Thanks so much, Maura! Couldn't believe how much work there was to process the images, but I'm glad I did. I was happy with it. 😆
@terri That is a fantastic image Terri. I could barely see the ion tail in my images but yours is perfect. I am ordering pixinsight today.
Here's an update. I added the remaining data (color only) and have discarded the luminance (too much work). It is a bit noisy as I tried to extract more than what was in the data.. so may look a bit over-cooked.
I was able to capture a few brief images of C/2022 E3 (ZTF) with Mars last night. The images were VERY brief duration of 30 sec. I was actually testing something else and decided to aim here.
I didn't go through all the hoopla of processing the comet photo in detail, so Mars and some stars look a little oblong-ish. Mars is at the left of the image (red, of course).
Askar 107PHQ Petzval Quadruplet (native 749mm fL; F/7) with a 0.7x reducer (524mm fL; F/4.9)
ASI2600MC Pro (OSC camera)
ZWO AM5 mount with guiding via ASIAir Plus using an ASI178mm mini and a 60mm F4 guide scope
30s x 5 [Total Exposure 0:02:30]; with dark, flat, and dark-flat frames
Pre- and post-processed Pixinsight; Final edits in Photoshop.
Sorry, couldn't get to this post to edit it in time, but I changed the distortion a bit so Mars and some of the other stars look round.
Greg, great capture! And nice stars too!
terri
