Vic L S

11 minutes ago, AstroNebulee said:

Hi

Sequator is very easy to use indeed. I use it all the time and other astrophotographers do too. 

Clear skies 

Lee 

Thank you. In fact, it was when you posted your reprocessed milky way photos that inspired me! If you have any tips I'm all ears 😊

21 hours ago, davew said:

I think a good place to start is with the least complications you can. Try to leave the hours long image building to the second night 🤭 If you have a go with just a camera, lens and tripod then there's less to go wrong and most importantly, less to think about.

Try this guy for some ideas about settings - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzBiWCPLw4A

For stacking on windows try this for free - https://sites.google.com/view/sequator/introduction  ( Different app on Apple )

Good luck,

Dave.

 

Thank you for this! Will look into getting a lens to start with. Great to have the video as a point of reference, I'm looking forward to giving it a go.  

I am guessing stacking such a wide picture on PixInsight is not possible? 

On 13/06/2024 at 16:34, Elp said:

The SY14mm is one of the best tools for the job, but make sure you're imaging at a dark location with next to no stray light sources, it's a big piece of curved glass and any light that you don't want hitting it will show up with lens artifacts/flare etc.

You can generally image with it without tracking as it's such a short FL but can do long exposure via tracking, it also covers a wide angle of sky so you can take less Pano images to stitch. You have to take multiple panes then stitch them together, I normally do it manually in PS/Gimp. It's not a case of simply aligning, if the panels have different light levels you have to match them up, blend the edges etc.

Thank you for this. 

I have had a look online now and see both Rokinon 12mm and also the 14mm. Any advice on which one to go for?

Also where would be the best place to buy camera lenses in the UK?

Hi all - So not exactly new to imaging, I usually do DSO imaging with my telescope + ASI2600mc and do post processing on PixInsight. 

However with the Milky way becoming more visible at a more reasonable time where I am currently based, I'd like to try my hand at milky way landscapes. I do have a Canon 650D that I've used when I started out with astrophotography, before I switched to a dedicated astro camera. 

I'm looking to purchase a widefield lens (Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 or something similar) to go with the DSLR. 

Can anyone recommend a guide online? I have a basic idea but still have a few questions on approach. 

1) I have an AM3, can someone explain the process on how to track with this mount while shooting the Milky way? Do I select a target within the milky way and just track that? 

2) If I choose to go without a mount, I can take multiple shorter exposures and stack them. What software is suitable to stack a landscape shot? 

3) Is the normal process usually to shoot the foreground with a different ISO as not to overexpose, and then combine that with the milky way background? 

4) Are milky way images usually processed on Photoshop? I have only taught myself PixInsight to process astro images so not very familiar with Photoshop, but willing to learn. 

I've watched a few videos on YouTube so I have a basic idea, but still have a few questions and looking for a more comprehensive guide, if someone can recommend one! 

TIA x

3 minutes ago, Adaaam75 said:

Sorry, just seen this. As Michael said above, if you unscrew the 1.25 nosepiece from the camera, there is a thread to attach one of the adaptors that comes with the mirror.

The only issue is if you have 1.25 filters for your camera. In this case you will need to use the 1.25 adaptor on the camera to attach the filter and then purchase another adapter to attach this to the mirror.

 

Hope that helps

Hi Adam, 

Yeah that was my issue, I have a UV/IR cut filter on the nose piece. I had a dig around and found an adaptor so just waiting for another clear night to try and get the camera in focus now. 

On 30/04/2024 at 06:27, Adaaam75 said:

It's worth every penny!

Hi mate, 

Sorry to come with another question. My flip mirror has finally arrived and I'm struggling to piece it all together. 

I've got a helical focuser for the eyepiece so that attaches on top of the mirror no problem. However I'm struggling to figure out how to attach my ASI462MC. Mine came with a 1.25" nose piece. How did you attach yours? 

1 hour ago, bosun21 said:

You should only use one helical focuser and that should be on the top for the eyepiece. Remove the reducer completely. You can then fit a T2 - 1.25" eyepiece holder and using the cameras supplied 1 25" nosepiece simply fit to the flip mirror. The nosepiece can also be used for the fitting of an UV/IR cut filter which is required for planetary imaging. Or a IR pass filter if imaging in IR. No off axis guider for planetary imaging. You could also screw the camera directly onto the mirror with a T2 - T2 adapter but I prefer the nosepiece as it allows me to rotate the camera and fit filters.

Hi, thanks for the input. Yes I forgot about the reducer 😅 too focused on the flip mirror set up. 

The eyepiece has the helical focuser so I guess all fine on that front of things. 

The camera has a 1.25" nose piece with a UV/IR cut filter on it, but I have no way of attaching it directly to the flip mirror as I don't seem to have the right adapter. 

Do you know what I might need? 

4 hours ago, michael8554 said:

1. As Hals suggests, for Planetary you want to "magnify" the tiny dot that is the planet, so the FR is counter-productive.

2. At the moment the camera is too far away from the mirror, and the eyepiece is too close, because of the helical focuser

The focuser should go before the Flip Mirror.

Because if the focuser is after, if you have to focus the camera, the eyepiece will go out of focus.

Before the Flip Mirror, both camera and eyepiece remain in sync.

In your case you have an electronic focuser on the OTA, so the helical focuser is probably meant for the eyepiece port.

3. As with an Off Axis Guider, the distances from the centre of the mirror to the eyepiece and to the camera sensor must be setup to be the same, for both to be in focus at the same time.

Once that is set up, any adjustment to the focuser before the Flip Mirror will refocus the camera and the eyepiece.

Michael

Hi Micheal, 

Thanks for your input. I was so focused on the flip mirror I totally forgot the focuser was on there until I took the whole thing out and looked at the moon. Didn't really want to be fumbling with removing bits in the dark. 

Both the eyepiece and camera have a helical focuser attached, the eyepiece has a basic one and the camera has the ZWO non rotating helical focuser attached. 

So I should move the ZWO helical focuser to the front of the flip mirror, that makes sense. 

However if that is the case I am now unsure how to attach my camera to the flip mirror. Would you happen to know what adapter I might need? 

As for an OAG I haven't gotten that far yet, something to add on in the future. 

Many thanks again. 

Picture for reference. Only way I can get the camera to attach is with the 16mm M42-M48 adaptor that came with my other camera. However am not sure if this is the right size or getting correct backfocus. 

Hi all, 

I have recently bought the Baader flip mirror to use with my C8 edge for planetary imaging + visual at the same time, to make life easier. 

I am using the ASI462MC and I have the SVBONY zoom eyepiece. 

I am able to attach the flip mirror to the telescope via the Celestron T-Adapter, and the eyepiece + helical focuser goes on the top opening. 

However I am struggling to get the camera attached. I have the camera with a t-nose attached to the ZWO helical focuser, but it does not have the right attachment to the camera. I think I need a M42-M48, but I am unsure of the right size. I have a 16mm one that came with my ASI2600MC, but when I used that I am unable to get focus (eyepiece is in focus no issues) 

Anyone knows what the backfocus is I need for the camera, and what is the correct adaptor I need?

TIA x

Oh wow. Thank you for sharing. I love the history behind it. 

A warm welcome. I'm finding this forum to be a great place for inspiration and discussion.

I've been looking for more astronomy related coffee books, this will make a great addition! 

16 minutes ago, TiffsAndAstro said:

I just use chrome remote desktop. Free and seems great

Tech whizz! I never would've thought of that. 

What are you using to process the image? 

Sorry to jump on this post with a question, but how does a mini PC work? Do you have to attach it to a seperate screen? Or can it run wirelessly and you can work remotely? 

I'd like to start using NINA but need the portability of the ASIair, so have never considered it as don't want to be tied to a laptop. 

Wow! Lovely shots. And I hope you're feeling better now x

I love both. I love seeing milkyway shots, really inspired me to start learning how to take them as I started out with imaging DSO, so abit backwards really! 

18 hours ago, david_taurus83 said:

Sorry, didn't get a chance to look at this last night. My 174MM mini comes into focus at this point. The sensor is about 1.5mm below the top of the holder as its 52.5mm from back of camera. If we were to replace my camera now with yours the sensor would be 12.5mm above the holder and I don't think there's 11mm inward travel on the helical focuser. So I would have to say with the 0.7 reducer you wouldn't be able to focus your camera. It should work though without the reducer as the backfocus is a further 30mm out. I would do some research though to see what camera most people use with this setup. As u mentioned above, the prism doesn't go down far into the light path with the reducer so a smaller sensor may struggle to pick up stars.

Thank you. Will save this as reference! Will be keeping an eye out for a secondhand OAG, fingers crossed. 

About 30 minutes for my smaller refractor set up, alot longer for my C8 and I'm not totally comfortable with that set up yet. 

I'd like to build a permanent pier in the garden, but not possible with our current situation as I relocate fairly often. 

Observatory.. A dream.. One day! 

Amazing! Learn something new everyday. Thanks everyone, this has been really helpful. 

4 hours ago, Vroobel said:

I can recommend ASTAP if you are interested in free software. It can stack your all multi-night data with flats if you do them after each session. Be aware that flats allow shadow removal (related to dust on your lens/mirror or filter if you use any), so I can recommend doing them every time. Also, ASTAP offers plate solving and gives quite realistic colours.

I actually use PixInsight, and WBPP to integrate my files, I should have mentioned that in my post. 

6 minutes ago, Vroobel said:

The biggest flat field panel I ever had, thanks to steppenwolf. 🤩

 

 

I am looking for one as using a large iPad where I'm running the ASIair is quickly getting tiresome. Is this homemade? 

Hi all, 

So far I have only calibrated and processed data taken from a single night, but now I'd like to try and improve my images by taking more subs over multiple nights. 

My question is-- when integrating data from different nights, what is the usual process? 

Do you calibrate each set of data from each night with their specific darks, flats and dark flats, then combine the master lights together? 

Or do you calibrate all data together with one set of calibration frames from one of those nights? 

Thank you in advance for your help and advice! 

I love our hobby, simply out of this world. Nothing like seeing it with your own eyes 😊