Lunar 8-23-2013

The first is a single frame from the NSN broadcast when the moon was still only around 15 degrees up.  The processed image was around 25 degrees up, a bit of altitude can make a big difference besides stacking and sharpening.

Sharper and lower noise than usual

Was really shocked that I was able to get the noise level down today, considering the poor level of seeing, but then again, the transparency was better than usual.  Included is the broadcast image and the full resolution processed image, there's quite a difference today.

Lowest noise image in awhile

Took a break from cleaning the basement for a bit to get in some solar viewing.  Actually got the lowest noise image I've seen in awhile.

Not bad for thin clouds

Had continuous thin clouds for most of the day, then a few scattered thick dark clouds, stacked 30% of the frames to help even out the processed image.  Included is a screen capture from my broadcast on NSN today colorized using Splitcam and camera controlled by amcap now instead of screen capturing the Ic Capture software, looks a bit sharper this way I think.

Just another average cloudy day

Too many of these partly cloudy days this time of year, making it difficult to get good clear noise free images, it probably won't improve til I have to sit outside bundled up like a snowman, but I'll keep trying.....  It does look like activity might be winding back up again, hopefully the polar flip happens soon so we can see what the effects are gonna be.

Sun and Space Stations

Got in a little solar on the 9th, really poor seeing so didn't broadcast on NSN for long, and the image came out quite noisy.  When darkness fell, I had some fun setting up and aligning for a 1 second view of the ISS and HTV-4 passing by Kappa Draconis.  I had a nice wide field of view with the R80 reduced to f/2.1 so I wouldn't have gotten any real detail so I overexposed a bit to get Kappa Draconis to show up in the frames.

99% Clear

Quick capture right after the clouds cleared out, followed by a 4 hour long broadcast on Nightskiesnetwork.com and only one software crash....... Unfortunately not much activity right now.