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Buzzard75

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Buzzard75 last won the day on June 27 2022

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  1. Haven't been around in while. It's actually been over a year and a half since I've done any imaging at all. Life has been pretty hectic and my weather windows have been limited. The two were very rarely in agreement. This past weekend I had the fortune of being able to image two nights in a row. I was kind of surprised that everything went as smoothly as it did. I figured I'd have some bugs to work out, but not too many. Only issue I had was the meridian flip. It didn't execute either night. Fortunately I was smart enough to set an alarm to check it. This is the resulting HaLRGB image of The Horsehead and Flame region in Orion. ZWO ASI183MM Pro William Optics Redcat 51 iOptron CEM40EC Chroma 31mm 3nm Ha and LRGB filters Ha 48x300s L 53x180s R 17x180s G 17x180s B 15x180s 9.1 hours total exposure Captured with APT, processed in Pixinsight and Photoshop
  2. Mine is a v1. I was one of the original Kickstarter backers as well as a beta tester. I talked about it in the thread I shared, but I ended up sending my original unit back after about a year and a half because I was having some tracking issues. They sent me back a new unit and I haven't had any issues since. Their build quality has definitely improved from those beta units. I would expect the build quality of their v2 units to be as good as my current unit if not better. The v2 has a wider field of view, higher resolution and better pixel scale due to the larger sensor and smaller pixels. Their processing algorithm is likely the same so I can't speak to how much quicker an image is obtained. I also can't speak for the noise or sensitivity comparison between the two, but I would hope the IMX347 would be an improvement over the IMX224. Otherwise, what's the point of changing out the sensor? All that being said, I like mine and I'm sure the v2 is better in every way. I just wouldn't spend the kind of money they're asking for on one knowing what else I could buy with it. The current price point is beyond what they originally quoted, but everyone sees value in things differently. You ultimately have to ask, what is that compactness and convenience worth to you in terms of money and reduced image quality when compared to a dedicated astrophotography rig?
  3. It's really going to depend on the object and how bright it is, brighter ones obviously requiring less time. I will typically stay on any given object for a minimum of five minutes to get an acceptable image. Brighter objects like globular clusters can probably be done in shorter time. When working star parties, it's not uncommon for me to be on the same object for at least 10 minutes as we tend to have long lines with hundreds of people. The people who come around and look at the object later will certainly have the better view than the one who looks at it after 30 seconds. While I'm sure there are gains to be had beyond 10 minutes, I feel you start to get into diminishing returns and the image doesn't really improve that much. So ballpark for me is 5-10 minutes.
  4. Andromeda not so much because it is massive and the field of view on these things is fairly narrow (34x47 arcmin). An object like Andromeda fills the sensor with the core and it has a hard time discerning what is background and what is galaxy so the processing algorithm has difficulty. Over a significant amount of time (10min+) you may be able to pick out the dust lanes, it just won't be as impressive as you would hope or expect. Now a nebula or a smaller galaxy, for sure. It can be pretty impressive and you definitely get a lot of 'wow', 'whoa', and 'omg' moments. Planetary nebulae are especially good with the various vivid colors. Show someone another galaxy that is tens of millions of light-years away and it can blow their mind.
  5. I have one of the original eVscopes. It does have an eyepiece as has been mentioned. The eQuinox does not have an eyepiece. The new one has a different camera sensor and an upgraded Nikon eyepiece. All of them require the use of a phone or tablet to use. I have not looked through a new one yet to compare the quality of the image. I had posted an initial impressions in the review below and have made a few other posts since then. I don't use it as much as I probably should, but it is certainly great for public outreach. What isn't so great is the current asking price. It is extremely expensive for what it is in my opinion. Had I not gotten such a great deal through the Kickstarter project on the original, I honestly probably never would have bought one. As great of a company as they are with excellent customer service and a wonderful product, it pains me to say that I certainly wouldn't pay the price they're asking for one today. It is currently way overpriced, again, just my opinion. You can get a a much more capable system for a similar price and the end result will be much better quality. Were these going for their original quoted price point of $2000-2500, it would probably be a different story. But at double the price, the compactness of the form factor and convenience wouldn't worth it for me.
  6. It's been a while since I have been able to get out and do some imaging. M8 and M20 have been on my list for a very long time, almost since I got started in this hobby over four years ago. My skills have definitely come a long way in that time. I decided to try a bit of an experiment and combine some narrowband data with broadband. I've done Ha combined with red before, but I'd never done OIII combined with green or blue. The process is obviously similar, but the Pixel Math variables in Pixinsight are slightly different. The humidity was extremely high that night and the seeing was poor. I'm still happy with the overall result. ASI183MM Pro William Optics Redcat ASI290MM and ASI Mini guide scope iOptron CEM40EC Chroma LRGB, Ha (3nm), OIII (3nm) filters Bortle 3-4 skies Luminance, 85x60s Red, 15x180s Green, 14x180s Blue, 13x180s Ha, 14x300s OIII, 13x300s Total integration time: 5hrs 46mins
  7. I had to replace mine this past summer on my B1200. It's easy to do as has already been said and yes, I did have to pay for it. I paid more for shipping than I did for the actual item. More than twice as much in fact. I live in the US so turnaround time for me was relatively quick. I ordered on a Friday, it shipped on a Monday and I think I had it by Wednesday or Thursday. Transit time to Ireland will probably be a bit longer and probably more expensive. At least it's an easy fix and they have parts on hand as they know it goes bad over time. I have to wonder though, what exactly causes it?
  8. IC443 is The Jellyfish Nebula in the constellation Gemini. It can be found near the star Propus (right), which makes up part of the left foot (our right) of the twin Castor. The star on the left of the image is Tejat Posterior. The other emission nebula in the image on the left is Sh2-249. There is also a reflection nebula in this image, IC444, but does not show up well with narrowband filters as well as part of the open cluster Collinder 89. This image was a late season target and I only gathered about five hours of data in just two nights this past weekend. It is transiting the meridian earlier and earlier and I lose it behind a tree in my front yard a couple hours later. Still, for just under five hours of data it's not a bad image. ASI183MM Pro, Gain 111, offset 10, temp -10C William Optics Redcat 51 Chroma 3nm Ha and OIII 31mm filters iOptron CEM40EC ZWO Mini guide scope and ASI290MM mini for guiding 28x300s Ha, 31x300s OIII HOO (PixelMath RGB channel combination Ha, .45*Ha+.55*OIII, OIII) Bortle 5-6 skies Captured in APT, processed in Pixinsight and Photoshop
  9. And one image to show the full path. The larger gaps in the path are where I dithered. Probably unnecessary for something like this, but I was too lazy to go in and change the settings.
  10. Video of Asteroid (7482) 1994 PC1 captured last night (Jan. 18, 2022) during the close flyby of earth. It is approximately 1.1 kilometers in diameter and has an orbital period of 1.56 years. Asteroid (7482) 1994 PC1 is classified as a near-Earth object (NEO) as it does cross the orbit of the Earth with a perihelion of only 0.9042AU. At the time of the video, the asteroid was moving at approximately 3775mph relative to Earth. The video is a series of 10 second exposures with a luminance filter captured over the course of just under one hour. A monochrome camera was used so in order to add a little color to the stars I captured several images of the same region with RGB filters after the asteroid had passed and then following the normal process for stacking and combining of images with the luminance animation layered over the RGB image. Enjoy! William Optics Redcat51 ASI183MM Pro iOptron CEM40EC Chroma 31mm LRGB filters Captured in APT, processed in Pixinsight and Photoshop
  11. The retailer asked for my email and shipping address because Celestron wanted to reach out to me personally. I haven't heard anything from them yet though. I'm sure it will get fixed one way or the other. Just have to play the waiting (even longer) game.
  12. You have to love when you get a new piece of equipment. You get all excited because you got that one piece to finally complete your setup to push your skills to the next level. Then you open the box and find it broken or damaged. I received a Celestron OAG today from a reputable retailer here in the US. I do not blame them at all as the unit was new in a sealed box. There's no way they could have known. But when I pulled out the OAG to inspect it, I found the prism to be loose. Not loose as in relative movement, loose as in not installed at all. Just laying inside the plastic the unit was wrapped in. Not only was it loose, but it was chipped. It is entirely possible the chips occurred during transport, but still. It's painful and heartbreaking to get something as expensive as this is from a reputable retailer and a reputable brand. I have already contacted the retailer to see what I need to do to get a replacement. I'm worried though because I have found a couple other instances of this particular model and the prism falling off. Makes me worried to use it in my telescope. It would be captured between a flattener and a filter, so it wouldn't damage my camera or my telescope, but still. It's something that just shouldn't happen at all.
  13. I didn't realize there was a competition going on for Orion before I posted a thread in the Imaging section. I live in the US so I will completely understand if that disqualifies me due to shipping of physical awards, but I guess there's always the badge to try for. Thanks for looking and good luck to everyone! ZWO ASI183MM Pro William Optics Redcat 51 ZWO ASI290MM guide camera ZWO Mini guide scope iOptron CEM40EC Chroma Ha(3nm) and LRGB 31mm filters Ha 42x30s, 39x300s L 21x15s, 22x90s R 20x15s, 21x30s, 20x60s G 21x15s, 21x30s, 18x60s B 21x15s, 21x30s, 20x60s Just shy of 6hrs total integration (5hr59m15s to be exact) Captured with APT Processed in Pixinsight and Photoshop Data captured Jan. 7, 2022 and processed Jan. 8-9.
  14. Thank you kindly! I know colors and saturation are a personal preference. Mine is always to try and keep it as natural as possible.
  15. Is everyone M42'd out yet? I'm just now getting around to it due to weather and other personal conflicts. In reality, it's actually been a couple of years since I've imaged it. This image has been a long time coming for me. Orion was the first object I ever attempted to image. I used a cellphone through the eyepiece of my 12" Orion dob. The image was honestly terrible (it is actually the one set as my profile picture), but I was still amazed at what I was able to see using my phone that my eye could not. There was actually color and a bit more detail. That's when my astrophotography journey started. I imaged Orion a few more times since then, but I never really did it justice. Over the last couple of years though, I have not only slightly improved my equipment, but I have significantly improved my capture and processing techniques. I spent 6-7 hours capturing data and at least another 24-36 hours processing all of that data. While the object is bright, it is a difficult one to process to bring out the fine details of the nebula and surrounding gas and dust and still not blow out the core too much. It was one of the most difficult images I have worked on to date. I can't say I'll never image Orion again, but I can finally mark it off my list having given it the attention that it deserves. Enjoy! ZWO ASI183MM Pro William Optics Redcat 51 ZWO ASI290MM guide camera ZWO Mini guide scope iOptron CEM40EC Chroma Ha(3nm) and LRGB 31mm filters Ha 42x30s, 39x300s L 21x15s, 22x90s R 20x15s, 21x30s, 20x60s G 21x15s, 21x30s, 18x60s B 21x15s, 21x30s, 20x60s Just shy of 6hrs total integration (5hr59m15s to be exact) Captured with APT Processed in Pixinsight and Photoshop
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