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Catanonia

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Everything posted by Catanonia

  1. I am after a new mount as my 10 year old NEQ6 Pro has seen better days. I currently use my NEQ6 Pro with the ASI Air Pro via a EQMod serial / vga to USB cable and it works perfectly. All I have to do is power on the mount, connect via ASI Air and that is it. Polar align, slew goto everything without the hand controller. I have heard horror stories from EQ6-R Pro and Celestton CGX owners over the last few years that these mounts will not directly connect to the ASI Air Pro without some convoluted methods and connection via the hand controller. So have you a EQ8-R mount and ASI AIr Pro ? What is the connection method in terms of cables between the EQ8-R and the ASI Air Pro ? Do you have to connect via the hand controller ? What is your rough procedure to get it all working ? Many thanks for the help before I drop a lot of money on a mount that may or may not work with my preferred ASI solution.
  2. Added another 60 or so mins to the image and re-processed. Now about 150mins in 5min 2xbin subs Not sure if I am going to get anything else out of this. But will add some more next time as it is a good early target in the night for me waiting for main targets to appear.
  3. Yeah, light is light and the 8 hovers it up big time. The 7nm Ha filter was a failure, it turns out I need a fast Ha filter for the rasa @f2. See my other thread on this.
  4. I have a ZWO 2600 MC Pro OSC camera and normally image with the Optolong lEnhance filter that gives RGB images along with Ha and OIII data. Specs are here The Major Emission Lines of Nebulae: H-α 656.3nm, H-β486.1nm, OIII 495.9nm, OIII 500.7nm The Major Emission Lines of Artificial Light Pollution: Hg 435.8nm, 546.1nm, 577nm, 578.1nm, Na 598nm, 589.6nm, 615.4nm, 616.1nm Now with the recent moonlit nights, even this filter gets washed out by the moon. So I decided to replace the lEnhance filter with a generic Ha 7nm filter and take some images with the hope of combining this with the original data. As I started to process the images, I noticed that the Ha data and the Red channel of the lEnhance data were basically the same. Ie no difference and if anything the lEnhance filter Red channel was better than the Ha 7nm data Here is a picture explaining it. Left is Ha data in 25x 5min subs @bin2 (needed this length of sub to get a decent signal) - Rasa 8 @F2 - warning that the filter is not working with the Rasa @F2 ? Right is the lEnhance Red channel in 74x 1min @bin2 (needed shorter subs to achieve same signal) - Rasa 8 @F2 Both images have had exactly the same cropping, DBE, stretching done to them on starless images to make it easier to see. As you can see, the lEnhance Red channel is just as good if not better than the 2+ hours of Ha 7nm data So in summary, no point whatsoever in using the Ha 7nm filter to gather extra if you have a lEnhance filter. If you want Ha data on a moonlit night, use the lEnhance filter and extract out the Red channel. Also you don't get those horrid halos that some Ha filters give you. Either that or the 7nm Ha filter I am using is blocking too much of the sharply angled fast F2 light the Rasa delivers - Thoughts ? edit After some research, found this about highspeed F2 filters Baader f/2 Highspeed H-Alpha Filters Available in 1 ¼", 2", H-alpha / O III and S II are designed especially for the delicate requirements of extremely fast astrograph optics, in particular Hyperstar and Celestron's New RASA. Conventional narrowband filters cause a heavy loss in transmission due to the strong CWL shift (CWL= Center wavelength). In extreme cases the CWL even does shift out of the FWHM (FWHM= full width half maximum). Therefore these filters have a CWL preshift which matches f/2 to f/3 perfectly. Also the FWHM is optimized. In spite of the typical line broadening with such fast optical trains they are able to deliver maximum contrast. For the first time these filters allow to use fast optics really effectively with high contrast emission nebulae imaging. Using these filters between f/1,8 and f/3,5 shows a dramatic improvement compared to any regular set of narrowband-filters.
  5. Thanks all. Trying a Ha 7nm filter in front of the OSC 2600 MC Pro to see if that is worth the effort tonight since it is a bright and almost full moon
  6. A quick question for you experts as I am not sure of the answer. I have a One Shot Colour Camera (OSC) ZWO 2600MC Pro I have a 7nm Ha filter in place The subs come out red, sort of expected. How do I process these subs ? Debayer then extract the Red channel from the sub leaving a mono Ha / Red channel ? Any help would be appreciated
  7. Thanks buddy, will take a bit to read / re-read and process
  8. I stumbled across Abell 85 whilst searching for targets and a bit more investigation revealed that this is a very challenging target Images I have seen on the web are usually with narrowband filters, from the desert with good skies and well over 12+ hours integration time. Full moon last night, Bortle 6 skies, but I have a Rasa8 and lEnhance filter. How difficult can it be........ It turns out VERY after a quick test of 12x 5min subs at bin 2 (to increase SNR) on Rasa8 and ZWO 2600MC Pro The structure hardly appears even with 5min subs x2 bin on an F2 Rasa. So many stars too make it a real PITA to process. I can see why people use narrowband filters for this target. But here is what I have for only 12 subs 1 hour with a OSC camera in full moon, so gives me hope I can do better with better conditions. (Didn't concentrate on the processing too much as this was a test) I will definitely re-try this under better conditions
  9. Just watched this and well worth a view for those interested in what sub lengths you should use depending on your scope, camera, light pollution and other factors.
  10. @vlaiv Any thoughts on this buddy as you are normally very hot on these topics Thanks
  11. I use a similar 3d printed semi circle cradle to route my Rasa cables. The spirit level is interesting...
  12. Thanks buddy, was quite impressed with the subs, it literally took me 20mins to process they were that good despite the moon.
  13. DOH !!!!!!!! yes East of Orion. Stupid me M81/82 were done to capture the IFN and it works well at 400mm, see the image. Got some subs on Leo's and Markarians (about 2 hours each) and yet to process
  14. So back into the hobby after 10 years and typical of me, I go and buy big (lucky I can, although bank balance does not agree) Well since June, I have been getting some great images on the rasa 8, but there is this nagging thought telling me I should have got the rasa11 So with a ZWO2600 MC Pro and a rasa8 in Bortle 6 skies, would I actually see any difference with the 11inch version of the rasa11 ? If I would, what would the differences be other than the slightly longer focal length and F2.2 compare to the 8's 2.0 I understand that 3 inches more = more light gathered, but in my skies, is it actually worth it (ignoring the cost) ? Thanks
  15. Trick I learnt with DBE is to stretch it with ScreenTransfer and adjust the sliders to limits to show the areas where the nebulosity is. This makes DBE point selection MUCH easier and of course does not affect the image as it is still in a linear format.
  16. Starmask and replace wirh RGB stars would be nice. You could to a HaRGB, but be careful it doesn't end up too pink. That might give you more "colour" and interest in the M42 / IC434 regions But that is a cracking image and yeah I bet DBE was a PITA to do on this. I am guessing this the 135mm that this is a single shot and not a mosaic ?
  17. Nice work. I did a test run last night on this with the rasa and it is a very faint and difficult target. Great effort and result, especially from a DSLR. What Bortle skies are you in and was there any moon around ?
  18. With many targets to image last night, I decided in between targets to re-do the Horsehead and Flame region with the Rasa 8 to see what it would do in a short amount of time. I was quite impressed with this and the processing didn't take too long either as the data was pretty darn good despite the 3/4 moon right next door to it. Image IC 434 Horsehead and Flame Nebula in Orion Bortle 6 skies 3/4 moon next door to Orion 83x1 min 2xbin subs Rasa8 scope, ZWO 2600MC Pro and ASI Air on a NEQ6 Pro mount lEnhance Optilong Filter - Works very well at cutting out some of the moon shine Hope you like it as I am very impressed at how well the Rasa gives quick and good data.
  19. Thanks, got M81/82 in the back and is a goto to leave running through to dawn.
  20. After a lot of searching with Stellarium, got 2 targets to choice between Markarians Chain or the Leo Triplets will allow me to image from about 1am through to early dawn.
  21. I store only the following that massively reduces the space needed. If long storage, they get compressed too (zip) Raw Files Master Flat, Bias, Darks Final Image From that I can re-produce anything I like and if I was to re-produce I would not want to produce the same image, but something different with new techniques or more data.
  22. On the list and can image that until about 1am. Need something more west
  23. For tonight 12th January 2022 - UK BASED At a complete loss and a brain melt and just can't think of some targets to image tonight. So can anyone give me some pointers please ? Up until about 1am I will be imaging the Orion / Rosette region, but after 1am this all goes out of view in my location and I am at a loss as to what to switch to. I am after something widefield (400mm) that is fairly high up in the sky and West - Southwest - South Many thanks for any suggestions
  24. oh wow, that is nice and some dedication and reuse / addition to / of data. Yes the witch looks like it is a bit flat and looks like to much of a sharp mask addition. Just my opinion, but wow, amazing work there
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