RobDob
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Reged: 04/10/10
Loc: Brentwood (East Bay Area), CA
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Vallis Alpes and Cassini
#5686378 - 02/18/13 02:42 AM Attachment (78 downloads)
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Don't quite have the horsepower to crack the central rille, but the shadows played nicely. My usual Coolpix S6300 afocal through a 28mm Edmund RKE eyepiece.
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RobDob
sage
Reged: 04/10/10
Loc: Brentwood (East Bay Area), CA
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Re: Vallis Alpes and Cassini
[Re: RobDob]
#5686383 - 02/18/13 02:47 AM Attachment (53 downloads)
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Pic #2 ~two hrs. later, notice the Alpes shadows are now more defined.
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rg55
professor emeritus
   
Reged: 08/02/08
Loc: western US
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Re: Vallis Alpes and Cassini
[Re: RobDob]
#5686897 - 02/18/13 12:18 PM
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Nice! I can definitely see the shadows change.
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Scott Beith
SRF
   
Reged: 11/26/03
Loc: Frederick, MD
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Re: Vallis Alpes and Cassini
[Re: rg55]
#5687545 - 02/18/13 06:55 PM
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Very nice images!
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mikewirths
Vendor-Baja Dark Skies
   
Reged: 06/16/08
Loc: San Pedro Martir Mexico
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Re: Vallis Alpes and Cassini
[Re: Scott Beith]
#5687729 - 02/18/13 08:26 PM
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Cool images Rob!!!
cheers Mike
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mike174
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 01/04/05
Loc: Central, NJ
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Re: Vallis Alpes and Cassini
[Re: mikewirths]
#5687911 - 02/18/13 09:58 PM
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Rob,
Are those through your Z12 and are those single impages or many stacked? They look great.
Tnx,
Mike
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nirvanix
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 06/07/07
Loc: Saskatoon, SK
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Re: Vallis Alpes and Cassini
[Re: mike174]
#5687992 - 02/18/13 10:44 PM
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Very nice pictures Rob. Just afocal at the dob?
I was looking for the Alpine rille as well tonight, but can't say with certainty I saw it. Maybe it's a day or two early in the lunar cycle to best see it? Plato was still a third in shadow, and the photos I've seen showing the rille also show Plato with very little shadow on its floor. I was using mag 250-300x but no luck.
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RobDob
sage
Reged: 04/10/10
Loc: Brentwood (East Bay Area), CA
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Re: Vallis Alpes and Cassini
[Re: nirvanix]
#5688187 - 02/19/13 01:41 AM
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Thanks guys!
Mike174 and Nirvanix, yes they are just single afocal images through my Z12. But, it takes many tries holding my breath, keeping the dob nudged for optimum center field viewing and holding the camera as still as possible to get a good shot.
Out of about every 100 pics, only 5-10 pics are acceptable. Sort of a manual slow version of registax I suppose... no stacking, though...
Rob
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azure1961p
Postmaster
   
Reged: 01/17/09
Loc: USA
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Re: Vallis Alpes and Cassini
[Re: RobDob]
#5688415 - 02/19/13 07:47 AM
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Rob I do see detail on the A. Valley - a suggestion of the rille. Great work.
Pete
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NeilMac
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 09/25/10
Loc: MedHat, AB, Canada
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Re: Vallis Alpes and Cassini
[Re: azure1961p]
#5688666 - 02/19/13 11:08 AM
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great pics !
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nirvanix
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Reged: 06/07/07
Loc: Saskatoon, SK
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Re: Vallis Alpes and Cassini
[Re: NeilMac]
#5689427 - 02/19/13 06:15 PM
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I too see a suggestion of the rille in your pics, and I observed that myself last night but wasn't sure if that was it. I guess I was expecting to see it stand out a bit more like the fine photos available around the internet. It is a subtle feature. Wonder what the best night of the lunar cycle is for seeing it?
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RobDob
sage
Reged: 04/10/10
Loc: Brentwood (East Bay Area), CA
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Re: Vallis Alpes and Cassini
[Re: nirvanix]
#5689652 - 02/19/13 08:17 PM Attachment (16 downloads)
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Hmmm... Good eyes there, Pete and Nirvanix.
Zoomed in my best piccie and tweaked contrast and sharpness. Low and behold - there IS a hint of the central rille! I suspect it is sunlight reflected from the rille's high points/craterlets? It's pretty fuzzy though...
Rob
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rookie
Good Night Nurse
   
Reged: 01/14/06
Loc: St. Petersburg, FL
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Re: Vallis Alpes and Cassini
[Re: RobDob]
#5689758 - 02/19/13 09:27 PM
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Enjoyed your pictures, Rob.
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nirvanix
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Reged: 06/07/07
Loc: Saskatoon, SK
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Re: Vallis Alpes and Cassini
[Re: RobDob]
#5689871 - 02/19/13 10:29 PM
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Quote:
Hmmm... Good eyes there, Pete and Nirvanix.
Zoomed in my best piccie and tweaked contrast and sharpness. Low and behold - there IS a hint of the central rille! I suspect it is sunlight reflected from the rille's high points/craterlets? It's pretty fuzzy though...
Rob
Nice one Rob, I'd say that's it. I saw those flecks of light, but at the eyepiece you don't get the impression of a trench like the photos I've seen. Possibly easier at another time in the lunar cycle like tonight when it's overcast
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RobDob
sage
Reged: 04/10/10
Loc: Brentwood (East Bay Area), CA
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Re: Vallis Alpes and Cassini
[Re: nirvanix]
#5690145 - 02/20/13 02:53 AM Attachment (14 downloads)
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Had clouds here too, but they broke loose late this evening Woohoo! Snagged some more shots tonight, but just couldn't catch the rille . Too high of sun angle at this phase me thinks. Here's tonight's best:
Rob
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nirvanix
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 06/07/07
Loc: Saskatoon, SK
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Re: Vallis Alpes and Cassini
[Re: RobDob]
#5690323 - 02/20/13 08:01 AM
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Oh that's interesting. So maybe we did catch it at the optimum time. I see that Plato has almost no shadow on its floor in this picture. Do you remember what your seeing conditions were the other night when you saw the
Rille? For me it was only moderate so perhaps in better seeing I'd be able to see more of the Rille.
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David Knisely
Postmaster
   
Reged: 04/19/04
Loc: southeastern Nebraska
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Re: Vallis Alpes and Cassini
[Re: RobDob]
#5691537 - 02/20/13 06:53 PM Attachment (14 downloads)
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I did a little processing (mostly adjusting the gamma) and sharpening of your image, so this might be just a hair better...
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RobDob
sage
Reged: 04/10/10
Loc: Brentwood (East Bay Area), CA
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Re: Vallis Alpes and Cassini
[Re: David Knisely]
#5691717 - 02/20/13 08:34 PM
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@Rookie - Thanks, glad you enjoyed the pics!
@Nirvanix - Yes, I remember the seeing here was pretty good but not perfect. Twinkly stars and some unsteadiness, but the moon was very high in the sky for some clean views.
@David - Thanks for the tweak! I'd say that's quite a few hairs better .
Rob
Edited by RobDob (02/20/13 09:20 PM)
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RobDob
sage
Reged: 04/10/10
Loc: Brentwood (East Bay Area), CA
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Re: Vallis Alpes and Cassini
[Re: RobDob]
#5692163 - 02/21/13 03:19 AM Attachment (14 downloads)
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Tonight had good seeing, so I stepped up my game a little and used my 9mm Z-planetary eyepiece for more magnification. Was tricky with my camera afocally, it was like looking down a straw, and had to navigate around kidney beaning. But, eeked out a little more detail in the end. Was happy to suss out 2 craterlets in Plato . So, next month my mission is to get that rille!
Rob
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nirvanix
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 06/07/07
Loc: Saskatoon, SK
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Re: Vallis Alpes and Cassini
[Re: RobDob]
#5692528 - 02/21/13 11:02 AM
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Nice pic again. I had the dob out last night and got my best number of craterlets in Plato. I believe 6 of them with pretty good seeing, but no rille gravy last night. It's a game of shadows!
Good luck in next month's rille hunt.
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