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My Best Solar Image - This One's Good

Discussion in 'Astrophotography and Imaging' started by Ed D, Jan 17, 2023.

My Best Solar Image - This One's Good

Started by Ed D on Jan 17, 2023 at 7:45 PM

2 Replies 471 Views 1 Likes

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  1. Ed D

    Ed D Well-Known Member

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    Ed D, Jan 17, 2023
    #1
    I made my solar filter work on the TV-85 and took 30 frames with the Canon T3i. This may be my best solar image ever:

    2023 01-17 Sun.jpg

    In this image you can see some granulation and other surface features, as well as detailed sunspots. I had to crop and reduce the image size in order to post it. I wish you could see it full resolution on a large HD TV.

    Here is the image from SpaceWeather.com showing the sunspot labels. Click on the thumbnail to open image:

    SW Image.jpg

    SUBJECT: White Light Sun

    LOCATION:
    Miami, Florida 25.61N 80.42W (Bortle 9 White Zone)
    Date - 17 January 2023
    Time - 9:15am EST
    Sky Conditions - Clear

    EQUIPMENT:
    Telescope/Lens - Tele Vue TV-85
    Imaging Camera - Canon T3i
    Mount - Alt-Az
    Filters - Baader Film White Light

    ACQUISITION:
    30 frames stacked

    PROCESSING:
    PIPP, AutoStakkert 3, GIMP, Photo Studio, Paint 3D

    NOTES:
    Blue tint used to maximize contrast and detail
     
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2023
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  2. Orion25

    Orion25 Well-Known Member

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    Orion25, Jan 19, 2023
    #2
    Wow! That's really impressive, Ed. I agree that this is your best solar image to date (and they all are great)! Congratulations! :)
     
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  3. Ed D

    Ed D Well-Known Member

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    Ed D, Jan 19, 2023
    #3
    Thank you, Reggie.

    I was thinking about the 'why' of my image turning out like it did. Obviously the quality of the optical instrument was very high.

    The biggest factor, I believe, is that by stopping the objective down to ~50mm the focal ratio was more than doubled. This effectively made the TV-85 a long focal length instrument (f/12+), the benefits being more depth of focus and the resulting greater image stability. The 72mm f/6 I had did not take images as crisp as the stopped down TV-85.

    I am a firm believer that for solar system imaging a good quality long focal ratio scope is best. I realize that a 10" f/12 Dob would be a beast, to put it mildly, but if you could somehow reasonably make it work it would trump the short scopes. This is a big reason why I love my 6" f/14 Mak for planetary imaging, even though I have a 10" f/4.7 Dob which I have used for imaging.

    With the abundance of sunshine where I live you may be seeing more solar images, providing Mother Nature cooperates.

    Ed D
     
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