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Star101

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Posts posted by Star101

  1. 12 hours ago, Viktiste said:

    I don't think so. In fact I think you would not be taken seriously in the professional scientific community unless you embrace dark matter.

    Not so. Having been on a couple of science talks at a couple of universities. The dark matter subject was still open to question. 30% ( as a show of hands in the room ) still questioned DM as needing more proof.

  2. 21 minutes ago, Freddie said:

    Download Bruce W’s PHD_Dither 1b from the PHD2 website and unzip the files into a folder such as “phd dither” There are a couple of apps that allow you to set things up, the dither script and a pdf file that explains it all.

    The trick to get it to work with Artemis is to fire up the sequencer and on the right you will see a “system command” column. In here you write the command to initiate the dither script, so it would be something like C:\phd dither\Dither_script.vbs. You can add a delay between subs in the sequencer (bottom left) to allow things to settle down after the dither before starting the next capture.

    Do you mean https://openphdguiding.org/news/

    image.png.dfce86aae8dd80807b8ff24279435328.png

     

     

    • Thanks 1
  3. Taken Sunday night 22 Nov 20.

    45 x 300s Celestron C11, Atik 4120EX OSC with IDAS D2 Light pollution filter. In a Bortle 5 zone. 

    Guiding using a Lodestar X2 on ZWO OAG.

    Mount Mesu 200.  

    Captured using SGPro and PHD2.

    Processed using Pixinsight.

    Thanks for looking.

    Dave.

     

    M82 Cigar Galaxy cw.jpg

    • Like 8
  4. 13 minutes ago, Space Hopper said:

    Still an if, i'm afraid.

    Despite being promised it by the end of last month (and thats a full year after AstroTracs initial delivery promise)

    nothing has transpired. No communication, no dispatch notice, nothing.

    Once again, i've asked for a refund if they cannot supply it, and have given them till the end of the week for resolution.

    The next step is a small claims court to recover the payment.

    Not what i want to do, but i have no other alternative.

     

    If you paid via PayPal, talk to PayPal, they are on your side. If you paid by Credit Card, Talk to the credit card company.  I made a huge purchase using PayPal, the item arrived broken. The shop, I felt, just delayed and delayed giving me my money back. So, I spoke with PayPal on one Tuesday and had my money back in my account by Friday lunchtime.

    Good luck.

    Dave.

  5. 5 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

    My Mesus are pre-Sitech, using the non-ASCOM Stellarcat-Argonavis combination so I don't suppose they will work as yours do. Not the end of the world. I love the simplicity of the old system.

    Olly

    Sorry to hear that Olly. 

    Iv'e been using SGPro for a few years. I'm moving from SGPro V2 having purchased it just before they moved to V3. ( I was not too pleased ) And I waited for SGP to introduce dual rig dithering, which I was informed will be in V4. Then I get a email saying SGPro is going down the never, never a owner, route of annual charge/rent. (From: $149.00 now then $59.00 / year) So, I am checking out the FREE TO USE N.I.N.A. as it does have dual rig support.  

    The only night I have had chance to test it, the Plate Solving, using ASTAP was lightening fast ( were are talking seconds ) compared to SGPros, Planewaves PlateSolve 2's sometimes minutes, when imaging at 2800mm FL.

    Centering on a object was quick. So far, I am impressed. 

    I have checked for Stellarcat-Argonavis and N.i.N.A. but so far, sadly, found nothing so far.

     

  6. The in/out of focus is the "seeing" conditions. Usually caused by the jet stream or just poor weather. If the stars are twinkling, so will the planets. 

    Check the weather forecast for the jet stream and winds in general. If possible, try imaging when the winds are minimal and the jet stream is elsewhere.

    Consider the circumstances, that's not a bad start. 

    I am not a planet imager. Others, who are I'm sure, will have some other suggestions to help improve your imaging. Even on windy nights :)

  7. 5 minutes ago, MarkAR said:

    I think that's brought out the nebulosity a bit better. Wonder if more subs would help smooth thing out, does look a bit grainy/ noisy.

    I agree, more subs are needed. I have been working on it this morning and no matter what I do it does not improve it any. I just need a few more clear nights and will go back to this. I love the detail but its just not clean enough.

  8. 28 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

    Does this require an ASCOM compatible mount?

    Olly

    I am experimenting at the moment Olly. But it works with my Mesu 200. 

    Have the ZWO 183MM on the TS65Q, Atik4120EX on C11 with ZWO OAG and Lodestar X2. All on Mesu200.

    Have the SiTech selected in NINA as the scope mount.  Works well so far.

    Plate solving using ASTAP is very fast, even using the ATIK 4120EX at 2800mm FL.

    https://nighttime-imaging.eu/docs/master/site/requirements/

     

    I will start a new thread with my setup and any snags if anyone is interested.

  9. 27 minutes ago, kirkster501 said:

    If you are running a dual scope rig, you can't dither.  If you are running a single scope then you might as well dither and spread the image over adjacent pixels.  To be honest, theory aside, I am not sure that in the real world with amateur gear it makes that much difference in my experience, FWIW.

    With N.I.N.A. one can use dual scope and dither. Synchronized Dithering with PHD2

  10. Taken, Sunday 27 Sept 2020.

    15 x 300s using Atik 4120ex OSC camera.

    Celestron C11 on Mesu 200 mount. Guiding using ZWO OAG and Lodestar x2 mono camera.

    PHD2, Pixinsight, Artemis, Affinity Photo.

     

    Mel-15 in the center of The Heart Nebula, IC 1805, Sharpless 2-190.

     

    Thanks for looking.

     

     

    Mel15 Sept20aa.jpg

    • Like 1
  11. On 27/08/2020 at 21:05, MartinFransson said:

     Still fighting some problems with spacing and/or tilt but I think it turned out all right anyway. I have two suspects and don´t quite know how to identify the culprit :) Either the TS 2" flattener is not that good or I have focuser tilt. I think. The search will continue. Rotating the camera 90 degrees gave deformed stars in the same corners as before rotating... so that might indicate what? The flattener since it rotated with the camera? Anyway, hope you like the image.

    Just a thought!  This may help, it may not!! I have the TS65EQ which was giving me worse issues than you have here. Real cone shaped stars similar to pinching. I separated the scope and slackened off the retainer rings around the lenses, then gently shook the casing and lightly tightened the retainer rings back up being extremely careful not to touch the lenses with the fine watch screwdriver. Images look as good as new now.   Check out this video from 3mins in - Scope lens

    Good luck,

    P.S. Excellent image by the way.

    Dave.

    • Thanks 1
  12. Thinking positive. If we had clear nights every night, I think, one would soon get blasé about the night sky. The slim chance of a clear slot between the clouds gives us the exciting impetus to stargaze. :)

    Also, take these cloudy nights as nights of rest....you will need them for when the sky does clear soon ;) 

    • Like 4
  13. Recently, I bought a 2" Astrophysics 0.67 Reducer for another scope which got sent back. I kept the 0.67 reducer for sometime in the future. While waiting for the future I was playing with my TS65EQ 420mm f6.5 scope as ya do! I placed the reducer on the front of the ATIK 3 nosepiece and slid it into the scope then wondered if I could find focus. Well, blow me down, I did :) And I was impressed I could now fit objects in the FOV that would have needed a mosaic before.

    On closer inspection, I noticed the corners of the image were not that great compared to the perfect flat image of the TS65EQ without any additional optics. 

    The TS65EQ already has a field flattener built in. 

    My question is, are there any focal reducers out there for such a short focal length scope? The ones I can find are for SCT's not APO's.

    Unprocessed Trunk.

     

    Trunk wide field.JPG

    Corner edge

    Trunk corners distroted.JPG

     

    Trunk from basic TS65EQ no crop.

     

    IC 1396 Elephants Trunk HOO.jpg

  14. 29 minutes ago, MarkAR said:

    Very nice Dave, got my last subs on the Wizard last night so hoping mine comes out as good.

    Thanks Mark,

    I'm on my stay-cation so don't have to get up the next day :) 
    It was quite a clear night here last night. Only threw away one sub because it looked a bit hazy, I assume cloud  
    This one was my second attempt at processing. First attempt earlier today was a failure. I did some noise reduction and lost a lot of detail. So, decided it was easier to start again using the Master stacked lights. Only an hour wasted...I'm on holiday, I don mind :)


    Good luck with your image Mark. I look forward to seeing it.

    • Like 1
  15. WiKi NGC 7380 in Narrowband (SII/Ha/OIII)
    Constellation    Cepheus
    Distance    7.2 kly
    Physical characteristics
    Radius    100ly
    Other designations    NGC 7380, Sh2-142, Cr 452
    NGC 7380 (also known as the Wizard Nebula) is an open cluster discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1787. William Herschel included his sister's discovery in his catalog, and labelled it H VIII.77. It is also known as 142 in the 1959 Sharpless catalog (Sh2-142). This reasonably large nebula is located in Cepheus. It is extremely difficult to observe visually, usually requiring very dark skies and an O-III filter.
    Located 7200 light years away, the Wizard nebula, surrounds developing open star cluster NGC 7380. Visually, the interplay of stars, gas, and dust has created a shape that appears to some like a fictional medieval sorcerer. The active star forming region spans about 100 light years, making it appear larger than the angular extent of the Moon. The Wizard Nebula can be located with a small telescope toward the constellation of the King of Aethiopia (Cepheus). Although the nebula may last only a few million years, some of the stars being formed may outlive our Sun.

    Takien last night/early this morning 6/7 Aug20

    14 x 300s  S2,Ha,O3 (3.5 hours)

    Scope TS65EQ

    Mount Mesu 200

    Astrodon 3nm filters in a Atik EFW3.

    Guide cam Lodestar X2 in ZWOOAG on C11.

    PixInsight, PHD2 and SGPro

    Master Bias/Fats/Darks

    About 4 hours processing. Noise Generator/Normal, Noise Reduction ACDNR on all three Masters. Stretch using old Histogram Trans. Added using LRGB combination without the L.  Extract Lum. Adjust RGB using curves. Add Lum using only L on LRGB and select Chrominance Noise Reduction. Adjust again in Curves. Check noise using ACDNR. Done :)

     

    Thanks for looking.

    Dave

     

    NGC 7380 The Wizard Nebula C.jpg

    • Like 8
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