CaK, 16022019. SolarMonitor plus experiments

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bart1805
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CaK, 16022019. SolarMonitor plus experiments

Post by bart1805 »

Today the weather was nice! And for a couple of hours I was able to experiment some more with the CaK filter. Plus it was the first time I used the SSM from Airylab with the SolarMonitor software Paul made. It worked fantastic, so thanks again Paul! The advantages:
- you go from lucky imaging to more "just imaging"
- you realise how much waiste you normally record
- the movies are way smaller than before, so no more endless gigabytes
- because of the smaller number of frames, FireCapture is much faster.

Trigger was set at 1.2. Discard at 1.8. I took movies of one minute. And then between 200 to 500 images were recorded. Here is how the set up looks like:

Image20190216_120219_resized by bart moors, on Flickr

Telescope is a Celestron 100mm ED f/9. Camera ASI290MM.

I wanted to try what filter combination worked best as a blocker. So before the two PST #1 filters. Here are the combinations.
1) Baader Blue / KG3 / Baader K-line separated in two filter cells.
2) Baader Blue / Baader K-line separated in two filter cells.
3) Lunt Blocking filters (so the tube with the two filters) / Baader K-line separated in two filter cells.
4) Lunt Blocking filters (so the tube with the two filters) / Baader K-line just one of the two filter cells.
5) Lunt Blocking filters (so the tube with the two filters)

I tried to reach 70% on the histogram, Gamma was off. Gain settings and exposure for each combination:

1) Gain 101 / 6,9 ms
2) Gain 63 / 6,9 ms
3) Gain 139 / 7,9 ms
4) Gain 128 / 6,9 ms
5) Gain 79 / 5,1 ms.

In Autostakkert I choose 30-5-75-100 images to stack. For processing IMPPG: LR 1,05 / 50. UM 1,4 / 8. Applied stretch, no gamma.

The best combination was number 4. So The Lunt filters plus a single (or you could say half) Baader K-line. Here is the result, 50 images stacked:

Image

And here after applying shadows and highlights in PS. Plus the colour.

Image

Tried some other things:
Highspeed on or off. On it records in 10 bit, off in 14 bit. It looks like when recording in 14 bit there is some more detail close to the limb.
Autoguiding in Firecapture. Have to try it again. I could control the mount from within Firecapture, but could not autoguide.

Thanks for watching!
Bart.
Last edited by bart1805 on Sat Feb 16, 2019 11:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.


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Re: CaK, 16022019. SolarMonitor plus experiments

Post by MalVeauX »

Bart, great resolution and very good results from that stack size and aperture. Very cool! I have the parts to make a DIY version of this, I need to finish making it and put it to work!

Very best,


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Re: CaK, 16022019. SolarMonitor plus experiments

Post by bart1805 »

Thanks Marty! A bigger stacksize is not the most important thing, look at Christian's images and his stacksize. It is all about focus, noise and a good seeing.


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Re: CaK, 16022019. SolarMonitor plus experiments

Post by krakatoa1883 »

Really good images indeed. I am using the same scope for my calcium images, it is very well corrected for calcium imaging.


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Re: CaK, 16022019. SolarMonitor plus experiments

Post by Bob Yoesle »

Thanks for the trials you gone through Bart! Could you post or PM me the image trials of the filter combinations? Just curious to see all the results for the comparison...


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Re: CaK, 16022019. SolarMonitor plus experiments

Post by PDB »

Hi Bart,

very good testing you did. Great images.
Autoguiding in Firecapture. Have to try it again. I could control the mount from within Firecapture, but could not autoguide.
Have similar problems with my Skywatcher mount, sometimes it works, sometimes not. (And the Sun starts to move fast in the viewing window) Tried reversing dec/ra and speed in different combinations but no real luck. Not all ASCOM drivers are really stable and some drivers even completely go nuts and abort ...
A bigger stacksize is not the most important thing, look at Christian's images and his stacksize. It is all about focus, noise and a good seeing.
Correct. Only thing under these conditions, where you would need a bigger stack, is if the subs are noisy.

Regards,

Paul


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Re: CaK, 16022019. SolarMonitor plus experiments

Post by bart1805 »

Bob Yoesle wrote: Sun Feb 17, 2019 4:08 pm Thanks for the trials you gone through Bart! Could you post or PM me the image trials of the filter combinations? Just curious to see all the results for the comparison...
Hi Bob,
Here they are.

1. Baader Blue / KG3 / Baader K-line separated in two filter cells

ImageSun_103331_Gain=101(off)_Exposure=6.9ms_Gamma=91(off)42764_IMPPG_MOD_KG3_Off by bart moors, on Flickr

2. Baader Blue / Baader K-line separated in two filter cells

ImageSun_104849_Gain=63(off)_Exposure=6.9ms_Gamma=91(off)42666_IMPPG_MOD_geenKG3_OFF by bart moors, on Flickr

3) Lunt Blocking filters (so the tube with the two filters) / Baader K-line separated in two filter cells.

ImageSun_110800_Gain=139(off)_Exposure=7.9ms_Gamma=91(off)42769_IMPPG_Lunt_geenKG3_off by bart moors, on Flickr

4) Lunt Blocking filters (so the tube with the two filters) / Baader K-line just one of the two filter cells.

ImageSun_111920_Gain=121(off)_Exposure=6.9ms_Gamma=91(off)42818_IMPPG_Lunt_1Kline_geenKG3_off by bart moors, on Flickr

5) Lunt Blocking filters (so the tube with the two filters)

ImageSun_112831_Gain=79(off)_Exposure=5.1ms_Gamma=91(off)42808_IMPPG_Lunt_GeenKG3_off_Geen Kline by bart moors, on Flickr


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Re: CaK, 16022019. SolarMonitor plus experiments

Post by bart1805 »

Thanks Paul and Raf!


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Re: CaK, 16022019. SolarMonitor plus experiments

Post by marktownley »

A nice comparison of the variables bart!


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Re: CaK, 16022019. SolarMonitor plus experiments

Post by Carbon60 »

Great work, Bart. Nicely presented.

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Re: CaK, 16022019. SolarMonitor plus experiments

Post by Bob Yoesle »

Thanks Bart, nice to see in the comparisons!


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Re: CaK, 16022019. SolarMonitor plus experiments

Post by george9 »

Bart, is the "Lunt blocking filter" their CaK (e.g., B1200), or part of that, or something else?

To me, your #3,4,5 are somewhat similar, and all better than #1,2. Those would be triple stacked, more or less if the Lunt filter is the CaK because isn't the bandpass of the CaK about the same as one PST#1?

Thanks.

George


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Re: CaK, 16022019. SolarMonitor plus experiments

Post by bart1805 »

Hi George,
The piece I am using now is the two inch extension, first one on the left in these pictures:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=25552
It contains two blocking filters that are slightly tilted.

The 6 mm filter is the second one from the right on the first picture. If you use that filter in the imagetrain it would indeed be a triple stack. It is on my to do list.
Lunt is about 2.4 Angstrom, Coronado about 2.2.
Bart.


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Re: CaK, 16022019. SolarMonitor plus experiments

Post by george9 »

Got it now. Thanks. Awesome project (I had read the thread and its earlier one, but couldn't find it.) So without the 6mm.

Do you think the improvement in #3,4,5 is due to narrowing around 393nm, or due to better blocking of more distant wavelengths, say UV or IR?

George


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Re: CaK, 16022019. SolarMonitor plus experiments

Post by Montana »

An excellent comparison, a great set of images too :bow
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Re: CaK, 16022019. SolarMonitor plus experiments

Post by bart1805 »

george9 wrote: Mon Feb 18, 2019 12:32 pm Do you think the improvement in #3,4,5 is due to narrowing around 393nm, or due to better blocking of more distant wavelengths, say UV or IR?
Hi George,
That is the most interesting question. The amount of light in the focal point when just the Lunt filters are installed is very limited. Just a faint blue/purple circle on my hand. No heat at all.
My guess is that the blocking part is crucial here. But it seems to be quite narrow what goes through. Big question, and as far as I know unanswered, is what kind of filters are used in the 2 inch Lunt extension. Interesting will be to test if I remove the single Baader K-line and insert the 6mm Lunt filter what will happen. Will it be better than the combination I use now or will it be worse? To be continued!
CS! Bart.


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Re: CaK, 16022019. SolarMonitor plus experiments

Post by MAURITS »

Very nice images Bart ...


Regards,
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Re: CaK, 16022019. SolarMonitor plus experiments

Post by bart1805 »

MAURITS wrote: Mon Feb 18, 2019 4:03 pm Very nice images Bart ...
Thanks Maurits. I looked at your website, that is a dreamscope for CaK!


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