Star101

That looks good to me. I like the colours too. A much wider FOV than I managed. I always want the nebula to be more defined and have to resist the temptation to force it to have more contrast. IMHO, I think you have a very good image here.

Thanks, yes, everything survived OK. Its forecast clear until sunset then clouds here....I will wait and see for myself, I live in hope . Good luck.

Yeah, two night's, very lucky I was imaging IC1318 early in the night. When it past the meridian I moved to M33 which was just coming into view.......But as you say, there was a lot of moisture in the air and the moon was rising. It made M33 washed out. So, I took the unusual step of imaging in the west!!! 😮 Something I very rarely do as my neighbour has very bright fairy lights right next to my obsy ( ggrrr ). Doubt they will turn them off....Looks like I will have to get the council involved! Anyway, back to IC1318, recalibrated PHD2. Happy with that..Platesolved and set SGP running for the NB with the ZWO 183mm Pro on the TS65EQ and let Artemis run for 300s subs with the ATIK 4120EX OSC on Hyperstar. Subs were very usable. Nice and dark, lovely contrast. Check the weather...Looks good. Went to bed. Woke this morning to see we had a downpour 😮 😓 Went out to the shed to find the inner floor wet. Fortunately, it looks like the session had finished and it had parked up. So water did not hit the glass. Both cameras look ok too. The Atik was covered by the dew shield, so if parked it would be sheltered....A close shave. Over two nights I managed to get, 25 x 300s Ha and SII with 8 x 300s OIII. 70 x 300s OSC! Not had chance to look at the subs yet though.

Cloudy here too. Worse that last night so I wont be bothering sliding the roof back. I will wait another half hour, just in case

Looks like you have a great polar alignment there. Regarding the Backlash, my understanding is that because its friction drive, the 'Measure Declination Backlash' should be unticked. Maybe someone can correct me if I am wrong. I agree about PHD2 drift alignment, I found it very easy to use. For me, maybe one hour in total, to get as I wanted, but definitely worth the time

Very nice image for starters. Yeah, I totally get what you mean about Met Office and clouds. Last night, I was expecting clear skies all night. Clouds moved in as the Sun set. Met office then spent the next three hours moving the clear skies away....By 11 it will be clear....10:50, refresh.....by Midnight it will be clear....11:50 refresh....By 1am it will be clear!! Blooming bed posts...I could be sleeping now!!..... Checked when the next rain forecast was....1pm Sunday....Fine..Leave SGP running...Off to bed @ 1:30am with the clouds just starting to part. Checked subs this morning.....Maybe 30% OK...rest, clouds fogging the image. Oh well, it is the UK!! ........If it were easy, I would be bored and find a different hobby

I was fortunate to be in my car driving along a 'B' road. Easy to pull over and watch. I called my wife on the phone as she was at work and went outside to view with others from her office. Having been told of the eclipse by a retiring teacher when I was in infant school in the 60's. Spent the next 30 odd years looking forward to it happening, I think I would have walked out on any place to see it, even if it was my new job lol. As Carole says, what a miserable so and so!!

Very dramatic. And impressive at the same time. Well done. Dave.

What a great image. I like images like this that took thought and planning. Well done. Fantastic result too.

I think this is the last iteration I removed the stars using Starnet and Clonestamp. It's been a great learning curve for me. Thoroughly enjoyed this project. I have other data to play with so will leave one for now. Thanks for the help with this, much appreciated.

Thats a great image. Thanks for sharing. Dave

I followed the video through and finished with a ACDNR.

Thanks Dave. Can't wait to get to try out this method. It looks a great way to work.

The 200 gain is something I read on another forum for the ZWO 183mm pro camera when shooting NB. Full spectrum is 111 gain. I have no fixed thoughts. If someone can tell me why I should use different gain settings, I'm happy to try.

I must say, I am new to this NB malarky 😛 So I did some reading and played around a bit and OK, it's not the best, but it's my first go at adjusting the colours to a more acceptable level. Its a bit noisy but hey. One step at a time Is this better?

Taken 27 July 19. from my ROR Garden Shed. I did take the stars out using Starnet but prefered the stars in 30 x 300s SII,Ha,OIII - 2.5Hrs TS65EQ with Atik EFW2 and ZWO AOG, Lodestar X2 guidcam. Mesu 200 mount ZWO 183mm pro at -20C 200 Gain. Processed in Pixinsight. Thanks for looking.

Thanks. Yes, I removed the satellite trail and afterwards realised I removed it from the wrong image 🤪. I will post it soon. I have a feeling that the faintness of the emission nebula is due to neighbours garden lights which I am currently trying to address....wish me luck! What camera did you use for yours? The camera cables are basically held in place by the Dew Straps at the front ( 90 deg apart ) and passed through the C11 handle at the back before joining the rest of the cables to the powered usb hub on the floor.

The moon is a great suggestion if you know you are pointed at it!! Else, when not sure, you may find yourself spending more time looking for the moon than actually trying to focus. Can I suggest, point the scope at the milky way as there is a huge starfield. Wind the focuser to one extreme then slowly move to the other extreme. And as carastro suggest, use 2x or higher binning, if possible. Although, my Atik 4120ex will not work with SGPro 2x or greater binning. Although it does work very well with Artemis Capture at 4x binning.

Thanks for this. I was trying to test Sarnet myself but then thought, surely someone has already done the test Saved me a lot of time. From your results, it looks to me that STRIDE affects the background as well as the stars. The higher the number the smoother the background. Unless that's just my laptop screen

C11 with hyperstar has focal length of 560mm (f/2)

This was taken using my C11 with Hyperstar. Focal length 560mm. The camera is a one shot colour camera. I did use a IDAS LP filter. I have, when the neighbours lights are out, bortle 5 skies. Else, Im imaging next to street lights.

Pelican nebula and part of North American nebula with 57Cyg centre. Taken evening of 7 Aug 19 11 x 300s 50 darks/bias Master Flat Processed in Pixinsight. Atik 4120EX OSC C11 Hyperstar Mesu 200 mount. OAG Guiding using TS65EQ ZWO OAG and Lodestar X2. Thanks for looking

Thank you for your kind words. Hope this helps if you wish....

WiKi IC 5146 (also Caldwell 19, Sh 2-125, and the Cocoon Nebula) is a reflection/emission nebula and Caldwell object in the constellation Cygnus. The NGC description refers to IC 5146 as a cluster of 9.5 mag stars involved in a bright and dark nebula. The cluster is also known as Collinder 470. It shines at magnitude +10.0/+9.3/+7.2. Its celestial coordinates are RA 21h 53.5m, dec +47° 16′. It is located near the naked-eye star Pi Cygni, the open cluster NGC 7209 in Lacerta, and the bright open cluster M39. The cluster is about 4,000 ly away, and the central star that lights it formed about 100,000 years ago, the nebula is about 12 arcmins across, which is equivalent to a span of 15 light years. When viewing IC 5146, dark nebula Barnard 168 (B168) is an inseparable part of the experience, forming a dark lane that surrounds the cluster and projects westward forming the appearance of a trail behind the Cocoon. Taken the night of 7/8 August 19. 75 x 120s Lights 50 darks/bias Master Flat Processed in Pixinsight. Atik 4120EX OSC C11 Hyperstar Mesu 200 mount. OAG Guiding using TS65EQ ZWO OAG and Lodestar X2.

My wife would like to do some nightscape photography. I would like to do a slightly different style of nightscape...so i bought this Omegon LX3......I just need the clouds to clear now