Thank you for watching! Check out my merch here: naztronomy.com/shop/ Prepare yourself for upcoming solar eclipses with the reliable eclipse glasses available at Lunt Solar Systems:luntsolarsystems.com/product-category/eclipse-products/eclipse-glasses/ref/nazmus/?campaign=Lunt40FirstLight
I am finishing up a video for the sun as well. I did it a little differently. I used a 80mm Ha scope, ASI183mm-Pro, and exposed for 1 minute at 3.5ms, 11fps. The larger chip let me get the entire disk in the field of view. I then recorded for about 3.5 hours. Each minute was 9GB of data. I then only took the best 1% of the 600+ frames each minute. This let me stack only the best images and I seemed to have better results. I was also able to do the processing in PS in a way that let me get edge details without needed multiple exposures. Now I have a 3.5 hour movie, with lots of neat transient flares and proms that just happened to pop up, as well as interesting chromospheric "spikes" and high-level "clouds".
That sounds awesome! I'll be on the lookout for that video. I do need to get myself a mono cam with a bigger sensor. Thinking either the 290mm or 174mm because I want a new guide cam anyway. I'm curious to see what your images look like. I processed the image in my last video as a single exposure, was able to get good details on the prominences. Clear skies!
Great video, Naz! I need to work on that disk/colorizing thing. I get good images in monochrome, but didn't know how to add the color in. Have Photoshop Elements and GIMP, so I hope one of the two will let me do that channels thing
Thank you!! You can definitely do this in GIMP. It's been a while since I used Gimp but I opened it up to remind myself. To change to RGB, go to Image >> Mode >> RGB (by default it'll be grayscale). Right next to your "Layers" tab, there should be one for "Channels" - similar to how it looks in photoshop. You should see the RGB Channels pop up. I don't think GIMP has adjustment layers so you can do Layer >> Layer from Visible. Then do Colors >> Curves and adjust the individual channels. Then another Layer from Visible, Curves, and adjust the default channel (I think it'll say just "Value"). A small S-curve should make it a bit more contrast- y. Similar to what I did in 14:52. Good luck and let me know if you have any questions! My gimp knowledge is rusty but I used to use it all the time.
Check out my latest h-alpha video, I have a way to insert my newer camera to avoid the newton rings: th-cam.com/video/KrKCVU6luHY/w-d-xo.html The rings also get mostly averaged out in post-processing.
Awesome! Gimp will definitely be very similar. Good luck! I don't know if you're into scripting/python but I'm working on a way to automatically sharpen and colorize images of the sun using a Python script: github.com/naztronaut/Quick-H-Alpha-Solar-Colorizing It's still a work in progress but it essentially takes the photoshop part of my video and turns it into something I can repeat. Works pretty well but still need to work out some kinks.
im using lunt40mm with ASI224MC. When i turn on firecapture I only see a black screen. is there any setting I'm missing. i even tried to look at the moon with the same camera and using Celestron 8se and still balck screen,
Have you tried testing the 8SE and the camera during the day time on something terrestrial? If not, I'd recommend pointing it to a far away tree or something and see if that works. A large SCT is really hard to focus so your focus just may be off. For the Lunt, I'd recommend finding and centering the sun with an eyepiece first. Use the Sol Searcher to find the sun then the eyepiece to center it. Then install the camera and try to find focus. And try a longer exposure, maybe start with a 5 second exposure. It's a long time so you may see a white screen at first but at least this will tell you that the camera is seeing light. Let me know if you're still having issues after trying these. Good luck!
how do i get my avx to stay on alignment? I go through and do quck align because the sun but after a couple minutes the sun is out of frame? thoughts, anyone? TIA
Is your AVX properly polar aligned? If not, then that would explain the drift. It doesn't have to be a perfect polar alignment but the closer you get to perfect, the better it'll be. In my video, I guesstimated my polar alignment and I did pretty well. The sun was in view for my entire session. If you are polar aligned, then I'd recommend trying it out at night and try to track the moon or something. If it still happens then you should check the power to your mount to make sure it's getting enough juice. If that's not the case then you may need to open it up to regrease the gears or reach out to Celestron for advice. They're pretty responsive. Let me know if you have other questions.
The stripes on the disc when doing the firecapture video, are those newton rings? Are they caused by the camera you use? I see they disappear later in the post process.
Yep! Those are newton rings. They are caused by how the light hits the camera's sensor. Usually tilting how the light hits the sensor will fix it when viewing live. Tilting can be done at the camera using a tilt adjuster. Of course that's just more $$$. On the Lunt or other H-alpha telescopes with a tilt-shift etalon, adjusting that sometimes helps. I tend to lose detail on the surface so I don't tilt my etalon enough to get rid of the rings. The reason why they disappear in post is because during stacking, the pixels average out so it's not a problem at all anymore.
Thank you and great question! Short answer is yes, it makes it harder to see details in the filaments. Long answer: Hydrogen Alpha is in the very deep red part of the spectrum and the bayer pattern for a color camera is typically RGGB (can be any orientation) and only one of those pixels is red. So you end up using just 25% of your sensor to collect the hydrogen alpha signal. This also causes you to lose a lot of detail because your sensor just isn't seeing them. A monochrome camera is catching the light on every pixel and is far more efficient for narrowband imaging. This is actually true for all astrophotography. People who do monochrome imaging with filters typically get much sharper/clearer images. If you watch my other video on the Lunt 40, I have a section around the 11 minute mark where I show you what the sun looks like through my DSLR's color sensor: th-cam.com/video/a0NDs0DoWoA/w-d-xo.html You'll see that it's very red and surface details are harder to see. You can tune it to get some more details but it'll never be as good as a mono cam. Hope this makes sense! let me know if you have any questions.
@@Naztronomy i see the difference.. I got a few clear skies a while ago and captured a few shots.. the filaments were washed out.. i tried tuning it but wasn’t doing any better.. thankyou very much for the help and perfect explanation. Clear skies mate
Thank you for watching! Check out my merch here: naztronomy.com/shop/
Prepare yourself for upcoming solar eclipses with the reliable eclipse glasses available at Lunt Solar Systems:luntsolarsystems.com/product-category/eclipse-products/eclipse-glasses/ref/nazmus/?campaign=Lunt40FirstLight
very helpful video, thanks so much
Glad the video was helpful 😊 Clear skies!
I am finishing up a video for the sun as well. I did it a little differently. I used a 80mm Ha scope, ASI183mm-Pro, and exposed for 1 minute at 3.5ms, 11fps. The larger chip let me get the entire disk in the field of view. I then recorded for about 3.5 hours. Each minute was 9GB of data. I then only took the best 1% of the 600+ frames each minute. This let me stack only the best images and I seemed to have better results.
I was also able to do the processing in PS in a way that let me get edge details without needed multiple exposures.
Now I have a 3.5 hour movie, with lots of neat transient flares and proms that just happened to pop up, as well as interesting chromospheric "spikes" and high-level "clouds".
That sounds awesome! I'll be on the lookout for that video.
I do need to get myself a mono cam with a bigger sensor. Thinking either the 290mm or 174mm because I want a new guide cam anyway.
I'm curious to see what your images look like. I processed the image in my last video as a single exposure, was able to get good details on the prominences.
Clear skies!
@@Naztronomy Just posted the full version and the 4K lone timelapse.
@@FortWorthAstronomicalSociety Awesome! Checking it out now.
Glad I found you. Subscribed. Keep up the good work.
Thank you 😊I appreciate the kind words!
Subscribed. Also sold me on the Lunt 40
Awesome 😊Hope you get it soon!
Great video, Naz! I need to work on that disk/colorizing thing. I get good images in monochrome, but didn't know how to add the color in. Have Photoshop Elements and GIMP, so I hope one of the two will let me do that channels thing
Thank you!! You can definitely do this in GIMP. It's been a while since I used Gimp but I opened it up to remind myself.
To change to RGB, go to Image >> Mode >> RGB (by default it'll be grayscale).
Right next to your "Layers" tab, there should be one for "Channels" - similar to how it looks in photoshop. You should see the RGB Channels pop up.
I don't think GIMP has adjustment layers so you can do Layer >> Layer from Visible. Then do Colors >> Curves and adjust the individual channels.
Then another Layer from Visible, Curves, and adjust the default channel (I think it'll say just "Value"). A small S-curve should make it a bit more contrast- y. Similar to what I did in 14:52.
Good luck and let me know if you have any questions! My gimp knowledge is rusty but I used to use it all the time.
@@Naztronomy thank you for this explanation! 😁👍
@@Eyesonthesky You are welcome 😊
4:02 you have a lot of newton rings ! you need a tilt adjuster
Check out my latest h-alpha video, I have a way to insert my newer camera to avoid the newton rings: th-cam.com/video/KrKCVU6luHY/w-d-xo.html
The rings also get mostly averaged out in post-processing.
Very helpful I just took videos today with a asi120 mono and coronado PST but I'm using autostakert and gimp for processing so it should be similar.
Awesome! Gimp will definitely be very similar. Good luck!
I don't know if you're into scripting/python but I'm working on a way to automatically sharpen and colorize images of the sun using a Python script: github.com/naztronaut/Quick-H-Alpha-Solar-Colorizing
It's still a work in progress but it essentially takes the photoshop part of my video and turns it into something I can repeat. Works pretty well but still need to work out some kinks.
Teach as to capture and create the belissimo imaginos. Arriva amigos
im using lunt40mm with ASI224MC. When i turn on firecapture I only see a black screen. is there any setting I'm missing. i even tried to look at the moon with the same camera and using Celestron 8se and still balck screen,
Have you tried testing the 8SE and the camera during the day time on something terrestrial? If not, I'd recommend pointing it to a far away tree or something and see if that works. A large SCT is really hard to focus so your focus just may be off.
For the Lunt, I'd recommend finding and centering the sun with an eyepiece first. Use the Sol Searcher to find the sun then the eyepiece to center it. Then install the camera and try to find focus. And try a longer exposure, maybe start with a 5 second exposure. It's a long time so you may see a white screen at first but at least this will tell you that the camera is seeing light.
Let me know if you're still having issues after trying these. Good luck!
@@Naztronomy thank you very much. i'll try all that I'll keep you updated
how do i get my avx to stay on alignment? I go through and do quck align because the sun but after a couple minutes the sun is out of frame? thoughts, anyone? TIA
Is your AVX properly polar aligned? If not, then that would explain the drift. It doesn't have to be a perfect polar alignment but the closer you get to perfect, the better it'll be.
In my video, I guesstimated my polar alignment and I did pretty well. The sun was in view for my entire session.
If you are polar aligned, then I'd recommend trying it out at night and try to track the moon or something. If it still happens then you should check the power to your mount to make sure it's getting enough juice. If that's not the case then you may need to open it up to regrease the gears or reach out to Celestron for advice. They're pretty responsive.
Let me know if you have other questions.
The stripes on the disc when doing the firecapture video, are those newton rings? Are they caused by the camera you use? I see they disappear later in the post process.
Yep! Those are newton rings. They are caused by how the light hits the camera's sensor. Usually tilting how the light hits the sensor will fix it when viewing live.
Tilting can be done at the camera using a tilt adjuster. Of course that's just more $$$. On the Lunt or other H-alpha telescopes with a tilt-shift etalon, adjusting that sometimes helps. I tend to lose detail on the surface so I don't tilt my etalon enough to get rid of the rings.
The reason why they disappear in post is because during stacking, the pixels average out so it's not a problem at all anymore.
Thats a cool video.. just a small question do you think color cameras makes filaments less clear? Or is it poor tuning ?
Thank you and great question!
Short answer is yes, it makes it harder to see details in the filaments.
Long answer:
Hydrogen Alpha is in the very deep red part of the spectrum and the bayer pattern for a color camera is typically RGGB (can be any orientation) and only one of those pixels is red. So you end up using just 25% of your sensor to collect the hydrogen alpha signal. This also causes you to lose a lot of detail because your sensor just isn't seeing them.
A monochrome camera is catching the light on every pixel and is far more efficient for narrowband imaging. This is actually true for all astrophotography. People who do monochrome imaging with filters typically get much sharper/clearer images.
If you watch my other video on the Lunt 40, I have a section around the 11 minute mark where I show you what the sun looks like through my DSLR's color sensor: th-cam.com/video/a0NDs0DoWoA/w-d-xo.html
You'll see that it's very red and surface details are harder to see. You can tune it to get some more details but it'll never be as good as a mono cam.
Hope this makes sense! let me know if you have any questions.
@@Naztronomy i see the difference.. I got a few clear skies a while ago and captured a few shots.. the filaments were washed out.. i tried tuning it but wasn’t doing any better..
thankyou very much for the help and perfect explanation.
Clear skies mate
@@fxnzk Anytime and clear skies 😊
2:26 Essa é a cor VERDADEIRA do Sol. O vermelho o nome dele é narizta, filho do Gepeto.
Está amarelado por conta do filtro, mas esse radiador é BRANCO.