tomato

Or better still, leave the dust cap on....😜

The locations for the shed and dome bases have been pegged out, a Skywatcher tripod has been pressed into service for the laser level. We have started to dig out the footings for the blocks that will form part of the base for the shed, but 30 degrees, 95% humidity and two retired geezers in their 60’s means it is happening at a measured pace...🥵

On my rather brief experience with CMOS mono cameras (ASI 178) to date on small galaxy imaging with an Esprit 150, I have been impressed with the detail captured with relatively short integration times. I have noted however, that the images captured so far seem to have a distinct hue, I have found it difficult to replicate the palette usually displayed with CCD images of the same target. However, this could be down to my mediocre processing skills.

I can’t see the data storage capacity required coming down anytime soon on CMOS cameras, lots of pixels times lots of subs equals lots of data.

Thanks Gav, New Mexico it ain’t, but it’s the best I could do and keep Mrs Tomato 100% on board, because without her, I would still be working for a living.

Thanks very much for this, from what I had read on the council website I was hoping that these lights would go off at mid-night. However, you have probably gathered from the photos that it is a new build estate, and I think the lights maybe still be under the developer’s control as they currently stay on all night. According to the link, they should come under the partial lit remit.

Apologies for the rather pretentious post title, it is actually the start of the Tomato and Tomatobro collaborative back garden observatory. I’ve now retired to semi-rural Shropshire and we can now make a start on this long awaited project. Observatory will consist of a second hand Pulsar Dome and separate shed for the warm room in the corner of the garden. The outlook is OK apart from one LED street light directly opposite, will have to see how much of an issue this is for imaging. First lot of materials landed with expert precision by the truck driver using a wireless controller for the crane, I was most impressed. More posts to follow as the build progresses.

Another brilliant image and post Steve, I do like these “off the beaten track” targets. Are there any theories on what is generating the symmetrical shape in the gas/dust cloud? Is it in any way analogous to the gravitational dynamics that generate barred spiral galaxies, albeit on a much smaller scale?

Full use made of the 50 hrs imaging time, one of the best M27 images I’ve seen.👏

Really like the 3D printed components, looks like the technology was made for the AP hobby.

Welcome to SGL, you shouldn’t have too much of a shock on how far the technology and software has progressed, first time around I was using emulsion film, manual guiding and setting circles. Startools, Astropixel Processor and Pixinsight are dedicated Astro image processing packages, in ascending order of price, but all have free trial periods. GIMP is a decent free alternative to Photoshop. There is currently quite a buzz around dedicated CMOS Astro imaging cameras, they are a fair bit cheaper than the CCD alternatives, but require a different approach to image capture. It’s all on this well organised forum, happy browsing!

Here is a ASI 178 fitted with a Peltier cooler and fan assist. It will take the sensor down to about 15-20 deg below ambient, main drawback has been moisture droplets dropping on the sensor when the scope (a refractor) has been pointing near the zenith. Further improvements since these photos were taken include cooler control, and fitting of the ZWO dew heater to the front of the camera. More testing to follow.

It’s been so long since I’ve processed any subs I’m beginning to forget my workflow, but I do remember that I use the ‘process in one big lump’ approach. This is because I set up and take down each time so I have new flats for every session. Also I have been experimenting with CMOS cameras with a wide variety of exposure times so again, I’ve got very specific sets of darks to play with. Generally if I’m disciplined about loading the correct calibration frames with the lights, APP crunches the numbers without returning any warning messages. I’m sorry, I would post some specific APP settings but I’ve packed my processing PC ready for an imminent house move.

+1 for that, maybe I don’t have the optimum settings, but I too can often find remnants of satellite trails in my APP processed images.

Last time I looked the help/user’s guide was only half finished, but to be fair there is a separate help guide for the processing element. The main elements I have found that I need to adjust are those that control smoothing and blending in mosaic panels or images combined from different scopes and cameras. They work really well however, once the optimum settings have been arrived at. That’s the fun in processing I guess.

Wow, that's a brilliant find! Looks a bit like NGC 891 but a tad more distant no doubt. I continue to marvel at the depth and resolving power of the HST, as the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 comes up, the HST Project (it's highs and lows) must be right up there in terms of NASA's greatest achievements.

The APOD image seems to show that the top line could be part of M63 to my eye, but the lower one still looks like the thinnest edge on galaxy I’ve ever seen.

You are right, the lower one in particular has a very sharp definition, they look similar in the Atlas photo, just fainter. I suppose they could be some kind of diffraction artefact from the nearby bright star, but why on this subject with two different scopes and cameras? Anybody got a refractor image with them on?

The galaxy stands up to close scrutiny, those two lines to the right of the galaxy do look like distant edge on spirals. I’ve looked at M63 in the Cambridge Photographic Atlas of Galaxies, and they are there! The Atlas image was 345 mins with a SBIG STL-1100 on a 600 mm reflector from Skinakas Observatory in Crete. Although it shows more detail in the dust lanes, your image beats it hands down for showing the fainter outer arms of the galaxy, no doubt due to your impressive total integration time for a UK image. Nice One!

Spot on, lovely colour. I haven’t imaged anything since the start of May, all the gear is packed up ready for the retirement move but then the permanent observatory build can start and no work to get in the way! I’m afraid you then need to be prepared for the cloudiest UK Autumn on record...

Great detail right to the core, I agree with the comments on the brightness, adjusting that would make it a first class M101 in my book.👍

Where’s Vlaiv when you need him?☺️

Myself and Tomatobro have been experimenting with retrofitting Peltier coolers to ASI178 cameras. Early runs did produced some random black specks on the images, which were caused by tiny droplets of moisture falling onto the sensor window. As you would expect, this was definitely worse when the refractor was pointing almost straight up. Application of the ZWO heater strip at the front of the camera body, and cooler control, seems to have fixed the problem, but this has yet to be properly tested.

There seem to be a number of these "purist" debates going on in SGL at the moment. If we want to take it to an extreme, anything other than naked eye visual astronomy is manipulation of some kind, and anybody wearing prescription spectacles must take them off, its a technological aid! To quote John Lennon (out of context), 'Whatever gets you through the night, it's alright'.

It does give the impression that there is some artistic licence in there, but I love the photo of the instrument, proper machined components, bolts and not a bit of gold foil in sight!