alacant

M1: There is quite a bit of detail. I think I overdid the denoised layer. Here it is with a less denoised layer underneath; it's found some more detail. Next I'll try the colour. Stand well back!

Hi Unfortunately, using this will not enable focus with the sw 0.9 coma corrector mentioned here. Other choices for the clicklok would be the Baader or -even better- the 4 element gso. HTH

Hi. You'll probably find that DSLR dark frames add more noise, so best to shoot only light, flat and bias and dithering a random amount between the former. Much quicker too:) HTH EDIT; Ooops, apologies @cuivenion we were writing at the same time.

Hi everyone This is the last in the series of 6" f8 (at last we hear you exclaim) as the telescope is back on it's way to more northern latitudes. Alas, no hardware acquisition this time around:( Operating remotely over TeamViewer and thanks to some nifty EKOS plate solving, framing and sequencing, we managed two targets. Returning to a dew covered telescope around 06:00 to witness the plough almost overhead. Strange for this time of year. Am particularly disappointed with m108; the owner commenting upon it looking something akin to having been done on his Celestron. He has a point; I can't explain the lack of detail. What did we do wrong? Anyway, thanks for looking and here's looking forward to the 10" f5 becoming available, February time. eos700d nt150l ISO800

Great. Thanks for confirming. It’s a nice, tight view of the two nebulas Maybe turn the camera 90°? IIRC, both clumps of nebulosity extend beyond what's seen on a planetarium preview. Cheers

Hi. It's when you have two... Ooops, almost blew it there!

Interesting observation: Rotation seems to have lost detail and colour. Does rotating a jpg lose information? I wonder...

Hi. Curiosity really. If you take the landscape shot and cover Alnitak, it somehow seems a stronger, less distracting composition (?). Dunno. Good point.

LOL. Too right mate. F8? Get rid before anyone notices! Ahhggghh! You can't say I didn't try😉

Hi everyone Despite the fact that f8 is far too slow for astro-photography (don't!) and whilst waiting for The Crab to get high enough, we went for the double cluster anyway. The aberration-free reflector never fails to surprize. Even with my processing, there's a hint of blue in some of the stars:) Not much detail in The Crab, not sure what to do about that. Maybe a milder stretch for the central part and then layer over the brighter? Thanks for looking and all comments most gratefully received. eos 700d on nt150l

Hi everyone Just time to fill in with 14 frames before sunrise. Could do with another 14. And the rest! Noisy, small and not enough to do the sigma thing with the satellite. Ah well... eos 700d on 6",f8

Here we are rotated 90º. Not quite the improvement I was hoping for...

Hi Keep it simple? One of these and one of these will just work. HTH

Hi everyone and have a great new 2020 Here are some not too distinct tadpoles. Would it be cheating to layer-mask them through I wonder? Cheers and thanks for looking eos700d - 6" f8 - 2 !/2 hours - ISO800

Now at 30 frames. Much easier:

Does the OP need that complexity? Your excellent description should do it, no? Cheers

PHD2 can see the mount, but calibration will fail; you must calibrate on a star. I don't think the PCM 8 uses eqascom, but good idea to set an aggressive guide.

Hi Lose POTH; ensure that the mount is connected via ascom (e.g. you can slew via stellarium). Make a new profile for PHD2 and choose pmc8-ascom -or whatever Bresser call it- from the drop down menu for the mount. If it still doesn't work, post the link to the PHD2 debug log (help > upload log files) Cheers and HTH

Hi everyone. Have a look here: http://dslr-astrophotography.com/iso-values-canon-cameras/ It maybe that the stars will saturate at any ISO value because they are inherently bright. I think there may be more noise below 800 when you stack. Nor sure of the technicalities... HTH

Hi Unless you're using a narrow band filter, there'll be an improvement in star quality (signal to noise ratio?) by guiding through the filter. Tested with a cls when we have to image in non-rural settings. Conclusion: save yourself €silly on a filter adaptor! Cheers and HTH

Hi If you're thinking about astrophotography, then a Nikon DSLR rules out many of the excellent Zeiss, Takumar and Russian screw fit lenses. These produce first rate results on deep sky objects and can be had for a fraction of the cost of dedicated Nikon fit lenses. Remember that a lens for astrophotography needs none of the autofocus or exposure control features found on modern lenses. Similarly for camera bodies; a used, faulty body is fine. All that is required is that it fires its shutter on 'B' and that its usb port works. Canon and Sony among others, make cameras which will allow you to use the above mentioned lenses. These maybe worth considering too. Cheers and HTH.

Hi everyone Still caring for the abandoned and unloved 6" f8. Just time for 14 frames before sunrise, but this looks promising. Nice to get close, alas Alnitak is still in the frame. I wonder if turning the camera 90º would isolate the horsehead and lose Alnitak altogether but maybe the spikes would remain even though it was out of frame? I wonder... Cheers and thanks for looking. All replies most gratefully received 700d on nt150l

Hi. Nice image. Maybe try ISO 800 and take as many frames as the cloud and your patience will allow. Cheers

Hi everyone This is all I have available ATM so what the hell? Have a go at something faint anyway. Didn't expect to get much so this was a nice surprise, especially as it filled the frame well. 5 minute dslr frames @ ISO800; a bit noisy. Wish I'd left it longer. So, c'mon. Join the 6" f8 club. Thanks for looking and clear skies. All comments most welcome.

You don't need to level your tripod unless you have a fast or a slow telescope. Phew, that was close. Almost blew it! Merry Xmas everyone:)