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  1. Past hour
  2. Located 50 million light years in the Virgo cluster, M99 is relatively large and bright galaxy and was one of the first in which a spiral pattern was observed. One of the spiral arms is distorted and the other normal, giving an overall asymmetric appearance. The distortions of the spiral arms together with a very high (3x normal) star formation rate are evidence of a past encounter, probably with another galaxy. I was quite pleased to capture some detail and colours of the spiral arms and the HII regions. For the bright core, I decided to use high dynamic range compression to enhance visibility and colour. If you look closely at the background you can also see quite a few galaxies, I particularly like the one to the right of the bright orange star which shows some structure. The LRGB image represents 16 hours integration time and was taken with my Esprit 150. A Pixinsight annotated version of the image is shown below. Alan LIGHTS L:39, R:17, G:20, B:20 x 600s all at -20C.
  3. Welcome to the Stargazers Lounge. My first thought on shopping for a GoTo scope several years ago was maybe I could control it and view from indoors. Several years of owning GoTo scopes later I still have not managed this. It can be done, but... there are various technical obstacles that make it not as easy as you might think. If you reply, I could explain in more detail.
  4. This one: https://www.cameracentreuk.com/think-tank-airport-accelerator-camera-backpack Have a look at Matthew’s review: http://alpha-lyrae.co.uk/2015/05/17/think-tank-photo-airport-essentials-backpack-review/ it’s been all over the world with me
  5. Hi David. I dug out my old observatory computer and looked at the SX Lodestar settings and post the screenshots below, I no longer use the Lodestar for guiding since upgrading the mount. The first screen grab is the one that *might* help assuming you're running the latest SX ASCOM driver, and should be applicable for your setup with PHD. It is reachable from the "Advanced" button of the ASCOM driver setup. The second screen grab is not going to help with PHD but I'll post that here anyway for users of MaxIm DL and the specific SX Universal camera plug-in for MaxIm. HTH William. SX Lodestar interlace settings using ASCOM driver. SX Lodestar settings for MaxIm DL specific plug-in.
  6. I named all the stars, but I gave them all the same name and now there's terrible confusion...
  7. Mine was the same when I had one. Never an issue for me as much as a little build quality/design niggle.
  8. Great advice. I know the general area as I've pointed stellarium a few times to find out but unfortunately I've not had clear skies yet. Supposed to be crystal clear tonight though according to the weather apps so fingers crossed.
  9. Hello, I recently bought a second hand SW Evoguide 50ED, and it’s in mint condition and was happy with it, but I noticed that with the helical focuser when I change direction from in to out or vice versa, there is backlash, in fact the green focusing ring will focus one way, and as soon as I swap direction the same ring will move approx 1/4 of a turn before it starts moving focus the opposite way. Yo can actually feel the backlash as it goes really loose for a 1/4 turn before it picks up and starts to move.. So my question to any owners of this little scope, is this normal or do I have an issue and can it be taken apart and looked at..?
  10. Today
  11. Another thing to consider is that this comet is now getting close to the setting Sun. The comet will be close to the horizon when the Sun has set and it is starting to get dark-enough to see the comet. The Stellarium view, above, neatly illustrates the problem with houses/fences/trees etc. blocking the view. I have found that I need to mount my telescopes as high as possible to see over my garage and/or adjacent fences. The Heritage 130P's Dobsonian base needs to be on as high a stand as possible to get a clear view towards the horizon. A couple of nights ago, to get a clear view of the comet, I had to resort to extreme measures to clear an adjacent fence, this time with a different telescope, but using a stepladder with a painting platform. With a suitable clamp the Heritage's base could work on something like this. But it was worth the effort to get this view Geoff
  12. I had this exact same issue, and contacted Terry at SX, who said it was in need of a firmware and software update in the camera, so it went back to him to be done, and when it came back all was good, I think he can send you the files needed and you can do it yourself if you wish too, but I just sent it to him as I did not want to take the risk…but it is normal if the camera had old firmware in it…👍🏻
  13. Nice to see you here again, Louise. After reading your op and some of the response, I'm still somewhat confused. You write that you're interested in the synscan wifi module to control your mount. With that a standalone autoguider. What will you use for camera control? As an alternative to the Staraid, there are the Lacerta Mgen autoguider, the Skywatcher Synguider, and the Celestron Nexguide. (I have no personal experience with any of these, although I did look into the Lacerta many years ago.) The Lacerta is the more expensive option. Otoh it seems to have a better track record. It deserves to mention that it was the first autoguider to incorporate multi star guiding, even before PHD and Ekos. There are other options for you. The easiest is the ASIAIR, but that is limited to certain equipment. Next are Stellarmate OS, and Astroberry. Both run off a Raspberry pi, and require a minimum of set up/tinkering.Any Raspberry Pi solution will require a 5V power source. StellarMate OS, including the app, costs about 50 $, while Astroberry is free, but lags in development. The StellarMate comes with an app that installs on an iPad or similar android device. Both can be used with a webreader such as chrome. There is also the StellarMate X, pre-installed on a fanless computer. This comes with internal power ports and dew heater outlets. Finally, you can have a small fanless pc, such as the Mele Quieter, with your setup, and run ASCOM on a windows machine. The downside with all these solutions is that they require a stable wifi connection. Although, once you have set up your imaging sequence, they all run stand alone, if you want to. Of all the options mentioned, I only have experience with the StellarMate and Astroberry. Once set up, these systems just work, and keep on working, even if you lose the wifi connection. Hope this helps.
  14. Decathlon do rubber coated weights. Make "cotton reel" adapters from wood dowel. Michael
  15. High Skip I have a LodeStar X2 and have never seen the interlace problem associated with this camera's sensor. I use the "Starlight Xpress SXV" driver, not the "Starlight Xpress LodeStar (ASCOM), with an OAG, and no Binning. Michael
  16. icpn

    Star names

    of course all these names are utterly meangless and are just run by charlatans to get money from gullible people.
  17. I’m like a child in a sweet shop at the moment with three scopes under a year old. I have a 12” Explore Scientific dob that has been out approximately five times, a Tak FC100DZ and a Mewlon 180C that’s been out for two non sessions so far (clouds rolled in) so it hasn’t even had a proper first light. I’m mega excited about all three of them and just waiting for more clear skies when I’m not wrecked from work. However, the forecast for tonight looks excellent…. If I were to add to these, I’d love a larger refractor and an observatory to put it in. I’d also love a bigger dob. I can’t get enough of photos and videos of big dobs. The 20” Obsession would be a dream scope.
  18. I gave in and bought a Seestar S50. Now I can see spiral structure easily! The attached image is 7 minutes stacked in camera but spiral arms are visible even on one 10 second exposure.
  19. Hi Bruce I hope you get some answers here, but the Meade section of the US "Cloudy Nights" forum has Meade experts lurking. To control the LX90 remotely you don't need a camera, just the right cables and software. Michael
  20. I've got the previous model to your Lodestar Pro, only bought it in December. I'm using it unbinned with no issues. I think I'm using the Ascom driver in Phd2. Can't check as I've had to reinstall everything on the mini pc concerned! Have you installed all the latest drivers? Years ago I used a MX716 which uses the same ccd, no issues with that either. I was using Maxim dl5 at the time and I don't recall changing anything in the driver. Have you asked Terry Platt at SX?
  21. Nice setup! That's what I had in mind. What kind of back pack are you using? I was thinking about this one, I've had a few backpacks from Lowepro and they're great: Flipside Backpack 300 AW III, Black - LP37350-PWW | Lowepro Global
  22. On the contrary, I'm delighted to see an observing report on this forum. Lately it's been hijacked by a few people (mostly traditional imagers with extensive kit) telling folks who are using and enjoying the S50 that we don't know what we are doing and wasting our money. It's the best waste of money Ive ever spent 😊. Anyway thanks for your post, it shows what can be done in difficult and trying conditions.
  23. I have both the Seestar and Dwarf II. The Seestar is (just) better for astro, but the Dwarf is a better all-rounder for astro and things like birdwatching, because of its dual wide-angle/telephoto setup - effectively a built-in, intelligent, finder. The Dwarf in its bag with accessories is about the same volume and weight as my 10x50 binoculars in their case. The cased Seestar is larger and heavier, but I have added external strapping and D-rings to the case so that I can cary it with the over-shoulder strap from the Dwarf. I find the Seestar's app more user-friendly - with the Dwarf, I have to reset the exposure time after each GoTo. The Seestar gathers 4-times the number of photons. With app/firmware updates for both being released at roughly monthly intervals, this is a race from which we can all benefit. Geoff
  24. Good to see you back at SGL. I hope to do some close up imaging soon.
  25. Hi, Has anyone had experience with the original vixen encoders for the GP. I am curious what count they are? Could they be interfaced to a Nexus DSC? "Push to" GPD project ...
  26. That looks like the “Venetian Blind” effect that is/was a feature of the sensor used in the Lodestar. The Lodestar uses (I think) an interlaced readout CCD, designed for video cameras, each image frame is read twice, the even numbered rows sequentially first and the odd numbered rows sequentially after. The acquisition software has to be able to reassemble the two frames in the right order otherwise it splits the frame vertically as though looking through a Venetian blind, one row has image data that captures a star but the next row down is blank and that makes it appear as though you have multiple stars closely split. I’m afraid I have no experience of using PHD for guiding with a Lodestar but when using MaxIm DL there was a bunch of configuration options in the camera setup amongst which were “Swap odd and even rows” and “Remove Venetian Blind effect”, which used together assembles the image odd/even rows in the correct order and corrects for any brightness variation between the two rows due to the timing difference when reading all the even rows first and then going back to read the odd rows in a camera that has no shutter and continues to collect photons in the odd rows even while the even rows are being read out. In PHD look for a camera configuration setting that might be called “de-interlace”, or “progressive readout” or similar, as that will be needed when reading out an interlaced CCD camera. Sorry I couldn’t give you a PHD specific solution. William.
  27. The SkySafari integration works very well so you get the best of both worlds 👍
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