RafalT73

Hi, even in usually sunny Spain it was hard to get a clear night sky lately. I collected the material for almost three weeks, taking advantage of local weather conditions. I managed. I collected slightly over 17 hours of photo material. Unfortunately, the high clouds and cirrus left their mark on the glow of the brightest star in the upper part of the frame. Ultimately I decided to leave it as is, as a natural effect. Technical card: TSAPO 140/910 + QHY268M on iOptron CEM 70EC, LRGB - 18 x 300 sec per channel, Ha - 67 x 600s. All processed in PIXInsight https://www.astrobin.com/95i2l5/

An emission nebula is an H II region where young, hot stars emit intense ultraviolet radiation. This radiation ionizes the gas in the nebula, causing it to glow with the characteristic red light typical of hydrogen. Additionally, the NGC 281 nebula contains dark Bok globules, which are regions of dense gas and dust often associated with the process of star formation. Telescope TSAPO 140/910 + QHY268M, integration time around 16h, taken from PixelSkiesAstro in Castillejar.

Earlier this week I returned home from a trip to Castillejar in Spain where I was assembling my telescope at the PixelSkiesAstro observatory. A fantastic, quiet and dark place, run by professionals. I spent there three days assembling, talking, exchanging experiences and testing the gear. As my recollection of this moment beginning my adventure with remote telescope operation I am posting my first test frames from under the dark Spanish sky.

00:10 Technical specification of the telescope https://youtu.be/qMOm2GTLwRs?t=10 00:40 Polar alignment https://youtu.be/qMOm2GTLwRs?t=40 04:27 Automatic search for focus point https://youtu.be/qMOm2GTLwRs?t=267 06:28 SGP PRO environment https://youtu.be/qMOm2GTLwRs?t=388 07:11 Framing & Mosaic Wizard https://youtu.be/qMOm2GTLwRs?t=431 08:28 Centering the object https://youtu.be/qMOm2GTLwRs?t=508 10:11 Sequence Start (auto focus, auto centering, PHD2, acquisition, calibration frames ) https://youtu.be/qMOm2GTLwRs?t=611 13:13 Finale Image https://youtu.be/qMOm2GTLwRs?t=793

Absolutely fantastic !!! I did that object two weeks ago with similar gear as yours (total exposure time 36h). I have to admit that your version is stunning. Really fantastic!!!

Ohh! I didn’t expect. That’s really good!! If so, that could be a really good choice

Anker power station (an example 512Wh power station cost 450£) The above link lead you to Anker website. It’s rather suggestion than recommendation - final decision is on you. Please keep in mind, that output voltage on the station is 12V so you need to yake in to consideration additional voltage drop over the cable. Finally you can have 11.5V on your end equipment (in some cases it could be problematic).

By the way, I built such a battery myself. You can find the project detail here https://moje-nocne-niebo.pl/en/portable-power-supply-for-astrophotography/

Hi, below please look at attached screenshot- that’s the power consumption during night session - about 50W. The heaters are off (in that moment there was no need to turn it on) but they both draw no more than 1.5A (1.5A x 12V = 18W). So, totally 70W would be the typical power consumption for most of the gears. If you want operate your telescope for let say 8 hour as max then 70W x 8h = 560W with no reserve. In real life such capacity would be enough for 6 h in Winter time and much more in Summer. Based on that you can look for some battery. The best ones are LiFePO4 or Ion-lithium battery

Hi, I thought it might be a good idea to create a video documenting the process of an astrophotography session. A while ago, I was looking for such videos myself, so now I’ll share my session workflow. The video shows an astrophotography session from ‘behind the scenes,’ meaning everything the telescope operator sees on the screen. From polar alignment to parking the telescope after the sequence is completed and the final image!

TSAPO 140/910 - QHY268M - Esatto 4” Focuser with 3” Arco rotator - iOptron CEM70EC

Back focus of the field flattener has nothing to do with diameter or focal length of the telescope. Specified back focus of your flattener refers to the distance between M42 connection and sensor of the ASI183MC PRO. Please pay attention to back focus of the camera itself 6.5mm. It means that you need adapters for 48.5mm (55 - 6.5 = 48.5mm) between FF and ASI183MC. Anyway, some extra precise adjustment will be necessary based on real results.

I have the impression that Flat Darks are often overused and frequently unnecessary. Flat Darks make sense when Flats are taken with relatively long exposure times (for example, when using the natural brightness of the sky just before sunrise instead of a flat panel). However, if Flats are taken using a flat panel, the exposure times are typically fractions of a second or, at most, a few seconds. This is too short to generate significant thermal noise in the camera sensor, which is why in such cases, Bias frames are simply used.

I like it very much. Great job 👍

NGC7380 - The Wizard Nebula, is the subject of my first attempts with narrowband filters Ha, SII, and OIII (Astronomik 6nm). All frames were exposed for 600s each, totaling over 36 hours. I know that's a lot, but I wasn't aiming to break any records. I was more testing the telescope for autonomous operation in preparation for relocating it to a remote observatory outside the country (October/November). I was testing, checking... and the time added up. I must admit, I struggled a lot... or rather, I should say I am still struggling with processing due to significant gradients in each channel. I know I lost a lot of background, and I also know I'm lacking experience in processing. The exposures were taken from an urban area, Bortle 7. Some frames were captured with the Moon at 80%. Parameters: LIGHT: Ha - 87 x 600s; SII - 65 x 600s; OIII - 68 x 600s Equipment: TSAPO 140/910 + QHY268M on iOptron CEM70EC mount Filters: Astronomik Ha, SII, OIII (6nm) PixInsight 100%

I built my own power supply based on LiFePo4 cells. I am fully convinced that a power supply based on these cells is one of the best solutions for astro due to the voltage stability during the entire astrophotography session. Here I described my experiences with LiFePO4 cells. I use this set to this day. https://moje-nocne-niebo.pl/en/portable-power-supply-for-astrophotography/

Last night was the first clear and cloudless night from several months. I focused on Rosette Nebula inspite of its relatively low position on the sky. Below photo was taken in H-alpha band with Astronomik filter Ha 6nm. 30 frames by 300 sek each. Telescope TSAPO140/910 with QHY28M Image in full resolution you can find here: https://moje-nocne-niebo.pl/en/ngc2237-rosette-nebula/

Hi, lately during my night session when capturing galaxy M51, I recorded tutorial about "Auto Meridian Flip" in SGP PRO. I explain what "Meridian Flip" is, how to set parameters in SGP and mount's controller, how to trigger it and correctly perform. I know, on the YT there are lot of material about SGP but maybe you may find something in my film what you miss in others. English subtitles are available!!! And this is the result of my nightly hunts: https://moje-nocne-n...irlpool-galaxy/

The weather last week was finally kind. Clear nights happened in the middle of the week, but there was nothing to complain about. By the way, I had the opportunity to test the new TS APO 140/910 (f/6.5) in cooperation with the QHY268M. The photo is of course a crop - in such a frame M51 is the real heroine of the foreground.

Hi, I had a similar problem some time ago. A calculator that very accurately determines the location of a speck of dust from the camera sensor turned out to be very helpful. In the calculator, you enter the specifications of the camera, the telescope and Dust Doughnut or Reflection Shadow Size counted in px (use big magnification in any graphic software to count its size in pixels) https://astronomy.tools/calculators/dust_reflection_calculator

Elephant Trunk IC1396 ???

from my backyard Iris Nebula

I hope, you found the video and entry on the blog useful or at least interesting 😀

Hi, I just finished a project of a portable power supply for an astrophotography. I like outdoor sessions, so stable and reliable power supply is essential. If you are interested in this topic, I invite you to watch the video on YouTube (English subtitles are available) and I invite you to my blog where I posted even more details. I will be grateful for any comments and remarks BLOG: https://moje-nocne-niebo.pl/en/portable-power-supply-for-astrophotography/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/pLgMopOeQUU (English subtitle available) ps. I apologize in advance for language errors

Fantastic frame, perfectly captured delicate dust structures. Congratulations, beautiful photo!