Dear Terry,
I was about to congratulate you on your observatory, when I read your bad news about your health. I wish you make a full a recovery as possible asap. I hope you can use your observatory to its full potential soon.

Best wishes,

Magnus

Very interesting. Thanks for the files and data.

Magnus

Nice work, Minh.
Is this with the ASI174mm or Apollo M Max camera?
Why not put the earth in for scale, would that be easier ?
How did you put the scale on, seems very complicated.

Magnus

Very nice image, Magnus! There are some uneven sharpness across the disk. This could be from the stacking process... at least I think I have experienced something similar caused by poorly chosen AP-size in AutoStakkert. Try playing with different AP size as well as with and without Multi-Scale tick...

Thanks James.
Do you dictate your findings/record them to a voice recorder at the telescope ? How do you remember all those details in your report.

Thanks.

Magnus

Hi Alexandra,
Those mounts and equipment look heavy, I think I would struggle with having to move it all the time.
Good luck with your observatory. Maybe one in the mountains e.g. Hawaii or in space by remote access would be ideal !

Magnus

Hi, Interesting question. I have had my equipment "working" for few hours while having ambient temperatures of maybe 30°C to 34°C and they still work up to today ... As others said just put a reflecting foil over the equipment and I would also recommend to put and old Cotton towel or bed ...

Hi Alexandra and Nic,

Very interesting report and Nic is very lucky to see your gear.
I am fairly sure you are better than you say in your post.

Magnus

Hi Rainer, Thanks for the great advice. Because GONG are not reliable I did not bother trying to align my disc. Because I use the extension tubes (no diagonals), I forgot today, when imaging you have to : Reverse X (Flip X) and reverse Y (Flip Y), this will bring the sun the right way up and also le...

Great shots Paul!

Keep up the good work.

Magnus

Luca, I don't know the answer to why your Quark is not showing the contrast and detail. I suspect you are not on band. Have you asked Daystar to see if there is a problem with the Quark? Did you calibrate your image with "flats" [flat frame] first of all before imaging in Firecapture ? I d...

Hi Luca,
Is your Quark on band [calibrate your Quark.., mine is best for disc detail at +2 or +3 (+ is clockwise from the 12 oçlock centre dial point).
Magnus

Hi Luca ! I don't know why mine has more contrast, maybe it is your camera ? What is the pixel size of your camera sensor. I am happy to help you, it may take a bit of time to work out. Mine looks like this after stacking...I had tests done to find out where to place the sun in the field of view. I ...

Thanks Brian!
That is quite a compliment coming from you.

Magnus

Hi Luca,
Nice work. Take a look at my disc, also taken with a Quark, single frame as well.
Taken today 7th August 2022

Magnus

Hi all! For those of us who do not have the facilities like Pedro (with his domed observatory) or Marty (MalveauX) with his roll off roof etc, how do we protect our equipment in boiling heat ? Its very tempting to keep your tripod and mount setup in your garden/patio etc during the hot weather, but ...

Hi Pavel,



Very nice work. How did you do this on the surface of the earth ?
Which filter was it you used ? I cannot see the details, it would be nice, no matter how briefly you explain it.

Thank you!
Magnus

Hi,
Nice work. I also imaged this morning, a full disk using a Quark (focal reducer).

Magnus

Hi All ! Here is my Full disc of today, Sunday 07/08/2022, I started setting up around 08:50 hours and have finally got a reasonable image. I could not get the orientation exactly as in GONG today. I have used basic ImPPG and then Photoshop (levels) to get the image. I have not attempted further loc...

Very psychedelic :lol: put them altogether and it would be worth thousands at an art gallery :) :bow :hamster: Alexandra Hello Alexandra, Nice to know I could try selling my work ! I think my approach allows me to change the appearance of the sun image. I can easily an incorporate inverted Disc, an...

Hello Andre,

Very nice images! I like the colour background in your SPOD with the full disc and prom lifting. What colour is that ? I think the hex code for the colour is: 333c45

Is this correct ? Did you put a gradient on it ? radial or otherwise.

Many thanks.

Magnus

Sorry for my millions of newbie Quark user questions. I plan to take it out for first light tomorrow weather permitting. I am using it with a Skywatcher 80ED (focal length = 800 mm) and a ZWO ASI174MM (pixel size = 5.86 µm). I know that the Quark has an internal 4.2x Barlow which seems very big to ...

Hi,

Very nice work so far, a good start. You have a Lunt 80mm solar telescope, amazing !

Magnus

Hi all !, I have been working on my masks and selection to get a formula to get the disc and proms isolated from the background. I found I can get the 3 colours scheme from just two masks: 1) Mask to show the sky background only 2) Mask to show disc only (exclude spicule and proms) I used in a reaso...

Hi Alexandra,

3 out of 7 now working.
Cerro Tololo is the best, usually best and detailed images.

Magnus