jjosefsen

"LOUSY NIGHTS" 🤣

Hmm ok, try this one: https://discord.gg/nighttime-imaging

https://discord.gg/rWRbVbw This should work..

This has certainly been an interesting and educational read, so thank you for that. I don't think you can say that synthetic bias works for all flats < 5 sec. I have an ASI1600 clone and I have amp glow in 1,8s darkflats.. 🤔 So it is also equipment specific.

Isn't the IMX571 in the 2600 also a much "cleaner" sensor than the, at times "finicky" panasonic sensor in the 1600? I have seen a few raw frame examples, and they look super smooth!! I know there are many factors playing in here..

I wanted to come back here and let you know how I am getting on with the RC now that I finally had a clear night to test, albeit under a 100% illuminated moon. This is a quick 2 panel Ha image of NGC 7822 aka Sharpless 2-171, with almost 2 hours on each panel, and as mentioned under a full moon. Quick and dirty process with a bit of Deconvolution, Noise reduction and a stretch. In the end I didn't quite go all the way as @davies07 suggested, and remove the secondary mirror and use the disc method. I collimated using the REEGO Pro and MoR module, but the information you provided gave me the understanding of what was going on, and what I needed to fix. This was particularly helpful as TS Italia has still not released a manual of how to use the MoR, but basically the same principles as your fine documentation. I didn't even fine tune on a star for this image, so there is maybe still a little room for improvement, but I was desperate for some data after months of clouds. Again thank you for the assistance, it was/is much appreciated! //Clear skies, Johannes

I won't even try to explain the math (I can't ), but you can use it to enhance contrast on variable structure sizes in a non-linear image. From the documentation: Histogram equalization takes the histogram and computes a transfer curve, which grants more brightness range to higher histogram peaks and less brightness range to histogram valleys. In other words, large areas of similar brightness get more contrast. Local histogram equalization works on individual pixels and computes a transfer curve from the histogram of a pixel neighborhood. "Select best light frames" is nice, but what is it based on? PSF? SNR? It would be nice to have a little more input on how it determines the best frames. Even better would be if the weighting would be taken into account when stacking, so not just rejecting whole subs, but using all (above a threshold) and just varying the contribution to the stack. I understand that the above is some very specific Astro related things, and you are getting into the nutty gritty part of it, so maybe not at the front of the roadmap. Like I said I really enjoy Affinity Photo, and it is a Photoshop slayer for me, which speaks for its great use and value. I hope we hear more from you on this forum, particularly about your own imaging projects as well. //Clear skies

Hi james, Great to see you here! I really like Affinity Photo and have been playing with it in place of using PixInsight, as I enjoy working in it. I still feel like there are some things in PI I can't really do without: Deconvolution and Local Histogram Equalization for instance, and also some more control on the stacking process, particularly when it comes to frame weighting. So for now it is still a combination of PI and Affinity Photo for me. Can you tell us if there are any planned new features related to Astrophotography comming in the next year?

I loved everything about this, from the large mosaics to the deep HOO.

I have heard multiple people complain that the new 5V version of the EAF doesn't work well in the cold. Is this perhaps the 5V version?

Brilliant! Quick question regarding the Redcat.. If I remember it had some QA issues in the beginning, is this still an issue or have subsequent batches been better?

Very nice image! The details are really crisp! Personally I don't mind the more subtle colors, but it could also look good with a little more "pop" maybe.

Good job! Star colors look really nice. Some of the large stars are a little bloated, maybe seeing was not the greatest?

The HOO is very nice. I really don't like green in astro images so the SHO version is out for me, I would have shifted the colors in post to avoid the green.

My guess is you are trying to load a template and not a sequence.

The heated window is on all the time I believe. The USB traffic setting is to adjust how fast data is pushed over USB. If you don't have issues just leave it and forget about it.

You can do a PA routine similar to that of the iPolar (plate solved PA) using your guidescope and camera and PHD2, which would let you ditch the windows pc. In terms of why it is differing, are there perhaps any location settings that are off somewhere? Either mount (INDI/ASCOM) or in the iPolar application? That is almost the only thing I can think of.

Wow that is "baller" as the kids say! 👏 Very very nice.

I hope it all turns out OK for you and everything works.

I have the REEGO and their new reflector module MoR.

No, this is a second hand scope I found locally. Unfortunately my favourite astro shop (you) is suddenly very far away due to taxes and stuff. 🥺

Thank you so much for this, very well written information, it is a very interesting read. I am currently visiting family and I only have my phone, so will take another look at this when I get home to my PC. I really hope I can get this thing working well, as I plan to upgrade it to an 8" version at some point, maybe when I finally get around to building an observatory.

Hi, I just bought a Star Adventurer 2i and a brand new Canon EF 50mm 1.8, and while testing it this problem reared its ugly head. My DSLR has been in storage for a couple of years, but I can't see why it would suddenly have this problem, so I am hoping it is the lens. 4s exposure, ISO 1600 at F3.5 Can any of you tell if this is likely the lens or the camera? I am a bit of a novice when it comes to DSLR's and lenses... :S Edit: I don't have any other lenses for this camera, and I can't think of any of my buddies with EF lenses..

So I had some real progress last night.. Having aligned the focuser to the secondary yielded the best stars I have had to date on this thing.. So the optical axis between the primary and secondary mirror is quite a bit out of alignment right now, but apparently having alignment between the focuser and secondary is "more important". That is a bit of simplification obviously, but seems correct in my instance. I have ordered a tilt plate adapter for M90 connection, this will allow me to align the primary to the secondary again, and then use the tilt plate to align the focuser. Hopefully this will sort things out. With the reducer in the imaging train, my focus point is quite close to the scope, I don't have to extend the focuser much, so I think I can get away with the stock focuser for now. But upgrading that will definitely be on the todo list if I can get this thing humming to my liking. I also fine tuned the distance between the mirrors further, and it was a massive improvement to focus and led to much tighter stars across the entire field.

No that was exactly what I was trying to ask So thanks.