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Astrosurf

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Posts posted by Astrosurf

  1. I’m still new to my ASIAir (V1) and want to know how to enter coordinates. I want to image comet 12P but am not sure if it’ll be in the database. Just to try things out, I went into SkySafari, got up the comet and tapped a star near the comet’s head. That brought up co-ords. But how do I translate them to RA and Dec to enter into the ASIAir GoTo feature? I hope I’m not being too dim. I have a learning difficulty and the obvious isn’t always obvious. 😊

    IMG_8508.jpeg

    • Like 1
  2. On 04/06/2020 at 09:46, Zakalwe said:

    An X3 Barlow is pushing it and will darken the image considerably. I find that an X3 is barely usable with my Lunt L60 in singlestack mode, never mind doublestacked. You will also need excellent seeing to use an X3

    Slow down and take a step back. Make sure that your solar finder is set up correctly. Stick an eyepiece in and get used to tuning the Etalon. The pressure tuning is very precise and with practice you will be able to take the 'scope slightly off-tune into the red and blue wings to make different feature stand out. Get used to focusing as well. Precise focus is essential.
    Don't underestimate the effects of seeing (both local and atmospheric). On the recent really hot days the seeing is very turbulent and often makes it nearly impossible to get precise tuning and focusing. Even more so as the day progresses and the ground heats up. Try and set up away from concrete or patios and these will drastically worsen the local seeing.

    Getting camera spacing correct can be a pain as the focal plane is very narrow. Until you get really au fait with the 'scope it's easier to tune and focus with an eyepiece, then insert the camera. A shade for the laptop screen helps enormously as you can see what's happening as you manually move the camera in and out of the focuser.

    Most importantly, DONT PANIC. I've seen people getting really frustrated with the views until they realise that they are looking at a ghost refection! (Again, check your solar finder is properly set up). Take your time, unless you are very very unlucky the 'scope will be perfect. It takes a lot of experimentation to get the best out of the kit, but once you do the spectacular secrets of the Sun are there for you to see.

     

    Very many thanks. This is good advice. ;)

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 1
  3. On 01/06/2020 at 10:08, nicoscy said:

    Use gain to reduce exposure time and thus increase frame rate. Read noise also drops dramatically with this camera at a gain of 50. 

    If possible, use ROI to only get the part you want (plus framing) and again, this will help speed the frame rate.

    Have you tried stretching your images in say IMPPG? What you may consider dark, hides probably a wealth of information which can then be coaxed out in any image editing software :)

    I was recently told aboout ROI. O never thought about that! 'll try it once the damn clouds g away. What's IMPPG?

  4. On 30/05/2020 at 22:23, tomato said:

    These dew shield extensions were made for the SW Esprit 150 from a piece of 8” plastic tube,  lined with the self adhesive flock material available from FLO.

    B4A1D7F8-4AA8-49FD-A94B-910306CCD271.jpeg

     

     

     

     

    Looks good! Where did you get the tubes from?

  5. Hi all,

    I've made a pretty rough dew shield out of a yoga mat, which I also used last night to try to block an annoying LED street light - it's shielded but still bright. There seemed to be strange clouding in my images, which change a little in each sub. I wondered if there was still some light getting in and reflecting as the mat isn't black.

    Has anyone made a cheap but sturdy black dew shield who could give me some pointers? It's for a SW 200P. Many thanks.

    Alexxx

  6. Many thanks all. I did finally get it to focus. I was rushing in as my PST is so easy. I should have used an EP first, to get the pressure tuning right and see what activity there was. I did this on an 8mm EP. It worked well. I was advised to remove the EP holder from the filter diagonal and attach the cam directly to the diagonal. This worked well although I had to pull the diagonal a little way out of its holder, which I was also advised to do.

    I can get focus with a 3x Barlow well now, but the exposure setting has to be pushed so far up in SharpCap that the frame rate drops down to practically nothing! I'm using USB 3.

    • Like 1
  7. I need advice on my Lunt LS50TH alpha B600. I tried it out yesterday and wasn’t impressed. I’m prepared to believe it’s user error! 

    It wouldn’t focus with my ASI120MC cam. It wouldn’t even focus with the 2X Barlow. It only just focused with the 3X Barlow. There was just not enough inward travel. This is the more expensive model that’s supposed to be suitable for photography. I couldn’t see any granulation even turning the pressure tuner to its full extent both ways. I couldn’t see any prominences at all, but it could have been that the Sun was very quiet. 

    My old Coronado PST can focus with a 2X Barlow and granulation is extremely clear. 

    This isn’t the mind-blowing experience I was led to believe I’d have. 

    What am I doing wrong?

    Alexxx 

  8. There was some horrible mess in this image and I now should start taking flats. I never had to before, with my Atik 314L+ but it's getting old. There's a bright (but shielded) LED street light which was causing reflection issues which I reduced by using a dew shield, but it wasn't complete successful. I think a nearby tree doesn't help.

    I've looked at so many LRGB image processing tutorials but never get star colour, or any colour, right. I've posted the original Luminance, the cleaned-up Luminance and my final image. It's awful. I couldn't get a lot of data as I was knackered. 7 X 480s L (I lost 4) and 5 x 240s each of RGB, 2 x binning.

    Can anyone help? Is it possible that the cloudiness around the galaxy is nebulosity?

    Ls Stacked - ST + PS - fill - content aware.jpg

    Ls Stacked - ST + PS.jpg

    RGB adj resized ADJ.jpg

  9. I want to do a GIF movie of a succession of solar prominences captures. I've done this before but it's extremely arduous lining up all the stills to get as seamless a movie as possible, but there's always flicker etc. I process the images beforehand. Is there a GIF movie maker that lines up the images and creates a seamless movie?

    Alexxx

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