tomato

I wasn't planning to image M101 for this competition, but SN2023IXF had other ideas. I can't show the before image as it wasn't captured within the competition timeframe but here is the SN image. Interestingly when stretching the star only image, the SN was the first star to appear out of the background, so it has made it's mark. Usual Esprit150/ASI178/2x2/LRGB capture, around 5.5 hrs of integration.

Just finished airing, great uplifting story but I hope the BBC didn’t make you take your scope apart just for the feature.

For a camera (albeit an expensive one) that you carry around in your pocket, they are indeed great results.

I asked FLO if they knew of any imminent plans for a Celestron to do this but they didn’t know of any. I guess at this point Celestron would like you to buy into their scope hardware, as the margin on the StarSense units alone might be a bit slim. Mind you, some folks are buying the cheapest scope package and using the scope as a doorstop, so perhaps they could charge North of £100 and still get the volume?

Nice one. 👍🏼 Would they let you name check the brake disc?☺️

Thanks, according to S&T it was at mag 11.1 last night and still getting brighter, now visible in a 4.5” scope, so I would definitely give it a go.

Can I assume some of this was captured outside of Astro darkness?

Has anybody noticed the much fainter ‘star’ lower down the spiral arm that is present in the 2020 frame but is absent in the SN frame? I need to check some other images… PS it is in the other frame it is just my casual stretching routine making it brighter in the first one…

Yes, l have imaged 3 SNs since returning to AP nine years ago but this one is by far the most prominent. It helps being in a galaxy that is (relatively) not very distant. I wasn’t planning to image M101 this season but the Cosmos had other ideas.

Should this be in the Special Events section? If so apologies and Mods please relocate. Here is a two frame GIF of M101 from last night and March 2020. It was going to be the whole galaxy and in colour, but my framing in 2020 is 23 degrees out from last night and then somehow I lost the red channel subs due to being tucked up in bed at 2 a.m. instead of being out there minding the kit. It is strange how these supernovae feel like urgent current events which from our vantage point I suppose they are, when in reality this all happened some 24 million years ago when the Apes separated from monkeys on the our evolutionary timeline...

That’s really, really good.👍

‘ Yes, there are limits, but there are some folks on here at lower latitudes who down tools in Nautical darkness or stop LRGB imaging the moment the moon makes an appearance. IMHO clear sky time in the UK is just too precious to throw away just because it is not ideal conditions. I’d rather get a full night’s data rather than snatch 20 minutes between the clouds.

Good luck with your Hyperstar project, they certainly haven’t had a good press on SGL but if you can get it to work I’m sure your images will help it’s reputation no end.

Great widefield image, I'm at a loss why folks pack up when astro darkness goes, given how much the kit and software processing tools have progressed.

Forgive the crude rendition, but if the flat panel is not too heavy, could you hold it place with a wooden baton and some tie wraps around the dovetail plate and finderscope shoe?

To be fair to SPCC, it works well when there a lot of stars in the image but that is rarely the case when imaging tiny galaxies with a ASI178.

Well, you can improve your odds of being struck by lightening by standing in a field at the top of a hill in a violent thunderstorm, I guess the lottery equivalent is buying £56M worth of tickets.

Great result!👍 Colour on galaxies is really strange, when SPCC came out for Pixinsight I thought great, a scientific, quantitative assignment of colour using a 215 million star database, no more hassle getting the colour right. However, in practice it gives a strange result about 30% of the time. Then it is back to csc in Astro Pixel Processor, or me adjusting the channels based on reference photographs.

Thanks Rodd, here is a link to a 32.5 hr image taken in Spain by folks whom I regard as expert imagers, it gives a good idea on how much data is required from a less than ideal site.

Hi Rodd, I'm late to this thread, but here is my effort using your 'Best Lum' channel. I think it is great data, the only issue I had and it is a minor one, is that there appears to be a slight 'bloom' to the background even after using the LP removal tool in APP. This can be rendered almost undetectable by raising the black point a little bit more than I would normally, but you have some very tenuous outer arm nebulosity in your data and it would be a pity to lose this. On the more philosophical issue that you raise, I really do admire your relentless pursuit of perfection in your images but in AP you have chosen an activity where that goal is IMHO unobtainable. The are so many variables on the data capture and processing, coupled with continuous development in the hardware and software technologies that we are always aiming at a moving target. I also get frustrated with the inadequacies of my data and processing and from time to time I find it rewarding to do something a little different with the kit, e.g. attempting to capture really distant objects (the images will always be of crude quality, but who cares?), make a GIF of the JWST on it's way to the Lagrange point, or take a video of the pulsating neutron star in the Crab Nebula. These have nice clearly defined goals, and by achieving them help replenish my motivation to have another go at the infernal pastime that is AP.

Yes, congratulations Goran, I also noticed it is the front picture section, usually the domain of professional images from the JWST and the like so well done indeed. That was quite a momentous decision when you bought that second hand RASA…

Here is Copeland's Septet in Leo, ground out over 5 sessions in May, inevitably some of the data was captured outside of Astro darkness. Taken with the Esprit150/ASI178/LRGB dual rig, binned 2x2, 0.94 arcsec per pixel, 12.23 hrs captured, as follows: L 200x 2 mins R 55 x 2 mins G 56 x 2 mins B 56 x 2 mins Calibrated and stacked in APP, LP removal and colour calibration in APP, processed in PI and Affinity Photo, image is cropped to put the galaxy group centre stage and remove my horrendous session overlaps.

The rat cage is useful place for the mount’s power supply, handset etc, and a mug of tea.😉 This doubles as a vibration indicator until it is drunk.

I agree, remove them in processing, if I had software that delayed taking an image until it was clear of satellites, it would give me about three subs per session. Olly, most folks outside of the Astro community I show my images to do not describe them as pretty. With small galaxies, the response is “what am I supposed to be looking at?” and nebulae are a “colourful mess”. I don’t think I would be much good at outreach.

I have an Altair pier with the 3 bolt rat cage and 70+ kg riding on it and regularly image at 1 arcsec per pixel. If, as the man in the video says, the vibrations generated by the operating mount are always present and limit the seeing performance that can be achieved, why do I get variations in the FWHM numbers from one night to the next?