wimvb

Any usb device has information about its manufacturer and model. ZWO has manufacturer code 0403 I believe. All my ZWO devices have that code when I check the usb ports. In linux (ASIAIR is based on linux), I use the command lsusb (list usb) to see this.

THE hidden galaxy (not IC 342) ... with a bonus https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/416757-the-hidden-galaxy-not-ic-342-with-a-bonus/

Thanks, Paul. Yes, I know of David Björkén. He used to live in the very North of the country and used the 190MN for his "portable" setup. I guess he found out that the scope is just too big if you have to set up every night, and if you have to clear a foot of snow to do so. Daniel has since moved on to a small refractor and moved to the very South of the country. The 190MN works best in an observatory or semi-permanent setup. The title of this thread is tongue in cheek. IC 342 is called the Hidden Galaxy, but with all the images of it on social media (not least AstroBin), it can hardly be called "hidden" anymore. UGCA 86 on the other hand, has so far been overlooked, even though it's very close to IC 342.

Thanks, Göran. Not imaged by amateurs at least. There are just a handful of images ftom scientific publications and sky surveys.

A few months ago, Göran @gorann informed me about a rather unusual galaxy that happened to be included in an image that he was working on. pgc 14241 (a nice palindrome) or UGCA 86 as it is called in the scientific literature is situated near the frequently found and imaged "hidden" galaxy IC 342. But unlike its big neighbour, this gem is truly hidden. The galaxy is situated in the constellation Camelopardalis, some 10 Mly behind the Milky Way and has a red colour as most of its blues are filtered out by dust in our own galaxy. It has an angular size of about 5 arc minutes. On closer inspection of the image, it seems that I managed to capture a few of its globular clusters as well (indicated in the annotated image). Technical details: Telescope SW 190MN with ASI294MM camera Integration time 66 x 5 minutes for R, G and B, 16 hours in total Processed in Pixinsight

It doesn’t happen often here either. At least not this early in the season. February is the coldest month of the year. Yesterday the trees where completely covered with frost.

The simple solution to that is a Raspberry Pi and a Pegasus Astro power box. A friend has his remote controlled setup 1.5 m from mine in the same observatory. Last summer he upgraded his computer and chose a pc next to the pier in stead of a fanless Mele on top of his scope. (Yesterday his cables were like rods). To quote Julia Roberts: ”Big mistake. Big.”

Using any dslr with a mechanical shutter or mirror at such low temperature is a gamble. Otoh, modern non cooled astro cameras with their low dark current and no amp glow are a different matter. As I said in another thread on this forum, my next astrocamera may very well be such a camera, OSC with smaller pixels, used in superpixel mode. (2.9 um in superpixel mode would be 5.8 um effective pixel size. At 1000 mm focal length, this would give a very nice pixel scale.)

An unexpected clear night, here north of Stockholm. The second in a row, actually. Normally I have my camera at -10 C, but that won't do now. When I just finished a session (don't want to leave my observatory open since I can't trust the forecast), the temperature had dropped to -17.8 C. I have my cooling set to -20. Now I just need to take matching darks for the rest of the night. I started imaging just after 7 pm, and managed to get 40 minutes H-alpha (wasted) and 4.5 hours RGB on my target.

Excellent result. I'm starting to question the need for cooled cameras for DSO photography. The newest generation of cmos sensors with their low thermal noise, low read noise and lack of amp glow, make photography at ambient temperature a real possibility.

I have to clear 8 inches of snow from my observatory before I can do any AP.

Great mosaic, Göran. I wonder, if you put all your images in one big mosaic, how much of the sky would they cover?

I'm not familiar with the uncooled 385MC. I use my 294MM at 0 gain in order to get the highest dynamic range. But it seems I'm quite alone in that. If I were you, I might test at lower gain, just above the hcg turn on value of 60. Each gain value has with it a unique offset. When the gain increases, this offset also needs to increase. I determined the best offset for my camera by shooting darks and measuring the lowest pixel values. As long as these were 0, I'd increase the offset and shoot again. For 0 gain, I use offset 8, and for 200 gain (nb imaging), I use offset 30. But because your camera has a very small sensor, it's more important that you can use the whole sensor area for your stacked image. I would look into improving telescope pointing first.

Here's my version in PI Crop Background equalisation Colour calibration Arcsinh stretch Histogram and curves stretch (levels and curves in PS) Colour saturation Detail enhancement using MMT (multiscale processing)

Dean, I donwloaded the fit and have a few remarks before I start processing it. There seems to be a rather large offset and some rotation between the various subs that went into this image. This is becomes apparent at the left edge and at the right corners of the stretched image. Do you use platesolving between sessions? Imo, if you don't you should start looking into it. I assume that you use a windows computer and that you already have ascom installed. In that case use NINA or similar software to control your mount. If you have to remove your camera between sessions, spend a few minutes to align the long or short edge of the camera sensor with the RA axis. Take a 30 s unguided exposure and 5 seconds in, slew the mount at 1 x sidereal in RA. This will create star trails in RA. Align the trails with an edge of the sensor. These steps will give you a better overlap between subs and maximise the usable area of the image. Second, the stacked image has a large offset. The average pixel value in the unstretched image is 0.11 on a scale from 0 (black) to 1 (white). My guess is that either the offset value for the camera at gain 135 is rather high or you have a lot of light pollution.

Very nice. I saw this on astrobin and also wondered where that wolf went. But a very fine image, 🐺 or no 🐺

Thanks. I think that it may be a combination of both. Unfortunately there aren’t many images to compare with.

This handsome necklace of galaxies lies in the constellation Triangulum, not far from M33. An unexpected gap in the clouds (there were actually clouds in most of the sky, except around this part) allowed for approximately 3 hours of imaging time with a 65% moon nearby. As allways, captured with my 190MN and ASI294MM camera RGB: 3 x 8 x 5 minutes L: 20 x 3 minutes

After close inspection of the pictures, I'm even more convinced that Skywatcher are targeting the professional market with these designs. No need to start looking for a bigger warehouse yet. (Although, they would look flashy in a showroom.)

"This product series is primarily designed for professional astrophotography, [...] three apertures (P200, P250, P300)."

Don't be. My very first reaction to the big RC600 was also, "did they run out of diamond black, as the Explorer series?" But then I saw the counterweitghts on that eq mount to the right in the first picture. Skywatcher are obviously very optimisitc in thinking that beast will ever be at the heart of a driveway setup.

Skywatcher developing a strainwave mount isn't completely unexpected. Neither is the choice to put electronics in the mount and/or saddle. But that behemoth (RC600) and the HST wannabee (Acuter) on a mount next to it, are a surprise. Are they targeting the professional market with these scopes?

With a 3 inch telescope, I would probably go for star clusters, like the double cluster, or an asterism like the Coathanger. Then the brighter galaxies, M31 and try to identify M32. Next the Pleiades and the Orion nebula (a bit early for that).

My guess would have been Starlink dressed up for Haloween

I've been on a trip for the past few days, so a bit late to this party. Here's my version. PixInsight Histogram stretch and curves stretch with a pinch of MMT to get a better definition in the nebula structures. Cropped just for balance