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strongmanmike2002 | all galleries >> EAGLEVIEW - Astronomy Nirvana >> Excellent seeing conditions > Seeing conditions - Eagleview vs Wallaroo
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23-May-2023

Seeing conditions - Eagleview vs Wallaroo

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These are two different images of the interacting galaxies NGC 5426/5427 in Virgo, each galaxy is small in apparent size, at just
2.5 arc min in diameter, so good steady observing conditions helps when trying to get a good imaging result on them.

Both images were captured under the "typical" seeing conditions experienced at each site and average FWHM figures were
measured using Maxim DL, on individual raw Luminance sub frames. Even with 25% less exposure time and very similar processing,
aimed at revealing the best from the respective data sets, the superior site conditions typically experienced at Eagleview,
have enabled a subtle but clear increase in resolution and limiting magnitude to be achieved.

After 7 months of imaging from Eagleview now and using MaximDL to compare a number of raw data sets taken from the two sites, a
typical night at Eagleview consitently experiences FWHM readings in the 1.5" - 2.1" ** range, compared to 2.1" - 2.8" ** from Wallaroo,
so while not quite the Atacama dessert and not withstanding other contributing factors, I am now convinced that the extra 850m in
altitude does indeed make a significant difference and essentially, my worst conditions now, were once my best conditions..so that's pretty cool.

Having recently analyzed the FWHM of several data sets taken from Wallaroo between 2014 and 2021 (I previously didn't have MaximDL)
and as I recall, the seeing was clearly quite variable, averaging a FWHM of about 2.50" while at Eagleview it has been much more
consistent, averaging a FWHM of about 1.65" with far greater transparency and much darker skies...happy Chappy :-)

Another seeing quality comparison can be seen here: https://pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/173190596/original

Equipment used for both data sets is here: https://pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/173097781/original

**NB: My telescope suffers from a small amount of astigmatism, so aberration free, the true FWHM values would be a bit lower.


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