tomato

Here is the annotated image:

Yes @wimvb's image of this trio of galaxies doesn't show it either. My money would be on a geostationary satellite, but it would have to be a pretty darn big one, it's approx 23" in diameter, that's roughly twice the apparent diameter of the ISS. Do planetarium packages like Stellarium show these?

Finally managed to image this last night, Lum only as my extended unattended session did not play ball. SN 2024gy is still clearly visible with 46 mins of integration. But what is that curious dragonfly shaped object to the bottom right of the centre galaxy? It isn't a specific scope/camera artefact as it is present on the Red channel data that I managed to collect, which is a duplicate scope and camera, see close up crops below. I have checked other images of this area and can't see it, any ideas? If it is a drone then it stayed stationary for quite a while, could it be a geostationary satellite? If so then I'm chuffed that I captured it in some detail! Crop of Lum image: Crop of Red channel image:

Finally managed to image this last night, Lum only as my extended unattended session did not play ball. SN2024gy is still clearly visible with 46 mins of integration. But what is that curious dragonfly shaped object to the bottom right of the centre galaxy? It isn't a specific scope/camera artefact as it is present on the Red channel data that I managed to collect, which is a duplicate scope and camera, see close up crops below. I have checked other images of this area and can't see it, any ideas? If it is a drone then it stayed stationary for quite a while, could it be a geostationary satellite? If so then I'm chuffed that I captured it in some detail! Crop of Lum image: Crop of Red channel image:

Whilst trying to align the cameras on my dual rig tonight, I noticed a very prominent single diffraction spike on one scope, and even more weird, it changed position and shape between each 3 second exposure. I peered down the dewshield with a torch but could see nothing, so I returned to the laptop to see the spike had disappeared and then suddenly re-appear! More determined this time, I slid the dewshield back to reveal a very torpid lacewing crawling around the edge of the lens and then deciding to stride across it. In the end I had to blow him off with a hairdryer. He may have left some poo on the lens so I will need to sort that out without delay.

I briefly imaged with an Esprit 150 on an EQ6, and this gave acceptable results, guiding at 0.5” total RMS and imaging at 1.06” per pixel.

Of course the other way of revealing faint spiral arms and tidal interactions is to convert to black and white, invert the image and apply a radical stretch. There might be traces of IFN there, or more likely my uneven background.

The ASI 178s have retro fitted Peltier coolers, which basically stabilise the sensor temp so the calibration with dark frames is more consistent. These are essential as even a 2 minute sub generates significant amp glow. The ASI 678 has no amp glow so I am using it uncooled with a 2 minute exposure time, this seems to generate useable data.

It had a built in cloud gun but it doesn’t seem to be working.

My camera is currently delayed at Roissy Charles de Gaulle, not the dreaded Air Traffic Controllers by any chance?🙄

I have had 3 PCs viewable with TeamViewer, but they do occasionally grumble about me only using the free license. They have been quiet on this front recently though. Over time I have noted that I frequently spot an issue when monitoring from inside the house which requires me to go outside to the point that I might as well stay out there. Then at some point I set it up for unattended imaging and then leave it alone to run and finish in the early hours. I then take a look the next day to see how successful the run has been, around 80-90% of the sessions are cut short by cloud.

I did promise to take this one out to 20+ hours of integration to see what the spiral arms would look like, but blimey, it's hard going with the lack of clear nights. This one is 17.57 hrs of integration albeit about a third of that captured under a full moon. I have tried to minimise the noise reduction so any discernible structure in the spiral arms is still visible. This is presented at native resolution (0.47" per pixel), I tried a x2 down sample to improve the SNR but it just made the detail in the core more difficult to retain without improving the spiral arms significantly. This target is always well placed for me so I can return to it but I would like to try and image something new.

Thanks for the feedback, hopefully this one has the reduced magenta. And why is Bruce this way up? In homage to my favourite movie and the iconic poster:😁

Very frustrating weather at the moment, some clear spells but enough frequent passing cloud to make an unattended extended imaging session very difficult. So looking through the archive I found two sessions on the Dark Shark, a short one taken from a dark site at the Autumn Star camp at Cwmdu, and a longer session from my own back yard, all with the RASA8/IMX 571 OSC. 7.7 hrs in total, processed primarily with the X-suite of tools in PI. This may be an artefact of my processing, but there appear to be three distinct wave fronts along the dorsal of the Shark, highlighted by the blue emission nebulosity but also visible lower down, and on his underbelly there are some features that closely resemble the Ghost Nebula (Sh2-136, VdB 141), presumably the same process that created those spectres is going on here?

I use the Mesu Mk 1 with NINA and CdC. I start up Sitech first, then CdC, I connect the mount to CdC using the Sitech Ascom driver. Then I start NINA and connect the mount, again with the Sitech Ascom driver. For most sessions I search for an object in CdC and slew to it from there. I plate solve in NINA then do the corrective slew from CdC then it’s all NINA from then on. This could all be done from NINA, and for a mosaic it would be but for single frame sessions it’s what I have got used to and it works seamlessly every time.

Actually an apology and a correction is in order, I’ve just checked the Touptek UK price for the IMX571c against the RC version and the Touptek UK price inc VAT is lower than the RC price before VAT and import charges are applied. The RC price has increased significantly (like most things) since my purchase in 2021. This really makes purchasing from Touptek UK a no brainer in my book.

I’m restricting the search to LRGB or NB imaging. I think Olly’s suggestion would just about qualify but as discrete nebulae go are we looking at Ha clouds in our neighbouring galaxies? I’ve just remembered that I just about managed to record the plasma jet from 3C 273, at 2.4 billion light years, that could be a good candidate?

I’m afraid the UK Touptek prices aren’t in the same league as the same camera from China. Paying the Customs fees is straightforward, the hassle comes if or when you have to return the camera for repair or service.

The Bortle scale at least in the UK, pales into insignificance compared to where you are on the Okta scale…

Yes, that was the issue with my dual Esprit 150 rig, flexture between the guided and unguided scopes. It was brought under control by a large alloy bracing plate bolted across the top of the tube rings, a pain to set up when aligning the scopes but saves a lot of frustration thereafter. Hopefully your set up will not need one.

Looking forward to seeing the results from the dual Esprit 150 rig, what cameras are you planning to use?

Got it in one👍🏼

Or get into mosaics, not $$$$$$ but tttttttttt.😉

Great result given your conditions. Oiii will be very hard to collect under a full moon.

No, it’s out of warranty so I have to pay shipping both ways and the repair. Shipment to China with FedEx cost £40, hopefully RC’s economies of scale will kick in for the return trip. But… I was £800-£900 ahead of the price of a ZWO or QHY camera, so I still have some headroom.