tomato

This is M33, from last night, 5.2 hrs total integration before clouds called a halt. I used a Moravian G2-8300/Esprit 150/SW 0.77 FR to capture Luminance, and a QHY 268c/Esprit 150 to capture RGB. Data was calibrated and stacked in APP and then I extracted the RGB channels from the OSC stack using PI, then processed the channels in Startools 1.8, AP and GIMP. I'm not sure why the bright stars have diffraction spikes given it was all captured with refractors, most likely the OAG prism intruding now that this scope has the Focal Reducer fitted. I got quite excited examining the bright star which is cut off at the top of the image, about two thirds along on the right. With the apparent symmetrical star pattern around the bright star it looked like some kind of gravitational lensing effect, but no, inspecting the uncropped stack, it's just a line of sight coincidence, there are no corresponding stars on the top half.🤭 Thanks for looking.

Well, I can see a fast and sharp duel set up really delivering on faint targets.👍

That’s a top notch first go at M31. My advice would be to gather more subs, particularly when the moon is out of the way, assuming the weather in North Yorkshire co-operates!

I would agree the EQ8 load capacity equivalent mount from the Ioptron range would be the 120. I suggested the 120 to @Tomatobro, who is also waiting for EQ8R stock, but after deliberating he has opted to wait for the EQ8R to become available.

Brilliant find, I had the full album, I spent all my pocket money on the the hard to get cards, I wish I could remember which ones they were! I also had a full set of the Shell ‘Man in Flight’ coins, thanks to a much travelled uncle.

A gloriously deep Dumbbell, great image👍

As previously mentioned, PHD2 is seamlessly integrated into all of the popular image capture packages. Open PHD2, connect your guide camera and mount then connect to PHD2 in your image capture software. The guide graph and relevant data is displayed in a window in your main imaging software.

Movement in all three axes, neat!

Indeed, it looks like a lot more of the available light is being blocked on the first image.

Thanks, I got 4 hrs on it last year from my Bortle 5 location with a RASA8 and a NBX/QHY268c, but it was barely visible even after stretching it to death. I am surprised that 20 hrs of Oiii with your Epsilon didn’t deliver something.

An excellent Squid, may I ask what a ‘good few 300 sec subs’ amounts to in total integration time?

Unless you assemble your filters and imaging kit in clean room conditions you will get dust particles, it’s the ones on the camera sensor window which cause the black and dark circles. But it’s not a problem, properly taken flat calibration frames, as described above, will remove them. You have an impressive equipment set up, may I suggest that if you are just getting started, please get a copy of “Making Every Photon Count” written by Steve Richards, @steppenwolf here on SGL, who posted earlier. It covers all of the required knowledge and techniques needed to carry out successful Astrophotography, definitely the best purchase I made in the first 6 months of starting out on imaging.

Judging by the amazing growth of his Discord forum and the progress he has made with the Big Amateur Telescope project, I doubt Rory has much time left to keep up with SGL. As a small time maker of videos in another life back in 80’s I can really appreciate the skill and work that goes into his highly entertaining videos, and he sure does know his stuff on imaging capture and processing.

You have made full use of the dark sky, and the lack of cooling hasn’t stopped you producing a wonderful image. I am trying for first light on my Samyang 135, coupled to a good old KAF 8300 sensor.

To paraphrase Fred Haise on Apollo 13 after Jack Swigert powered the CM back up, “Way to go, Malc”👍

His T&C state a 14 day return of goods and your money back, and he doesn't operate out of the back of a Reliant van ("mange tout Rodney, mange tout"). Some well respected SGL members speak well of him, so that's good enough for me.

Isn’t he just the same as thousands of other businesses that deal in second hand goods, he just happens to specialise in Astronomy gear? I recently bought a used item of equipment from him for about 75% of the new price with which I am entirely satisfied. As chance would have it a couple of weeks later the same item came up on the SGL classifieds for £15 less but if I want to pay the lowest price I would wait forever.

If you can control the camera and capture images with Sharpcap, I would stick with that. An awful lot of imagers don’t use their cameras with the original supplier’s software.

The 383 is a great camera, the photons coming down don’t know if they hitting old or new tech. The new Ford Mustang is all electric and cutting edge tech, but I’m glad the car chase in Bullitt was filmed with the old one.

I think the major issue currently with this mount is getting hold of a new one.

If it is who I suspect, the kit offered is clearly second hand and from what I can see the prices do reflect this. And based on the level of stock, it isn’t a pop up shop venture. Isn’t the moral of the story that if you see an item you want in the classifieds, don’t hesitate or else it may be acquired by this or other dealers and then be offered at a higher price.

I wish! That’s 20 x 3 min so one hour of integration. The IDAS NBZ filter is well suited to the steep light cone of the F2 RASA, but at your proposed focal ratio, you have no such restriction on filter choice.

Agreed, a brilliant set of winning images, I can’t see any controversy being generated by these, unlike previous winners.

I have never used APP’s mosaic tool other than for telescope FOVs, but there are examples of huge mosaics from DSLR/lens frames on the APP website.

An ‘in the field” practical response to your query based on my experiences with a set up very similar to yours: I have a RASA8 and the QHY version of the OSC sensor, the 268c, imaging under a Bortle 5 sky. The first image is 20 x 3 mins bin 1x1 with the IDAS NBX dual band filter, camera in Photographic DSO mode. The second is 150 x 1 min bin 1x1 with an IR/UV cut filter, camera again in Photographic DSO mode. The star shapes are horrendous in the corners of this image, but that’s nothing to do with exposure times or camera settings.