Swoop1

I think it is probably the car’s auto light switch being fooled into thinking it is not dark enough. Lots of drivers rely on their car to do the thinking for them….

As long as the Klingons remain visible off the starboard bow I’m confident we’ll be ok.

Best episode in ages. Right up my street.

I like the colour of the image and, for me, the diffraction spikes really add to it.

That is exactly the kind of information that I can use to improve my output so, no problems at all vlaiv- thanks for taking the time to explain in such detail!

Thanks @vlaiv. So, your examples illustrate how my glass behaves with different light wavelegths and demonstrates that 'perfect' focus may not be achieveable? I am never going to be a high quality astrophotographer so, as long as I can achieve results that please me, I will be happy 👍

I don’t understand the significance of this information @vlaiv . Would you mind expanding for me? Thanks

No filters used. I have a light pollution filter and will include that in the imaging train later, just taking one step at a time at the moment.

@ollypenrice- transparency wasn't perfect and, later in the evening, when I switched to lunar, there was a definite softness to the sky.

@Mandy D We are on a similar journey- I jus started a little before you! My first suggestion- get your Polar Alignment right (or at least as close as you can) first. This will help prevent one of the causes of star trails. There are lots of videos and tutorials for polar alignment. Do you have a polar scope in your mount? I was lucky in that my polar scope was perfectly collimated to my mount out of the factory. My second suggestion- play with your mount in visual mode to get used to how it operates/ moves. I still get caught out when framing by moving the scope in the opposite direction to that intended! My third suggestion- consider an RDF such as a TELRAD as I find this invaluable on my larger scopes for ensuring the scope is pointing ath the right general sky area. With my RVO Horizon 72ED the short dovetail on top of the tube rings acts almost as accurately as a rifle sight- crouch down behind the scope and squint along the groves in the dovetail and my target is often somewhere within the FOV. Re SIRIL, Sky at Night magazine had an article a couple of months ago about using SIRIL on saved TIFF files from stacks to start drawing out detail- https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/siril-software-processing-dslr-astro-images This is how I got my first jump for joy moment when processing the first light deep sky from my above scope. Finally- don't get dispirited. I regulalry have Doh! moments when going toprocess data and finding I forgot to set exposure speeds etc. so I'm trying to process a whole host of 0 secon exposures.... Meatware problems rule😀

@astrolulu that is a fantastic shot- I wonder who took it? 😉

Most finder scopes focus by unscrewing the knurled ring behind the objective and then screwing the objective cell in or out to achieve focus, locking it back in with the knured ring again. Image courtesy of FLO!

Thanks Clarkey

Now I have my deep sky/ wide field scope (RVO Horizon 72ED with flattener), I will soon be starting the hunt for the right camera for deep sky/ wide field. My circumstances are- a) Still have to earn a crust so am limited on most evenings to 1-2 hours from starting to set up to breaking down. b) Permanent pier but no obsy so, leaving kit set up, not really an option. c) Not had a lot of luck with guiding so probably limited to 1 min subs. d) Don't have an EFW or the time to triple my exposures on RGB though I understand that using a luminance filter can overcome this? I currently use an ASI290MC for planetary/ lunar and the occasional deep sky stuff and a Sony a6300 for wide field/ deep sky. Would a dedicated CMOS/ CCD colour camera, a mono camera and luminance filter or an astro modded Canon or similar be the route to go for now? If a dedicated CMOS/ CCD astro camera, what is a good option to suit my current circumstances? I know I have probably opened a proper can of worms with this question but, info is needed to assist me with the next step. Thanks, Matt

Here is one of the original lights frames from this run- Light_ASIImg_30sec_Bin1_21.6C_gain0_2023-09-04_224104_frame0001.fit

Wolfie, I believe that incorrect flattener to sensor distance can cause abberations in images so I wanted to check that I had the correct spacing with the set up I used. I am sufficiently not knoweldgeable enough re imaging and my eyes are insufficiently accurate for me to decide for myself!

M13 from last night, RVO Horizon 72ED + field flattener, ASI290MC, HEQ5PRO. 30 X 30 sec lights, 9 X 30 sec darks, 10 X 0.0001sec bias, 20 X 10 sec flats. Stacked in DSS, histogram stretched in SIRIL, levels tweaked in GIMP. Exposure and post processing need work but, this is my first use of a field flattener- have I got that right? Thanks.

Nice one Kon. A transit is on my bucket list to capture.

Out last night with the RVO Horizon 72ED and grabbed a few video runs- my first lunar with this scope. The below is a 2 pane stitch, each pane the best 30% of 1000 frames using ASI290MC. |Stacked in Autostakkert!3 and stitched in Microsoft ICE No other post processing. Not sure what has resulted in the colour cast but quite pleased with the detail.

RVO Horizon 72ED on HEQ5PRO. Did a bit of lunar and planetary imaging last night and finished off with half an hours visual- finding a nice double as a target for tonight hopefully (Albireo looks much sharper and colourful through the 72 than my Newt or SCT). The laptop is on a platform I threw together the other day as I find I prefer standing whilst aligning, focusing and launching a capture run.

I am 'loving' my journey into learning astrophotography but, every so often, it is both refreshing, relaxing and educational for me to forget about rolling out the power leads and plugging in the laptop, instead, just shoving a scope on the Alt/Az and engaging the Mk1 eyeball. For me, no matter how engrosed I become in the masochism of astrophotography, there will always be a place for pure and 'simple' visual observing.

This past weekend, Mrs Swoop and I went to Wrexham to watch our team at football. Apparently a 5-5 draw was an entertaining game (unless you were the team that had a 1-4 lead at half time.....) Anyhoo, we spent the following few nights on Anglesey, staying just outside of Almwch on the North/ North West coast. Knowing it had dark skies, I took the Sony a6300, tripod and Omegon clockwork drive. Night two, we took a short drive to a coastal viewing platform and set up. Not perfect dark due to an LED streetlight some 50 meters away but, after a bit of adaptation, the Milky Way was visible so, I set the kit up, pointed it overhead in the general direction of the MW and ran off some exposures. The following is the result of some of them. Sony a6300, 16mm, f4.5, ISO3200. 6 X 30 second exposures, stacked in DSS, tweaked in SIRIL and GIMP

Two very scruffy images which are nothing compared to other images on here but, it is daft how happy they have made me! These are the first two successful imaging runs with my new (to me) RVO Horizon 72ED. I used my Sony a6300 and each image is 30X 30 second exposures at ISO3200. I did 4X 30 second darks before running out of time (work the next morning) Stacked in DSS and tweaks to histogram etc. in SIRIL before a bit of levels adjusting in GIMP Lots of dust and vignette etc but boy, am I pleased with the detail Best I have had on each area of sky. M31 M81

I have- f5 SW 150P Newtonian f10 Celestron C6 SCT f6 RVO Horizon 72ED refractor. The 72ED is easiest to cary, transport and mount but, my favourite is the one that works best on the night. By that I mean the one that I decide to use when I'm doing whatever takes my fancy. For deep sky, that is currently the 72ED. For planetary/ lunar, that will be the SCT, for outreach, the Newt.

Well, I'm outside now with the hand set plugged in. 30 x 30sec exposures on M31 and 16 (so far) 30 sec exposures on M81/82 and as yet, no discernible wandering. Weird...