Starwiz

The 130pds sounds like a good choice. For a Bortle 6, a light pollution filter will help a lot, especially if it's sodium lighting. I bought the Astronomik CLS, the version that clicks into the DSLR above the mirror. I could hardly believe the difference it made imaging the Horsehead which was located about only 10 degrees above a sodium street light from my back garden. Most people start their journey into astro-photography by imaging the planets as it's easier and less expensive than the kit needed for DSOs. To do this, you need to shoot a couple of thousand frames video and then use a stacking program to select and stack the best frames. The sea fishing sounds good, I do that myself sometimes. I'd keep the telescope optics away from the sea air, although you may be OK if the breeze is a leeward one. John

My first views of Mercury and Mars were through an open window. Yes, although it won't be ideal for the reason others have mentioned, you can still have a lot of fun and if it's very cold outside you will be warmer in the room. But at some point, you may want to take your kit outside or to another location, so bear this in mind when choosing what you buy. Also consider what light pollution you have to contend with and what other buildings are nearby that will produce rising heat degrading your views further. John

An alternative to Stellarium is 'Cartes du Ciel'. Both are free bits of software and do pretty much the same job, so it's a matter of preference. https://www.ap-i.net/skychart/en/start If you 'right-click' on an object, then click 'About', it will give you all the information including the coordinates. John

Hi Lee, There will be better qualified people on here to answer number 1. Number 2 - I don't bother with books these days as there is a huge amount of information on line. A good place to start would be with the Messier objects. Pictures and coordinates are included in this page for instance. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_object#:~:text=The Messier objects are a,Nebulae and Star Clusters"). John

Thanks. Yes, the stars in your image look much better than in mine. John

As others have said, no star alignment necessary, just polar align. Plate solving is doing all the alignment for you.

Coma corrector is on it's way but I can't get my hands on it until 25th December. 🙂 I'm hoping it's the step I need to get rid of some horrible star shapes that plague my images, hence I've lost the motivation to do any more imaging until I get it. John

Another fan of Plate Solving. It's saved me many hours since I took the step just over a year ago. John

Thanks. It's the first time I've tried placing stars over the top of the SHO stars without removing them first, so I can probably improve on this. I was previously using Straton to remove the stars, but it seems to mess up the nebula quite a bit and makes it look really noisy when I zoom in. The saturation level looks different on different screens, something I've noticed before. It looks over-saturated on one of my laptops but not on the other, and different again on my phone. John

NGC 281, also known as the Pacman Nebula, although I can't imagine Edward Emerson Barnard calling it that when he discovered it in 1883. Imaged from Malta during the last couple of weeks. John

Very nice!

Shorts, T-shirt, chair, table and a cold beer at this time of year in Malta. The mozzies are big and going to bite me anyway but I'm gradually becoming immune. 🤣

Yes, on my terrace that has stone tiles. I also put some of my diving weights onto the mount's eyepiece holder to make it even heavier. I've given up trying to adjust it by the bolts, so I just alter the height of the back leg of the tripod. I'm probably just not very good at drift alignment yet. 😀 John

Thanks. I tried a drift align last night and this morning the PHD2 log said it was 7.5', so a lot worse. 🤣

Thanks, I may try a drift alignment tonight to see what I get. John

Does anyone know how to determine the level of PA accuracy needed? I'm taking narrow-band subs of 6 minutes using a SW200P on NEQ6 and guiding using OAG. My last PHD2 guide log says PA is 1.0', but I don't know if this is good enough or not. It would be good to calculate maximum permissible error based on my set-up. Thanks John

Thanks, that's interesting. John

Thanks, that's interesting. I'm about 3 degrees further south, but it's worth investigating. Being surrounded by sea, it can get very humid in Malta and I always put a towel over my laptop at night, sometimes finding it quite damp by the morning. I could also probably do with a better guide camera as the ASI120mc isn't the best choice, especially with OAG. I originally bought it for planetary use before I even considered imaging DSOs. John

I'm pleased to report I've now had three straight nights of full imaging since I implemented the above changes although it's been completely free of clouds each night. The last two nights, I've selected the star manually as it always seems to auto-select the brightest star which results in the star being saturated . Is there a way to change the settings to improve auto-select of the star? Thanks John

Imaged from Malta during the last couple of nights. John

Many thanks. Lots to think about and try in there. John

Thanks. 14+ hours of Ha data in this one. I also used the Ha as the luminance layer, so wanted to get the best definition I could. John

Imaged from Malta over several nights. John

Thanks, I'll give that a try. I also have an un-cooled guide camera and it's in the mid-20s at night in Malta this time of year. I had a full imaging run last night for the first time in several days. John

The file time for that frame was 08/08/2020 02:40:41. Files attached. Thanks John PHD2_DebugLog_2020-08-07_213456.txt PHD2_GuideLog_2020-08-07_213456.txt