groberts

I am interested in subscription access to imaging from robotic telescopes – not hosting, but something like the Deep Sky West (DSW) setup here: https://www.deepskywest.com/subscribe I would like to hear from anyone who has personal experience using DSW or can recommend something similar elsewhere? Graham

Took advantage yesterday to image this occasion & pleased / surprised to see Jupiter's moons too - using Canon 700D + Canon EF300 1.4. Alas tonight it's back to normal service, cloud! Good luck to all today, hope there are some clear skies somewhere? Graham

Thanks Julian, much appreciated. I've got the excellent masks from Buckeyestargazer in the USA which has added a little bit of height and makes the original ZWO 4mm M2 screws a bit too short for comfort and reckon 6mm should do the trick. Graham

Just worked out that the 31mm set I purchased in November has now gone up +37% - phew!!! Whilst they are a highly speficic market which inevitably commands a premium, this is getting silly. Furthermore, I've just got round to fitting and was surprised by the poor packaging + every one has noticable dust etc. (which can be blown off). Of course it's the product itself that matters and I have high expectations, but will have to see. By comparison my cheap ZWO filter set which the Chroma are replacing, are still spotless like tha day they came out of their purpose made made / fitting + well wrapped. Graham

I need to find some slightly longer screws to attach new + slightly thicker filters in the ZWO x8 EFW. These are currenly given as M2 x 4mm and I'm thinking of 6mm. As long as they're M2, will the thread be the same for any M2 screw or do I need that information too, or does somone know what it is + any decent source? Graham

Thanks for the update, looks very promising + just what I need.

As somone who got hooked on imaging a few years ago I'm finding this thread interesting, it's not that I've lost my passion for imaging but the perpetual days, weeks, even months of cloud is getting to me. Of course observing requires clear skies too (unless its radio astronomy!) but a lightweight set-up that can easily be set up and used for an hour or so seems appealing. From an observer's point-of-view, what sort of set-up would you recommend for such a task, without breaking the bank? Graham

I swear the forecasters don't have windows, it's not unusual that the weather outside is completetly different to what's being forecast at that time. Notwithstanding, it is a difficult science and even the best of forecasts rarely get it right more than 48- hours ahead, unless there's a very definitive & strong system rolling in. Certainly since changing their weather forecast contract at the BBC I've given up on them, they're very poor. I find the Met Office a good starting point, together with + Foreast.co.uk https://www.forecast.co.uk/cloud/ for cloud and surpringly the Nowegian Meterological Institute https://www.yr.no/en/forecast/daily-table/2-2639545/United Kingdom/England/Surrey/Redhill - although I just noriced they've changed their display format which inevitbaly is not as good as before! Sorry to our sponsors but don't find Clear Outside very good. Even with all this the sky can be very fickle and there's no substitute to looking out the window, in all directions - it's often good looking south + a big cloud rolling in from the north + look at wind direction and speed to se what might be coming. Since I started astronomy 6-years ago it's my strong imporession that there's now more clould, often lasting for weeks or even months + if it is clear it's at full moon! Good luck.

Intruiging - the host is Wordpress and I don't see the adds, honest!

This is probably my last in a series of re-processed narrowband images using my new PixInsight 'skills' + assisted a little by Photoshop, Starnet++ & Topaz AI DeNoise. I'd like to think I've left the best to last, it was certainly the most difficult! For any further information on the original data acquisition, please go to my website here: https://watchthisspaceman.wordpress.com/2018/02/25/what-comes-around-goes-around/ Graham

Sorry should have said I'm Windows 10. Didn't know about Video Editor, will give it a try. Thanks to all

Thanks I'll take a look.

I'm thinking of putting together a short video + suitable music to present some of my astro images (mostly deep sky) to the family and anybody else that's interested. Can anyone recommend any suitable software that could be used for this purpose - preferably free/cheap and most importantly, easy to use? I don't expect to use this too often but thought it would make a nice show for the family - subject to covid get-together rules! Thanks, Graham

Doh! Ah well, hope it works out, will be following your events. I'll be fitting mine soon + then need some clear skies , which on recent evidence seems unlikely. Graham

Souls: I wondered if you've seen this thread on CD on this issue, it's excellent and couldn't be clearer + seems to be a common problem: https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/715162-chroma-3nm-orientation/ Meanwhile, I also heard back from Chroma who say: "In most cases orientation does not matter with these types of filters, but if you want the filter-coated side to face the sensor, if you read the writing on the edge of the filter, the filter coating will be right side up." This corresponds with the aforesaid CN thread. Good luck. Graham I

I haven't used APP but, as others have said, it's not a full processing package, more orientated towards pre-processing, complex integration & mosaics etc. I use DSS for some of this at the moment but intend to move to APP at some point in the future. Meanwhile, under lockdown (1 & 2) I decided to tackle PixInsight and at first found it a steep / difficult learning curve. However, with the help of Light Vortex online tutorials, Harry's Astro Shed & the recently published gamechanger Mastering PixInsight, I'm now using it routinely and can honestly say it's transformed my processing - used in combination with DSS, PS & Topaz AO Denoise from time-to-time. Frankly, there are so many possibilites with PI I'm unlikely to master the software if I live to 100 but for now it's been worth the effort; personally I found PI pre-processing a complete pain, even using batch processing to spedd thinsg up, hence my desire to adopt APP instead. As has been said, you can get by with say 10 to 15 basic processes + PixelMath is a very powerful tool that can do lots of tricks that would take hours in PS. In this regard, I should add Shawn Nielsen's Visble Dark youtube tutorials which are excellent + some of the more ambitious techniques. Hope that helps - if you've got the time and patience then PI is the way to go IMO. Graham

Following a recent knee operation I've not imaged for a while so continue to reprocess some older images with my newly acquired PI 'skills', this time going back to NAN from 2017. At the time this was early days with a mono camera and I was pleased with the outcome with just over two hours integration. https://watchthisspaceman.wordpress.com/2017/12/01/the-wall/ However, using PI with a dash of PS has IMO produced a more vibrant image - obviously need to go back next year for more photons from the NAN! Graham

I take comfort that there are many accomplished imagers on Astrobin using my camera (ZWO ASI1600MM-Cool) with these filters and getting great results. I guess I'm about to find out! I suggest three lines of enquiry: With the retailer With the manufacturer Perhaps post on CN for wider discussion. Keep us all in the loop with any feedback + good luck. Graham

I'm interested and a little concerned by this as I've just purchased a set of Chroma filters but not yet fitted and used. Souls - could you please point me towards the CN thread mentioned + decribe how you indetify one side of a filter from the other? Graham

This is my third image from the very large HII-region of Cygnus, which contains many exciting objects; previous images included LDN 111 & LBN 325. I'm particulary pleased with the impact of the Ha (see second starless image below) which brings out the structure throughout the image and the LRGB for star and nebula colour, in particular the central blue reflection nebulae NGC 6914 + adjacent vdB131 & vdB132. Further afield are other blue and rare yellow reflection nebula as well as dark nebula. For further details and information of this image go to my blog: https://watchthisspaceman.wordpress.com/2020/11/12/swan-adventures/ Ha 33 x 300' LGB 37x180' + R 36X180' Total integration time : 10hr 21min Graham

Appreciate the comments Paul. Almost certainly processing, as I'm still feeling my way with PI + concious of overprocessing. Is this more what you had in mind? Graham

The next in a series of re-processing with PixInsight v Photoshop previously, which I think has worked well + been worth the effort. This time I've been able to tease out much more detail and colour + less noise with the Heart Nebula and am pleased with the result, especially considering the limited data available. Further background and imaging details can be viewed on my website: https://watchthisspaceman.wordpress.com/2018/08/26/heart-of-darkness/

Update - sorted (I think), I had not aligned the Ha subs with LRGB when processing; I had a feeling I'd done this! Redone and seemd to look OK now 🤞.

All taken on the same equipment, I have five filter stacks aligned using DSS of the same area of sky but one is a slightly different FOV + exposure time: 1. LRGB x4 stacks are @ 60sec subs taken west of the Meridian and match OK; 2. The Ha is a stack of 300 sec subs , taken east of the Meridian but unfortunately the FOV between the two sets has shifted say +/- 5%. How can I align and integrate the combined LRGB stacks with the Ha stack using PixInsight? I had a similar problem before and found using dynamic crop achieved the same aligned FOV for each image stack, albiet after 5% cropping, which could then be combined in LRGBCombination etc. but in this case it doesn't work for some reason. GrahamGraham

FWIW I got a refurbished Lenovo Thinkpad 500G SSD (really good & fast) + 16GB RAM x 2USB2 & x2 USB3 ports + Windows 10 Pro for just over £400 recently from MicroDream, which has turned out very well for astrophotpgraphy control, capture etc. www.microdream.co.uk