ApophisAstros

Wonderful details, Gina  , cant wait to get my astrodons..

Roger

2 hours ago, carastro said:

Yes I am going on Saturday as well as Apophis, and Marmo who I am meeting up with and perhaps Lorenzo.   I always like the social side of going and meeting up with forum members.

Carole 

Yes , i am hoping to pickup some new kit with a bit of show discount, i know 365astronomy are offering 10% off and Primalucelabs aswell..😎

20 hours ago, Magnum said:

Im also in the process of trying to get my (miss matched) dual rig working properly, and my biggest issue is also differential flexure, For the last few weeks I thought it was focuser sag as im guiding on the 127 Meade with an OAG and that rig always has pin point stars, but the 102 has slight trails, found a loose tension pad inside the focuser of the 102 but still getting the same issue. Theoretically the Altair should have amore rigid focuser than the Meade and thats confirmed by some aggressive flexing tests. But then when I think about it it could still be the focuser on the Meade thats casting it ,as that could be flexing yet still give round stars one its camera as its guided by the OAG. However im starting to think its the single bolt dovetail clamp on the smaller scope, if I grab both scopes  and move up and down there seems to be slightly more movement on smaller scope. Does any of that make sense? Also last night the images taken on the east side of the meridian had trails but on the west side they were almost perfect.

Thing I haven't had a problem with funny enough is alignment, all I did was use the pre drilled holes on the plate and clamps, and made sure the edges were square with each other before tightening, Can centre star in one and its always centred in the other one.

Not much point to my post as ive kind of answered my own questions, but thought I would share anyway.

With regards to capture itself and dithering, ive worked out a really simple method of having the exposures of both scopes synced to the dither.  Guiding in Maxim I enable dithering with my normal 30 second delay between exposures using the ATik460. Then on a separate computer I have another Maxim running connected to just the 383, obviously this one knows nothing about the guiding so I found if I set the delay on this cam to 39 seconds and make sure I press start on both machines at the same moment, then it stays in perfect sync all night.

Lee

 

 

Is that a garage ivy propagater  in the background?

Roger

On 23/12/2019 at 22:00, DaveS said:

Just so. Carole has it right.

Unless you are going to make a study of Planetary Nebulae, and possibly SNR then I'm not sure just how effective [NII] will be. I've hared down several blind alleys with [NII] and am no longer sure just how much real data I've acquired, given the 15% overlap between HII and [NII], even with 3nm filters.

I'm still investigating my old HII / [NII] data to see whether I have genuinely separated them.

Thanks Dave, shame no advice from any others i thought they may have the astrodon filters as i am going for them,

Roger 

5 hours ago, DaveS said:

Do you *really* want [NII]? You'll have to get both HII and [NII] as 3nm filters from Astrodon, at £570 at time for the 1.24" size. As for Na, I don't know, maybe have a look in the Edmund Optics catalogue but be prepared for near Astrodon prices. My guess is you'll need to get a 2" / 50mm unmounted filter and either try to source a filter holder or put it in a 2" / 50mm wheel.

Edit: Found this Sodium (Near enough) filter from EO. Don't be shocked by the price, EO are notably pricey.

it will be 1.25 inch filters and efw

Baader have good enough revuiews i think,,

Roger

Going to get Ha  , Oiii , and Nitrogen and sodium filters 6nm or smaller , wondered what the general view was on the best ones,

Roger

apparently all those islands will be gone when the ice cubes on the north/south pole melt🥶🌞

Roger

33 minutes ago, barkis said:

Ah! Has to be The movie 'Contact'

Ron.

Correct,  what a film, Such a great shame we lost the great Carl Sagan .

Roger

yes Horizon is much better than sky at night since we lost sir patrick. Why does the BBC have to have 2 presenters finishing each others sentences one is fine , but typical BBC overspend "why have one when you can have 2 at twice the price"--question what film is that a quote from?

Roger

Thanks Dinglem,

Roger

Old Data , Just the DSLR data.

Pixinsight workflow.
First image from use of Pixinsight , No Darks, No Flats. Stacked 25 300s DSLR subs. Debayered , Star Aligned, and basic stretching , i am only up to 4 of 12 youtube tutorials by AstroDude.
Blink , Subframeselector , debayered , StarAligned , ImageIntegration , HistogramTransformation , DynamicBackgroundExtraction , ColorCalibration.
Nice being able to analyse rejected low and high frames ie bright artifacts from sigma clipping.

Roger

i heard a guy say once that when he was on the Russian convoys the flame on his lighter froze.🤣🤣

Roger

Great image,

Roger

I like this , my best image is M33.

Roger

29 minutes ago, newbie alert said:

Nothing wrong with your monitor, it's the soap bubble...

not that , go to 11 o'clock to from the bubble , there appears to be a couple.

Roger

2 hours ago, newbie alert said:

Take it that's a joke Roger??

maybe it's my monitor then.

Roger

Remembering how naive i was about imaging , when i first joined my local Astronomy Society , i was on cloud nine when , after a year or so of imaging one of my astro images was chosen to be published amongst others in the annual society calendar but alas am resigned never to be publish in a magazine as its alway the creme de la creme they seem to want.

Roger

10 hours ago, newbie alert said:

You've all seen this from Lee from a few weeks back..

He says he's the laziest imager going..

Never uses flats,  or darks as he dithers.. he may use a master bias..not sure where the bright bit is in the middle , I can't see it.

Obvious dust bunnies there though,...................^ look up from the arrow a couple there.

Roger

3 hours ago, alan potts said:

Can I suggest you get the atlas C-du-C and download the the SH 2 catalogue, I did this and was shocked how much there is that I never knew of, some of these targets are very large but need a lot of time to bring them out.

Alan 

I found this , its brilliant, 

Sharpless Catalogue

Roger

Wonderful image,

Roger

22 minutes ago, alan potts said:

Very nice shot, I need to get something to deal with gradients and one of the other programs other than PS seems favorite, just don't know which.

Alan

I was lucky as there was no gradient and didn't need to handle it , another surprise!

Roger

Ditto everyone's comments,such great fine detail , shows all the hard work!🤩

Roger

3 hours ago, upahill said:

Great result!

I have been using the Light Vortex Astronomy guides for calibration and stacking but want to see how others are doing it so will check out the AstroDude videos. I struggle with videos a bit as its sometimes hard to 'follow along' without pausing every 10 seconds

 

If you have a smart TV then as i do you can watch the tutorial on that , mimicking the steps on the Laptop ,  i find it brill.

Roger 

On 28/09/2019 at 13:08, Jiggy 67 said:

The environment around my house leaves me no option but to set up on my back garden and specifically the lawn. Given the fact that global warming has led to increase rainfall (it hasn't stopped raining for a week now!!) I am conscious that the ground and lawn is sodden. I have put up with this in the past but it appears to be getting worse and I don't want to turn my lawn into a mud bath and ruin the lawn as I walk around the mount.

I am considering pegging out a large plastic sheet and making some holes for the tripod legs to fit through to the ground below it. As I am hoping to keep the mount setup for much of the winter, this will be almost permanent through the winter.

Does anyone have any experience of this??.....How did it work for you??....does anyone have an alternative solution (without involving concrete or slabs) or is there a retail solution anyone can suggest

Thanks guys

Darren

Found theses , 

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/snowshoes-sh100-blue-id_8492871.html?iv_=__iv_p_1_g_61980133654_c_316432589974_w_pla-329717981662_n_g_d_c_v__l__t__r_1o1x_pla_y_15177021_f_online_o_2559465_z_GB_i_en_j_329717981662_s__e__h_9045819_ii__vi__&gclid=CjwKCAiAzanuBRAZEiwA5yf4upSLgXxqx0Bu_6OECq1dzx6P_w_OybDgmo-19TY6oaTjA5b08cAe9BoCK5IQAvD_BwE

🤣

Roger

On 28/09/2019 at 13:08, Jiggy 67 said:

The environment around my house leaves me no option but to set up on my back garden and specifically the lawn. Given the fact that global warming has led to increase rainfall (it hasn't stopped raining for a week now!!) I am conscious that the ground and lawn is sodden. I have put up with this in the past but it appears to be getting worse and I don't want to turn my lawn into a mud bath and ruin the lawn as I walk around the mount.

I am considering pegging out a large plastic sheet and making some holes for the tripod legs to fit through to the ground below it. As I am hoping to keep the mount setup for much of the winter, this will be almost permanent through the winter.

Does anyone have any experience of this??.....How did it work for you??....does anyone have an alternative solution (without involving concrete or slabs) or is there a retail solution anyone can suggest

Thanks guys

Darren

Do you find you get unwanted mount movement during sessions as the earth is so soft? Have you no patio or other firm setting?

Roger