geeklee

It's definitely in there Noodles, but like you say it just looks buried: Whenever I tried to really stretch it hard, I got a really bright central portion. Were you happy with calibration and was that file the unstretched, integrated master? 120s is on the high side for F3.5 with no filters, full moon (+ no astro darkness?) and ISO1600 (but I don't have much DSLR knowledge).

If you look at a filter like this https://www.firstlightoptics.com/light-pollution-reduction/idas-nbz-uhs-dual-band-nebula-boost-filter.html it has some graphs that show why it's designed for fast systems - the band pass is shifted. I've used an L-eNhance filter with an OSC camera and Samyang at F2 and got plenty of Ha (did I miss some? who knows). As you say, it has a wider band pass so doesn't suffer so much (or at all?). Not sure about the L-eNhance and slower scopes though, it's going to let in more of the stuff you don't want too so presumably contrast suffers... From what I've seen, the L-eXtreme is a great filter - it may just have challenges as the speed increases from a more typical refractor F5/6/7/8. I haven't looked extensively for people using the L-eXtreme with the Samyang but it might not be as bad as suggested (certainly the testing was done with completely different optics). It's definitely worth giving it a go. Edit: Just as an aside, I've used and seen dedicated mono cameras with normal Baader 7nm Ha filters capture plenty of Ha with the Samyang at F2, F2.4, F2.8 etc. Were they missing some signal, perhaps but it still had lots.

Hi stu - As you have it already, it's worth putting on and trying it. I've never tried a filter in front of the step down rings (I use my SY with 55mm and 49mm rings). Here's a couple of links I'd come across before discussing the filter itself at high speed but with a different scope/lens. https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/738985-comparison-of-l-enhance-vs-l-extreme-at-f2/ https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/775023-is-f39-too-fast-for-l-extreme-filter-filter-recommendations-for-fast-scopes/ I make 48mm F2.8125 but may have my maths wrong (135/48). You may suffer similar but less aggressive cut off with it stopped down. If you get an image you're happy with you'll never know what light didn't hit the sensor so... worth a go! Both good, bright options, especially North American Nebula

It must be in the top 10 questions on SGL and I think all the arguments given always come down to what the person will be most comfortable with - given their equipment, skies, goals, skills, patience etc. I owned and (regrettably) sold my ASI533. In my view, it was an exceptional camera with it's small chip size the only negative. You still have the OSC ASI94MC-Pro very similarly priced - bigger pixels, bigger FOV (with amp glow but that'll calibrate out). I've used my mono equipment without automation and with automation - the key for me being auto focus - and it could be a pain planning and checking focus across filters (even parfocal) without the additional automation. The options for narrow band are greater with mono but OSC cameras aren't lacking in that department now with the L-eXtreme/NBX/NBZ etc Pre-processing can be a little more complicated and time consuming but I've never found this to be a substantial difference - just a little more care in approach. With your budget you're almost knocking on the door of the esteemed ASI2600MC-Pro sale price but certainly have enough to look at a mono ASI1600/294MM-Pro while perhaps starting out with less filters and a filter drawer on the 294MM (if the budget is a hard stop). With my ASI533 nothing beat the simplicity but with mono, my options can be more varied. I hope that's muddied the water further for you

There's some definite knowledge share here @RobST I don't use a DSLR myself with the Samyang but I was thinking maybe ISO1600 is too high. If it's an unmodified camera with no "nebula" type filter it really doesn't need much exposure. I've had the washed out image before and was surprised what was underneath once it was processed (with enough integration)

Hi @AstroRuz I believe it's Sh2-161. Here's a crop of a raw 5hr Ha integration I did last year (and rotated to match your image). Hopefully that's the area you mean?

Hi Brendan - I had to go look this up myself as I was sure I'd seen it but wasn't sure where in Apt it was. It's in the Pointcraft interface when you solve an image. I ran a quick test - loaded an image and ran a blind solve: There's an Angle: indication there. Now I knew where it was, it was easier to find in the manual: https://www.astrophotography.app/usersguide/pointcraft.htm#id_8

A very pleasant surprise coming across this today ☺️ Thanks Martin and the rest of the SGL team - an unenviable judging task for sure. Such a wealth of excellent images, even picking a top 10 would be tough.

If you've not tweaked these settings before or just starting with a dedicated astrocam, I'd leave it at the Unity gain setting initially. When you're comfortable with its operation and calibration, you'll probably have some more head space to think about whether tweaking these settings will help further! 🙂

Hi Rich - When I had my ASI533, I used the Unity gain setting in the ASCOM driver - this set the gain (100) and offset. I then adjusted exposure for the scope/lens, conditions and filter. With a very fast scope/lens, reducing the gain can be an option = the ASCOM driver has three built in presets. This kept things simple but as with all things, you can experiment and tweak these values.

Fantastic again @Rustang I had to look up this NGC number as I didn't recognise it was part of an area of sky I'm used to seeing with a wider FOV. I really like this closer up shot too - both images look great.

I'm interested how you get on @Clarkey I have a StellaLyra RC6 and am fairly certain my collimation is far from perfect (a couple of images here - M51 and NGC 3718 - and on AstroBin will probably show a more experienced user the tell tale signs). Primarily I see odd shaped stars - almost triangular in nature, but when stacked, it's not so bad. I've mainly just eyeballed collimation with a Cheshire but I realise that's not the best way, especially given some of the excellent advice & guides that @davies07 has provided here and on another great thread about RC scopes. It probably sounds silly but I was having issues getting an accurate disc I could put into the opening (with focuser and tubes off) to align both mirrors... in the end I just put the focuser back on and used the Cheshire again 🙄 Mine is also solving for a FL that's off the manufacturer spec so need to look at that. Learning as I go, I've taken the pragmatic approach and have been happy to perform tasks on the bench, but am not comfortable sacrificing the rare clear UK skies if I have something that's "not awful" !

I think, with the image sizes presented, it's hard to tell apart from a slight colour difference - it's so well matched that the GIF works great. The L shot could look good too! It had me off to look at my own image of the area from late last year to see the "empty spot". 👍

There's a lot of really nice detail in there @Daniel Karl Given sky conditions and filter integration, the Ha is taking centre stage but you can start to see that OII just coming through - definitely one to add more too if you get a chance. As @symmetal says, there's a lot to enjoy for 80 minutes.

Very cool Adrian and the images & GIF look great. Nice one matching the images so closely. 😀 Sounds familiar.

That's superb @Jamgood Great data for 50mins in each panel and 6 panels with the 130 has produced some fantastic detail to enjoy at full resolution. To think this can only get better if you're adding more data, wow 👍 Time very well spent during these trickier nights!

Fantastic @Wiu-Wiu What a project at that FL with the Esprit 120! 👍 Great detail throughout.

I'm just wondering as I was pixel peeping this image, if the stars were masked? It looks like everything has had MT applied which can give the image a mottled texture. Left: new, right:old. You can see the difference in stars though - gone or much smaller! MT can be quite a subtle look, but like everything in PI, you can go to any extreme you want! I did quick version on a small section of the top image. You can go lighter.... or way stronger of course Contours star mask, MT, normal star mask, MT, little sharpening using normal star mask.

Nice one @Space Oddities If that method can make your life easier going forward it was time well spent. I thought the image above with the roof just in shot was stunning, if not for focus ( ) then for the scale of the shot you get with just a tiny bit of roof showing - felt like I had stuck my head out the window to look up at the sky.

There are so many ways to perform star reduction - sometimes different methods will suit certain images or goals better. @Budgie1 described a couple of methods above. Within MorphologicalTransformation I like the Morphological Selection Operator - this has a blend of erosion & dilation based on the Selection setting. Less than 0.5 will favour erosion. You can tweak the Amount and Iterations too. Obviously need to look at the Size element as well. MT should be used with a StarMask, but you can also use the contours element of the StarMask. Here's a good tutorial to start with: https://www.lightvortexastronomy.com/tutorial-reducing-star-sizes.html

Thanks David - that makes sense. Great use of platesolving even though you can't utilise GoTo - I think that was a missing piece of the puzzle in my head of using one of these types of mount. The other piece was that the DEC had to be moved manually (I clearly hadn't thought deeply enough about how to use these types of mount!) Thanks again for the info.

Nice one @scotty38 I like that first one with the mega star field and the veil just coming through, but the second is good too. Somewhere in between perhaps?

Great first light @david_taurus83 What a cracking FOV the full frame Canon gives with the RedCat. Good tip on the tilt adapter. Is the framing with a SGP a manual exercise? i guess I'm getting at reframing the same target another night or finding a particular frame you like. With the full frame you've got more options of course!

Excellent Adrian! So much detail across the whole image and just as enjoyable at full resolution. Good work on the star layer - natural, good blending and a great balance between the "fit to screen view" and the full res.

Thanks @astroexplorer. I think these were done with the filter wheel attached. Apologies, I say "think" because for a while i was using an OSC camera with the RedCat for RGB images and for narrow band I was just using a filter drawer between the Redcat and the 460EX. I'd just leave it recording Ha for a session or more. Then switch to OIII for example. Definitely the Leo triplet was with the wheel!