Friday, August 19, 2016

Saturn

It's been over 6 weeks since the night skies here in Maryland have been clear enough to image anything at all.  Finally, tonight I was able to get the scope out for just a little while to capture the planet Saturn before it moves too close to the sun and low in the west.

I acquired a new Barlow lens which is of much better quality than the one I had and magnifies by 2.5x vs. 2x.  The atmosphere was rather turbulent and I had only a little bit of time to capture the image before the planet goes behind my treeline. Not thinking, I decided not to attach the dew heaters and shield, and of course, I ended up with dew on the front corrector plate while imaging the planet.  But by the time I set up for a retake Saturn was already in the trees.  Yet, even with the dew I was able to get a fairly decent image.

Saturn - August 19, 2016
EdgeHD 11 w/2.5x Barlow
ASI120MC Camera - 1000 frames stacked in AutoStakkert and processed in Registax


Next week promises some nice clear nights, so I plan on doing some wide field imaging.

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