Nigel G

Richard, I see your the owner of a Zwo 1600mm mono, I'm thinking of getting one. Reports seem very positive, how would you rate it if you don't mind me asking.

Hi Richard. Excellent Andromeda, Thanks for showing. Nige

There is 13x6 minutes, 2x10 minutes and I think around 25x4 minute subs in all. 13x6

Thanks mikey, I know about the log file in ST program folder. It's just the time spent in my haste I have done it about 4 or 5 times :/ Anyway as I promised I have processed the 6 minutes only. My opinion the best being all subs 4+6+10, second best 6+4 minutes, third 6 minutes only. The easiest was all. What do you think ? I have placed them in the above order. When I look at them all together I can't make up my mind. Theres a bit of a contrast difference there. Nige.

StarTool users, have you ever done this. I have several times I just spent 1.5 hours processing the Crescent neb 6 minute subs only. Looking real good. Next to the + zoom tap is the x close program tab, I'm sure you can guess what happened Nige.

Very very good for a first astro image, well done you should be pleased. Nige.

If your not happy stripping the mount down yourself, there are companys who service mounts like astrotec at a cost of about £100 + postage. Nige.

I know what you mean, But I have a solution, setup before the first swig, if the sky looks clear, if not just hit it It was so hot outside Sunday night I drank 4 cans of beer before I even realised with no beer left I had to start a new bottle of whisky. I did sleep well when I finally hit the sack Nige.

Thats a cracking Andromeda, plenty of detail and depth. Shame about the bad subs, mind you theres plenty of time to add more on M31. Cheers. Nige.

Sometimes things just don't go right Nice Andromeda image, I love seeing Venus its always a grand sight to see especially at twilight. Nige.

I used darks for each set of subs, I think ( but might be wrong) each set of darks will be used on the corresponding light frames. I have processed with the 600s subs, its looks like there's a bit more emissions and dark dust, I will try the 360s alone, will be interesting to see the difference. Tonight looks clear so this is calling out for a 135mm image. Fingers crossed. Second image is + 2 600s light frames. I tried to process them the same. Nige.

Good frame size for M31 and not bad at all for a 300mm lens, can you use live view on a bright star or the moon to focus before targeting ? Do you connect to a laptop or tablet device for capturing. Nige.

Thanks Bob. Ok I was experimenting with exposures to see how long I could go without blowing the stars and seeing how well the mount would guide. At 10.30 to 11.45 the moon was bleeding a bit of light into the subs, by midnight it had gone so I bumped the subs from 240 to 360s, and the last 20 minutes I tried 600s which looked like the stars are starting to bloat a little, not much though. In the past I have had good results adding a few longer subs to the main batch. I guess the moon was the main reason though. Here's the 3 different exposures converted into jpg for anyone interested, #1=240 with moon. #2=360 no moon. #3=600 no moon. ISO 800. Nige.

Thanks Art. Another clear night in Essex and another object as the moon was to close to M20 to top up. I pushed the EQ3 mount further last night. Taking first about 1.8 hours at 240s then 1.8 hours at 360s and a couple of 600s, for a total of 3 hours 10 minutes. This image is without the 600s subs. I will process the full set later to see if the 600s are for the better or worse. NGC 6888 The Crescent nebula. 2 hours 50 minutes of 240s + 360s with dark, flats and bias 800 ISO. Modified Canon 1200D with CLS filter, guided EQ3 pro & Equinox 80ED Pro. PHD2, DSS & StarTools. Thanks for looking. Nige.

Well I was watching the cloudy sky when at 11.15 a clear lane appeared around M8 so I went for it. From packed away to my first guided image was 18 minutes, I wanted to know how quick I could be imaging I got a total of 56 minutes before the clouds covered the object. M8 & M20 are very low on a light polluted sky here so I wasn't expecting to much but well pleased to get the chance and with the quick morning process before work As usual I'll spent more time processing later. 28x120s ISO 800, darks, flats & bias. Nige. Edit: add new image. Second image is reprocessed and I think probably my favorite image to date.

Good timing, I was going to try another 30s image but unless tonight is clear I will not get another chance before the end of July. Nige.

Thanks guys . @bobro The Equinox 80ED Pro APO is a fantastic little scope, 500mm FL, F6.25, with the mini guide setup it is perfect for the EQ3 Pro. I have the tripod set low as possible and the EQ3 has had an astrotec service which makes quite a difference, smoother tracking. We have patchy clouds getting thicker so bailing out too A comparison to last year: I had 3 times more imaging last year ! I blame El nino. Cheers, Keep waiting, the sky's will clear sometime. Nige.

I have spent a couple of hours reprocessing the Bubble nebula image. I got a little more out of it and a bit sharper but still a bit of noise. I'm not sure what the other gas clouds are, just part of the Milky Way gases I guess. I have also corpped the Bubble for a closer look Cheers Nige.

@Art Gecko That getting there, pretty good for an unmodified camera, the more you add the cleaner it becomes. I quite like doing mosaics although they can take some time to put together, there's a nice reward at the end. Good luck I look forward to seeing your M31 mosaic Nige.

M 8 is just above the roof tops and Bubble is quite high for me. Theres 4 objects in the image. NGC 7635 Bubble, NGC 7654 cluster, NGC 7510 cluster & NGC 7538 an active dense star forming nebula. Nige.

Here's the first of last nights imaging. Quite a quick process during lunch break 21x240 & 1x360s subs with dark, flat and bias. ISO 800 Modified 1200D, EQ3 and Equinox 80ED. PHD2, DSS & ST. I almost got the whole bubble but I think my sky's are not quite dark enough to capture it. Still I'm pleased with the result. A couple of clusters and nebula showing, will check there idents later. Nige.

Haha, Exactly that happened I got 1.5 hours on the Bubble then switched to M8 to find it about to dip below the roof tops. I looked at M8 before I started on the Bubble but it was just below my shed roof and about to pass the meridian so I started on the other. So my second target ended up gathering more data on M31. It looks like I will only get about 1.5 hours imaging time on M8 + M20 if I get another clear sky in time. Nige