Astro Images: February-May 2014

12" LX200R or FSQ-106EDX, Paramount ME, STL-11000M C1 or ASI120MM

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Mars - RGB Planetary Imaging (LX200R at 7,200 mm FL, ASI120MM camera, RGB Image)

(Combined R, G, and B images; R best 80% of 7500 frames @ 62 fps, G best 75% of 4300 frames @ 35 fps, B best 65% of 2100 frames @ 17 fps; Very good seeing; Processed in Registax 6 and Astra Image; UTC0800 May 2, 2014)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturn - RGB Planetary Imaging (LX200R at 7,200 mm FL, ASI120MM camera, RGB Image)

(Combined R, G, and B images; R best 90% of 2400 frames @ 10 fps; G best 85% of 2400 frames @ 8 fps, B best 80% of 2400 frames @ 5 fps; Very good seeing; Processed in Registax 6 and Astra Image; UTC 0920 May 2, 2014)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mars - "First Light" RGB Planetary Imaging (LX200R at 7,200 mm FL, ASI120MM camera, RGB Image)

(Combined R, G, and B images, each from 1200-6000 frames of monochrome video through filters; Processed in Registax 6 and Astra Image; April 29-30, 2014)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturn - "First Light" - RGB Planetary Imaging (LX200R at 7,200 mm FL, ASI120MM camera, RGB Image)

(Combined R, G, and B images, each from 400-1000 frames of monochrome video through filters; Processed in Registax 6 and Astra Image; April 29-30, 2014)

 

 

 

 

 

                 

 

Mars and NASA simulated view (LX200R at 7,200 mm FL, ASI120MM camera, Monochrome Image)

(Best 5,400 of 6,000 video frames taken at approx 55 fps; Red filter (part of RGB sequence); Processed in Registax 6; April 29, 2014)

 

 

 

 

 

                 

 

Mars near Opposition and NASA simulated view (LX200R at 7,200 mm FL, ASI120MM camera, Monochrome Image)

(Best 12,000 of 20,000 video frames taken at approx 130 fps; Processed in Registax 6; April 21, 2014)

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Blood Orange" Moon: Total Lunar Eclipse of April 14-15, 2014  (STL-11000 on FSQ, RGB Image)

(Moon during totality; R 3sec, G 1.5 sec, B 3 sec, binning 1x1; taken during night of April 14-15, 2014)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Lunar Eclipse of April 14-15, 2014 - Time Lapse Video  (STL-11000 on FSQ, each frame is a combined RGB image)

(50 frames, each an RGB image with exposure times from 4mS to 3S; approx 4 minutes between each frame; a total of 77 frames were taken over approx. 5 hours during night of April 14-15, 2014)

[I took 77 frames over approx 5 hours - each frame every 4 minutes, or 1 degree transit through the sky; each frame is a combined Red, Green and Blue image, taken approx. 1 minute appart. Due to moving cloud cover, some of the frames have bizarre colors and about a dozen frames were ruined - half near the beginning of the animation. Luckily, during most of the umbral and totality phases, the clouds moved out of the FOV. This animation of the eclipse - earth's shadow crossing over the moon - compresses more than 3 hours (50 useable frames plus 5 additional frames at the end of the last image) into 60 seconds. Exposures ranged from 4 mS to 3S. Stacking and most processing was done in CCDStack.]