"Tycho's Craterlets"

Last night a friend posted a shot of the gorgeous ray system of Tycho. It reminded me of this image that I had forgotten about in my image drive. This shot illustrates another aspect of ray systems, the myriad secondary impact craters created when ejected material falls back to the Moon.

Rays are created when a large meteor or an asteroid hits the Moon. The meteor or asteroid usually does so at tens of thousands of miles per hour. They scatter surface material at high speed when they hit, then they penetrate deep below the surface. Their kinetic energy is converted to heat, which vaporizes the meteor/asteroid and much of the moon-stuff around them. That all expands in a catastrophic blast upward and outward from the impact point. The material blown outward is everything from county-sized chunks, to glassy dust, to incandescent gas. The gas may escape the Moon altogether, or cool and condense on the Moon’s surface. The dust blows outward in streaks across the face of the moon, sometimes for thousands of miles, creating the rays my friend captured. The chunks usually fall back onto the moon, blasting craters of their own, or they may scour the surface, cutting radial valleys through mountains and leaving scars as they skip over the surface. That is a sequence of events you do not want to witness up close.

This picture is my best effort to show the effects of those big chunks that fall back onto the moon. Tycho crater is a young crater, so these effects are more clearly seen in its case. Tycho is the crater above center and a little right, the one with a brightly-lit western interior rim, a deeply shadowed eastern floor and a brightly illuminated central peak. Once you find it, look at the craters to the east (right) of Tycho. Look at their insides. Their floors are riddled with tiny craters. Some are arranged in lines stretching away from Tycho, like the rays. My photograph can resolve craterlets down to a little under two kilometers wide. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of them visible in this image. They are most densely packed near Tycho, but they can be spotted all the way to the right edge of the frame. For every one visible here there are many smaller ones below resolution. They have to await a bigger ‘scope.

I used an 8" aperture, 2032 mm focal length f/10 telescope as my lens (Celestron EdgeHD8). A monochrome planetary video camera (ZWO ASI 290MM) was used to collect 2086 video frames at 69 frames per second. This camera has a tiny sensor, with a crop factor of 6.7, so it can only see a tiny part of the Moon.

Of those 2086 video frames, the best 25% (522) were stacked into a single image. This procedure, called "Lucky Imaging" maximizes image sharpness and minimizes image noise and atmospheric blurring. AutoStakkert!3 software did the actual stacking.

The stacked image received wavelets processing in Registax 6 to help pull details from the remaining image noise.

Final processing was completed with Photoshop CC2020.

Here is a quick view of last evening’s 98% full moon. It was so bright last night with the moon reflecting off the snow!

TECH SPECS: Meade 12” LX-90, Celestron CGEM-DX pier mounted, ZWO ASI071mc-Pro, Antares Focal Reducer. Captured using SharpCap v3.2, stacked in Autostakkert (best 20% of 500 images), sharpened in Registax, mosaic in Microsoft ICE, final image in Corel Paintshop Pro. Image Date: February 25, 2021. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA.

In Explore: Highest position: 159 on Friday, November 26, 2021

104_6319, 20, 21 - 3 one minute 4K MP4s, centred, cropped with PIPP, best frames stacked with AutoStakkert. Moons brightened, planet contrast increased and red/blue atmospheric dispersal corrected with PhotoShop.

Autostakkert software, shot tonite.

Nikon Z6 with 200-500 lens.

This photo spans an area from Mare Cognitum (in the upper left) to the Southern Highlands (in the lower right) along the lunar terminator. It includes much of Mare Nubium and the show-stopping beauty of Bullialdus Crater.

I often find themes for my discussions of my moon photos. For this one, I choose three: “Contrast”, “Deep Time”, and “Treasure Hunt”.

The simplest of these is Contrast. There are many examples of contrast here. What examples do you see? Of course, there is a broad range of brightness across the image, with deep darks in the lower left, brighter gray tones in the upper right, and near whites on high points that catch the rising sunlight most directly. Along the day-night terminator the lightest and darkest tones are closest together, where they emphasize the ruggedness of the terrain. The contrast between the overlapping craters of the Southern Highlands and the plains of Mare Nubium is also compelling. And then there is the contrast in the age of the craters. Most of the craters here are incredibly old – worn and flooded, many buried altogether. Bullialdus stands out as strikingly different. How so?

In Bullialdus Crater, we see a classic example of an Eratosthenian Period crater. What does that mean? To address that, we come to the second and most profound theme for this image, “Deep Time”. At first glance, Eratosthenian Period craters appear relatively young. Like Bullialdus, their crater walls are terraced and sharply defined, with some evidence of slumping. The central peaks are evident and stand tall above the crater floor. The outer walls or ramparts appear thick. They rise high above the surrounding terrain. Closer examination of the outer walls shows them to bear evidence of materials that flowed outward from the crater, burying the original terrain in radially spreading hills and hummocks. Chains of craterlets dot the area, also in a radial pattern of dispersion, where larger chunks of ejected material created new craters upon re-impacting the Moon. So, what then separates Eratosthenian Period craters from even younger craters such as Copernicus or Tycho? First and most evidently, systems of rays. Younger, Copernican Period craters sit at the centers of bright, light-colored systems of ejecta rays. Eratosthenian Period craters pretty much have none. Rays are made of light-colored material dug from deep below the lunar surface and sprayed across hundreds, even thousands of miles of the Moon’s face. Over time, this material darkens to match the rest of the lunar surface, a consequence of hundreds of millions to billions of years of weathering due to solar radiation and micrometeorite bombardment. A second differentiator between Eratosthenian Period craters and younger craters is secondary cratering. Younger craters have (as yet) been spared disfiguration by more recent impacts. Here, the wonderful outer rampart of Bullialdus is marred at the four o’clock position by a younger crater, Bullialdus A. It takes a great deal of time before another large impactor to draws a bead on the area occupied by a previously gouged crater. Given enough time, it happens. Bullialdus has been around long enough to have suffered that fate.

There is no way to escape consideration of “deep time” when contemplating the Moon. Eratosthenian Period craters like Bullialdus look youngish, like middle-aged features, ones that are “mature” but “still in their prime”. On the Moon those terms describe craters that formed between 1.1 and 3.4 billion years ago. That’s a long time ago. On Earth, the Eratosthenenian Period corresponds to an era beginning when single-cellular lifeforms were dominant, extending through the emergence of photosysnthesis and later sexual reproduction, and ending with the proliferation of multicellular organisms. Take a minute and let that sink in.

Enough navel-gazing. Let’s turn to other things in this photo that I find kind of cool. To the right of Bullialdus lies an oddly shaped, non-round crater. It’s a compound crater that looks somewhat like a heart. This is Wolf Crater. In certain lighting conditions, the heart shape is pronounced, and it draws the eye. Below Bullialdus, just right of center is a round crater with a lava filled basin, no central peak, low walls that barely rise above the terrain of Mare Nubium, and an unusual teardrop southward extension. This is an old crater. It looks to me like a keyhole, which is a useful mnemonic for its name: Kies Crater. Kies Crater is also old. It clearly predates the formation of Mare Nubium, for it is all but buried by the lava flood that filled the basins of Mare Nubium. A look around Mare Nubium reveals a great many craters that have suffered such inundation. To the left of the teardrop feature of Kies a smallish mound is visible, due to the low angle light. This is a landmark named Kies Pi. It is not conspicuous, but it merits a close look. You might spot a small crater or depression on its peak. If you spot it, congratulations! You are looking down the throat of a lunar volcano. The ‘crater’ on top is a volcanic caldera. I speak often of lunar lava flows; here is one of the contributory sources for the lava that flooded this part of the Moon. Below Kies Crater and Kies Pi volcano we come to a line of cliffs and ridges that mark the boundary of Mare Nubium. These cliffs, known as Rupes Mercator, are punctuated by a pair of similarly sized and shadow-bound craters: Mercator on the right, and Campanus on the left. As Mercator lies closer to the rising sun, a portion of its floor is illuminated, and contrasts with the remaining shadows cast by the crater’s eastern rim. Below the ridges of Rupes Mercator and these two craters like another small region of mare material. This is no major feature, but it may have found its time: this is Palus Epidemiarum, the “Marsh of Epidemics”. Who calls things that?!?!

By now you probably have noticed the long crack that runs across Palus Epidemiarum, Rupes Mercator and Mare Nubium, from the terminator in lower center and extending to the middle right margin of this photo. That crack is Rima Hesiodus. At the right edge of the image, Rima Hesiodus tangentially connects to the rim of the crater for which it is named, Hesiodus Crater. If you find that, note the small crater that lies on the lower edge of Hesiodus. You might see that this crater has another crater rim concentric to its main rim. This crater, Hesiodus A is famous for being one of a small set of craters that look like bullseyes, perfect double-tap impacts drilled into the Moon’s face. Again, the deep time issue rears up. How long would you have to wait for something like that to occur at random!

OK. Enough. I mean really this time. I will close with some puzzles for the interested. This is a region blessed with a great many features that have interested Selenophiles. I will draw attention to one: the Bullialdus Causeway. I learned of it in Andrew Planck’s blog. Its nature remains a mystery, but the Causeway is visible in this image. The following links will point the curious to this and many other features of this part of the Moon. Most are visible in this image, but some, alas are not. Let the “Treasure Hunt” theme commence!

andrewplanck.com/bullialdus-the-most-conspicuous-mo…/

the-moon.us/wiki/R%C3%BCkl_53

Instrumentation:

Celestron EdgeHD 8 telescope, ZWO ASI290MM monochrome camera, Celestron Advanced VX mount.

Processing:

Pre-processing of 4926 frame .ser file with PIPP. Best 5% of those video frames stacked with AutoStakkert!3, wavelets processing with Registax 6, and final processing in Photoshop CC 2020.

I managed to grab a few frames of last night's moon before the fog settled in. Here is a three panel mosaic of the 41% illuminated waxing crescent moon. Hope you like it!

Tech Specs: Meade 12” LX-90, ZWO ASI071mc-Pro, three panels, best 20% of 300 frames, unguided. Captured using SharpCap v3.2, processed in AutoStakkert, stitched in Microsoft Image Composite Editor. Image date: August 24, 2020. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA.

In Explore: Highest position: 412 on Wednesday, July 13, 2022

104_8529-33 4K MP4s processed with PIPP and AutoStakkert.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the colourful composite new moon of the day.

This is an artistic view of our satellite made from several photos.

Nikon z7 Tamron G2 150-600 + Tc x20 at 1200mm f/13 160iso 1/60s (over exposed). Best 25% of 800 frames.

Stacking: Autostakkert

Wavelets: Registax

Enhancements: Darktable

Compositing: Gimp

The Moon's current phase for today and tonight is a Waxing Crescent Phase. A Waxing Crescent is the first Phase after the New Moon and is a great time to see the features of the moon's surface.

Nikon z7 Tamron G2 150-600 + Tc x20 f/13 320iso 1/60s 1200mm

Autostakkert + Registax + Darktable + Gimp (composite with previous full moon).

Best 60% of ~660 frames

Autostakkert + AstroSurface + Darktable

Le Soleil, le 14 juin 2025 à 11h

The Sun, June 14, 2025 at 11h.

Info: Le Soleil aujourd'hui / The Sun today (Spaceweatherlive.com)

* 134 = Nb de taches solaires / Sunspots number

* 9 = Régions de taches solaire / Sunspot regions

Risingcam IMX571 color

William Optics Zenithstar73ii

iOptron CEM26

Filtre SVBony UV/IR cut

Filtre Thousand Oaks Solarlite ND5

Exp. 20ms / Gain 101 / caméra refroidie à 10 degrés

Best 25% de 2500

Aquisition: Sharpcap

Traitement: PIPP, AutoStakkert 4.0, Registax et Affinity Photo 2

@Astrobox 2.0 / St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Québec

AstroM1

Taken from Oxfordshire, UK with a Coronado PST, 2x Barlow & slimline T-ring attached to a Canon 1100D

Shot through quite a lot thin high level cloud.

ISO-800 1/60 second exposure

324 images shot and the best 50% stacked using Autostakkert! 2. Resulting stacked image was processed using Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop CS2, Focus Magic and Faststone Image Viewer

I over exposed the photos so the area which suffers from the "spotlight" effect you usually get with this telescope has completely blown out, leaving most of the disc featureless. Howerver, I was lucky enough that the only active region currently visible was just outside the area that I over exposed and these 2 huge prominences came out ok

Multiple time-lapse shots stacked on AutoStakkert

Practising with a new planetary camera ASI-178MC attached to Skywatcher 127 Mak telescope. Best photo I've managed of Saturn so far - but still room for improvement. (Autostakkert and Registax software used for processing)

The Sun shot from London 1 day before Perihelion when the Earth and Sun are at their closest for the year.

Lunt LS60 Tha scope & ASI174MM camera. False colour best 50% of 3000 frames processed in Autostakkert, Registax & Photoshop CC

Just a quick Saturn from early July 3, 2020. I confess, I have no clue yet how planets are supposed to be imaged. This one is, at least, one step closer.

Planetary imaging is hard; it ages you...

Seeing was below forecast expectations: 2-3/5

Celestron EdgeHD8 telescope, Celestron Advanced VX mount.

ZWO 290MM camera

Data collection with Firecapture: ROI=1936x1096

ROI(Offset)=0x0

FPS (avg.)=28

Shutter=10.00ms

Gain=383 (63%)

Preprocessing with PIPP

Stacking with AutoStakkert!3, best 25% of 1719 video frames used.

Final processing in Photoshop CC 2020: slight cropping of stacking artifacts on margins

ZWO ASI294MC-Pro Cooled + Meade ETX90 f.1250mm f/d13.8 + Barlow x2 sur Sky Watcher Star Adventurer.

Acquisition : SharpCap 3.2 - 500 poses de 2 ms - gain 368

Empilement : AutoStakkert 50% de poses retenues

Traitement : RegiStax 6 et FastStone Image Viewer.

Plus petits cratères identifiables ( ex. Archimèdes Q-T-V) D = 3 km

Jupiter, photographed from Long Beach, CA

By the time I shot this, Jupiter was lower in the sky and also above my house. Both of these would degrade the seeing compared to images I got earlier this year. Right now, you have to get to work shortly after sunset to get good shots of the big planet.

There's also a bit less data here. 30 s SER files were taken with a ZWO ASI120MM camera through Optolong CCD RGB filters on a Celestron Edge HD 925 telescope using FireCapture. The top 70% of frames went into 4 stacks of red images and 5 stacks each of green and blue. These stacks were made in AutoStakkert, then sharpened in PixInsight. Stacks were combined and derotated in WinJUPOS, and the resulting R, G, and B images were combined in WinJUPOS to make a de-rotated single color image. Color balancing in Registax, then final touches in Photoshop and Topaz Labs.

CM longitudes:

System I: 9.0°

System II: 142.7°

System III: 356.8°

Equipment: Stellarvue 90mm f/7 SVR90T-25SV apo triplet refractor, SFF3-25-48 large photographic field flattener, Nikon Z7, iOptron AZ Mount Pro with Tri-Pier. Camera setting: ISO 500, 10 s. Stack of 40 exposures. Post-Processing: PIPP, AutoStakkert, RegiStax, and Photoshop.

August 18, 2021

The crater pair of Copernicus (center bottom) and Eratosthenes (center right) become prominent in the Moon's middle latitudes in the days following the First Quarter Moon. Here they are seen in high angle light, their floors fully or nearly fully illuminated. There is enough shadow for the multitude of secondary craterlets surrounding them to be detected. These can be seen to radiate deeply into Mare Imbrium, the broad lava plain that fills the upper third of the image.

Separating Copernicus and Mare Imbrium are the peaks of the Montes Carpatus. These mountains are remnants of the high rim of the Imbrium Impact Basin.

On the bottom left edge of the photo lies a small cup-shaped crater named Hortensius. Just above this small crater a cluster of small bumps can be seen. These low mounds are lunar volcanoes, the Hortensius Domes. Look closely and the summit calderas of some can be seen. These humble mounds are the lunar equivalent of the large shield volcanoes (e.g., Mauna Loa) seen on the Earth.

This photo is a stack of the best 30% of 5369 video frames.

Video capture software: FireCapture

Stacking software: AutoStakkert! 3

Wavelets-processing: Registax 6

Final buff: Photoshop CC 2021.

Celestron EdgeHD8, 2032mm focal length, f/10

ZWO ASI 290MM planetary camera

Celestron Advanced VX Equatorial Mount

Aberkenfig, South Wales

Lat 51.542 N Long 3.593 W

At a certain angle of the sun's illumination a number of volcanic lunar domes are visible near the craters of Hortensius, Milichius & T. Mayer. This area is also referred to by the popular name "Domeland"

A two pane mosaic obtained with my Skywatcher 254mm Newtonian, Tal 2x Barlow and a recently purchased ZWO ASI385MC.

The pane with the Hortensius Domes is a much better quality compared to my previous capture uploaded with the Copernicus crater.

4000 frames captured on each pane using Firecapture. Then approx. 1400 to 1500 frames stacked with AutoStakkert! 3.1.4.

Wavelets processed with Registax and images stitched with Image Composite Editor.

Final adjustments, collage and annotations using G.I.M.P.

Lunar south is uppermost. Best viewed in fully expanded mode.

For a reference to scale, the diameter of the crater Hortensius is 15Km (9 miles).

Composite image.

Phase: Waxing crescent

Illumination: 11.07% Visible

Moon Age: 3.19 Days

Moon Angle: 0.51

Nikon z7 Tamron G2 150-600 + Tc x20 1200mm f/13 500iso 1/50s.

Autostakkert + Registax + Gimp

Best 40% of 3000 frames. Processed with Autostakkert, Registax 6, Photoshop CC 2015. Seeing was favorable but transparency was somewhat watery and humidity was high.

Telescope - Celestron CPC800 XLT GPS

Camera - ASI120MC-S and Shorty 2X Barlow lens.

Nice solar prominence on the Sun yesterday.

Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED, ZWO ASI290MC, Daystar Quark Chromosphere + Daystar 2" UV/IR filter, ZWO 0.5x Reducer, SharpCap Pro v3.2, best 20% of 5k frames, AutoStakkert, Registax. Image date: 17 May 2021. Location: The Dark Side Observatory in Weatherly, PA, USA.

ZWO ASI178MC

Meade LX850 (12" f/8)/Tele Vue 2.5x PowerMate

Losmandy G11

3000 frames captured in FireCapture

Best 50% stacked in AutoStakkert!

Intial wavelet sharpening and noise reduction in RegiStax

Final sharpening noise reduction in PhotoShop

Canon EOS 80D + Orion SkyQuest XT10 + Tele Vue 2.5x Powermate (giving an effective focal length of 3,000 mm).

Broadstairs, December 2019.

Saturn, taken with a ZWO ASI120MM camera and Optolong CCD RGB filters and a Celestron Edge HD 925 telescope from my backyard in Long Beach, CA.

The best 75% of frames from 45 s SER videos with each of the filters were stacked in AutoStakkert. This created 5 images in each of the three color filters. Those images were sharpened in PixInsight. All images with the same color filter were derotated and combined in WinJUPOS, then the R, G, and B stacks were derotated and combined to create the color image. I used Registax to get the color balance right, that did some small final touches in Photoshop.

CM longitudes:

System I: 80.0°

System II: 115.4°

System III: 187.9°

Software:

Firecapture - Capture 500 OSC frames

PIPP - Debayering

Autostakkert! - Stacking

Registax - Wavelet sharpening

Photoshop - Color balance, curves adjustments, luminance layer addition, saturation enhancement.

Celestron C8

Altair Gpcam

Barlow 3x

CGEM

Autostakkert 2

Fitswork

Registax

Ps Cs6

Ciudad de México.

Nikon Z7 + Tamron 150-600 + Focal expander x2

1200mm f/13 1/50s 160iso

400 frames

Stacking : Autostakkert

Upscaler : Topaz AI Gigapixel

Wavelets : Astrosurface

Enhancements : Darktable

6 pictures mosaique

Taken from Toulouse (France) on May 2011

6 x 150 best snapshots stacked of 3000

TIS DFK41 color camera on a 200 mm reflector

Pre-processed in AutoStakkert!

Processed in Photoshop and LightRoom

Plus grosse taches soleil / Biggest Sunspot : AR3784

Risingcam IMX571 color

William Optics Zenithstar73ii

iOptron CEM26

Filtre UV/IR cut

Filtre Thousand Oaks Solarlite ND5

Exp. 30ms / Gain 100

Best 250 de 2500

Aquisition: Sharpcap

Traitement: PIPP, AutoStakkert 4.0, Registax et Affinity Photo 2

@Astrobox 2.0 / St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Québec

AstroM1

Equipment

ZWO ASI290MM (RGB)

Meade LX850 (12" f/8) with 2.5x Tele Vue PowerMate

Losmandy G11

Capture:

FireCapture

5 RGB runs 45s each/3900 frames

5 to 8 ms exposures

Processing

PIPP - preprocessing

AutoStakkert! - registration and stacking

Registax - wavelet sharpening

PixInsight NXT - noise reduction

Photoshop - final processing

Seeing was below average during capture.

M.Zuiko 300mmF4 IS Pro

MC-14 teleconverter (x1.4)

Film at 4k, convert and stack with PIPP and Autostakkert

Taken with canon t3i

Canon 400mm f5.6 L prime lens

370 frames stacked on Autostakkert

I obtained a 13 second 3x crop video and I exported each frame with adobe premiere.

Frames were stacked with autostakkert and tiff file processed in photoshop

ZWO ASI178MC

Meade LX850 (12" f/8)

Losmandy G11

5000 frames captured with FireCapture

Best 1250 frames stacked with Autostakkert!

Wavelet sharpened with Registax

Noise reduction with Topaz DeNoise AI

Finished in Photoshop

Rukl 52.

Soleil - Avec plusieurs régions actives majeures, dont AR3615 -- approx 5x la taille de la Terre

The Active region AR3615 is about 5 times Earth size.

== Acquisition ==

Nikon D5100 + Nikkor 70-300 @300mm

Filtre Solarlite ND5 Thousand Oaks optical

30 x 1/250s -- f/10 -- ISO 100

= Traitement/processing =

PIPP, Autostakkert & Gimp

@St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Québec

AstroM1

Canon EOS 60D

TeleVue NP101is/2x PM

Losmandy G11

Captured 100 frames at 1/500, ISO100

Stacked best 75% in Autostakkert!

Wavelet sharpened in Registax

Finishing in Photoshop

I am one who cannot take a telescopic trip to the moon without at least dropping by Plato Crater for a short visit. I just find it so visually appealing. The evening of February 2nd this photo found Plato bathed in early morning light, with only the western two-thirds of its crater floor illuminated. The view was especially striking for the dramatic shadows the peaks of Plato’s eastern rim cast across the crater’s smooth lava floor. Looking at them in this photo, I was reminded of the jagged peaks that tower over Moorea’s Ōpūnohu Bay, which, although magnificent, are considerably smaller than the peaks of Plato’s eastern rim. That set me musing over ways to conceptualize the heights of those peaks. I have read that three of these peaks tower 1.5, 1.8, and 2.1 kilometers above the floor of Plato. Now that might seem like a lot, towering almost 6,900 feet (higher than any peak in the Eastern USA), but then I compared those values to other things I read about Plato. For example, consider that Plato has no central peak. Why not? It’s because the floor of Plato is buried under 2.6 km of lava, enough to overtop even the tallest of the eastern rim peaks, were it in the center of Plato. That is a LOT of lava. Plato is 101 km in diameter. Considering the mass of lava filling Plato as a cylinder of diameter 101 km and height of 2.6 km, that comes out around 20,830 cubic km of lava, maximum. (Somebody check my math: I’ve never excelled at math.) But consider another thing I have learned about Plato. See those tiny craterlets in its floor. The biggest of them, the one nearly in the center, that little sucker is about 2.7 km in diameter. THAT MAKES IT WIDER THAN THOSE PEAKS TOWER ABOVE IT.

Celestron EdgeHD 8 telescope, ZWO ASI290MM monochrome camera, Celestron Advanced VX mount.

Pre-processing of 3401 frame .ser file with PIPP. Best 10% of those video frames, stacked with AutoStakkert 3, wavelets processing with Registax 6, and final processing in Photoshop CC 2019.

May 21, 2021

Moon 74.7% full

Here is a previously unprocessed photo of the region of three prominent craters familiar to all selenophiles: the trio of (from top to bottom) Purbach, Regiomontanus, and Walther. Here they are captured under high-angle illumination from the East (late morning on the Moon), which reduces contrast and makes photography a challenge.

Photographic conditions for this session were challenging, with below average transparency, variable seeing (2.5-3 out of 5) and thin, high clouds. To counteract these difficulties, more images were collected and an IR (infrared passing) filter was used. The best 15% of 5,767 video frames were used to create this photo.

Stacking was done with Auto Stakkert!3. Wavelets and histogram adjustments with Registax 6. Toning, cropping and rotation with Camera RAW and Photoshop CC 2021.

Celestron Edge HD8 telescope

Optolong IR-Pass filter (685nm)

ZWO ASI 290MM camera

Celestron Advanced VX Mount

Telescopio: Celestron C11 XLT Fastar

Montatura:iOptron CEM60

CMOS di ripresa: ZWO ASI 174 mono Cooled

Lunghezza focale: 2800 mm

Filtro: Optolong Red CCD 50,8 mm

Software:SharpCap 3.2 Pro, Emil Kraaikamp Autostakkert 3.0.14, Zoner Photo Studio X v. 19, Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight 1.8, Astra Image 4 SI

Focuser: Moonlite CF 2" focuser with high resolution stepper DRO

Pose: 400 su 1009 riprese a 65 fotogrammi al secondo

Seeing: 1 Trasparenza: 8

The May Flower Super Full Moon from my front walk in Austin, Texas early Thursday morning, 2020-05-07 0523 UT. Questar 1300/89 mm f/15 telescope with Sony a6300 camera at prime focus. The best 20 of 205 images stacked in Autostakkert 3, with LR deconvolution and wavelet sharpening in Lynkeos. Final crop and exposure adjustments in Photoshop.

Sunspot AR 3100 in the Sun's Chromosphere

H-alpha image of the Sun using a ZWO ASI 174MM Camera and a Daystar Quark Combo Chromosphere H-alpha filter with a Questar 3.5 50.5-inch focal length Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope. Best 50 of 500 frames were captured with SharpCap 2.9 and aligned and stacked using Autostakkert! 2 with wavelets applied in Registax 6.

My very first shot of Saturn, taken on September 23rd 2018. I used a Celestron CPC 1100 telescope, with eyepiece projection method on an Olympus OMD E-M5. Captured 1 minute of video, and post-processed with Autostakkert 3. Result is above expectations, considering I could barely see a thing in the screen of my camera. Cassini division is clearly visible.

Our closest celestial neighbour needs no introduction. This gem is the brightest object in the sky besides the sun and seen by everyone on a regular basis, but it's still nice to be able to see it close up and see the details in the craters.

-=Tech Data=-

-Equipment-

Imaging Scope: 8" Meade LX90 ACF

Mount: Celestron CGX

Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI 120MC-S

-Software-

Acquisition: Sharpcap

Pre-processing: Planetary Image Pre-Processor (PiPP)

Stacking: Autostakkert!3

Post Processing: Photoshop CC with Astra Image Deconvolution plugin

12 frame panorama (4 x 3), 2500 images stacked per frame.

Shot at the Lennox and Addington Dark Sky Viewing Area near Erinsville, Ontario.

Here is a quick image of the huge sunspot AR2529 taken this afternoon, April 13, 2016 from Weatherly, Pennsylvania. Captured using my Celestron C6-A SCT, you can check out my solar setup and filter at www.leisurelyscientist.com/?p=581

This is a video capture using a Canon 6D and the software package Backyard EOS, 1500 frames were captured, and I stacking the best 750 frames using AS!2 (AutoStakkert!).

This sunspot is huge, by my estimation it is approximately five Earth’s wide!

ZWO ASI290MM/EFW 8 x 1.25" (RGB)

Meade LX850 (12" f/8)/TeleVue 2.5x PowerMate

Losmandy G11

Ten RGB runs at 30s and 2900 frames per filter in Firecapture.

Preprocessing in PIPP

Best 60% stacked in Autostakkert

Wavelet sharpened in Registax

De-rotated in WINJUPOS

Finished in Photosho[p

Canon EOS 60Da

TeleVue NP101is/2x PM

Losmandy G11

78 frames captured with EOS Backyard

Compiled as SER file in PIPP

Best 75% stacked in Autostakkert!

Wavelet sharpened in Registax

Finished in Photoshop

Single video stacked. 300 of 1500 frames stacked in Autostakkert.

Skywatcher Explorer 130P

Nikon D3300

This is my first color attempt at Mars with my new planetary setup. I like what I've been able to do with Jupiter and Saturn so far, but Mars is tricky. I'm not sure if I "overcooked" the features here.

This uses 4 60s stacks each of R, G, and B filter images. The best 65% of red stacks were used along with the best 55% of green and blue stacks. Captured with a Celestron Edge HD 925 with a ZWO ASI120MM camera and Optolong RGB filters using FireCapture 2.5. Stacking done in AutoStakkert, initial processing in PixInsight, derotation and channel combination in WinJUPOS, final processing in Photoshop.

Central meridian on Mars is 241° in this image. Syrtis Major is visible at the left edge of the image, and there are clouds above the north polar cap (at top).