All were taken with the drift method, motion blur in Gimp. Orion Starshoot ll usb cam/ 3x telenegetive barlow/ Z10 reflector.

Getting better. I've got a 2 in. ss leg meade field tripod / BW8 and gear on a lxd55. I used the SSUE ll without barlowing just to get my tracking tightened up for future Jupiter imaging. The moon is with a 3x barlow/SSUEll and a Z10 dob reflector that I use for my grab n go and still working on my focus.

mono image stacked in AS2


processed in Gimp {motion blur} taken using a Z10


Levenhuk T510NG color digital stacked in AS2

Sonny the better the collimation, the more pristine the view. An eq mount allows accurate tracking of the night sky once one learns and understands how it moves. It has taken this disabled amateur astronomer plenty of painstaking nights to get it down but, once I learned .The sky is limitless to what I can see and image. It's not as easy to set up as my Z10 but, it gives me longer views and with my used goto mount it allows limitless benefits. You do have to learn where your brighter stars are located for your star alignments. Affordable for aperture and cheaper than a APO,ED or doublet, triplet.

I see a good many people shooting the moon in the full phases but, they're using either a slr or dslr to do this and of course a ED telescope to boot with far superior optics. I was wondering since
I'm using a 8 in. sn that loses a bit of light gathering due to the central obstruction is that one of the factors why my detail is lost in the light and a Starshoot ll and a Levenhuk T510NG color digital to image? Or could I use a UHC ,Olll or ND filter and then process it , couldn't I, to bring out more detail. There's a trick here that I'm missing and if anyone would like to share . I will read the link above that's been posted by St3v3M.

I have trouble with the brighter phases of the moon and I'll continue shooting the moon in hope that one day I'll have a light turn on and I'll get it . Anyways here are some that I've been playing around with , while the skies aren't cooperating. I'm happy with the results from this Star shoot ll electronic ep.

I'm really pulling some awesome detail with my $43 cam Orion Star shoot ll electronic ep.


Everything just comes together when the conditions are right


fantastic results from a amateur that never thought it was possible

I read thru a friend that a school in Michigan had a 60mm refractor in terrible shape, so I sent them my 80mm /eq1 mount with the RA motor and some quality 1 1/4 eyepieces and barlows. All for the benefit of inspiring a young mind and to help me to get a 5x powermate. It was used but, excellent condition everything worked well and they wouldn't have to buy anything for it. I felt like I did my part after paying to mail it , I walked away with 60$ took a loss but, if one child gets interested it will be a WIN WIN for the team.

I really enjoy viewing these awesome images you've posted,really detailed and the clarity is just "spot on". I've been shooting the moon for about 2 yrs. and getting some really descent data every now and then ." kudos" GOOD JOB

I've been diligently working for an image better than what I fluked on the 24th of January. Trying different combinations barlow , no barlow , SSUEll, T510NG and mono CCD that I need to get a capture software to work with. I'm just having a blast attempting to gather quality data, working with my disabilities. I've been fortunate to live my life through the ep for so long, now that I have tried my hand at imaging "I really want to do the best with what I have in my "PO man kit. All advice is appreciated.Thank you

Craig, that's some nice equipment with awesome mods for the finder. Better stability for those unstable nights, the 45 degree improvement will be a plus.

Thanks Matthew, I use reg6 when it's working,pipp sometimes, virtual dub sometimes Gimp, Photoshop express, Photopad image editor and pixillian image converter all the time it's freeware but, this processing stuff is hard . You've got to have pretty good data. I'm excited tonight I shot 6 1min. vids of Jupe and saved them in fits"astronomical standard" format and I'll convert after I process but, always save original in fits and make copies in the other formats. I used a 2xed barlow and a SSUEll cam and with the capture software increased it 150% to get that image scale in those snaps that I posted. Snaps tonight and video T510NG alone did pretty well keeping it in the box had pretty darn good PA, we'll see tomorrow when I stack and wavelet filter with reg6 if it was worth freezing my bum off.

Thanks Craig , I've got a good friend in Wyoming that gives me some advice but, he's an SBIG guy and does only DSO long exp. photography. He doesn't know much about planetary. This forum has just what I need for AP with the explanations given.

Matthew, I started about 2 yrs. ago imaging with an eq80 refractor/eq1 mount the moon and to learn how an equatorial mount worked . I'd been using alt/az since I after an accident when I was 9, I had limited function and no contact activity play/ board games got old 1st scope 50mm tasco alt/az. I'm almost 50 and the lxd55 helps a lot, I can't believe I can do this AP, it's on my" bucket list" and I did work it to death in photopad and Psxpress freeware but, It's all a learning process. The gray is raw snapshots, balancing the scope isn't fun or getting alignment . I've gotta do it or it just won't work out.

Craig,I couldn't find those boxes or anywhere . I tried to attach in my reply , so I just posted another with 3 pics.

Matthew, Thank you for letting me know that about planetary. I was wanting to stack a 2x ed barlow then the CMOS just to get the image scale where I could see if it was focused well enough. Check out my snaps while shooting video and I checked store the originals on the post. You may see if you canm do anything with them.

Jupiter with slight banding and GRS , raw and edited in different colors to bring out better and more detail. These were my 2nd night with the" Black Widow 8"

All were with the moon beaming

(Download)

high cirrius clouds

(Download)

Gotta fail to get better

(Download)