AR2898 Calcium - Thursday November 25, 2021

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AR2898 Calcium - Thursday November 25, 2021

Post by ffellah »

Hello and Happy Thanksgiving to all: I received a Quark Calcium H yesterday and with the wonderful advice of Mark T. and Alexandra I was able to test it today in the gaps between the clouds. I have always admired all your posts in Calcium but never pursued it. Now the time has come. Mark advised me to stop down my AR152 to 50mm, and that is what I did. But I stopped it at the edge of the dew shield: I believe that added another 270mm or so to the 988mm focal length, resulting in about f/25. Alexandra advised me on exposure, and I tried to follow her guidance.

First of all I was pleasantly surprised to be able to see the solar disk visually: I was also able to see AR2898. Calcium is notoriously hard to observe as it is at the edge of the visual spectrum. I had my cataracts done about 4 years ago and that I believe is the reason I could see it. Second surprise: all equipment worked beautifully with no problems. It looks like the AR152 works really well at this frequency, as well as the PG Flea 3 3.2Mp and the ZWO178 cameras.

Overall this was a lot of fun: the Quark worked well, I like this new perspective of the sun. It is a different way of imaging but hope to get better with time. These are the first results.

Franco
Attachments
094702 AR2898 color c.jpg
094702 AR2898 color c.jpg (228.37 KiB) Viewed 596 times
094702 AR2898 mono c.jpg
094702 AR2898 mono c.jpg (182.89 KiB) Viewed 596 times
094017 AR2898 color mc c.jpg
094017 AR2898 color mc c.jpg (188.62 KiB) Viewed 596 times
094017 AR2898 mono mc c.jpg
094017 AR2898 mono mc c.jpg (190.91 KiB) Viewed 596 times
IMG_6035.jpg
IMG_6035.jpg (1.59 MiB) Viewed 596 times
IMG_6031.jpg
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Last edited by ffellah on Thu Nov 25, 2021 8:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.


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Re: AR2898 Calcium - Thursday November 25, 2021

Post by EGRAY_OBSERVATORY »

Very well achieved on your new acquisition Franco and the first CaH lights, which are really very good (if not superb).

Certainly the capture of AR2898 is better than that which I have recently posted via SDO.

Far superior to my dismissal attempts of catching this AR in Sodium today.

Thanks for sharing and the pics of the set-up.

Regards
Terry


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Re: AR2898 Calcium - Thursday November 25, 2021

Post by Ibbo »

Great 1st light with the new kit.
Lots more fun to come with the CaH


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Re: AR2898 Calcium - Thursday November 25, 2021

Post by ffellah »

Thank you very much Terry and Ibbo. Terry: I hope the weather will be more cooperative with your sodium imaging, I look forward to more of your postings. I just finished putting together this partial disk mosaic.

Franco
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Mosaic color 2.jpg
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Re: AR2898 Calcium - Thursday November 25, 2021

Post by thesmiths »

First of all I was pleasantly surprised to be able to see the solar disk visually
Calcium H is actually significantly "brighter" than Calcium K. So that might be part of the reason. Below is a screenshot from a spectrum I was looking at a few months ago (during an SHG imaging session). The camera was a ASI 290MM and the grating was 1800 l/mm. On the screen, it is even more noticeable how much darker the CaK region is than the CaH. The additional number of photons makes it somewhat easier to image in CaH and I have not noticed too much difference in surface features. I'm actually surprised that CaK became the "dominant" filter. Does anyone know the reason for that?


CaK (left) and CaH (right)
CaK (left) and CaH (right)
Calcium-K-&-H.jpg (40.47 KiB) Viewed 576 times


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Re: AR2898 Calcium - Thursday November 25, 2021

Post by DeepSolar64 »

Franco,
Excellent CaH first light images. I have read that CaH is a bit easier to see visually than CaK is but no doubt your cataract surgery has made this wavelength easier to see. I was surprised on how much dimmer G-Band ( 430nm ) is than 540nm. I have to put a hood over my head to block out stray light to see 430nm well and it's well above CaH and CaK.

Franco, what refractor are you using?

James
Last edited by DeepSolar64 on Thu Nov 25, 2021 10:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.


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Re: AR2898 Calcium - Thursday November 25, 2021

Post by DeepSolar64 »

My guess with amateur use of CaK vs CaH is they inherited it from the professionals. Pros image in CaK much more often than in CaH despite the CaH wavelength being brighter and showing the same features. I have no idea why the pros prefer it.


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Re: AR2898 Calcium - Thursday November 25, 2021

Post by EGRAY_OBSERVATORY »

Thanks again Franco and I have posted the only two useable captures in Sodium and WL, but again they are not particularly good.

Terry
25-11-2021 12_04z Sodium AR2898.jpg
25-11-2021 12_04z Sodium AR2898.jpg (39.07 KiB) Viewed 562 times
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25-11-2021 1231z WL-HW AR2898.jpg
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Re: AR2898 Calcium - Thursday November 25, 2021

Post by DeepSolar64 »

Terry,
They turned out good. The sodium is the best of the two. It shows clearly to spot group of AR12898.

James


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Re: AR2898 Calcium - Thursday November 25, 2021

Post by EGRAY_OBSERVATORY »

Thanks James and I would like to use a Barlow to try for a closer capture with the Sodium at least to see how that performs with steady conditions.

Also as with Franco's excellent CaH captures using his F-stopper, I have found that mine are also required - even for the 80mm aperture...

Franco, I also have found that with the ED80T-CF an F-stop of 50mm seems to work well, but still early-days to confirm which are the best...

Terry


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Re: AR2898 Calcium - Thursday November 25, 2021

Post by Martin_S »

Great results Franco, you have some nice crisp images, well done.

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Re: AR2898 Calcium - Thursday November 25, 2021

Post by jacinto »

Excelent Pictures !!! Franco


Jacinto


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Re: AR2898 Calcium - Thursday November 25, 2021

Post by marktownley »

Excellent results Franco! The 152 will work great stopped down at 50mm with native focal length - focal length will be the same regardless of the position of the mask infront of the objective.

Your next one to try when conditions allow, stop the scope down to f10, and then run the Airylab 2.7x telecentric behind the scope and ahead of the Quark, this will give you a high res CAK system then. The 152 will still be Ok-ish at f10 in CaK. I think you will be pleasantly surprised with the results, the airylab is optically excellent deep in the blue...


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Re: AR2898 Calcium - Thursday November 25, 2021

Post by Montana »

:hamster: :hamster: :hamster: excellent results for first light and a very happy thanksgiving I am sure :bow

I remember seeing CaK for the first time and it was like seeing a completely new face on the Sun, you will love it for sure. Great to hear you can see it too, I love the visual from my Lunt CaK module (no cataracts removed either) :)

Alexandra


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Re: AR2898 Calcium - Thursday November 25, 2021

Post by arnedanielsen »

What a great start on your CaH adventure Franco! Looking forward to seeing lots of new images with this setup in the future.

Best regards,
Arne


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Re: AR2898 Calcium - Thursday November 25, 2021

Post by rigel123 »

Those look great Franco!


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Re: AR2898 Calcium - Thursday November 25, 2021

Post by ffellah »

Thank you all for your nice comments ! James: the scope is the Explore Scientific 152mm achromatic refractor. Terry: thank you for posting your images, very nice. Mark T. : what you say about the focal length makes all the sense. I will try the Airylab telecentric when seeing allows and if all parts fit well together. Thank you for the new tip. Thesmiths: what I saw in CaH is a rather dark bluish, purplish circle, not a view that you would expect looking through a telescope. I had to search for the AR, it was not immediately evident. I could not see any other features.

Franco


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Re: AR2898 Calcium - Thursday November 25, 2021

Post by eroel »

Franco:
Super first light CaK images and setup.
Best regards,
Eric.


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Re: AR2898 Calcium - Thursday November 25, 2021

Post by DeepSolar64 »

Alexandra,
It's nice you can see CaK visually. It seems few can. Can you describe what you can see?

Franco,
I am considering a 6" class refractor for high resolution white light views when seeing allows. I have been mostly looking at Celestron and Sky-Watcher models. Maybe I should give Explorer Scientific a look.

James


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Re: AR2898 Calcium - Thursday November 25, 2021

Post by Carbon60 »

Great images, Franco. That’s a really nice new toy.
You did really well, especially as these are first light images. :)

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Re: AR2898 Calcium - Thursday November 25, 2021

Post by ffellah »

Thank you very much Eric, James and Stu for your comments. James: I think that the Explore Scientific AR152 represents an excellent value for the price: I have had it for maybe three years and it is a good scope. Before buying it I read a number of reviews and they were almost all very positive.

Franco


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Re: AR2898 Calcium - Thursday November 25, 2021

Post by DeepSolar64 »

I’ll look it up Franco. Thank you!


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