Swoop1

I have to use maximum ISO when doing deep sky- 3200 on my camera. I have maximum exposure time of 30 seconds also at the moment. Bodes Galaxy (M81) and the Cigar Galaxy (M82) are nice targets and fairly easily locateable in the region of Ursa Major.

Hi @sPhyre91 and welcome. I am trying to improve my deep sky stuff myself and am taking the route of a 72mm refractor. My advice (amateur in the extreme that it is) is as follws- You need a drive equatorial mount to enable the long exposures needed to track your target accross the sky. To improve detail, you need to take as many exposures as you can. Find the stacking software that works for you- there are a few out there that are really good for deep sky but I'm not yet sure which one I can use. The real art in deep sky astrophotography is the post processing. This is the dark art of the subject. Detail in stacked images is often not visible until you have started the post processing to draw it out. There are some good books and tutorials out there. Making Every Photon Count available from FLO is a good starting point for learning. Good luck!

A very purposeful looking fit out going on there.

I reckon that, with 4 tactically spaced eye bolts, 2 lengths of braded steel wire, an eyeleted tarpaulin and a handful of rings, you could put an easily retractable awning over that

I am particularly drawn to the shadow detail cast by the Montes Apenninus to the top left. Very nice.

Just got round to sorting some data and here are a couple of grabs of the crescent moon and Venus, from my bedroom window. Sony a6300 through Tamron 70-300 zoom.

Of historical note is the fact the St John Philby was the father of harold Adrian Russell "Kim" Philby, one of the group that spied fopr the USSR in the 40's and 50's

Nice bit or work there Dave👍

Ain't nuthin wrong with that baby! Very nice image @knobby 👍

For me it is the satisfaction of getting it right and producing my own image. I try not to think of the more frequent frustration of getting it wrong....

Wow! Fabulous detail at the heart of the nebula.

Beautiful colours! The ground hugging mist in the foreground adds a certain something to the whole atmosphere as well.

No- not a newly discovered soft topographical feature! Whilst clearing down after doing a bit of solar today, I noticed dark streaks from around the dec. axis of my HEQ5PRO. Is this just the grease sweating off a bit in the heat? It does feel a bit oily.

The FrenchyFrankenMount?

Metal sheds can be quite loud when opening/ closing- particularly sliding doors. Also, if you bump into them in the night.... I would look at a plastic shed if I were in your position as they are not so loud and assembly can be easier.

Very nice work Stephen! I am enjoying following the progress of your branch line.

Nice solution Mike. Is it a bit of a task lifting the dob onto the platform?

Very atmospheric images. Thanks for sharing!

I have occasional similar issues with my HEQ5PRO powering down and up. I have traced it to the little plug in right angle power plug adaptor (between the PSU mount plug and the mount) being suspect. Just plug the PSU plug into the mount and all is good.

Celestron C6 SCT on HEQ5PRO. ZWO ASI290MC. Mosaic of 11 panels each best 30% of 1000 frames. Stacked in Autostakkert!3, stitched in ICE and minor level tweaking of the result in GIMP. Seeing wasn't' brilliant as I was dodging around intruding Leylandii branches and the last few panels were captured with the moon above my neighbours cooling roof.

Gorgeous detail in those Neil. I particularly like image 2 as that is one of my favourite areas on the moon.

Welcome back @N3ptune . I look forward to seeing some of your sketches

Excellent capture Bernd- thanks for sharing.

Thanks @Nik271 and @IB20. I thought I had pegged one as Pico but couldn't quite work out what the second was.

Them's are the horns in question Stu.