Fibrils Flower on the Sun. 280mm aperture. NEW IMAGE added!

[Valery]

Hi all,

An alternative view of the famous AR12529 through a 280mm aperture equipped with
ARIES' 295mm D-ERF, <0,25A etalon and ASI174MM camera.

My inspiration was the image taken with 1,6m telescope of Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO)
and with further contrast and colorizing by Alan Freedman (below image) taken from here:
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150217.html

Original APOD image is from here:
http://www.bbso.njit.edu/nst_gallery.html
http://www.bbso.njit.edu/gallery/NST_VI ... 141002.png


The images are double clickable for a full resolution.


Thanks for looking.


Valery

[Carbon60]

My goodness, Valery, this is stunning!

Stu.

[Sungazer]

Unbelievable definition, very well done. Kind regards,John.

[Derek Klepp]

A work of Art.

[GreatAttractor]

Killer shot, Valery!

[eroel]

Valery:
Superb resolution.
Best regards,
Eric.

[marktownley]

Wow! That is something else! Great result Valery!

[Valery]

See and read the starting post. New image and explanation have been added.


Valery

[gabrieli]

Hi Valery

I lost my breath when I looked at the first image. Are you sure you don't live on some high mountaintop?

Lou

[marktownley]

Interesting to compare! I do like the colour scheme!

[eroel]

Valery:
Up to par image with a professional one.
Superb result.
Receive a big hug,
Eric.

[mbucky]

absolutely stunning!! incredible details

[KMH]

Valery,

Absolutely stunning indeed! I have a C11 but doubt our seeing is ever good enough to do anything like that.

Kevin

[Valery]

Valery,

Absolutely stunning indeed! I have a C11 but doubt our seeing is ever good enough to do anything like that.

Kevin

Kevin,
I am living at absolutely average place in the 400K city at 41m above sea level.

Here is what the C11 is capable of at average seeing vs 150mm telescope:
http://solarchat.natca.net/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=19539

See how much better the resolution with a C11. No comparison at all.
I can say, that even one single frame selected under good seeing shows
better resolution and in general more details than 9" refractors.
Aperture rules and nothing can substitute it.

Even at average seeing your can image and then make a scale about 30% smaller and still be
better than 8" refractor at best seeing. How often can anyone meet a best seeing? Very seldom.
So, there is easier way - to image with 11" aperture, record many frames, select 300 of best ones,
process and then make scale smaller and you get images at best of 8".


Valery

[Montana]

It has to be good if it is in pink

My jaw dropped and I was in heaven

Alexandra

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Amazing results!

[Carbon60]

Hi Valery,

I hope you don't mind me saying, but I believe you can eliminate a little more noise from your wonderful image.

Here's a magnified view of before and after.

The one on the left is the original and on the right a noise reduced version. The overall effect on the full image is subtle, but worth doing if there is a gain to be had, given the lengths you've gone to in order to capture the image in the first place.

You are certainly making a good case for large aperture solar imaging!

Stu.

[mdwmark]

HI Valery,
Question: why is the center of the image sharp, but everything else is so soft and out of focus.
I would think the whole image should look the same as the center.
Mark W.

[mdwmark]

Valery,
I was looking at the second image , I see that was not yours.
But yours still soften outside the center.
Any idea why?
Mark W.

[yltansg]

Hi Valery,

Wow!!!

Alfred

[Valery]

Valery,
I was looking at the second image , I see that was not yours.
But yours still soften outside the center.
Any idea why?
Mark W.

Good question. Thanks for your note.

The relay optics was designed for a 40mm F/10 achromat and here it was used with 280mm F/10 SCT.
So, at least the filed curvature is overcorrected. Then coma of the SCT was not corrected. Field astigmatism
also plays it's game and I don't know how it does.
Optics may be not 100% collimated and 100% squared to the optical axis.
Also, if you will look with more attention, you will see that small sharp features are sharp even near corners.
But large filaments are not sharp by their nature (more or less diffuse features) and they are FAST MOVING features
of the solar chromosphere. To gazer as many as possible good frames under less than ideal seeing I need to have
up to 60 seconds of movies duration. This is too long time for imaging of these features at such a scale.
I need better seeing and use fastest possible camera and shortest possible movies durations. All factors pay
against imager. All. Without exceptions. The question is to find an optimal balance.

I always kept in mind to design a special optics and replace the original in this train.
What kept me to not do it yet is that I still didn't decide which etalon I will use with my
C11 and C14. I have several choices in mind:

1. To use this selected PST etalon (in my estimation it has <0,3A bandwidth) with a new collimating - refocusing optics.
2. To use this selected etalon in junction with a specifically designed telecentric system. But this is not a priority because it will
widen the bandwidth.
3. To use Quark and replace it's native telecentric with better one. I already tested such a configuration with a good results.
4. To use a selected 35mm air-spaced etalon which is even narrower than this PST etalon. And to build a pressure tuning for it.
5. May be I will find another good etalon.
6. May be you, Mark, will be so kind and make for me <0,2A solid spaced etalon with excellent evenness? Can you do upon
custom order?

Once I deceide which way I will go, I will design and make the optics which will correct all possible aberrations (possible for
correction) and maximize the performance across entire field (limited, of course).

Finally, I noted that all stacking software stacks frames and they lined them up using a small rectangle in the center where we
normally place the object of interest. This object of interest usually has some sharp details. At the edges of the FOV these
software can't line up the details with very low contrast with smeared features.

May be you have some other guesses about the reasons of such pictures non-uniformity in sharpness? I will red your guesses
with a great interest.


Valery.

[Valery]

Hi Valery,

I hope you don't mind me saying, but I believe you can eliminate a little more noise from your wonderful image.

Here's a magnified view of before and after.

Comparison.png

The one on the left is the original and on the right a noise reduced version. The overall effect on the full image is subtle, but worth doing if there is a gain to be had, given the lengths you've gone to in order to capture the image in the first place.

You are certainly making a good case for large aperture solar imaging!

Stu.

Hi Stu,

Yes, you are right. I need to make my final images somewhat de-noised. Not much, of course, just a bit less noisy.

Thanks for your note and example.


Valery

[christian viladrich]

Hello Valery,
With a C11 Edge HD, coma and field curvature would be corrected over a very large field. Still ... I don't want to push you on extra expenses ;-)
Best regards

[Valery]

Hello Valery,
With a C11 Edge HD, coma and field curvature would be corrected over a very large field. Still ... I don't want to push you on extra expenses ;-)
Best regards

I know, I know, Christian. But my choice is C14. The C11 is just an intermediate step ahead.

It is important to have an open back of the tube.


Valery.