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Mars f16 Portaball 12.5" 462MC Poor Seeing, 2/4/25

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#1 sfugardi

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Posted 05 February 2025 - 12:02 AM

Taken tonight in 2/5 seeing and transparency not to mention cold and windy conditions. Normally I'd pass on imaging but these were the "best" condition for the next week. I had to use a large ROI while capturing in order to keep Mars on the screen as the wind kept moving the scope. I took 5 3min runs and used the first 3 for this image. The best 4k frame stacks combined in WJ. Mars is shrinking fast almost 10% smaller than opposition already. The 305x view (13mm Nagler + 2.5x Powermate) was ok but nothing special. Hope you like it!

 

Regards,

Steve

Attached Thumbnails

  • 2025-02-05-0316_9-RGB-Mars Portaball f16 9min_web.jpg

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#2 AstroDan2015

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Posted 05 February 2025 - 12:46 AM

Hi Steve,

 

Wow, that really turned out well. Congratulations! waytogo.gif

 

Clear skies, Dan


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#3 R Botero

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Posted 05 February 2025 - 06:25 AM

Really nice Steve despite the conditions.  Love the colours and cloud formations.

 

Roberto


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#4 sfugardi

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Posted 05 February 2025 - 07:11 AM

Dan, Roberto, thank you! I don't usually image when it's windy and for good reason as the globe was bouncing all over the place on the screen. When I image with my C14, my dome blocks the wind nicely and is always steady. After 3 months, I finally got my QHY-585C back from the factory for a tilted sensor but unfortunately left the cable back in MA so I stayed with the 462-MC with a 1.25x barlow and 2.5x Powermate. I'll try stacking more or less frames tonight and repost if I get anything good. It seemed like we had tons of time to image Mars as opposition approached and now it's shrinking so fast just as the weather has turned bad...

 

Regards,

Steve

 

PS: Thanks for the likes!


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#5 Opticsjunkie

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Posted Yesterday, 10:24 AM

Lovely image despite the adverse seeing conditions, Steve! The past 10 days have been not ideal, but last night, 06/02, Mars was a real treat... before it started snowing!  Will post some images once they are processes.

 

Cheers,

-Jeroen


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#6 sfugardi

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Posted Yesterday, 08:13 PM

Jeroen, thank you! I am glad you were able to catch Mars Weds night in decent seeing. I noticed that on my Worcester clear sky clock but I was in NY stuck with poor seeing. Looks like another clear but poor seeing on Friday before the next snow. I will try with my C14 and the QHY585C assuming I can find the data cable.

 

For this session, I went back and found that my 1st run was the best of the 5, and by only stacking 3000 frames (9%) resolution improved somewhat. This is the best I can do with this data set. Hope you like it!

 

Regards,

Steve

Attached Thumbnails

  • 2025-02-05-0313_8-RGB-Mars_3k Portaball f16_web.jpg

Edited by sfugardi, Yesterday, 08:16 PM.

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