Swoop1

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...

I don't use NINA or Cartes du Ciel together- I have tried both at different times. I use two components as follows- I plug the HEQ5PRO mount into my laptop via the handset port using an eqdir cable and fire up either CDC or NINA- both open GSS when I identify a target and ask the softare to slew the scope to it. I guess they use GSS as the ASCOM programme?

I like the thinking behind that solution👍 I have absolutely no idea if the thinking and maths is sound however😐

I run an HEQ5PRO mount and, when imaging, try to run it via GSS and Cartes du Ciel. My problem is that there are times when the mount goes off and does its own thing mid way through a run- I will get a number of good frames of the selected target and then frames will show elongated streaks as the mount wander off target. This happens with both deep sky and lunar/ planetary targets. Ihave tried lunar without software control, using the hand set and it reduces the wandering to almost nothing. Any ideas what may be causing the unwanted slewing? Thanks.

Don’t do a whole house renovation in one go- instigate a rolling programme by doing one room a year then, when the whole house has been done, start again from the first room (after taking a year off of course).

Hmmmmm- how do I get one of those past the boss?

How do you shoot all colours at the same time? One camera, one sensor 3-4 filters?

Going mono raises another potential problem (for me anyway)- time. Unless I am mistaken, you need to take three times as many frames to stack than with colour? Because I am still working full time, grabbing an hour in the evening before bed is likely to be my imaging routine for the forseeable future.

Bearing in mind that I have certain budgetary restraints at the moment (Head Of Finance looked sternly down her nose at me when asking about kit the other day), I am thinking about the next step for me in deep sky imaging. I currently have a ZWO ASI290MC and a Sony a6300. The ASI id brilliant for planetary and lunar but I'm not convinced on deep sky. The Sony is reasonable on wide field but, exposures in the region of 30 seconds show a lot of noise and glow. 30s is the longest exposure I can use without an intervalometer and I'm not sure an intervalometer would improve things. I have seen product from modded Canon cameras and I already have a Canon T ring so, is there any major advantage on skipping a modded Canon and going straight to a more expensive but better long term prospect of a cooled dedicated astro camera?

That’s the one👍

No, they are offloading unused kit to fund a harmonic drive mount for their rig.

Thanks @Tomatobro. I'm guessing the north bolt will be the shorter one. I think I have some M10 bolts in the shed. i will have to check them out.

Some of the old (and not so old) sci fi comic art was brilliant as well. I remember getting a Dan Dare annual as a young teenager. The colour artwork in some of the stories was fabulous. I was also a big 2000AD fan so love the Judge Dredd, ABC Warriors, Rogue Trooper etc. Edit Found the annual. 1974 edition- https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dan-Dare-Annual-1974/dp/B00JNMPXNU

Playing with the new to me RVO Horizon ED72 to sort out dovetail positioning etc I found that the noes of the dovetail catches the north side altitude bolt on my HEQ5PRO when rotating the scope. I know it is very rare that I will be pointing the scope at the ground but, if I found myself in a capture where a meridian flip was needed and I either wasn't with the scope or forgot about it, there could be a disaster. I would like to swap the bolt out for a) something shorter and b) maybe something a bit less flexible so thet my PA is tighter. Thanks.

get a smaller case? 😉