vernmid

I have a working Skywatcher DC motor and brackets. The cable is missing and handset appears faulty but let me know if it is of any use V

+1 for this book Quick play with PS. Think I may have over stretched a tad

All neater solutions than my folded bin bag and rubber band ? V

Morning all, Pleased with this M51 from Star Wars day on May the 4th. 130PDS + HEQ5 + 1100d modified + 80mm ASI120MM Guiding 40 * 240s subs + Bias and Flats Comments welcome ? Here's a wider uncropped version. I think I prefer this one

There's a nice piece of software called VirtualDub available. If you can convert your tifs to BMP and name them 1.bmp, 2.bmp then you can load them as a sequence into Virtual Dub and save them as a movie. I did this a while back with my individual subs so that I could get an idea as to how they changed with darkness. VirtuaDub may be able to load tifs so it may just be a renaming exercise....memoey has failed me! v Thinking again, I did the rename by selecting all my files and then right click rename. I renamed them as x.bmp which results in x_1.bmp x_2.bmp etc which is Good enough for VirtualDub as it just needs an increasing index

Full moon rise over the River Test over Easter Single shot with cheap Moto android phone balanced on Skywatcher 100p mini dob eyepiece. No processing. Makes me wonder why I bothered investing in all that complicated astrophotography gear!

Now sold. Many thanks

Hi bobro These were also from a Bortle 4, Stockbridge Hampshire. I think I am coming to the same conclusion regarding staying up late, just a pity about the going to work thing! Subs are raw+jpeg so I get both. Jpegs are just for ease of sorting really. I was also amazed by how many satellite trails I captured! Maybe 25% of the subs had them but hopefully removed by DSS averaging Thanks for your comments Vern

Hi All, I was attempting to capture M101 on 31st March. I took 21 x 300s subs (ISO800) between 21:15 and 23:30. Kit was 130PDS + HEQ5 + Modified 1100d As a means to finding a method to weed out bad subs I merged my jpeg subs into a short movie, intending to be able to easily compare the details. I was very interested to see what a difference a few hours made to local light pollution/residual sun light etc. Curse the pesky clock change ;-) Movie attached for those who might be interested in a sub-sequence. Hope it is of interest to someone Thanks Vern M101.mp4

Very nice. What equipment did you use? Hoping to capture this myself soon so all hints appreciated ? Cheers Vern

Thanks John, Amazed to have captured UGC 5302. Coma corrector is a badder mpcc. Will have another crack at processing to improve background. Thanks again Vern

Hi all, Thought I'd share my latest 130PDS image of M81/M82. All captured 24/3 on a modified 1100d. 30 x 300 seconds lights plus 20 flat and 20 bias. Stacked in DSS and tweaked in PS All comments/advice welcome Many thanks Vern Anyone know what the fuzzy on the left hand edge is? Is it an artifact or a galaxy? It appears to have a spiral structure

Glad it helped ?

Astronomy Tools Actions in PS provide a Reduce Large Blue/Violet Halos action which works well. Vern

Shameless bump and price drop!