wimvb

Very nice. The tidal loops next? 😋 (But wait for proper darkness to return.)

Very nice rework! I like the galaxy in v2, and the background in v1. The background in the latest version is a bit too flat for my taste. Btw, those faint fuzzies near the tip of the Needle: 2.3 - 2.5 Billion light years distant.

As long as the laser itself is collimated, it's ok. But if the laser doesn't sit straight, you're compensating for one error with another. You can use a barlow with a laser collimator and align the center ring of the primary on the laser collimator target. Anyway, always finish off with a star test. http://w1.411.telia.com/~u41105032/kolli/kolli2.htm#barlowlaser

That would be my guess. These focus routines are only reliable near best focus. Especially when you have a reflector (but not only then), the donut shape of out of focus stars throws off the algorithm that determines hfr. When the point spread function of the out of focus star gets larger, the algorithm can "lock on" a hot spot instead and return a ridiculously small hfr. That's why it is necessary to restrict the focus range as Alan wrote. Excellent write up, btw, Alan.

Van harte welkom, from a Dutchy living in Sweden.

Can you reduce the focuser range? Atm, best focus is at abt 9180. If you reduce the range to +- 200 steps from this value, you should be fine.

Guiding wise, I haven’t notice much difference between ekos and phd. Some nights one may show slightly better results than the other for some reason. I’ve never figured out why. calibration always seems easier in ekos. If you have backlash issues, set backlash to zero in the ekos mount module, then mechanically minimize backlash. Because the mount has belt drive, loading east heavy shouldn’t be needed. If you have minimal backlash, that is.

I have an ASI294 (mono) with my MN190. This gives a pixel scale of 0.95”/pixel. The scope and camera are a very good match, imo. The sensor size is just large enough to have tight stars while avoiding degradation in the corners. Have a look at images I’ve posted in the imaging section and my astrobin page. The link is in my signature.

I never ever use stf as a permanent stretch. It's way too aggressive. I most often start with histogram tansformation (levels in ps), with the midpoint shifted to 0.25. I apply that several times, with the black point brought in slightly if necessary. When the histogram top is clearly separated from the left side (at a position between 0.15 and 0.2), I switch to curves transformation, bringing the histogram top down to about 0.8 and lifting the mid range to get an S curve. I try to keep the upper part of that S curve as straight as possible, to avoid excessive star bloat. PI allows you to zoom in on any open image window, including the graphs in histogram transform, curves, color saturation, etc. You can also resize these windows to your liking. When I do deconvolution, I adjust the stf stretch, making the nebula/galaxy a bit dimmer, so I can see details in the brighter parts. Just open the stf tool, apply stf (not as a permanent stretch) and check the check mark at lower right. Then zoom in on the sliders for black point and mid point. These are usually almost on top of each other, but when zoomed in , you can control them better. Pull the mid point slider to the right and the black point slider to the left, in order to soften the screen stretch. I've made the comparison before, but the difference between PI and PS 😉 PI: PS:

I had a play with the jpeg from your first post. Applied scnr green, muted the mottle and pushed colours in the galaxies a bit.

Do + do. Adequate dithering will "quiet down" the background, reducing colour mottle and possible walking noise. Dither at least 12 pixels in a random or spiraling pattern. Btw, you can reduce both colour mottle and walking noise with targeted noise reduction methods in PI. For colour mottle, I can recommend MMT on 8 layers, targeting Chrominance (colour). A cooled astro-camera is much more sensitive than a dslr, and you can take controlled calibration frames.

Very nice catch. Have you tried using pixinsight scnr (green) on it without any mask? I think you will get clearer colours if you do. Just a thought.

Because this time of the year and in autumn, the Milky Way is reasonably out of the way. This means a less obscured view out of our galaxy, and fewer nebulae (which are in our galaxy). Galaxies are visible all year round, as are nebulae, but they're not always in the best position. Here up North, we miss much of what's going on between Hercules and Cygnus, almost up to Pegasus. It is possible to image in those constellations, but we miss their best positions. Otoh, we get that back during winter, with targets near Orion. C'est la vie.

I was thinking something like this wouldn't bring in as many clouds https://www.firstlightoptics.com/solar-filters/astrozap-baader-solar-filter.html

What? Not even clouds guaranteed anymore? What is this world coming to? Soon I'll be forced to take up solar photography. (Come to think of it; maybe I should try that.)

Thank heavens for Charles Winsor. Btw, being an astronaut always was a dangerous job. But how on earth will NASA or SpaceX be able to send anyone to Mars, when they are at risk of the launch vehicle being knocked out by a satellite? The good thing of course, is that we won’t be attacked by aliens, because they will think we have a defence shield in place.

@powerlord: Welcome to the club. Clearly not, because I did, and they didn’t. 😉

... breathing out quartz.

They do mix, it's a great way to test new gear. I also have a profile with the telescope simulator for calibration frames. That way I'm sure the scope won't move unexpectedly when I have a flat panel on top.

The focuser should work with INDI afaIk. For the rest, use a mix of real device drivers and simulator drivers in INDI/Ekos.

Very nice indeed, despite mr Musks efforts. Will you collect Ha or try to bring out the outer structures?

No need really. Ordinary pixel rejection in stacking software takes care of trails.

So far it seems that mr Musk isn't interested in tracking his cars in the northern countries, and we have been spared (most of) the satellite trails. Who knows, maybe Sweden will become a safe haven for astrophotographers. Deep Sky North.

Have you seen this thread? 😉

Because it’s potent.