Lee_P

This image was an experiment in mixing filters with my 2600MC OSC camera. I used an Optolong L-Ultimate (3nm) for Ha and OIII, and an Askar Colour Magic D2 (6nm) for SII and OIII. I think it turned out well! This is also my first attempt at including RGB stars in a narrowband image. Thanks to @powerlord for encouraging me to give it a go. I've got the gist, but any tips for improved star colour gratefully received. Anyway, more info about this image can be found on my website here, and imaging details are below. Thanks for looking * January 2023 * Bristol, UK (Bortle 8 ) * Telescope: Askar 130PHQ Flatfield Astrograph * Camera: ZWO ASI 2600MC-PRO * Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ6-R PRO * Guide: William Optics 50mm Guidescope with 1.25″ RotoLock; ZWO ASI 120MM Mini * Control: ASIAIR Plus * Software: PixInsight, Lightroom * Filters: – Optolong L-Ultimate (Ha / OIII): 300 x 120 seconds (10 hours) – Askar Colour Magic D2 (SII / OIII) : 420 x 120 seconds (14 hours) – No filter (for RGB stars): 90 x 120 seconds (3 hours) Total integration time: 27 hours By Lee Pullen

Brilliant! Congratulations!

Askar FRA400 is great, I've used one extensively. Review here and most of the photos in my gallery were taken using it.

I've added an extra bit to the end of my review now flagging this potential issue. Thanks again for bringing it to my attention, much appreciated 👍

No, I don't have the kit for those tests. Thanks for the link; it's a shame if it's a lottery as to whether you get good or bad ones 😕

Thanks for everyone's advice, much appreciated!

Looks great to me, I think the colours work well.

So I'm just wondering (as a thought experiment at this stage) of ways to add plate-solving functionality to my visual rig. I'm mainly an imaging guy, but occasionally do visual at events and for public outreach work. So, getting to different targets quickly with spot-on accuracy is important. For visual I use a WO GTF81 and Sky-Watcher AZ GTi. I can control this over WiFi using my phone, which I like. The pointing accuracy is often ok, but I can't help but think of the imaging world, where plate-solving is king. Is there an efficient way of adding plate-solving? My current thought is to use an ASIAIR Mini, small guidescope (I have one spare), and a small guidecam (ASI120MM or somesuch). Tell the ASIAIR that the guidecam is actually the main camera and hey presto, I should be able to plate-solve with that. But this is expensive and likely overkill. Is there a simpler and cheaper solution that anyone can think of? Ideally one that doesn't need lots extra kit and cables (i.e. laptop). Portability and low weight are important factors. I think Celestron have a gadget for this (StarSense?) but perhaps only bundled with their telescopes?

Ooh interesting, I generally run a bit of NXT fairly early on. My logic is to try and squash the noise before stretching. Stretching noise is bad, right? But you two only run NXT at the very end? Maybe I need to give that approach a go.

Curse you and your compelling argument! I'll try to remember RGB stars for future NB images.

I know what you mean. The Ha is still dominant though, and I needed to give the D2 data a boost via curves adjustment so it wouldn't be overpowered. The OIII does seem stronger. But what would the OIII level be like if the integration time weren't split across two filters, but was instead ploughed into a single 3nm Ha/OIII filter like the L-Ultimate? I think that combining L-Ultimate with D2 data could be a good way forward, as you're going to try. Askar have a 3nm D1 filter (but not D2). They say they've got some in stock so are sending me one in the coming weeks to test. I'll put it head-to-head with the L-Ultimate. Just a filter holder. Only takes a minute to swap them around. Considering I image for many nights on a single target, filter swapping isn't a hassle at all. It's not like I've got a seven-filter mono setup. You know what, I've never actually added RGB stars to a narrowband image. The lack of star colours has never bothered me -- but deep down I know as soon as I do it once I'll need to do it for every future image! How much integration time do you think I'd need for decent RGB stars?

Yes, that's exactly what I did. The process feels a bit convoluted but I can't deny that it gave me colours I struggle to obtain with pseudo-SHO processing.

Hi all, presenting my latest image! This is unusual because it was taken using Askar's new D1 D2 filters. These are targetted at OSC imagers, and allow for SHO imaging. More image details are below. Extra info about the image is on my website here, and click here for a review of the Askar D1 D2 filters. * December 2022 * Bristol, UK (Bortle 8 ) * Telescope: Askar 130PHQ Flatfield Astrograph * Camera: ZWO ASI 2600MC-PRO * Filter: Askar Colour Magic D1 and D2 * Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ6-R PRO * Guide: William Optics 50mm Guidescope with 1.25″ RotoLock; ZWO ASI 120MM Mini * Control: ASIAIR Plus * Software: PixInsight, Lightroom * D1: 360 x 120 seconds (12 hours) | D2: 360 x 120 seconds (12 hours) Total integration time: 24 hours By Lee Pullen

I'm very much an imager, but for one night a few weeks back I swapped out my camera for a Baader Hyperion Zoom eyepiece. The Moon through my 130mm refractor was absolutely incredible. I coaxed my wife out of the warm living room to take a look, and we gave our three year-old her first peek through a telescope too! Jupiter was also fantastic, and I was excited to make out some surface features on Mars. It's just a shame that I'm in the centre of a city, so DSO's look underwhelming. Those bright targets though... utterly fantastic. I can see how people get hooked on visual. It's a shame that it's a hassle to swap my telescope over from imaging to visual and then back again. I've got a small, portable refractor for visual (I sometimes do public engagement / outreach work with it), but the views through the big 'frac were definitely next level.

I've just published my review of the new Askar D1 D2 filters. These are targetted at OSC imagers. The D1 is a conventional Ha/OIII dualband filter, whereas the D2 is SII/OIII. The idea is to combine data from the two filters to create full SHO images. You can see the full review here.

Ooh that's a tough one! I think I'll go for this photo of The Shark Nebula. It isn't the most visually stunning, but I'll pitch it because it was taken from a Bortle 8 city centre using an OSC camera and no filters whatesoever.

Oh yes, his videos are really good. But I remember he posted here on SGL a while back and he was a little sharp toward other members, and that put me off him a bit.

I like Cuiv, lukomatico, and Visible Dark mostly. They're very genuine in their passion and I've learnt useful things from them. Shoutout also to AstroVagabond. I did a livestream with him recently and he's a lovely chap.

Both outstanding! I think the reprocess has the edge, slightly more pleasing contrast to my eyes. Not much in it though.

Really striking, I like this a lot.

Not a dim question at all! To quote from my full review, "Note that data is given for the current year, plus the next two years. This makes a purchase in January the best option!"

For the custom edition you tell the author your time zone, so it'll be specific to you.

Full review is here. I like it, it's going to be my first port of call in the future for narrowing down my options of targets to image.

Something a bit different, I recently bought a custom edition of The Astrophotography Planner by Charles Bracken for $19.99. It's pretty good and may be of interest to the imagers out there. Click here for the review.

I'm far from a PI expert so take other people's thoughts over mine, but for what it's worth I'm currently reprocessing a load of old data using these new tools. I find that I'm still often doing a little bit of extra sharpening in the non-linear stage, but NoiseXTerminator is all I'm using for noise reduction. I'm OSC, so different techniques may be better for mono.