Galen Gilmore

59 minutes ago, vernmid said:

Hi all,

Captured this M37 with my 130PDS + EQ5 +350d last night.

It was one of those bothersome nights when I was attacked by Gremlins. Managed 10 x 2 minutes subs before the 130 finally crashed into the mount and I was too cold to carry on!

Still, pleased with this for such a short integration time.

Thanks

Vern

 

Nice star field.

Neat stars as well.

1 hour ago, simondodd said:

Well this is the final version for now... 24 subs of 30 seconds each at ISO 400, 10 Darks & 10 Bias. 

Nice, but it looks like you clipped the data. Try to keep the full histogram visible, only clipping the "flat" parts. Try adjusting color balance in the shadows to get a nice looking background instead of clipping shadow detail.

Other than that good picture, a lot of good detail visible there.

Stop posting amazing pictures!!! You are making me jealous! 

I just need some clear skies...

On December 22, 2017 at 05:28, sagramore said:

Have you made any modifications to your 130PDS at all? If not, this might be the classic "focuser drawtube" problem that we have all faced  There is endless discussion regarding it and ways to "fix" it in this thread.

I guess that is possible, but would it really take such a huge bite out of the star?

3 hours ago, MeyGray3833 said:

Hi,

Can I enter even if I have already posted the image in the Deep Sky Section?

 

Thanks.

I would assume so. I did so with a few other challenges in the past.

1 hour ago, tony8690 said:

Thank you

Really happy with my Andromeda, first go at it and luckily my Mount behaved (after a bit of fighting with it!) and aligned almost perfectly!

M42 as just a couple of shots the i didn't actually think would show anything! so very happy with that for only 2 shots.

I don't use flats. TBH i have no idea what that means. i thaik i need to do some reading up on a lot of AP things.

I'm still learning a lot at the moment so i had a couple hour window and it took me most of that time just setting up/getting aligned and working.

I have a guide setup but haunt had a chance to really practice how to use it. in wales from Thursday over Christmas so will hopefully get a few clear nights there and get some more shots in

 

Thanks,

T

Flat frames fix two things. Dust bunnies that appear as little smudges on images, and vinneiting, the darker areas on the edges of the image.

You take flats by shooting a completely evenly illuminated surface, I like using a laptop screen with a white t-shirt taped over the front of my scope with my camera on AV mode. You take about 10-20 of these. An important thing to know is that optical train must be exactly the same for flats as for lights, same filters, same focus, same position if the camera, everything.

HTH.

Anybody know what is causing these pacman shaped stars in my images? They always go the same direction, not increasing towards the outside.

@tony8690Nice images, especially the Andromeda. The Orion is nice, but it needs more frames.

Are you adding flat frames? If not you should, that will fix most of the vinneiting. 

On 12/9/2017 at 09:36, deepind said:

HI All,

I have nikon d3200 , is it good for astrophotography? i tried with 18-140mm lens but the shots are too much white not good..do i need to upgrade to d3400 or d5300 or d5600?

 

That is an issue of light pollution, and not a limitation of your camera. A 15 second exposure with the Canon 5D Mkii where I live is almost completely white. Try getting out to a dark sky where everything is 100x better.

At prime focus there is no magnification as the image can scaled to any size, so what is the magnification then?

Im no expert, but the way you measure the image "magnification" is with arc seconds per pixel. That way, no matter how much you crop or move away from the image, the arc seconds per pixels stays the same.  

HTH

2 hours ago, pushrod said:

Hi, apologies as have only read the first 17 pages ! of this amazing thread . I have a 130 pds , with the skywatcher CC and am looking to shorten the focusing tube  - at focus so much of it protrudes inside the tube that images of bright stars really show a lop sided effect. It is mentioned a few times up to page 17 but no details are given. Is it discussed in detail anywhere? Are there any problems/pitfalls/special precautions needed/disadvantages in doing this. Anyone got a pic of their shortened focuser? How much was considered safe to cut off? Many thanks in anticipation 

I think there were some pages that resolved this issue on this thread, can't exactly remember where though. I personally have not cut it.

Ok thank you!

Is this just a 'no narrowband' challenge? Or do I actually have to be shooting seperate RGB channels?

Sorry, the image didn't quite upload right.

Here is the Orion Nebula.

There are two versions, one looks more natural (at least to my eyes) and one has less noise and a less blown out core.

First time at the Orion Nebula, I think I did it justice!

120 x 25, 15 x 20

image.tiff

Sorry for so many questions!!!

how many hot pixels would be present without the use of dark frames or dithering? Not camera specific or anything, just in general.

How long would it take to manually clean hot pixels in Photoshop?

Woah, didn't expect that many responses in such a short time span!  

Thanks everybody, stopping the motor seems easy enough.

12 minutes ago, alacant said:

Hi. To be able to dither, APT needs to be connected to the mount and thus be able to issue commands to control it. 

Sorry if I've misunderstood. I thought you were after a manual solution.

Thank you.

No you did not misunderstand. My mount only has the basic R.A motors, therefore it doesn't have the ability to connect to a computer. I was only asking because I thought that it might have something to do with the camera itself. 

17 hours ago, carastro said:

See my previous post, can be done automatically with APT - no need for mount control or doing it manually. 

Carole 

Hi thanks, does APT require you to be guiding? How does it automatically dither if its not directly controlling the mount?

20 minutes ago, richyrich_one said:

Large dither and no darks.

Thanks, is there a way to dither without a mount control software?

Quick question for those of you who use a DSLR for imaging. How many of you use dark frames in your images? I have heard a lot about how dark frames might actually hurt the images more than help them.

38 minutes ago, Jon Sales said:

Thanks for the info guys. Looking into the EQ5 with the 130PDS. 

Good luck! And hope you have a wonderful time with whatever you decide to buy!  

5 hours ago, Jon Sales said:

Been watching this thread for a long time. 

I have the Star Adventurer mount for widefield with my EOS760D and lenses. 

Now looking at a telescope again for visual and AP. 

Is the 130pds on the EQ5 PRO worth the money or should I go for the 150?

For me is was worth it. The 130pds is fantastic, and is the perfect weight for an EQ5. A 150pds might be a bit too much for an EQ5 though.

Just make sure that you atleast buy the enhanced dual axis motors for the EQ5, that way you can start autoguiding when you need to.

Ok thanks everybody for the info. I realize that LP filters are not magic, and that they actually cut out some detail in galaxies and reflection nebulae. But hopefully whichever filter I choose to buy, it will help my images. 

7 minutes ago, richyrich_one said:

Some info on Optolong filters...

http://www.astronomik.com/en/news/chinese_copies_en/

So the Optolong filters are just Chinese knock-offs of astronomic filters?