From: Milton Aupperle <milton@outcastsoft.com>

Date: November 17, 2008 11:02:25 AM MST

To: Astro_IIDC@yahoogroups.com

Subject: Re: [Astro_IIDC] Updated Web site

Hi Mark;

On 17-Nov-08, at 7:32 AM, Mark Gaffney wrote:

Hi Milton, That Celestron Radial Guider OAG set-up is quite long with  

everything attached! I take it you can no longer use the finder once  

the TIS camera is in place & guiding, (in the example pictures).  

No I can use the finder. The Guide Camera rotates around the axis, so I just move it out of the way if I need the finder. And the only time I need to use the finder is when I'm initializing the GoTo. Once that is done, I rarely need to use it.

You`re taking long exposures (in 2 of the Luna pictures) some 800  

frames per movie! I `ve so far only taken 100 or so per movie. Is 800  

at the limit of the peliter cooling?

There's no limit on frame capture. For Mars shooting in 2005 I was shooting 3000 to 4000 frames per movie.

I wonder how your "my Compositor"  

compares to such software as Photoshop CS3 for final compositing of  

the completed images?

I don't use PhotoShop, so I can't compare them for doing that task. My past experience with PhotoShop was confusing when working with layers. The Compositor app I wrote makes that a lot simpler, as it treats each image as a clickable object, so you drag them over each other and then they blend the edges together.

I`ll have to look into a f6.3 reducer when I can  

afford it. The Grasshopper images are beautifully detailed! Is it  

possible to add colour to the M101 image or were you lacking some of  

the channels for that one? M

I shot it during our short summers and it was on the downward rotating side of the pole. So I got an hours worth of Luma image data before it dropped below 30 degrees. I intended to shoot it in color too, but the weather would not cooperate.

TTYL..

Milton J. Aupperle