Stacked SM90 - July 15, 2017
Replies: 15
Views: 2644

AR2665 Flare Animation to Limb - Triple Stacked SM90 - July 15, 2017

Still triple stacking this setup with 2x Solarmax 90mm etalons and a Combo Quark with Baader 3x on AT115EDT scope with ASI174MM camera. I have not wanted to pull apart my CPC925 camera/Quark rig, so I just moved the whole camera setup over to the AT115 refractor the the 90mm etalons. Don't know if t...
by nickatnight
Sat Jul 15, 2017 7:15 am
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: AR2665 - Image and Hi Res Animation - July 14, 2017
Replies: 11
Views: 2380

Re: AR2665 - Image and Hi Res Animation - July 14, 2017

Thanks much Mark. I have been keeping your sharpening advise in mind as I process, and feel I've been improving. I have some habits that are hard to break. I cleaned up the above animation a bit, evening out the levels frame by frame in Photoshop so there's less strobe effect. Anyone know a tool tha...
by nickatnight
Sat Jul 15, 2017 4:54 am
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: AR2665 - Image and Hi Res Animation - July 14, 2017
Replies: 11
Views: 2380

AR2665 - Image and Hi Res Animation - July 14, 2017

Had pretty good seeing again this morning, and had the setup dialed in pretty well. This was the first capture of the day. I manually triggered about 100 captures, 10ms, 200 gain, 1000 frames and I'll see what I can do with an animation, or at least a series from the morning over 3 hours. I have a c...
by nickatnight
Wed Jul 12, 2017 8:51 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: AR2665 in Ha @ 7000mm - Good Seeing - July 10, 2017
Replies: 12
Views: 2106

Re: AR2665 in Ha @ 7000mm - Good Seeing - July 10, 2017

Thank you all for the kind comments. I'm definitely pleased with the performance I'm getting at the scale I was hoping for from the CPC925. This is a shot from later in the morning, about 11AM, two hours after the first shot. Seeing held up pretty well, although I had to wait for this window through...
by nickatnight
Tue Jul 11, 2017 10:24 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: AR2665 in Ha @ 7000mm - Good Seeing - July 10, 2017
Replies: 12
Views: 2106

Re: AR2665 in Ha @ 7000mm - Good Seeing - July 10, 2017

Thank you Mark. Got another capture from the day.
prom1_cpc925_3xbaader_quark_174mm_20170710_v1b.jpg
prom1_cpc925_3xbaader_quark_174mm_20170710_v1b.jpg (455.72 KiB) Viewed 2058 times
by nickatnight
Mon Jul 10, 2017 9:50 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: AR2665 in Ha @ 7000mm - Good Seeing - July 10, 2017
Replies: 12
Views: 2106

Re: AR2665 in Ha @ 7000mm - Good Seeing - July 10, 2017

Thank you very much Peter. I think the overnight rain was the key to the seeing. The capture was at 100fps on my Dell PC laptop. I get better rates to RAM Disk on my Mac, but the Mac can't take the summer heat in my yard. Been 110-115F by midday. My PC also chokes full res at around 1000 frames. I m...
by nickatnight
Mon Jul 10, 2017 8:47 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: AR2665 in Ha @ 7000mm - Good Seeing - July 10, 2017
Replies: 12
Views: 2106

AR2665 in Ha @ 7000mm - Good Seeing - July 10, 2017

We had a bit of rain last night which I think helped cool down things for the morning. It was nice and clear, so I set up with the CPC925, Aries DERF, Baader 3x telecentric, Combo Quark, and ASI174MM camera. Took a chance and skipped the reducer I usually add before the camera.Captured @ 10ms for 10...
by nickatnight
Sun Jul 09, 2017 1:33 am
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: Fancy Proms and Spots - BONUS ANIMATION - CPC925 w Quark - July 8, 2017
Replies: 6
Views: 926

Fancy Proms and Spots - BONUS ANIMATION - CPC925 w Quark - July 8, 2017

Seeing was very nice first thing this morning. Not sure I did the captures justice. I might play with this data a bit more. Shot with CPC925, Aries DERF, Baader 3x telecentric, Combo Quark, .67x reducer, and ASI174MM camera. Processed with AstraImage and Photoshop. Comments and suggestions welcome. ...
by nickatnight
Sat Jul 08, 2017 11:23 am
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: AR2665 Animation - Triple Stacked System - July 7, 2017
Replies: 5
Views: 1183

Re: AR2665 Animation - Triple Stacked System - July 7, 2017

Thanks guys.

I will work on your sharpening suggestions Mark. Thanks. Might give this a re-proccess over the weekend.

Alfred, I primarily used IMPPG for aligning the animation, tried to tweak it a bit with DVS (Dave's Video Stabilizer). Assembled the final GIF with PIPP.
by nickatnight
Sat Jul 08, 2017 6:18 am
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: AR2665 Animation - Triple Stacked System - July 7, 2017
Replies: 5
Views: 1183

AR2665 Animation - Triple Stacked System - July 7, 2017

Not a whole lot of action, but it's a pretty clean animation. This was shot with AT115EDT refractor with double stacked SolarMax 90mm etalons and a Combo Quark, Baader 3x to the Quark, .63x reducer in front of ASI174MM camera. About two hours of activity, but I took a couple of breaks, so a couple o...
by nickatnight
Wed Jul 05, 2017 7:34 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: CPC925 Shots from July 2 & 3, 2017 w Bonus Animation
Replies: 11
Views: 1928

Re: CPC925 Shots from July 2 & 3, 2017 w Bonus Animation

Thanks all. Looking forward to your high res images, Charles. The weather will break one day! No problem Mark. I wasn't in front of my machine when I wrote that. I was wrong with the High Pass % thing. Use it on a duplicate layer with soft light selected in layer properties and around .8 in High Pas...
by nickatnight
Tue Jul 04, 2017 10:25 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: CPC925 Shots from July 2 & 3, 2017 w Bonus Animation
Replies: 11
Views: 1928

Re: CPC925 Shots from July 2 & 3, 2017 w Bonus Animation

Thanks folks.

Mark.. Deconvolution Blurring usually around 2.19, deconvolution sharpening use Lucy/Cauchy around .48 @ 1.49 strength. High Pass in Photoshop is usually sub-pixel, like .8 with 15%.
by nickatnight
Tue Jul 04, 2017 6:26 pm
Forum: This is SolarChat !!
Topic: CPC925 Shots from July 2 & 3, 2017 w Bonus Animation
Replies: 11
Views: 1928

Re: CPC925 Shots from July 2 & 3, 2017 w Bonus Animation

Thanks Mark. In AstraImage i do Deconvolution Blurring, then Deconvolution Sharpening. Then Photoshop I'll adjust levels and contrast, might do a soft light/high pass sharpen. So a few rounds of sharpening. Less when seeing is good and the stacks are sharper to begin with. Seeing wasn't the best tho...