alacant

9 hours ago, Andy56 said:

rubber rings

Three at 120º around base and four in the focuser itself, 1 in each corner labelled -rather hopefully- fixing screw  in the reference you cite. If you're serious about it and you don't like the idea of metal to metal, you may wish to fit a paper gasket instead of the rubber.
HTH

8 hours ago, Andy56 said:

strange shaped stars

Hi

Tilt is certainly a contributory factor. When you attach the camera, the focuser axis moves; a well known issue with the budget swds focusers. If you haven't done so already, remove the (7 off and usually damaged) rubber washers in the focuser. Take the slack instead using the push-pull pairs of adjuster screws alone.

You can't properly assess the sensor back spacing until the tilt is fixed and you are certain of collimation.

Cheers and HTH

On 16/04/2024 at 14:58, OK Apricot said:

how to remedy

Loafsa stuff to do to a budget Newtonian to bring it up to imaging standard. All of it quick, cheap and easy.

As well as take flat frames, to address the ring artefact you could start with... velvet lined tube and focuser. Shower cap covering the 1° end of the tube, darken the edges of the secondary, tape the focuer drawtube... Some would advise a dew shield, but since you have a 800mm model already fitted, any longer may be overkill.

The next stage is modifying the the tube and its elements so that collimation is retained at all tube angles.

The next stage, correction of the star shapes etc etc. It just depends upon where you decide enough is good enough.

Cheers and HTH

On 14/04/2024 at 01:13, OK Apricot said:

250P Quattro

A proper telescope. Nice!

Excellent m51. The aperture makes it a lot easier, but did you take flat frames? They're not really optional and you'll find it much easier to process. 

Cheers.

On 14/04/2024 at 01:13, OK Apricot said:

Quattro 

On 11/04/2024 at 21:04, gonzostar said:

pointers for improvement

Hi

Well done. There's some nice detail.
Maybe have a look at the individual frames and remove any with clouds. Then stack again. Be ruthless!

Keep it simple. Go gently with the processing. Be careful not to delete faint stuff. It needn't take hours sat in front of a screen. A quick go with the latest ST:

On 08/04/2024 at 11:49, alacant said:

62 hours. Wow! 

Inspired by @Clarkey's excellent zoomed in image above...

Couldn't manage 62 hours -not nearly enough beer- alas just five; 203mm f5. It makes seven hours with the 70mm f6 look decidedly lacking.
This must be because f5 is faster than f6. (Sorry. Couldn't resist!) 

44 minutes ago, TiffsAndAstro said:

will take me some time

It's much quicker than you may think. Be cautious though. A search for help will throw up all manner of material of varying usefulness...

Perhaps go with the official start guide. If you've a decent computer, it should take around 30 minutes. Less on subsequent runs. A multi core Ryzen with 32Gb ddr5 under Linux is the most instantaneous I've tried so far.

Cheers 

46 minutes ago, TiffsAndAstro said:

try this out via the scripts

JTOL

By the time you have worked out how, tested the new script... and it still doesn't work... Perhaps better to use Siril manually. This puts you in control rather than being constrained by a script. Quicker too.

Cheers 

On 09/04/2024 at 09:11, 900SL said:

F8 is too slow

Hi

It isn't f-ratio which makes a telescope fast or slow.

Cheers

https://es.aliexpress.com/item/1005006370292413.html

1 hour ago, 900SL said:

No coma corrector required on a 533

No. It's fine. Even over aps-c. It also focuses fine with room to spare using a dslr.

I've never looked through one, so can't comment on its visual capability.

15 hours ago, WolfieGlos said:

I've been considering a Sky-watcher 150PL

Hoping this reply will also be of use to the OP, if not apologies for the noise and @devs please remove it.

The main issue with the long sw is the awful 1-1/4" focuser. A better choice for imaging would be the  Bresser 150 f8 which comes with a hefty 2-1/2" rack and pinion model. Great for galaxies. Don't cringe the f8 though; you'll find it just as good if not brighter than any 5" refractor.

Oh, and this may be important to the OP. It's only just over 6kg.

Cheers and HTH.

46 minutes ago, tomato said:

photogenic gas and dust

Yes, that. I suppose that which the galaxies lose in instant wow factor, they make up for with their thought provocation.

Cheers 

Hi everyone

The last of the season in this area. Borrowed vetec on a rusty Bresser 150. UHC. I never expected anything like. It'd need more with the dslr, I'm certain. Too red maybe?
Thanks for looking. Clear skies to all.

siril 1.3.0a st 1.9.565 ~3h @ hcg100

52 minutes ago, Clarkey said:

old image of the area

Thanks. Yeah, that looks doable with the possibility of more detail over my 360mm.

Guessing around 1000mm? I've a gso203 to fix for the weekend. That may just be enough push to remove the procrastination stage; it's been sitting there since December.

6 minutes ago, gorann said:

lot of time

62 hours. Wow! 

1 hour ago, TiffsAndAstro said:

April showers

If it's any consolation, here we have dense calima; Saharan sand and dust. It's like having sunset and impenetrable haze. All day🤥

1 hour ago, TiffsAndAstro said:

any use

Yes, of course. You should get a similar FOV.

Good luck with the session.

4 hours ago, Elp said:

adding the data to this

Phew. Amazing effort. Alas my mosaic expertise runs only to a two frame image of the moon with an old orange tube Celestron. Nine panel without craters, I'd stand no chance!

Not sure where you are, but it's quite well positioned ATM from 38N. Do keep us posted.

Hi everyone

I'm always disappointed with this region. I thought more data would help, but disappointingly, adding more frames on night two gave very little extra; maybe a little more detail emerging in the spirals, but little else. I suppose that with an aperture of only 70mm, I ought not to be expecting miracles, but seven hours to get only this?

We've a visit due from a Hyperstar. I'm gonna see if I can get my hands on that and compare.

Tips, advice and -especially- your examples of this area of the sky most welcome. Maybe you've already tried with a Hyperstar? Even better, as I've zero hands-on with them; disaster waiting to happen territory.

Thanks for looking.

ubuntu 22.04 siril 1.3.0a st 1.9.565 dt 3.8.1

On 31/03/2024 at 20:40, Elp said:

no amount of reading makes up for it

+1

@OP: Perhaps the best (only?) way to make a decision is to go along to a nearby astro club [1] and see items you're considering first hand. The members will be only too pleased to let you have a go with stuff gear you're considering. Between them, they'll have it all and it could help you avoid making an expensive and frustrating error.

Cheers and HTH

[1] Just remember that at astro club, everyone knows the best setup. For everything😉

Hi

To enable us to help, we really need to see where the star is in the frame and so be able compare it to others therein. Maybe post -links to- example frames along with detail of mount, guiding, cc, how the guide telescope or WHY is mounted...

Cheers

Hi and welcome

Llinks to each cr2 may help us diagnose.
Cheers

Hi and welcome

Astro in Spain is exhausting. Just pray for cloud so you can occasionally get a good night's sleep 💤

Cheers