Paxo

Thanks everyone, certainly interesting delving into processing in the SHO pallet which is very new to me.

Steve

I've added OIII and SII data to the Ha posted a couple of weeks ago.  This is my first Hubble Pallet image.  The SII data was faint and noisy so this took a lot of processing in Pixinsight.  Thanks for looking.

Steve

While waiting for the NE England night to get darker and longer, I've been acquiring data from the iTelescope remote imaging system.  This gives a chance to image objects not visible from Northern latitudes, so I decided to go for a widefield image of rthe Small Magellenic Cloud.  The Image below was acquired over two nights, 25th July and 31st July Using the iTelescope remote telescope (T08) at Sliding Spring Observatory, Australia.  This is a Takahashi FSQ 106 EDX4 modified Petzval telescope mounted on a Paramount PME. The imaging camera is an FLI Microline 16803 which has 9micron pixels at a resolution of 4096x4096 pixels.

FSQ 106 EDX4 has a focal length of 530mm and a focal ratio of f5.  A total of 48 x 3 minute exposures were made, 12 each of Luminance, Red, Green and Blue, giving a total exposure of 144 minutes.  Final image processed with Pixinsight and Photoshop.  The image shown here is a rework of the data having found some really useful Pixinsight tutorials on-line.  Out of interest, as a member of iTelescope, they make data sets available twicw a month, they currently have NGC292 available with additional NB data, so that will be my next port of call I think.

Thanks for looking.

Steve
 

Nearly 3 years since my last image, what with Covid and work and such.  IC1396 is a regular target for me, fits nicely in the frame with the Takahashi FSQ 106EDX4 and the Kodak KAI-11002 sensor in my imaging train.  So heres 10 images, taken in Ha, each of 600 seconds duration.  Stacked and processed in Pixinsight and "tweaked" in photos.  Compared with previous attampts, the dark dust lanes have come out very well, and I think I've managed to keep the star bloating to a minimum.

Thanks for looking

Steve

A lot of cloud on Tyneside today, but managed to get a few images between the clouds.  Image taken with a Lunt Cak module attached to a SharpStar 94EDPH.  Kept shooting length down to 15 seconds at 50fps to avoid movement.  I think the one outstanding detail of the day is the visible undulations at the moons edge.

Monochrome Version:

And a colour tinted version:

Thanks for looking.

Steve

4 hours ago, kirkster501 said:

Wow, lovely.  What filter did you use, a 3nm Astrodon?

It was a 7nm Baader 2" mounted filter.

Steve

IC1396 region, which contains the Elephant''s Trunk Nebula taken in Hydrogen Alpha wavelength.  Image consists of 12x1200 seconds subs giving a total exposure time of 240 minutes.  Imaged with a SXVR-H36 camera through a Takahashi FSQ-106EDX4 f/5 Quadruplet mounted on a Paramount MX+.  Quick process with DSS and tweaked in Photoshop CS.

Thanks for looking,

Steve

Thanks Martin, first image for nearly two years.

Steve

A quick couple of hours gathering data this evening around the constellation of Cygnus.  A two panel mosaic covering the area around Sadr through to the Crescent Nebula (NGC6888) in Hydrogen Alpha wavelength.  Both panels consist of 6x600 seconds of Ha imaged on an SXVR-H36 camera through a Takahashi FSQ-106EDX4 @ f/5 all mounted on a Paramount MX+.  Processed through Astro Pixel Processor and tweaked in Photoshop.

Thanks for looking.

Steve

Did a quick and dirty solar full face earlier today, equipment information below the image.  Seemed to be a little more surface activity today compared with recent times.

Hi Rich, a very warm welcome to SGL.

Steve

One thing to bear in mind is the size of the sensor in the a6300.  Typically the Lunt 60mm scopes come with a b1200 blocking filter, the size of which will affects the signal to the outer parts of such a large (c sized I believe) sensor.  I get a full solar face with a 7.4x5mm with the focal length of the Lunt 60mm so expect a fair bit of unused area (which will negate the blocking filter issue anyway).

Steve

Taking a look at heliovewer.org there are a couple of more active areas at the moment which are just about visible in Ha, there's some debate as to whether the cycles of bottomed out and we may/may not have started sunspot cycle 25 or not.

Steve

Managed a quick and dirty image this afternoon between meetings.   A little interesting detail on the face today, though not much prom action at 13:30.  Imaging and processing details below the image.

I think the bright spot on the very left limb of the disc is likely to be the reported first sunspot of the 25th Cycle.

Steve

Managed to get out for an hour yesterday and took a few SER files the ASI 178MM camera through a Lunt LS60THa/B1200CPT all mounted on a SkyWatcher SolarQuest mount.  First image was 180 frames from 1200 shot at 60fps and stacked in AviStack 2 and finished in Photoshop CC and the second 200 from 760 frames at the same capture setting (both set at 95% quality cut off in the stacking software) and processed with AutoStakkert 3.

Lovely display of Noctilucent clouds here last night.  Taken at 01:30 looking in a NNE direction so probably on the cusp of whether they are visible after sunset or sunrise, the NNE direction suggests a before sunrise display.  Looking a little cloudy outside at the moment for a display this evening.

Thanks for looking.

Steve

Managed to get my dream setup last year, Takahashi FSQ-106EDX4 f/5 Quadruplet Petzval APO Refractor, mounted on a Paramount MX+.  Pictures show this mounted along with a Pentax 75 in a dual mount configuration (though I no longer own the Pentax) all in my cosy roll-off-roof obsy.

Next image shows a Lunt LS60THa mounted on a Skywatcher SolarQuest Mount

That's the right file, but you don't need to click on it to use it. Place the file somewhere you can easily find it (on the desktop for example), the plug in the webcam, when it looks for the driver, point it at this file, the rest will take care of itself.

Steve

Click on the "Please download the driver from here", this should download a zip file spc880nc.zip, which when extracted will give you the necessary inf file needed to install the camera.

Steve

Hi Revs,

A very warm welcome to SGL.

Steve..

Hi, a very warm welcome to SGL.

Steve

Stunning picture Nick, thanks for sharing.

Steve..

Unless it is really really bad, don't touch it at all, modern sct's have a variety of exotic light transmitting coatings which could be easily damaged by cleaning. You'll be amazed how dirty they can look and not effect what you are seeing. How bad is the corrector plate?

Steve..

Tom,

I did the same upgrade on an LX200R just under a year ago and it made a hell of a difference, minimal image shift while focusing now. It's just a shame to think that I paid just under 4k for a scope which is vastly improved by replacing the 6 very flimsy nylon washers with two precision thrust bearings which cost 50p each, come on Meade, get your act together.

Steve..