Star101

Murky, 'almost' clear here. Imaging NGC 185 again with Atik 4120EX OSC, but this time taking 600s subs at f/10 instead of 300s. So far, the clean subs look much better. I think this Saturday night will be much better to image according the the MET Office. But hey, its the UK, don't waste any chances lol

I used background calibration and colour calibration along with curves later on. In hindsight maybe I should have used photometric. I was trying to bring out the detail and did not worry too much about colour. apart from reducing the Blue. At one point I almost turned it mono lol. I did not dither either, which does not help with shadows and lines from the CCD chip. Makes it very difficult to create a clean looking image. It's akin to looking through net curtains lol. And finally, 300s at f10 ! I think it is not long enough. I am currently retaking the image using 600s subs and they are looking better but its intermittent clouds.

Very nice Max

A quick and rough guide for PI, Open up ImageRegistration/StarAlignment Add files and from those files choose one as a reference image. Set your output folder and hit the circular button at the base. Wait for it to complete. If the images need to be debayered...Select the Debayer from the list. Add grey images and select output folder. Check you have the correct Debeyer settings ( Atik 4120ex uses GRBG. ) Hit run button. Open ImageInegration/Imageintegration. Add those output files to the large list window and hit the go button. It will output an image in that workplace window. Stretch it by hitting the radiation button to check out the image.

Great images Brian. I prefer the Hubble Palette colours but not the star spikes. If I had to choose one...It would be the second, only because the spikes

Although it rained quite a bit yesterday, the forecast was for very clear skies around 11pm onwards.....I was not disappointed I converted my C11 from Hyperstar back to full focal length of 2800. With no real plan...I know...But I like it this way 😛 I looked at CdC for some deep sky galaxy I could check out. As usual with CdC I found quite a few...Decisions, decisions! I took test image of a few and then I came across NGC 185. I found it fascinating. I'm still not sure why but it's out there with a, what looks like a dust lane crossing it. It looks out of shape, it's not circular and its not flat pancake either. Yep, I found it weird to look at. Anyway, WiKi here. Mesu 200 Atik 4120EX 300s x 12 C11 @f10 2800mm Artemis, PHD2 and Pixinsight. Thanks for looking.

I can see the difference. Very nice. Glad you found the video useful too.

Well done Michael. A great composition.

I'm glad it helped. That's what this forum is here for

Dave_Galera posted this link for me in one of my other posts. https://youtu.be/RZZ4UlIQk0s I used this

Disclaimer- I'm an imager, not a viewer Just so as you know.. Congratulations on finding and seeing such great interesting planets The 40mm eyepiece gives a great all round image of the area and makes it easier to find objects. When one moves to 20mm/10mm/3mm the field of view (FOV) will diminish. Use the 40mm to find the object then centre the object before moving to the higher magnification. When you decide to purchase a Barlow, to get an even closer look. Be aware that there are 5x Barlows !!! WOW!! ....Not as great as one would think!!. I Have a 2x Barlow and a 5x Barlow. I never use the 5x Barlow! I also have an excellent mount. Finding an object/planet using the 40mm is easy. Insert the 5x barlow....spend 30 minutes looking for a planet? I have yet to find it... I stick with the 2x barlow. Much easier to find the object/planet. Also, the magnification reduces the light...so 40mm very bright...3mm with 2x Barlow...Not so bright

Interesting Olly. Last night I went back to my Atik 4160EX OSC as I was finding the ZWO 183mm pro a little tedious to work with at the moment with the heat/darks etc. I am currently creating some new DARKS for the Atik. I have never tried Bias as Darks before. It's getting cooler here now....I might have to give it a try.

The night before, I could not get the camera below -17C. Last night it would do -20C no problem....I never looked into it as I assumed it must be the weather. It was 26C at 9pm then. I know because my neighbour was lighting a fire to sit around. It could have been the power source as I have it connected to a +12V cig charger plug! I just decided to run at -10C cos it was easy to attain.

Apart from moving the mount via the left/right up/down arrows? If they work, I'm sure it's basically OK.

I would fix that balance first else you will be avoiding the issue and going in circles. And when calibrating in PHD2 ....On the "Guiding assistant" Uncheck Backlash and there are no gears ...its friction drive.

Not sure why you are getting this. I would reset the configuration of PHD2, reboot the mount ( take power out and re apply ) Then recalibrate PHD2. I would also calibrate closer to the horizon than the high points of the sky. That's what I did when I used my NEQ6 and it usually worked. Good luck.

Having another go at NGC 7331 which is now closing in on the meridian. I will look for another subject soon and leave it on while I go to bed Lovely night so far though.

With the heat being a little on the high side, my Darks have struggled and I had to create new ones. I normally image at -20C but had to reduce that to -10C as camera would only get down to -16C and -16C is not my prefered number This is only half of the data collected because of issues with Darks I have not had chance to process all the data. Maybe get chance in a day or two.15 x 300s Ha, OIII and only 4 x SII, Not sure why it did not process the rest....Its been a HOT few days......Not that I am complaining Anyway, here we have my first rendition of Ced 214. Taken with TS 65EQ and ZWO ASI 183mm Pro on MESU 200 mount. ZWO OAG with Lodestar X2. SGPro and Pixinsight software. Thanks for looking.

Just make sure you have a key to get back into your house later on Just saying!!😈

Using both ZWO ASI 183mm Pro Mono and Atik 4120ex OSC cameras. I must say that I do find the Mono much more versatile. I also agree with Olly that the OSC camera is more difficult to pull out detail and feature, as I discovered yesterday when processing images of IC 1318. Images taken on a dual rig at the same time. The OSC could not bring out the faint dust lines that the Mono camera with specific filters could. I do like both cameras and would not part with either. If I just want at basic RGB image then the Atik would be OK. When its NB then it has to be the ZWO. I have also merged RGB from the Atik with Lum and/or Ha, from the ZWO, with surprisingly good results.

That's great Very nice to read first thing in my morning. Thanks

Very nice image. I'd be happy if I got something as good as that.

I'm inclined to agree.

Yeah, I got the £5K from https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/buy-mac/imac-pro/3.2ghz-1tb?afid=p238|sL4w7cF5j-dc_mtid_187079nc38483_pcrid_104154899041_pgrid_23949283681_&cid=aos-uk-kwgo-pla-btb--slid-----product-MQ2Y2B/A-UK

Basically the guy in the video is saying...Spend £5K on a Retina MAC with 8 cores and cut your processing time. I think half that price PC with 12 cores would be a better deal