geeklee

That close up, FOV is crazy David, awesome Is that still with the reducer? Hope you get something before summer arrives. Seeing it on the AZEQ6 has me reconsidering looking at one of these - it's (unsurprisingly) still a bit of a beast all in!

Another very good revision Chris - they've definitely all had their clear merits, with an incremental change along the way. I do prefer the colours here although just personal preference. Great job with the tidal tail on NGC 3628. Any other commentary & feedback is just of the pixel peeping variety - I won't bore you with that

Thanks Steve. Only 12? Even using copious binning/resampling to keep the integration down, it would be a hell of a task bringing it altogether. The gradients alone would likely drive me to despair. Still, 2 or 3 panels a year maybe? 😉

Thanks Chris. I scripted into Simbad (I say scripted, it was minimal) a query for every quasar found by TypeCat. Brought this data back into Excel and did some cell work to generate a new custom catalogue that included the red shift values in the "name". Once I had this, I created an annotated image and iterated over this process, removing all quasars from the catalogue file below a redshift where I had something in the image. Then created another annotated image with the latest list and did the same again, and again... TypeCat can be found among the script set here if you don't already have it. QSO is the designation to look for in the list. In AnnotateImage, you can add ("+") a custom catalogue where you point to the output from TypeCat or just a text file you've created yourself (tab delimited). You can create all sorts of custom annotations this way.

The better quality the data that goes in, the better result out but there is a limit (our own limit!) with limited clear sky time. I try and get it the best I can with no glaring issues. I collimated in Sep/Oct last year and haven't touched it since. While my imaging rig (scope+camera etc) stays together, I do have to setup and tear down onto the mount each time I image. Hope you get a chance before we're into summer - look forward to seeing your results.

That's a great revision Wim - the Ha less prominent, but overall a step up in many areas. Interesting approach for Ha combination you've listed above, I will try and keep a note of this to try myself - thanks for sharing. My continuum subtraction attempts have been mixed - my latest one I ended up masking in the final step to help in the places I wanted it. A little unorthodox.

Hi @Icesheet - mine isn't perfect but I think you should try and get that secondary blot more centralised, then get everything in line again. Also, to my eye the central black disc is just a little to the top left, with a wider white annulus to the lower right.. slightly. I agree with your assessment of the field though. Nothing there BlurX wouldn't tidy up easily. Probably worth giving it a go as is if you don't want to fiddle any more for now. See how an integrated stack looks and processes.

Thanks Dave. That's funny you mention your FoV - I remember admiring one of your recent images this week and had wondered just what that FoV would be in this area

Thanks Adrian - I hope I pulled the information together correctly. Thanks Agnes. I used AstroPixelProcessor (APP). It usually deals with mosaics very well. I prepared each pane (cropped, gradient removal) then combined. Three separate sessions had created some annoying gradients - particularly in two panes where I had to be careful in processing and just about got away with it! Thanks Oskari. It's easy pickings in this area but I think there's just enough integration to pull out a huge variety of galaxies and give that feeling of a really populated field.

Captured over 3 nights (in February 2024 and March 2024), this is a four pane mosaic of the Virgo cluster. ~14 hours across the four panes with my Epsilon 130D and 2600MC Pro. So much to enjoy when browsing the full size image. Some more chat/info in the Deep Sky Imaging thread here Annotated version if you want to look anything up after browsing around the primary image.

Possibly like others, I've been waiting to see if I'd get any more moonless astro dark nights, but that's it here! On one hand this is a little in no man's land - not quite deep enough due to being a mosaic in the UK and not a lot of focal length for close up detail. What I hope it does showcase is an enjoyable view into the Virgo cluster. It's a four pane mosaic taken with my Epsilon 130D and 2600MC Pro - around 14 hours spread evenly across the four panes and three sessions - 07Feb24, 15Mar24, 30Mar24. Captured with NINA, pre-processed in APP and processed in PixInsight. Throughout this image there are so many galaxy sizes and types. Some clear with structure, others just coming out of the background. I have spent a lot of time just scouring back and fourth! My favourite is probably IC3481, IC3481a (PGC41646) and IC3483 (centre bottom). These appear to have some form of interaction but if I understand what I've read (and it's still accepted today) IC3483 is a foreground galaxy and it's just a coincidence that it lines up. I was drawn to this small group as the supposed interaction was just about coming out the noise with a little time, but after a few hours it was still faint but easier to distinguish. TypeCat in PixInsight had 1,369 Quasars listed in this field. On closer inspection a lot had nothing visible to my eye. I trimmed down this list and scripted some simple output from Simbad until I had the four with the highest redshift (z) that were visible. I created a custom catalogue (yellow) which shows their designation, redshift and Light Travel Time. Sadly I didn't break 12 Gyrs this time, but it isn't really that much integration. Fascinating working through this and I hope it's correct. Here, it's reduced to 75% of its original size - do click through to open fully. Thanks for looking. The annotated version if you want to look something up:

Great results Lee and well worth sticking it out after 11pm. The timelapse is fantastic.

Excellent contrasting pair Adrian. It's interesting seeing the Iris pop up already just before the light nights of summer. Very nice colour and detail in the core against an attractive star field. I just need to get all that dust off my desk from the IC1396 image, it's covered in it

Fantastic result Chris. The slightly smaller pixels of the 585MC shining through in this combo to give the tools more to work with.

Excellent Steve and very clear interaction and structure showing with the data so far. Nice subtle colour too.

Fantastic result - good colour contrasts and lovely detail. No wonder you're pleased! 👍☺️

Thanks Colm, good to hear from you. With weather and a few other things getting in the way, it's only been the last 6-7 months I've had a chance to really get it going - hoping to stretch its legs further later in the year (still have a couple of unfinished projects from this year too). Thanks Roy ☺️

Not at all Chris, all good 👍 👍

Apologies Chris, I'm dropped you a PM instead of continuing the SY spacing stuff here.

Do you compensate for the filters though? At 44mm (like a DSLR) it will focus (on stars) under the "L". If you add a filter, you need to add more spacing so it will then naturally push the focus point back under the L to compensate for the change in light path (due to the filter thickness). I realise we all have different standards & quality measures though 👍

The lens won't go round to the infinity marker (it will go under the "L") but you should always compensate for the thickness of the filter - the fact its broadband or narrowband should make no difference (very very slight filter thickness tolerances aside). It's like spacing for any scope, you need to get it right for the best results.

It's compensating for the short backfocus while focusing at infinity, but if you think of the lens as a DSLR lens then the spacing from the back plate should start at 44mm (like all DSLRs - it's the distance to the sensor). If you're short, it'll focus at infinity before the L, but still focus. If your DSLR was attached, you'd see it focus just before infinity marking (under the "L") for stars. BTW, that's a cool adapter system you have to mount the lens. Here's mine - Camera (6.5mm), EFW (20mm), Spacer (16.5mm), Baader aluminium ring (1mm) = 44mm (+ extra spacers for 1/3 thickness of filters). I'll tag @Adreneline as I think he may have a photo of his DSLR attached to the lens and focused on stars. EDIT: With the 585 sensor, you may get away with just getting it very close to the L, like just 44mm (and maybe a little for filters). The issue is trying to get it spot on while retaining room to auto focus. Too much spacing and you'll never get focus (as I found out the other week!)

Fantastic result Oskari - nice background, strong colour, detailed and clean transitions from background and faint arms. I like the contrasting colour of the core too.

It's tricky - aim for the typical values and go from there - 44mm + 1/3 filter thickness. General consensus is aiming for the focus point to land under the "L" on the focus ring. 0.1mm spacing makes a huge difference. I've just got my Samyang rig hooked up again (just in time for everything disappearing ) and had some comedy spacing challenges where I'd forgotten just how much small spacing changes affect things. Definitely worth checking Astrobin for anyone using the same combo with the filter(s) you're looking at. If you'd like a go in AstroPixelProcessor, PM me a link to the files and I'll happily try it there.

Two great results Chris. Great colours in the first especially still showing the contrasting blue in and around the Cone. Nice one getting the Samyang piggy packed so it could take part and double your options/output!