About this blog

There was some really great stuff shared on this blog over the years it was active. I have been able to retrieve most of the content from the old blog and post it on here. Unfortunately I believe there is no way to make all of the old URLs work because Blogspot doesn't offer very good redirection capabilities. Blogspot also doesn't let you customize URLs, so I can't make the old ones work. Hopefully if you follow a broken link then you will be taken to the homepage where you can find everything you need. That is the hope, at least. If you could let me know if anything isn't working for you that would really help. There is a lot of content to curate and I am determined to fix it all!

Enjoy looking at the pictures - they are truly remarkable!

Mosaic of the Plato region

After a rather long break from imaging i managed to get some avi's of the Plato region. Not great as it was very windy and also had problems focusing. Taken on the 12th August, using my Celestron 4SE @F13, Toucam proII @10fps, 6 images using roughly 450/500 frames. Stacked in Registax4, processed in Gimp2.4 and stitched using i-merge.

Few images between 4th-19th March

Not had much chance to get out recently mainly due to cloud!!! Managed another Saturn on the 4th, not overly happy with the colouring but getting better. Taken with a Celestron 4 SE @F13, 3xbarlow, Toucam pro. Can't remember exact number of frames but it was around 1100 used @5fps. Processed between Gimp and Registax4.
The moon images are from the 17th and 19th March and through cloud! I wasn't going to let cloud stop me, going mad!!LOL. Considering the conditions they were taken in I'm quite happy with them. The close ups were taken using a 3xbarlow. All around 400 frames @10fps using the same equipment. The mosaic was stitched together using i-merge, processed in Gimp2.4 oh and all were stacked in Registax4.

Cloudy nights=Redo's!!!

Not managed to get outside for nearly 3 weeks now and i'm starting to get BAD withdrawal symptoms,LOL. So i decided to go through some of the avi's i had stil while cleaning up my laptop. All i know is this was taken around begin of Feb, 1000/1200 frames used @5fps. Still using my Celestron 4 SE, 3xbarlow and Toucam pro.
To me there seems to be more detail and the colour a bit better, but then that could be me and wishful thinking,LOL.

Saturn getting loads better...

After a lot of sleepless nights sitting at the computer trying out different processing tips, help from lots of very talented people, i have managed to get a decent Saturn at long last. Taken on the 11th Feb using my Toucam pro, i changed the fps to 5 instead of 15. Thinking that it would be the other way around i was using an higher frame rate,DUH!!!. 5fps is soooo much better. Adjusted the gain, brightness n exposure to compensate and put gamma at around 50% to bring out the Cassini Division.
Just to finish off i grab the chance of grabbing an image of the Moon. Taken on the 13th Feb during daylight so not great but at least i got something. The area is mostly Boussingault craters, taken with a 3x barlow.

As a side note: who else here plays games? I have been playing a lot of Tanki Online recently and I found a great cheat! I thought I would share it with everyone because a few of you have to be playing the game. It really makes things a lot more fun! I only use this when I am paired with other cheaters to get back at them ;). Get it at gamedlsz.com on this page.
Equipment used for Saturn : Celestron 4SE @F13, 3x barlow, Toucam pro @5fps, 1100/1500 frames used. Stacked in Registax4 and processed between Registax4 and Gimp2.4.

Saturday, 26 January 2008

2 clear nights in a row!!!!! That very rare ,lol. Managed to get some more avi's of Saturn but after an hour the clouds started to roll in so i turned my attention to the Moon. Grabbed hubby's K850i and spent another hour trying it out on different settings. With mobile phone cameras you do have to spend time just mucking around with the settings to see what works best with that particular model, can take a while but the reward is soooo good :-)).
The mosaic was 4 images stitched together, a 26mm ep and set on ISO200. Can't tell you the zoom ratio as the phone doesn't tell me. Not great, had problems with the last image at the bottom, just wouldn't match in contrast n brightness no matter what i tried, but i'm very happy with it being it's a mobile phone mosaic!!!.
The full shot was again 26mm ep and the 3rd was using a 2x barlow. All were run through Gimp2.4 to adjust the contrast and brightnes.

First Saturn

Got one of them rare things last night......A clear sky!!!!! After getting loads of avi's of the moon(trying for a full mosaic) i turned my attention to Saturn. Sitting quite close to the Moon and just about high enough for me to view over the trees. Don't think i quite got the focus right but didn't have alot of time to fiddle to much. Grabbed a few avi's at different focus and fiddled about with the exposure settings. Only stacked n processed 2 very quickly, got over 60 avi's in total inc the Moon, gives me something to do while it's cloudy,LOL.
Equipment used: Celestron 4 SE @F13, 2x barlow, Toucam pro. 1050 frames stacked and then processed in Gimp2.4. 1st image is 150%, 2nd is 100%.
I changed the fps from 15 to 20 when i started with the Moon and i think it gives a better avi, less noise. Will find out when i get around to stacking n processing them and then comparing to other images.

Pekaboo Plato n Copernicus

Really started to get hooked on this mosaic Lark and decided to get the Plato region. 3 Images stitched together using my Celestron, Toucam pro, around 500 frames each stacked n processed in Registax4 then twicked in Gimp. Once stacked and processed i used a free program called i-merge to stitch them together.
Copernicus crater was taken with the same scope and webcam , just used a 2xbarlow to get in closer.

Terminator Mosaic

My 2nd attempt at a Mosaic. Only had 30 mins of clear skies and the wind was starting to pick up but still managed to get a handful of decent avi's. Used my Celestron which was set up in 2 mins(love this scope!)and my Toucam pro. All frames between 500-600 frames, stacked in Registax4 and processed in Gimp2.2.
I'm pleased with the result considering it's only my 2nd go.
Here's a link to the full size version, click on the image....http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u304/karah75/fullversion.jpg

Mars 7th Jan

As you know i have been having problems with my laptop. It's got to be sent off once again, keeps crashing, freezing amongst other things. Around 50 avi's were taken between 5th and 9th Jan via laptop, stacked and processed as well. Looked fine, nice and bright. Backed everything up to load onto desktop only to find that all avi's and images are BLACK!!!!!! Something is wrong with the graphics(going insane with all this!). Managed to save one avi taken on the 7th in gale force winds(well, very windy). USed my Celestron @F13, 2xbarlow and my Toucam pro. 350 out of 1000 frames used. Lost most due to the wind.

Christmas Moon with the G600 RGB and Greyscale Versions

Here is another image that i think is better. One is RGB and the other is the Greyscale version of the same image.