Centaurus A, Omega Centauri and a few others

[Martin Meredith]

I'm currently spending a few days at latitude 36N. Last night was clear but my new-found observing site takes in three lighthouses and skyglow in the SSE direction from the huge port complex near Cadiz city, so I wasn't expecting much in the way of detail from my target objects which were generally 5-10 degrees above the southern horizon. Not for the first time then I was blown away by what the Lodestar-C/LodestarLive combination is capable of producing. 

These are all PNG screen-saves produced by LodestarLive. I collected a bunch of 60s darks at the start of the session so any exposures less than this will show some artefacts. Tweaking usually took around 5 seconds. All taken with 80mm f/6 StellarVue Nighthawk on AZ-EQ6 in AZ mode with no filters.

First, the bright (mag 7) radio galaxy, Centaurus A (NGC 5128), caught near to culmination at around 10.5 deg above the horizon. This was the first time I'd seen this object (I later just about saw it in 10x50s with averted vision). Its an elliptical with a wide dust lane, resulting in a visually-rare combination that is really spectacular. This is a 60s exposure.

Next, maximally 6 degrees above the horizon is Omega Centauri (NGC 5139). 

Below is an image of M13 I took a few weeks back at the same image scale. Omega Centauri is an enormous globular! Both images are 15s exposures.

Even a 5 second image, though noisy, captures the essence of the object:

I chanced my arm with another Centaurus globular, NGC 5286 (also known as Dunlop 338) which was just 1 deg 40 above the horizon at the time. The bright star just below is a spectroscopic binary. Sure, its not a particularly spectacular sight, but the fact that the Lodestar could pull anything out of the murk here was impressive to me.

Finally, just before packing up around 2am a couple of other shots:

-- a combination of 3 edge-on spirals in Virgo. At the centre is NGC4216 (mag 10). Just below is NGC4206 (mag 12.2), and above, the faintest of the three at mag 13.3 is NGC4222. 

-- M83 in Hydra at 23 deg in 60s.

Thanks again to Paul for this wonderful piece of software!

Martin

[Astrogate]

Martin Meredith, on 26 Apr 2014 - 10:59 AM, said:

I'm currently spending a few days at latitude 36N. Last night was clear but my new-found observing site takes in three lighthouses and skyglow in the SSE direction from the huge port complex near Cadiz city, so I wasn't expecting much in the way of detail from my target objects which were generally 5-10 degrees above the southern horizon. Not for the first time then I was blown away by what the Lodestar-C/LodestarLive combination is capable of producing. 

These are all PNG screen-saves produced by LodestarLive. I collected a bunch of 60s darks at the start of the session so any exposures less than this will show some artefacts. Tweaking usually took around 5 seconds. All taken with 80mm f/6 StellarVue Nighthawk on AZ-EQ6 in AZ mode with no filters.

First, the bright (mag 7) radio galaxy, Centaurus A (NGC 5128), caught near to culmination at around 10.5 deg above the horizon. This was the first time I'd seen this object (I later just about saw it in 10x50s with averted vision). Its an elliptical with a wide dust lane, resulting in a visually-rare combination that is really spectacular. This is a 60s exposure.

Centaurus.A_2014.4.26_01.11.22.png

Next, maximally 6 degrees above the horizon is Omega Centauri (NGC 5139). 

Omega.Centauri.15s_2014.4.26_01.20.11.png

Below is an image of M13 I took a few weeks back at the same image scale. Omega Centauri is an enormous globular! Both images are 15s exposures.

m13.15s_2014.4.17_23.58.04.png

Even a 5 second image, though noisy, captures the essence of the object:

Omega.Centauri.5s_2014.4.26_01.22.14.png

I chanced my arm with another Centaurus globular, NGC 5286 (also known as Dunlop 338) which was just 1 deg 40 above the horizon at the time. The bright star just below is a spectroscopic binary. Sure, its not a particularly spectacular sight, but the fact that the Lodestar could pull anything out of the murk here was impressive to me.

NGC5286.60s.1deg40.above.horizon_2014.4.26_01.32.38.png

Finally, just before packing up around 2am a couple of other shots:

-- a combination of 3 edge-on spirals in Virgo. At the centre is NGC4216 (mag 10). Just below is NGC4206 (mag 12.2), and above, the faintest of the three at mag 13.3 is NGC4222. 

NGC4216.60s_2014.4.26_02.00.40.png

-- M83 in Hydra at 23 deg in 60s.

M83.60s_2014.4.26_01.42.34.png

Thanks again to Paul for this wonderful piece of software!

Martin

Excellent captures Martin and I am very impressed if this is really what you are seeing in real-time on your computer monitor. Now that there is a fantastic software (like the Miloslick) created generously for free by Paul, Lets get some of you users broadcasting this for us all to see, share and enjoy on NSN.

Chris A

[Paul81]

A superb set of captures Martin, I was really looking forward to seeing these as there is a number of objects there I have never observed before. Seeing Omega Centauri is on my bucket list, need to travel somewhere south with a scope! Its much bigger than I thought, good job you have got the nice wide field of view from the 80mm. Fingers crossed you get some more clear skies whilst you are away!

Chris - I had a brief look at NSN (I am not signed up ATM so only googled around), but is there a way the client can capture the output of an application running on the desktop, or an area of the desktop? It seemed to me the application will only talk directly to a camera? As Lodestar Live does all the clever processing, I would need to get the display output into something the NSN client can understand (I may need to have a plugin to Lodestar Live that allows it to output the live processed images as a camera feed, thus feeding into NSN). If NSN can capture a region of the desktop then its no problem and will work right now out of the box. I do agree it would be great to allow people around the world to see the results live as they are captured - especially when I have the live stacking in place as the object being observed will grow in detail as you continue to watch 

[Paul81]

Ah so after a bit more Googling (and your other post Chris) I am guessing Manycam is what can be used to basically grab video from Lodestar Live and direct it towards the NSN app? If so looks easy enough (plus I want to grab output from lodestar live to create a few video tutorials anyway) so I'll have a play and get signed up and broadcasting next time the clouds and social life oblige! 

[Martin Meredith]

Thanks Paul and Chris. Chris, indeed these are saved from within LodestarLive as PNGs so unless Paul has sneaked in some clever tricks during the save     they're the same as what I see on the screen.

As a foretaste of what might happen with a bit of live stacking here's two of the above processed in Nebulosity (dark subtraction + debayering + stacking (10 x 60s) + background removal + noise reduction -- the first two steps are what LodestarLive already does and the rest is done based on the default Neb settings)

For an object about 10deg above the horizon with some light pollution I think you have to agree that the Lodestar is an excellent device and coupled with LodestarLive is a breath-taking combination. And this is with the less sensitive camera on an 80mm f/6 achromat double with a stiff rack-and-pinion single-speed focuser in the hands of a complete novice. 

Here's the same post-processing applied to M83:

Paul, Omega C is definitely worth a trip. Somewhere a bit further south like Tenerife would be ideal ;-) 

Last night I was observing a few more Abell groups: 1656 in particular is just spectacular. The whole field is full of little galaxies. This was not at the darker site but on the terrace with streetlights and lots of skyglow from the nearby US-rented airbase and docks... Again, I wasn't expecting too much but I saw galaxies down to below 15 Mag (need to check again later to see what else is in there). I even caught the Mice as separate entities in Coma with the hint of a tail. Maybe some pics later -- the Net is grindingly slow here at present.

Martin

[Astrogate]

Paul81, on 27 Apr 2014 - 08:41 AM, said:

Ah so after a bit more Googling (and your other post Chris) I am guessing Manycam is what can be used to basically grab video from Lodestar Live and direct it towards the NSN app? If so looks easy enough (plus I want to grab output from lodestar live to create a few video tutorials anyway) so I'll have a play and get signed up and broadcasting next time the clouds and social life oblige! 

Hi Paul

Yes you are correct you need either Manycam (free can remove the watermark), WebcamMax (free but cannot remove the watermark), Splitcam (free can remove the watermark) or any other program to capture your Lodastar Live preview on your desktop screen. ** If I want to only use the video settings like brightness, contrast, hue, saturation and sharpness, I can connect NSN (Flash Player) directly to the camera using MC Control which is the only Mallincam software so far that will allow this type of connection. However, If I want to use Miloslick (which I now fully use) to stack, remove amp glow etc. because the preview must be turned on for this to work, I must use either Manycam, WebcamMax or Splitcam. You would for example use WebcamMax and go to "capture screen source" and under mode choose "specific area" then set the resolution and use your mouse to bring the red box (grey box for Manycam) fitting precisely on top of ** your Lodestar preview screen and NOT the NSN preview **.

WebcamMax is also free but you cannot remove the watermark label like you can for Splicam or Manycam. Showing the watermark is a big no/no on NSN (see rules) because of copyright issues. I have found that the text is sharper using WebcamMax so I bought a dual licence for $40 a couple of years ago because at the time the free Manycam's resolution (text reading) was not as sharp on the NSN preview but that has been resolved now. You can use the free WebcamMax on NSN to test the clarity compared to the other two programs and decide what is best for you. The only difference between the free WebcamMax and the license copy is the removal of the watermark and that is it. 

It would be fantastic now that the Lodestar owners now have your fantastic software Lodestar Live to go on NSN and share their very nice views with the public. NSN is a very fun and friendly place and I believe you guy's will enjoy it. Thank you Paul for looking into this and hope to see you and other Lodestar users on NSN. Please join me also on NSN when I am broadcasting under the name "Astrogate"

Here are some links to the free programs required to make this happen

Manycam

http://manycam.com/

WebcamMax

http://www.webcammax.com/

Splitcam

http://splitcamera.com/

Cheers,

Chris A

Astrogate

[Astrogate]

Thanks Paul and Chris. Chris, indeed these are saved from within LodestarLive as PNGs so unless Paul has sneaked in some clever tricks during the save     they're the same as what I see on the screen.

As a foretaste of what might happen with a bit of live stacking here's two of the above processed in Nebulosity (dark subtraction + debayering + stacking (10 x 60s) + background removal + noise reduction -- the first two steps are what LodestarLive already does and the rest is done based on the default Neb settings)

CentaurusA_stacked.png

For an object about 10deg above the horizon with some light pollution I think you have to agree that the Lodestar is an excellent device and coupled with LodestarLive is a breath-taking combination. And this is with the less sensitive camera on an 80mm f/6 achromat double with a stiff rack-and-pinion single-speed focuser in the hands of a complete novice. 

Here's the same post-processing applied to M83:

M83_stacked.png

Paul, Omega C is definitely worth a trip. Somewhere a bit further south like Tenerife would be ideal ;-) 

Last night I was observing a few more Abell groups: 1656 in particular is just spectacular. The whole field is full of little galaxies. This was not at the darker site but on the terrace with streetlights and lots of skyglow from the nearby US-rented airbase and docks... Again, I wasn't expecting too much but I saw galaxies down to below 15 Mag (need to check again later to see what else is in there). I even caught the Mice as separate entities in Coma with the hint of a tail. Maybe some pics later -- the Net is grindingly slow here at present.

Martin

Really nicely done Martin! I just sent Paul so information on how to broadcast these awesome views live on NSN to the public for sharing, chatting and having some fun + to do this it is all free. I hope you and other Lodestar owners can join us all on NSN since it is now very easy to do esp. since you guy's now have a great program from Paul to allow for live adjustments.

Clear skies,

Chris A

[Astrogate]

Ah so after a bit more Googling (and your other post Chris) I am guessing Manycam is what can be used to basically grab video from Lodestar Live and direct it towards the NSN app? If so looks easy enough (plus I want to grab output from lodestar live to create a few video tutorials anyway) so I'll have a play and get signed up and broadcasting next time the clouds and social life oblige! 

I forgot to mention Paul that you must select for camera under NSN the program that you will be using and not your camera driver. Please let me know if you ever need any help and I will be here for you or anyone else who wants to give NSN broadcasting a go.

Cheers,

Chris A

Astrogate

[shirva]

looking good guys///software has come a long way now paul..davy

[Paul81]

Thanks for all the info Chris, I will give it all a thorough read-through. I think in the future I can write a plugin to Lodestar Live to directly export to a pseudo camera end point so avoiding the middle-man SW. That is a future project though!

The astro season is pretty much coming to an end for me for the summer break. It doesn't get sufficiently dark enough until around 10pm by which time I have to think about winding down to sleep to be up early for work. So this means that to get out video observing it has to be clear on a Friday or Saturday and a night with no other social engagements  . Still, I can log onto NSN for a fix over the summer from the southern hemisphere!

As well as finish Lodestar Live, my other summer break projects are to get NSN up and running and also DoctorD's guide to redirecting USB traffic via WiFI using a Raspberry Pi, go remote on my video rig. My other aim is to return my VX10 to its dob mount for visual as I have found that having it on the AZEQ6GT has meant I have done very little visual observing so I am currently saving for a (smaller) second scope purely for video use. That way I can also take advantage of the other big plus of video observing - staying in the warm! Lol! Inside I can hook my laptop up to a second display so can have the NSN chat client open on that, Sky Safari and Lodestar Live and can catch the DSOs sitting next to the radiator. I will also be back to grab and go for visual on those so-so nights where its not worth setting up the mount.

Martin, I was thinking about dragging my wife out to La Palma at some point for a bit of an astro theme holiday. I think I have to work a bit harder to convince her it is a great idea though... Nice dark skies and a more southern latitude! Bliss!

[Astrogate]

Paul81, on 28 Apr 2014 - 2:22 PM, said:

Thanks for all the info Chris, I will give it all a thorough read-through. I think in the future I can write a plugin to Lodestar Live to directly export to a pseudo camera end point so avoiding the middle-man SW. That is a future project though!

The astro season is pretty much coming to an end for me for the summer break. It doesn't get sufficiently dark enough until around 10pm by which time I have to think about winding down to sleep to be up early for work. So this means that to get out video observing it has to be clear on a Friday or Saturday and a night with no other social engagements  . Still, I can log onto NSN for a fix over the summer from the southern hemisphere!

As well as finish Lodestar Live, my other summer break projects are to get NSN up and running and also DoctorD's guide to redirecting USB traffic via WiFI using a Raspberry Pi, go remote on my video rig. My other aim is to return my VX10 to its dob mount for visual as I have found that having it on the AZEQ6GT has meant I have done very little visual observing so I am currently saving for a (smaller) second scope purely for video use. That way I can also take advantage of the other big plus of video observing - staying in the warm! Lol! Inside I can hook my laptop up to a second display so can have the NSN chat client open on that, Sky Safari and Lodestar Live and can catch the DSOs sitting next to the radiator. I will also be back to grab and go for visual on those so-so nights where its not worth setting up the mount.

Martin, I was thinking about dragging my wife out to La Palma at some point for a bit of an astro theme holiday. I think I have to work a bit harder to convince her it is a great idea though... Nice dark skies and a more southern latitude! Bliss!

Wow, lots on your plate Paul. I think if you can cut out the middle software (Manycam) and connect directly to NSN that will be a huge bonus. Looking forward to chating with you on NSN and perhaps when time permits seeing you use your Lodestar + Lodestar Live on NSN. Thank you for getting back.

Cheers,

Chris A

Astrogate

[Dragon Man]

Hey Martin, you have done well seeing our Southern objects from your location!

Top effort with a top result.

[Dragon Man]

Ahhhh, yeah, this is the thread with your M83 spiral galaxy image! Nice