Adreneline

Amazing - just shows how good APP is at creating mosaics. A couple of nice clear nights and the jobs a good 'un! I'll do bottom left and you can do top right

Another great panoramic image that reveals so much about these objects in context, and not just their position but their relative size. Whilst we're at it I just can't resist joining in. This is a hastily processed 6 pane mosaic but pretty heavily cropped (as can be seen from the annotated version - which is not as pretty as yours so I need to look at my PI settings!). This image includes the Christmas Tree Cluster, Hubble's Variable Nebula, The Rosette Nebula and Sh2-284. Maybe we should join forces to fill the gap (not sure there is much in there though ) and join your Orion wide field image to my Cone, Rosette, Sh2-284 image and produce a mega-wide-field image! I would like to add OIII to the whole lot but clear moonless nights are fewer in number than Dodo birds these days. Adrian

Your processing skills are clearly spot on because there is no evidence of any "patchy areas". I love the way Barnard's Loop is included in the f.o.v. - excellent framing. The pixels might be small but the aperture is large and it is a winning combination and well worth sharing.

Not posted in this thread for quite a while. This is three sessions using the Samyang+ASI183MM with Astronomik 6nm Ha 2" filter. So often it seems we only get a clear night when the Moon is up and lighting up the whole sky making OIII and SII difficult if not impossible. I might get lucky one day and get some decent OIII and SII to add to this which results in some synergy and a better overall image rather than a compromised colour rendition. This is the current rig. I have put a lot of time and effort coming up with this arrangement trying to optimise the spacing and ensure there is no misalignment in the imaging train. I really don't think I can improve on the star shapes any more. The ASI183 is a great partner to the Samyang 135mm especially when used with a 49mm step down ring which slows the system to f2.63 and improves the peripheral stars whilst not adding spikes and unwanted facets. Thanks to @geeklee for help with the design for the 3D printed parts - and to the brother-in-law for printing them! Adrian

Not at all Most r/f are 55mm but as with everything in AP some are different - or have different threads - or holes where you don't want them that don't match with anything other single piece of equipment you own. It's all part of an evil plan to get you to spend money. Perish the thought you should ever reach the stage where you have everything sorted. It's a minefield - tread carefully!

My experience says you fit the r/f to the focuser and attach the camera to the r/f with whatever spacers are required to achieve a spacing of 55mm (nominally) I did come across this website and he makes the following comment re. spacing with the WO R/F : "Note that for the FLT-123, the middle back-focus setting of 76mm on the reducer produced the flattest field (the back focus is adjustable from 66mm to 86mm)." Of course he may have a different R/F compared to the one you found in the box! I think this site is translated from Japanese so it's not always that clear, however, there are lots of useful photos that will show you how it all goes together. HTH

Just noticed the screen shot from your ASIair looks like you are using a Bahtinov Mask. Silly question but were you running the Auto Focus feature on the ASIair with a BM fitted? Hopefully not Do one or the other - I use a BM to get close to focus - sometimes I use AF but then nearly always recheck with (and adjust/fine tune) with a BM. You can also use the Detect Stars (accessed from the Tool icon) to give you a quantitative figure for your focus. DS is also for keeping a check on focus drift during an imaging session - just don't become obsessed by it!!

A nominal figure of 55mm assumes you have a R/F fitted - really not sure what it might be without one. Might be worth investigating getting one (alternative WO or third-party) - it will be of overall benefit to your imaging as it will change the setup from f6 to f4.8 (0.8x reducer) as well as improving star shapes. HTH

Do you have a reducer/flattener attached to your 123? The recommended WO R/F for this scope is apparently discontinued but I am sure alternatives must be available. As @scotty38 says some photos of your equipment setup would be helpful.

Thank you Steve. With tools like APP and PI it makes combining data from different camera and scope systems achievable, and at the end of the day "data is key" - the more the better! Adrian

Thank you. The 183 did a good job adding in the detail - to be expected I guess. Adrian

Thank you Steve. Trust all is going well with you. Adrian

Hi Everyone. Decided to combine some recently taken Ha (260m) using the RedCat+ASI183MM with some previously acquired H, O and S data acquired with the RedCat+ASI1600MM The 183 Ha data has been used as Luminance to improve the detail. All processed in PI. As always C&C are most welcome. Thank you for looking. Adrian

Thank you Lee. I think it is a great combination and I don't understand why the ASI183 gets so much bad press. This image is let down by the 'seeing' on the night and Mr Moon trying to get in on the act - nothing to do with a slow refractor or a small pixel camera. Slow and steady wins the race! Adrian

Hi Everyone. Beautiful though the Moon is it is not helpful when it comes to imaging DSOs. This is 52x300s of Ha taken with a RedCat 51 and ASI183MM, unguided on a CEM25-EC. The image was pre-processed in APP and post-processed entirely in PI. Some would argue this is not a good combination with the relatively slow RedCat (f4.9) and the small pixels (2.4um) of the ASI183MM combined with a 6nm Ha Astronomik filter. Be that as it may I am pretty happy with the end result; the addition of OIII and SII might have to wait for a moonless night. This was just an experiment and the 183 will be going back on the Samyang 135mm and the ASI1600MM will be going back on the RedCat because as a dual setup it works better for me in terms of fov. Thanks for looking - as ever all C&C are welcome. Adrian

Hello Andy. Hopefully no harm has been done. After my two encounters with the mount I decided to recalibrate the encoders in the mount as mine is the EC version. When I first got the mount I used Commander with SGPro and it always worked a treat - I just wanted to get away from a PC at the mount. I've used the handset to define/set the zero position - that also works very well. Fingers crossed you get it all sorted. Adrian

Not sure it is any consolation but I have driven my CEM25-EC into the mount - twice! - when attempting to use Astroberry - sounded terrible but no harm was done. Not sure I will be able to help, but it might help others help you if you tell us what you were using to control the mount. I now use an ASIair and it works perfectly all the time - I decided there was a fundamental mis-match between Astroberry and my CEM25-EC that I was never going to get sorted. Hope someone is able to help you. Adrian

A good start to the year Göran - let's hope there are many more to come! Gott Nyår År! Adrian

Glad to see you finally got the chance to try out the RC. I would be well pleased if that was my image . Adrian.

Thank you Göran. I agree about green in NB - I am not a fan either. Neither am I a fan of magenta but I think I am alone with that one Adrian

Very nice. I really like the subtlety of the star colours - I'm not a fan of the Christmas tree lights look to star fields.

Thank you for the kind comments - I am glad you like them. I was really pleased the data was so good recognising the Moon was doing its best to spoil things. I'm loving this dual setup. Next years Christmas card! Adrian

With well over 50% Moon I wasn't expecting very much so was pleasantly surprised by the quality of not just the Ha but also the OIII and SII. Ha and SII acquired with Samyang 135mm + ASI183MM and the OIII acquired with the RedCat 51 and ASI1600MM all atop the CEM25-EC. This is 145m Ha, 140m OIII and just 60m of SII - all 300s subs. H(HO)O SHO Pre-processed in APP and post-processed in PI using StarXterminator to remove stars. Really pleased with the amount of detail this combination is revealing. Herbig-Haro 555 shows up clearly in both images, particularly the H(HO)O version. Herbig-Haro objects are jets of matter and partially ionized gas ejected by newborn stars, which appear as patches of nebulosity in star-forming regions. These jets are ejected at speeds of several hundred kilometres per second and collide with nearby dust and gas, producing dramatic shock fronts that glow as a result of the gas being heated as it collides with the interstellar medium. As always C&C welcome. Adrian

What a project! Brilliant job all round. I love the annotated image showing the wealth of targets you've captured. My favourite is the 6-pane SHO of the H&S and double cluster. Thanks for sharing. Adrian

I seem to recall a few folk had some issues but that was a long time back. I am delighted with mine and others I know who have them seem equally pleased with the results they get. It is a really well made scope and for me definitely a "keeper". I could almost be tempted by the new RedCat 71 - one day maybe.