Chris

Evening folks,  we've updated the ASI 585 product page at FLO to reflect most recent figures published by ZWO. 

In short the well depth has increased from 40000e to 47000e and HCG switching has changed from 150 to 252:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/zwo-cameras/zwo-asi-585mc-usb-3-camera.html

I've been happily imaging away at gain 150 and loving the results so I'm now very much looking forward to testing gain 252!

Thank you to the kind customer who brought this change to our attention 

Well done Peter, I've never seen a Ring nebula image like this one before. 

34 minutes ago, Ratlet said:

The player one camera using this sensor is:

https://player-one-astronomy.com/product/uranus-c-usb3-0-color-camera-imx585/

Lukomatico has a couple videos with this camera over on his YouTube:

https://youtube.com/c/lukomatico

Hope you don't mind me adding some links to some info on the player one stuff Chris 😊

Fantastic bubble nebula.  Gives a wonderful sense of sphericity.

No probs at all  the threads for any camera using the IMX 585 sensor so please share away. 

 If it wasn't named the bubble it would have to be named something like the sphere nebula, or maybe the crystal ball nebula, it really is round, cheers 😀

Wacky rusty rendition focused on a small region of NGC7000 North America nebula. 

Again only 42 minutes total integration time (14x3 minutes, ZWO ASI585mc, gain 150, 1x1 binning)

Just enough gap in the clouds to grab 14 x 3 minute light frames at gain 150 with the ZWO ASI585mc, binned 1x1. I'm not really one for calibration frames but I shall dither next time out. 

StellaLyra 150mm f/4 Newtonian and Optolong L-eNhance filter (I need to work on my corner stars)   

It looks as though these latest generation IMX585 sensors are able to do a pretty good job in all areas of astro imaging!

Please use this thread to showcase your IMX 585 images and see if we can give the pro cooled cameras a run for their money 😉

1 hour ago, Steve Ward said:

The chap in the video looks like he's never done anything but tap on a keyboard and wash-up so is probably fine with it ... 

You're not wrong Steve, for the last year I've had a keyboard Job, and I do do the washing up! 

As you say I wouldn't have used this technique back in the day when I was running parts off lathes all day, too many metal swarf splinters!   

If I remember rightly I advice in the video to only use this method if you don't have engineer/mechanics/trades mans hands of leather with metal spikey bits poking out 😅 

Good to see you back with a Dob Danny  and I'm sure you'll be fine with the video (subbed). 

17 minutes ago, 900SL said:

110mm f6 doublet FPL51.. how is the CA for imaging? 

It's early days for the StellaLyra badged 110ED f/6, however it's also badged as the Orion EON so worth checking out the reviews for that one to give you some idea   

12 minutes ago, AdeKing said:

It looks like it might be one of the phosphatic nodules though to be coprolites (fossilised poo) that are commonly found in the Red Crag.

See this link for details.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://geosuffolk.co.uk/images/Leaflets/Suffolk-Crag-Coprolites.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiY76LQ5aj4AhUNilwKHYmYAv0QFnoECDYQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3kS0doX3cthgx6GL7b1K_4

Might be wrong but the above link suggests that they are common where you found them.

Hey Ade, I see how you thought so however it's about 80-90% Metal iron, very heavy and magnetic which doesn't fit with coprolites don't think. 

Interesting trivia though, there is a street in Ipswich called Coprolite street!

11 minutes ago, PeterStudz said:

That’s useful. It’s London Clay. As it says in Wiki…

”Nodular lumps of pyrite are frequently found in the clay layers.”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Clay

Of course this doesn’t mean it isn’t a meteorite! Although out of interest and as a confession - I use to fool my school friends by pretending that the ones I found were meteorites. 

lol I'm tempted to steel that prank if it turns out to be Pyrite 😅

For a second I thought Pyrite could be wrong because I read it's only weakly magnetic, however I'm guessing Iron Pyrite is quite magnetic. 

The Wiki page mentions London Clay and Pyrite practically in the same sentence so it is fairly compelling.  

33 minutes ago, PeterStudz said:

Might be wrong but looks like what’s commonly called an iron pyrite nodule. I use to collect them as a kid. Often eroded out of cliffs - what part of the country did you find it as that would tell us about the geology. 

Sometimes called “Iron-oxide concretions and nodules” which have been mistaken for meteorites… 

https://sites.wustl.edu/meteoritesite/items/concretions/

 

Hi Peter, Thanks for the reply, I found it at a place called Bawdsey on the Suffolk coast. The cliffs are eroding fast and we sometimes find fossilised sharks teeth there:

https://ukfossils.co.uk/2012/01/24/bawdsey/#:~:text=GEOLOGY,age (approximately 2.5 Mya).

A chap on the meteorite and prospecting forum said the cut face looked like meteorite but I will need to buy a Nickel alergy/meteorite test kit to confirm. Your suggestion also makes perfect sense with the fast eroding cliffs and I've since looked at pictures of slag which don't seem to match too well. 

It's probably either Pyrite or meteorite........or slag. 

17 minutes ago, CraigT82 said:

Nice find! 

I’d say it’s definitely not a stony meteorite as they usually have a fusion crust and contraction cracks with lighter mineral visible underneath, also more rounded too. It doesn’t look like a pure iron meteorite judging by the cut face (you could also rule out iron meteorite by testing the density) So that leaves stony-iron meteorites. It does have a bit of a look of a Pallasite meteorite maybe but they tend to have more of a ordered ‘fragments in a matrix’ look to the cut faces whereas this looks a bit more chaotic on the cut face. Pallasite meteorites are some of the rarest of all so likely not that. 

Unfortunately I think it’s probably slag but if it were me I’d get it checked out just in case. 

Hey Craig, nice analysis, thanks! I suspect you and everyone else (including myself) are right in thinking it's slag, but I've just found a meteorite and prospecting forum as a second port of call. 

In my head I'm just waiting for them to confirm it's slag 😁

I'll pass on what they say!

There is 30 feet of cliff erosion per year right where it was found, so the thought crossed my mind that it could have fallen out of the cliff?

Then again I doubt an iron meteorite would be well enough preserved in a cliff.  

We found this on a beach so it could well just be a lump of industrial slag that has rusted into a meteorite like shape. 

I've ground the end to see what's inside and it does look like some of the pictures of Iron meteorites I've seen online. A magnet also sticks to it so thought it was worth a post. 

I'm skeptical because you just don't find meteorites the size of your hand on the beach, so I wont celebrate just yet. 

2 hours ago, Ian McCallum said:

How about this, Chris?

https://actualastronomy.com

Hey thanks for that Ian, giving it a listen now

28 minutes ago, AstroNebulee said:

I like listening to Awesome Astronomy podcasts 👍. 

Cuiv is back! 😊

Yeah! awh I'm glad he's back! and buried in astro filters by the looks of it! 😅

Me too Lee, I especially like Dr Jens enthusiasm.  

I'm sure someone recommended a good podcast to listen to on this thread? I was going to give it a bash whilst I attempted to tame the kitchen but I can't find it now. 

42 minutes ago, Astroscot2 said:

He literally looks into the  camera and asks people to send him a tenner to buy kit.  It's hard times for everyone. 

I can't recall him point blank asking viewers for a tenner, but if that's the case then I agree with you (I was thinking you meant the usual mentioning of affiliate links etc)

I've contributed to his channel several times as I know how much work he puts into his videos, and I'd be surprised at myself if I'd done so after he point blank looked into the camera and asked for a tenner. Has he done this a lot and can you remember which videos? I'm curious now so will have to re watch them.     

4 minutes ago, Paz said:

I've seen the odd youtube astro video but they mostly have been about astrophotography which isn't my thing. I've not heard of many of the channels mentioned here but I will be checking them out.

When it comes to youtube and hobbies though I have had an interesting experience regarding another hobby (chess) where I will play the game online and get right into it, then I'll get into watching it on youtube, then after a while I would realise I had stopped playing it myself and all I was doing was watching other (better) people playing it on youtube! So now I don't play anymore because I know all that will happen is I just end up watching other people playing it on youtube instead.

I find that there's some kind of time dilation effect when binge watching media, it's so addictive that I need to persuade both my self and my kids to go out for walks in the country just to get away from it for a while and be in the real world. Chess is cool though  

Oh gawd where do I start!

Lukomatico -  Really likeable appreciative guy and talented astrophotographer. Always makes time to answer everyones comments, thoroughly nice bloke. 

Astrobiscuit - Just on a whole other level of story telling and production values. I know someone mentioned they didn't like that he asks for money to support his channel but you simply can't put weeks of work into a video and have no money coming in, especially when you live in London (I know he attempted to make YT a full time job at one point)

Dylon O'Donnell - He's got a dry and slightly rude sense of humour which I like and he knows his stuff, good astro entertainment. 

Small Optics - Jason's channel is great for anyone who is starting out, lots of useful beginner information and very budget minded. Really humble nice bloke! 

Cuiv the lazy geek - Hope he comes back to YT at some point, really great for tutorials on subjects such as NINA, and made some epic videos on the AZ GTI as well as being really funny and likeable. 

Nebula Photos - Amazing deep dive comparison videos and Nico has everything on point right down to the sound quality of his videos. Also seems like a great guy, I was reading through his comments the other week and it dawned on me that he knew all the small astro channels on a first name basis! Impressed. 

Astrofarsography - Ruzeen is another very likeable guy, some great tutorials and monthly sky guides for imaging on his channel. He doesn't post quite so much now days.  

Ollies astro: Australian youtuber so great for seeing the parts of the sky that are not normally accessible to us, again really nice bloke and talented musician (he mixes astro with piano and guitar)

Micro Four Nerds - Emily is a professional wedding photography but also dabbles with astrophotography and wild life photos with the M43 system. I have a soft spot for M43 cameras despite not currently owning any M43 gear, and Emily is a pleasure to listen to. Some great lens reviews too. 

Melody Sheep - mind blowing universe experience...this is the only way I can describe it.

Dr Becky - She's blumming clever and can talk perfectly for ages in one take without making a mistake..great channel for keeping up with the academic side of astro and space missions such as JWT. 

Alyn Wallace - amazing landscape astrophotographer full stop.

Jenhams Astro - Straight forward to the point no messing reviews of astronomy equipment, he especially likes his Mak's 

I also watch a lot of photography channels

I meant to place this in the getting started with imaging section 🤦‍♂️

EDIT: Thanks mods for moving it  

I'll pop this FLO video here for anyone looking to start Astrophotography. The video covers attaching cameras to Newtonian telescopes both with and without a coma corrector, why it's a good idea to have a coma corrector, back spacing, filters, plus things to look out for such as dust bunnies and focuser sag. 

31 minutes ago, Clarkey said:

Interesting that you found the Baader CC to be ok with the f4 scope. I have one and used it with my TS 6" f4 and could not get good stars even with a smaller sensor than APS-C. I ended up getting the Aplanatic CC and a new focuser. Ended up being and expensive scope!

I also got very bad reflections from my filters so it is "on the shelf" for now. I'll give it a go when I get my OSC camera.

I'm sorry to hear that Clarkey, its probably the last thing you want to see after all the trouble and expense you've gone through! I don't have an explanation for that one? in this case I just used a T-ring which along with the sensor lens mount distance gave the 55mm backspacing and it gave me the above image. 

Here's a single RAW straight out of camera so you can see the corners without the slight crop on the above image:

DSCF0007.RAF

I quick update on how the StellaLyra 6" f/4 testing is going. 

I didn't have much luck with the StellaLyra photo-visual coma corrector, you need to have it positioned sticking far out the focuser to reach focus which creates tilt. Adding the supplied 35mm extension tube doesn't quite allow for enough in focus so I wasn't able to find a way around this. After weeks of testing out different back spacings I decided to switch to the Baader MPCC which I simply pushed all the way into the focuser and bingo, a much better match I feel. 

I've properly collimated the scope and I found it to be a breeze compared to previous f/4 Newts I've owned (the mirror springs are definitely better!)

Last night I captured around 2 hours of data on the Elephants Trunk nebula using a stock Fuji XT1, Optolong L-eNhance filter, Baader MPCC and the image was processed in GIMP. No darks, flats or bias because it's quite a clean sensor on the Fuji and the imaging train fully illuminates a crop sensor. Well that's an excuse, I'm really just lazy! 

Now it's collimated and I've found the right coma corrector I consider this image to be the StellaLyra's first proper light. I want to keep this scope!

3 hours ago, Space Hopper said:

£4199 ?? 😆

Thankyou, but i think i'll pass on that one.

 We need a shootout between the 4k EVscope 2 and you 8k ish TEC140FL. 🧐