The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

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The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by thesmiths »

Maurice from Melbourne Australia contacted me in February to ask me to send him one of my quartz SHG slits. He had already built a Solex and used it with a 70mm f/6 refractor. His plan was to build a larger instrument based on the 100mm f/9 Orion telescope. He decided to use a folded design, which is something I had once considered but realised it was beyond my construction skills. Maurice, however, is a trained machinist and has a fully equipped machine shop at home. By using two diagonals, the centre of mass stays closer to the axis of telescope and also closer to the middle of the optical tube. This improved balance can help with scanning. Here are two views of the finished instrument (I believe an electronic focuser was later attached to the telescope):

Maurice's 100mm f/9 SHG
Maurice's 100mm f/9 SHG
1a.jpg (318.89 KiB) Viewed 2958 times
2a.jpg
2a.jpg (214.58 KiB) Viewed 2958 times

The collimator is 200mm focal length and the imaging lens is 150mm. Both are f/4 Asahi Pentax Takumars. The grating is 50mm x 50mm, 2400l/mm from Optometrics. The camera is a cooled (helpful in Australia) ASI 183MM. There is a 2-inch UV/IR filter in front of the diagonal that fits into the telescope focuser. I believe the "first light" was around May 12. I attach some images from May 14:

H-alpha SHG, stacked image, May 14
H-alpha SHG, stacked image, May 14
Ha_140523_am.jpg (1.12 MiB) Viewed 2958 times
H-beta SHG, stacked image, May 14
H-beta SHG, stacked image, May 14
Hb_140523_pm.jpg (965.49 KiB) Viewed 2958 times
Ca-K SHG, stacked image, May 14
Ca-K SHG, stacked image, May 14
CaK_140523_pm.jpg (1.18 MiB) Viewed 2958 times

I will also attach some photos of the construction process, which shows some of the clever design choices and excellent machining.

3a.jpg
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4a.jpg
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5a.jpg
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6a.jpg
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7a.jpg
7a.jpg (107.68 KiB) Viewed 2958 times
8a.jpg
8a.jpg (114.95 KiB) Viewed 2958 times


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by thesmiths »

Maurice sometimes posts to iceinspace but says he is not an active participant in many online astronomy forums. I said I would like to show some of his work to inspire others. I attach some of his more recent images:

H-alpha SHG, May 26, Maurice 100mm f/9
H-alpha SHG, May 26, Maurice 100mm f/9
Ha_MPV_260523_am_sml.jpg (491.75 KiB) Viewed 2953 times
Ca-H SHG, May 27, Maurice 100mm f/9
Ca-H SHG, May 27, Maurice 100mm f/9
CaH_MPV_270523_am_sml.jpg (656.12 KiB) Viewed 2953 times
Helium D3 SHG, May 27, Maurice 100mm f/9
Helium D3 SHG, May 27, Maurice 100mm f/9
helium_D3_ps_diff_method2_sml.jpg (378.8 KiB) Viewed 2952 times
H-alpha SHG, June 2, Maurice 100mm f/9
H-alpha SHG, June 2, Maurice 100mm f/9
020623_Ha_pm_5frames_MPV.jpg (991.31 KiB) Viewed 2953 times


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by rsfoto »

Hi,

This looks absolutely great.

Using 2 diagonals needs a lot of backfocus, did he shorten the telescope tube ?


regards Rainer

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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by thesmiths »

rsfoto wrote: Sat Jun 03, 2023 1:08 am Using 2 diagonals needs a lot of backfocus, did he shorten the telescope tube ?
No shortening was required. Most of the telescopes I've used for SHG need a huge number of extensions in order to focus on a slit.

A few notes on the construction. The telescope focuser supports only the weight of the two diagonals. This is much more in the range of what the focuser is designed for (rather than supporting the whole weight of the SHG optics and case). This has a lot of advantages in terms of smoothness of focusing and maintaining alignment.

The long vertical rod at the slit holder allows small rotations of the slit to get good alignment. Being able to do this while observing is helpful.

The grating is rotated with a part from the 10:1 telescope focuser, allowing very precise and repeatable choice of spectral lines.

It looks like a very hefty mount is being used for this big SHG. I'm not sure of the total weight of the instrument, but it must be quite considerable given the large metal pieces used in its construction and the use of a cooled camera (ZWO says it weighs 410g vs uncooled 120g). The 200mm f/4 Takumar lens is also quite hefty (the one I have weighs 560g; the 150mm f/4 lens weighs 330g). There is a 200mm f/5.6 Takumar that weighs less, only 405g, and which would be sufficient given the f/9 ratio of the telescope.

By the way, I see a quite large Coronado in the background of one of the construction photos.


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by rsfoto »

thesmiths wrote: Sat Jun 03, 2023 12:44 pm
rsfoto wrote: Sat Jun 03, 2023 1:08 am Using 2 diagonals needs a lot of backfocus, did he shorten the telescope tube ?
No shortening was required. Most of the telescopes I've used for SHG need a huge number of extensions in order to focus on a slit.

A few notes on the construction. The telescope focuser supports only the weight of the two diagonals. This is much more in the range of what the focuser is designed for (rather than supporting the whole weight of the SHG optics and case). This has a lot of advantages in terms of smoothness of focusing and maintaining alignment.

The long vertical rod at the slit holder allows small rotations of the slit to get good alignment. Being able to do this while observing is helpful.

The grating is rotated with a part from the 10:1 telescope focuser, allowing very precise and repeatable choice of spectral lines.

It looks like a very hefty mount is being used for this big SHG. I'm not sure of the total weight of the instrument, but it must be quite considerable given the large metal pieces used in its construction and the use of a cooled camera (ZWO says it weighs 410g vs uncooled 120g). The 200mm f/4 Takumar lens is also quite hefty (the one I have weighs 560g; the 150mm f/4 lens weighs 330g). There is a 200mm f/5.6 Takumar that weighs less, only 405g, and which would be sufficient given the f/9 ratio of the telescope.

By the way, I see a quite large Coronado in the background of one of the construction photos.
Hi Doug,

Thanks, I have some diagonals and will test if my new little SVBONY 70mm f/6 can focus after two diagonals.

I was wondering what was the focuser but then I found out he uses it for the grating as you explained

Thanks


regards Rainer

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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by rsfoto »

The telescope focuser supports only the weight of the two diagonals.
I would dare to say that in this construction the focuser has no weight to carry at all as the SHG is resting on top of the telescope. Of course a very precise position is necessary but on the other side the connection of both diagonals can be made as a slide in and so the connection is nearly perfect with no load on the focuser...

As far as I can judge it


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by thesmiths »

rsfoto wrote: Sat Jun 03, 2023 3:46 pm
The telescope focuser supports only the weight of the two diagonals.
I would dare to say that in this construction the focuser has no weight to carry at all as the SHG is resting on top of the telescope.
No, that is not how it is constructed. The two diagonals are installed into the telescope focuser. There is actually a gap between the second diagonal and the slit, which is covered by some overlapping tubes. The light here is very intense so stray light is not important. The focuser supports the weight of the two diagonals. The rest is connected to the telescope tube.


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by thesmiths »

rsfoto wrote: Sat Jun 03, 2023 3:35 pm I have some diagonals and will test if my new little SVBONY 70mm f/6 can focus after two diagonals.
A short refractor with 420mm focal length will have proportionately less back focus than a long refractor with 900mm focal length.


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by rsfoto »

thesmiths wrote: Sat Jun 03, 2023 5:42 pm
rsfoto wrote: Sat Jun 03, 2023 3:35 pm I have some diagonals and will test if my new little SVBONY 70mm f/6 can focus after two diagonals.
A short refractor with 420mm focal length will have proportionately less back focus than a long refractor with 900mm focal length.
Hi Doug,

Thanks and sure. The focuser of the SVBONY 70mm f/6 has 90mm of travel. Two of my 2" diagonals put together sum up to 62+41+62mm. Just printing a tripod plate so I can put that on a tripod and test it if I come tofoces with a camera or not.

My Takahashi TOA 130 has a back focus of 250mm ...

Interesting stuff


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by Alun_H »

The idea of a folded SHG is really interesting and I have attempted over the past few days to piggyback my foam board constructed SHG to my 90mm f/10 achromat,I will post images later in a separate thread.

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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by thesmiths »

rsfoto wrote: Sat Jun 03, 2023 1:08 am Using 2 diagonals needs a lot of backfocus, did he shorten the telescope tube ?
Correction: Maurice just informed me that he did shorten the tube by 68mm to accommodate the two diagonals.

He guesses that the total weight is 12-15kg (he'll weigh it next time it's off the mount). It is on an EQ8, which he says carries it effortlessly.


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by rsfoto »

Correction: Maurice just informed me that he did shorten the tube by 68mm to accommodate the two diagonals.
;)


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by rsfoto »

rsfoto wrote: Sat Jun 03, 2023 3:35 pm
thesmiths wrote: Sat Jun 03, 2023 12:44 pm
rsfoto wrote: Sat Jun 03, 2023 1:08 am Using 2 diagonals needs a lot of backfocus, did he shorten the telescope tube ?
No shortening was required. Most of the telescopes I've used for SHG need a huge number of extensions in order to focus on a slit.

A few notes on the construction. The telescope focuser supports only the weight of the two diagonals. This is much more in the range of what the focuser is designed for (rather than supporting the whole weight of the SHG optics and case). This has a lot of advantages in terms of smoothness of focusing and maintaining alignment.

The long vertical rod at the slit holder allows small rotations of the slit to get good alignment. Being able to do this while observing is helpful.

The grating is rotated with a part from the 10:1 telescope focuser, allowing very precise and repeatable choice of spectral lines.

It looks like a very hefty mount is being used for this big SHG. I'm not sure of the total weight of the instrument, but it must be quite considerable given the large metal pieces used in its construction and the use of a cooled camera (ZWO says it weighs 410g vs uncooled 120g). The 200mm f/4 Takumar lens is also quite hefty (the one I have weighs 560g; the 150mm f/4 lens weighs 330g). There is a 200mm f/5.6 Takumar that weighs less, only 405g, and which would be sufficient given the f/9 ratio of the telescope.

By the way, I see a quite large Coronado in the background of one of the construction photos.
Hi Doug,

Thanks, I have some diagonals and will test if my new little SVBONY 70mm f/6 can focus after two diagonals.

I was wondering what was the focuser but then I found out he uses it for the grating as you explained

Thanks
Hi,

I tested the backfocus of the SVBONY 70mm f/6 focusing on some distant clouds and the camera came into focus at 135mm measured from the end of the focuser housing. See attached image red line.

The focuser has a travel of 90mm and honestly is a much better Rack&Pinion focuser compared to the one I have on my Takahashi TOA 130 1st generation.

SVBONY_70mm_f6_420mm_Sa.jpg
SVBONY_70mm_f6_420mm_Sa.jpg (150 KiB) Viewed 2772 times


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by Montana »

Incredible :bow :hamster: :bow especially the Helium D3 :bow

Alexandra


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by thesmiths »

With regards to how the second diagonal interfaces with the SHG slit, Maurice confirms that they are not directly connected. He says:

"The second diagonal moves freely over your slit in its filter cell. It clears by a mm or so either side and gives a couple mm of travel. The outer part of the slit holder is threaded to take a 2" nose-piece which is internally flocked with black felt." See sketch below. I personally would not be worried so much about light leaks in front of the slit, but I would be concerned to keep dust off the slit.

PXL_20230605_094439903.jpg
PXL_20230605_094439903.jpg (25.38 KiB) Viewed 2732 times


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by rsfoto »

thesmiths wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 1:03 pm With regards to how the second diagonal interfaces with the SHG slit, Maurice confirms that they are not directly connected. He says:

"The second diagonal moves freely over your slit in its filter cell. It clears by a mm or so either side and gives a couple mm of travel. The outer part of the slit holder is threaded to take a 2" nose-piece which is internally flocked with black felt." See sketch below. I personally would not be worried so much about light leaks in front of the slit, but I would be concerned to keep dust off the slit.


PXL_20230605_094439903.jpg
Thanks Doug,

We could use an Oil Seal with a fine lip to keep dust off the mirror :lol:

Maybe even simpler by using some felt between the sliding and the fixed part

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=felt+washer& ... _sb_noss_1

OilSeal.png
OilSeal.png (79.69 KiB) Viewed 2713 times


regards Rainer

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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by DeepSolar64 »

I do believe the SHG has better performance on average than even double or triple stacked etalons. The Helium D3 image looks much different than the DayStar images of the same wavelength which show more photosphere features than the above SHG image. If my understanding is right, the Helium D3 line like the Sodium D line concentrates on the photosphere transition layer between the photosphere and lower chromosphere. Prominences show clearly in the SHG helium images which surprises me and I don't see the sunspots easily in the SHG image.

http://www.daystarfilters.com/HeD3.shtml

Rainer,
Is the SvBony an ED Aochromat?

I do see a SolarMax 90 in the background!

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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by Alun_H »

In regards the diagonals I use two 2" models and the slit is housed in a 1.25" eyepiece projection adapter which is the attached to the spacer on the
rear of the lens,I also screwed a 2" adapter ring to the eyepiece projection tube which enters the diagonal and aids alignment between it and the SHG.
No light leak since there is only a very slight gap between the adapter ring and the throat of the diagonal and the body of the SHG is shielding as well.
First photo shows how they sit whilst in use,the second photo shows the diagonal backed off so as to show the adapter ring which sits inside the diagonal.
IMG_9390.jpg
IMG_9390.jpg (59.16 KiB) Viewed 2692 times
IMG_9391.jpg
IMG_9391.jpg (55.85 KiB) Viewed 2692 times
Alun
Last edited by Alun_H on Mon Jun 05, 2023 4:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by rsfoto »

Rainer,
Is the SvBony an ED Aochromat?
Hi James,

Here the specs

https://www.svbony.com/sv503-70f6-ed-as ... telescope/


regards Rainer

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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by DeepSolar64 »

rsfoto wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 4:41 pm
Rainer,
Is the SvBony an ED Aochromat?
Hi James,

Here the specs

https://www.svbony.com/sv503-70f6-ed-as ... telescope/

Ah. It's an ED doublet. SvBony started out as a little off brand name. Lately their popularity seems to be increasing.


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by rsfoto »

Alun_H wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 4:35 pm In regards the diagonals I use two 2" models and the slit is housed in a 1.25" eyepiece projection adapter which is the attached to the spacer on the
rear of the lens,I also screwed a 2" adapter ring to the eyepiece projection tube which enters the diagonal and aids alignment between it and the SHG.
No light leak since there is only a very slight gap between the adapter ring and the throat of the diagonal and the body of the SHG is shielding as well.

IMG_9390.jpg

IMG_9391.jpg

Alun
Hi Alun,

That scope must have a Hell of backfocus :shock:

I ordered 2 pieces of 1.25" diagonals and hopefully I will get focus outside at the end and then onto the mirror slit. I can not shorten the SVBONY as I can not make that fine thread on the tube or I must 3D print an adapter which is quite possible. I made an adapter yesterday with a thread M88x1.0 and it did fit nicely on the sun shade for adding the UV/IR and ND filters.


regards Rainer

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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by rsfoto »

DeepSolar64 wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 4:49 pm
rsfoto wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 4:41 pm
Rainer,
Is the SvBony an ED Aochromat?
Hi James,

Here the specs

https://www.svbony.com/sv503-70f6-ed-as ... telescope/

Ah. It's an ED doublet. SvBony started out as a little off brand name. Lately their popularity seems to be increasing.
Doug apologies for Highjacking this topic

Yes, the scope is very well made, very good finish and as I said somewhere else the R&P focuser is a beauty, better then the R&P focusers of my Takahashi. No backlash at all and very smooth running.


regards Rainer

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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by DeepSolar64 »

rsfoto wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 4:52 pm
DeepSolar64 wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 4:49 pm
rsfoto wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 4:41 pm

Hi James,

Here the specs

https://www.svbony.com/sv503-70f6-ed-as ... telescope/

Ah. It's an ED doublet. SvBony started out as a little off brand name. Lately their popularity seems to be increasing.
Doug apologies for Highjacking this topic

Yes, the scope is very well made, very good finish and as I said somewhere else the R&P focuser is a beauty, better then the R&P focusers of my Takahashi. No backlash at all and very smooth running.

The focuser on my AT72EDII is the same. Very nice. Ok, back to SHGs. ;-)


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by thesmiths »

DeepSolar64 wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 3:29 pm I do believe the SHG has better performance on average than even double or triple stacked etalons. The Helium D3 image looks much different than the DayStar images of the same wavelength which show more photosphere features than the above SHG image. If my understanding is right, the Helium D3 line like the Sodium D line concentrates on the photosphere transition layer between the photosphere and lower chromosphere. Prominences show clearly in the SHG helium images which surprises me and I don't see the sunspots easily in the SHG image.

I do see a SolarMax 90 in the background!
In the SHG Helium method, the final image is the difference between Helium and Continuum. This means that the sun spots are minimised.

I also thought that was a 90 -- turns out it is a double stack 60.


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by DeepSolar64 »

The " Nado " looks bigger in the image.


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by Alun_H »

rsfoto wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 4:50 pm Hi Alun,
That scope must have a [hot place] of backfocus :shock:
Hi Rainer,
I had shortened the tube so as to work with my PST mod,plus the scope originally had a 1.25" focuser but managed to adapt a 2" job to fit :)

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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by thesmiths »

Maurice wrote to tell me that he is hoping to install a stepper motor to rotate the grating to predetermined positions. He also sent a nice image, taken in the Australian winter.

H-alpha, Maurice's big SHG, 12 June 2013
H-alpha, Maurice's big SHG, 12 June 2013
120623_Ha_MPV_pm_sml.jpg (1.04 MiB) Viewed 2614 times


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by rsfoto »

Hi,

Excellent image and I am still struggling with my mount for slewing 8X or 16X :(


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by christian viladrich »

Amazing !

The D3 image is probably one of the best I've ever seen !


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by thesmiths »

christian viladrich wrote: Wed Jun 14, 2023 9:35 am The D3 image is probably one of the best I've ever seen!
Maurice told to me that he developed a special Photoshop process to display the Helium image. He writes:
Reading some of Peter Zetner's old posts, he suggested that the 'professionals' divide the He frame by the continuum frame to obtain clear He distribution information. I did this but the result was rather duo-tone and pretty horrible.

Looking at Christian Buil's tutorial he suggested 'subtracting' the continuum image from the He frame and then stretching the result. This was better but still not great.

I then played around with some of Photoshop's layering methods (including 'difference' and 'subtract' combinations with different 'fill' levels). Results attached (my favourite result, helium D3 ps diff method2).
helium_D3_ps_diff_method2_sml.jpg
helium_D3_ps_diff_method2_sml.jpg (378.8 KiB) Viewed 2577 times


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by thesmiths »

I attach a few more SHG images from Down Under.
I had a very good imaging session on Sunday morning for a couple of hours and managed some data in five different wavelengths. It is interesting to see the differences between the images. Numbers of scans used for each image is within file name.

I was surprised to pick up some prominence activity in the Na D2 data as I had not observed them there before.

The continuum image was from a 50 pixel (approx. 5 angstrom) shift towards longer wavelengths from the Ha line.

Maurice
180623_Ha_small5frames.jpg
180623_Ha_small5frames.jpg (1.34 MiB) Viewed 2540 times
170623_Ca_small4frames.jpg
170623_Ca_small4frames.jpg (949.23 KiB) Viewed 2540 times
170623_Hb_small6frames.jpg
170623_Hb_small6frames.jpg (996.47 KiB) Viewed 2540 times
170623_Na_small8frames.jpg
170623_Na_small8frames.jpg (1.35 MiB) Viewed 2540 times
170623_Mg_small6frames.jpg
170623_Mg_small6frames.jpg (922.39 KiB) Viewed 2540 times
180623_cont_small4frames.jpg
180623_cont_small4frames.jpg (831.33 KiB) Viewed 2540 times


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by DeepSolar64 »

It's nice to see all the different wavelengths here. Even Magnesium is included. There is a lot to be gleaned from lesser used wavelengths. Those besides Ha, continuum and CaK.


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by rsfoto »

Hi,

Excellent images. Better then many others taken with etalons.


regards Rainer

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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by thesmiths »

Maurice sent me two new images he took today (in Melbourne, Australia) with his 100mm aperture SHG. He said there were some high clouds but at least he's got some sun (unlike many of us in the northern hemisphere). He's currently testing out the new mounting method for my chrome on quartz slits; so far, so good.

H-alpha SHG, 28 Nov 2023
H-alpha SHG, 28 Nov 2023
Ha_281123_sml.jpg (1.06 MiB) Viewed 1853 times
CaH SHG, 28 Nov 2023
CaH SHG, 28 Nov 2023
CaH_281123_sml.jpg (1 MiB) Viewed 1853 times


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by marktownley »

Brilliant! Not sure how I missed this thread!


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by Montana »

oh my!!! :bow :bow :bow

Alexandra


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by thesmiths »

Maurice sent me a recent image (21-11-2023) taken with good seeing from Oz. This is 10 frames from 20 scans, stacked with AS!3, then treatment with Astrosurface. It looks quite perfect to me.

211223_Ha_comb.jpg
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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by marktownley »

That is impressive!


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by thesmiths »

Since we in the northern hemisphere have limited solar visibility (winter Solstice!), I attach a new image from Maurice taken in Australia. Taken in the morning of Christmas Eve, local time. Best 12 of 25 scans stacked in AS!3 then deconvolution with Astrosurface. Seeing was quite good, estimated at 2 to 2.5 arcsec.

231223_lat_Ha_small.jpg
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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by marktownley »

Maurice knocks out some good images, Thanks for sharing Doug!


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by DeepSolar64 »

Agreed!!


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by astroshot »

Absolutely fabulous!


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by thesmiths »

Here is a rather spectacular image taken on 31 Dec 2023, showing the very bright X5 solar flare.

H-alpha SHG. 100mm aperture. Stack of 30 of 50 scans. Data collected between 21:37 and 22:02 UTC.
H-alpha SHG. 100mm aperture. Stack of 30 of 50 scans. Data collected between 21:37 and 22:02 UTC.
311223_Ha_30frames_MPV.jpg (1.02 MiB) Viewed 929 times


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by solarchat »

wow!


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by DeepSolar64 »

Very nice! I am glad you caught it with an SHG equipped scope.


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by thesmiths »

Here is the latest image from down under. Data collected late in the day between 17:30 and 18:00 local time on January 17.

Best 16 of 27 frames stacked is AS!3 and processed in Astrosurface.
Best 16 of 27 frames stacked is AS!3 and processed in Astrosurface.
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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by DeepSolar64 »

That is a really nice SHG image. Beautiful detail and superb contrast!!


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by inhapi »

What slit does he use ?


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by thesmiths »

inhapi wrote: Thu Feb 01, 2024 4:06 pm What slit does he use ?
See the very first sentence of the beginning of this post.


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Re: The Big SHG from Down Under -- Maurice's 100mm f/9

Post by thesmiths »

I think I will not be doing any further imaging myself until March. In the meantime, here are some more nice images taken from Australia on the morning (local time) of 27 January. I think the Ca-K looks particularly good.

260124_Ha_am_11frames_full2.jpg
260124_Ha_am_11frames_full2.jpg (1.01 MiB) Viewed 400 times
260124_Hb_am_5frames_full.jpg
260124_Hb_am_5frames_full.jpg (1.03 MiB) Viewed 400 times
260124_CaK_6frames_full.jpg
260124_CaK_6frames_full.jpg (1.04 MiB) Viewed 400 times


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