TiffsAndAstro

Lovely image btw. Flats and/or a clean should do.

Give Nina a ago If I can do 3ppa and plate solving after 30 minutes of first using Nina anyone can

Lol of course you are. Just me replying to your post will jinx my clouds for me

I would if I wanted a pano of the neighbours houses. It was just an Idea I had trouble googling as I'm still not sure what the exact terms might be. I'm sure others must have considered doing similar. Now I'm thinking people have thought about it but not done it probably for very sensible reasons. A vertical ish slice of sky survey, maybe?

I've looked into mosaics and it's obviously out my league at the moment. I'm thinking something more like say tracking M42 for an hour as it drops, then reframing and tracking the same position M42 was an hour previously repeat and so on. End up with a sort of long streak of one hour chunks.

Fantastic image I've been looking at this image a bit more closely and, after wiping my slobber from my screen it's even more fantastic than I first thought. Attempting (not achieving) this is something I aspire to.

Hey Ty for this. I'm not planning on trying it tonight it was just an interesting idea I might try in future if I get that good

Apologies for the title but it's hard to describe what I'm trying to search for. With limited visibility in backyard say roughly west I can see Orion as it drops, followed by other stars at same distance from ncp Is there a way to sort of take mosaics as they pass by and then stitch them together? Cos it might look cool

there is some red in the stars but if i have a choice between bird shaped stars or a fair bit of chromatic aberration - i can at least fix the ca in post. or reduce it. not so much the star shapes

so i've attached a snapshot i managed after a rough pa and before rain hit. i think its 4 seconds iso6400 f5.6 . its not good, but its the closest i've managed to being 'in focus' i think. if there's some clear tonight will get some longer tests with it and maybe some other lenses too.

52 on clear outside as I listen to the rain bounce off the garage door.....

Ty for this, but I'm struggling to focus my crap vintage glass. Cloud has been a pain but 5 sec high iso for 3ppa in nana look promising if rather crimson. If I can I'll get some test shots. I'm not looking for perfection with this, just roundish stars.

Is 17 different weather apps on my phone the correct amount? Maybe 18 will make these stupid clouds go away.

So moon is out Sky is clear dark in about 90 mins I'm tempted to pre focus my lenses on moon then tape them down Would changing my fstop change focus? Is this a daft idea?

I agree with you and hope you're right. Better to learn to powerslide in a Mazda rather than a Ferrari. Though maybe substitute good condition trabant for the Ferrari in my case

Tbh I was starting to wonder how others in similar light pollution could take even longer exposures, but just stopping down might account for it. Also filters and likely other factors. Would f6.3 on my 200mm be worth a go ? I don't see many 200mm/320mm f6.3 telescopes about

one image of an example histogram m42 f4 90sec iso 400 (i think, sorry need to make better notes as i go) one image of plate solve for (i think it was) m42. took a few goes i might have my target accuracy (can't remember exact name) set a bit too ambitiously if anyone can give any useful insights from just these two jpgs i'd be grateful. and impressed

its only up to about 1/3 the way from the left. not even halfway across. ill try and take more pics on my phone next time its clear. didn't have time to do more than set up polar align plate solve m51 thena couple of exposures on my 135mm stopped down from 2.8 to 4. after a while there were some gaps in the cloud so decided to experiment with my 200mm, stopped down from 3.5 to 5.6. it seemed very dark, but with a bit more time to focus, might be my least [removed word] lens. too early to tell. im quite happy i seem to be able to 3ppa reliably (with various focal lengths) and plate solve too. hopefully getting a reasonable lens is all i need to get better results. and some clear skies.

its only up to about 1/3 the way from the left. not even halfway across. ill try and take more pics on my phone next time its clear.

they were only 90 seconds, but, as you say, any problems could be hidden by trailing and stuff, so as soon as next clear nights ill give it another go with maybe 5 sec subs and stopping it down, but im looking to try and get a more suitable lens to use. also, im bortle 6 (somehow) and im not too experienced with how light pollution varies with exposure and sub time and wonder how to achieve a happy balance. hopeful this will come with time under clear skies and lots of swearing.

apologies .cr2 are a bit weird to convert.

600d/t3i (unmodded) sky watcher gti plugged into nina those images attached above were taken with an old 135mm f2.8, but i also have a pentax 50mm f1.7 a tokina 200mm f3.5 and a centon 500mm mirror lens also 18-55mm kit lens which i haven;t tried since i got my tracker. its a bit wide field of view to shoot stars and avoid trees and roofs and a bit slow. maybe i can get its autofocus to work with nina? the pentax seems by far the best image quality of them, but not much zoom

no comment ok i lied redbull gives you wings 2024-03-18_01-50-33__15c_90.00s_0000.cr2 2024-03-18_02-44-39__19c_90.00s_0007.cr2

also while looking at results of "how much pa is good enough" search, i saw a really good quote which seemed very apt: measure with a micrometer, mark with chalk, cut with axe

honestly, i realise i am very, very new to this hobby but i don't think i could agree with you more. i think my entire gas for this hobby demands its because of my unrealistically limited budget. the mount most people agree is the most important so i spent most of my budget on that. every other bit of equipment is cheap and nasty by comparison, but they at least allow me to practice stuff and connect stuff and one day, long after the heat death of the universe, have everything ready to go for when i can find a decently sharp, fast cheap lens. delivered in a free Ferrari. my 135mm is not good. after really getting focus down via live view in nina and then quick test exposures they look awful wide open. i cba closing it down much because what's the point? so my remaining budget will go on stuff in this order: ok ish lens, better tripod, cheap guide scope and cam and some sort of mount/bracket. ill attach a couple of subs when i get home of what isn't acceptable which is aberation of the stars and/or tricky focusing. ill try out my 200mm f3.5 next clear skies and see it is not quite as bad as my 135