20180524 Moon

Moon again, with my Ranger and 5x... today on top of my new camping table.

Of course, not very stable but imaging is possible.

Using two of my favorite craters as target.

1259 (UT):-

1301 (UT):-

Quite nice, fit my small window platform very well!

I will probably bring this small table out for observation if I were to use my Nexstar mount.

20180523 Moon

It has been sunny and extremely hot for a couple of days, I even pulled out my Canon 18x50 IS to go for a short casual observation in a nearby light polluted playground but then the sky was filled with thin cloud by then.

Tonight it seems quite clear, and I pulled out my Canon FD 300mm f2.8 to do some high power shots, but all the processed images show internal reflection, so this lens leaves me no hope for high resolution imaging.

I've tried to stack two 2x, and different combinations with a Tele Vue 5x:

Then, I pulled out my 20 years old Ranger and took these two shows with my Tele Vue 5x Powermate:

1420 (UT)

1426 (UT)

20180520 Sun

Summer came, and the direction of the sun inside my room is no good.

Seeing 3/10, transparency 7/10 - nearly the best we can get here in Hong Kong.

0642 (UT), exposure optimized for surface detail, prominence was pushed by post-processing.

0644 (UT), exposure pushed up to show the prominence.

Relatively lack of surface detail, some nice prominence around the edge.

By poor viewing angle, there is only around half of the aperture was illuminated.

20180501 Sun

We had a holiday today, it looks hot and shinny outside.  But when you turn your scope to the sun, you saw the moving thin cloud.

Captured a short clip on the relatively featureless solar disc, both AS!2 and Registax failed to come up with a stacked image... 

Just a record.

--

On placing the stuff back, I found these cheapy 18650 works very well for powering my setup.  I did 2-3 times per month on solar imaging, and I only charged them once, not because it ran out of juice, but just I want avoid them to flat out completely.

I've sold my C5, that GOTO Mark-X, and the long time partner Gitzo G106.  My equipments dropped to a minimum.