Gerr

31 minutes ago, DaveS said:

At the moment I'm fighting stupidly bad flat calibration, and running out of ideas. You'd think that with the kit in my sig it would be easy, but it's been anything but.

Your kit is unfamiliar to me (and looks complicated!!!) 😂

Gerr.

2 hours ago, Tommohawk said:

Great image!

I've imaged around Ursa Major quite a bit but somehow never picked up on this. Yet another one to put on the list!

When I first started astrophotography ( in 2019 - the year I got my first proper mount and modded camera) I never thought there would be so many wonderful targets to capture!  This list just keeps growing and keeping me hooked. 

What a fantastic hobby we share!!

Gerr.

46 minutes ago, DaveS said:

Those tidal tails around NGC 3718 are *very* faint, need a lot of data from dark skies. I've been fighting 13 hours or so of data from a SQI 21.66 (Est) location and it' proving to be a real fight.

I struggle to get long integration times (3.5 hrs is my max so far!!!) but multiple sessions on same target will help me there. Only so much seeing quality from terra firma!!

Gerr.

4 minutes ago, DaveS said:

Pretty good for just 2 hours, NGC 3718 is a real swine to image. BTW that little group of 5 galaxies to the right is Hickson 56, at 425 MLY!

Aha - I did wander about those ones.

I do think I’m lucky getting ‘decentish’ images  with my short integration times and ‘basic’ DSLR camera as this hobby can become very expensive very quickly!! I’m still finding the limits with my equipment and processing techniques  before I splash the cash!!!

Thanks,

Gerr.

These two galaxies in Ursa Major are of lenticular and barred spiral design approximately 52million light years from earth.

I like the warped s-shape of NGC3718 in particular - pretty unusual.

Images were obtained in two hours of integration time (120x60 secs at ISO800).

Canon 650D. SW200P. Optolong L-Pro filter. 

DSS and Photoshop.

Gerr.

AKA - The Sombrero Galaxy (M104).

The Sombrero lies at the southern edge of the rich Virgo cluster of galaxies and is one of the most massive objects in that group, equivalent to 800 billion suns. The galaxy is 50,000 light-years across and is located 28 million light-years from Earth.

First attempt at this one and with it being low in the southern sky a bit of a challenge!!

However, it rose briefly above my neighbours wall for a couple of hours and my scope was quickly put into action.

Moon was waning crescent but it was a bit gusty which effected my guiding (0.6 - 0.7 rms error) resulting in a few bad frames (>30%).

I did achieve 44 minutes of useable subs

Lights: 88x30secs ISO800.  Canon 650D (modded). Optolong L-Pro Filter. SW200P on HEQ5 mount.

DSS and Photoshopped.

Hope you like.

Gerr.

That's a good capture for such short individual exposure times. I'm surprised at the level of detail you've managed to get. This one is on my to do list but opportunity is fast fading!!

Thumbs up from me

Fellow Canon DSLR user (650D).

Gerr.

Imaged here are a few galaxies which form the end of Markarian’s Chain (including the 'Eyes') in the Virgo Constellation.

A nice concentration of fuzzies of many designs. Small in size but all together they make a great sight (how many can you see?).

I managed this with the 8" reflector, a DSLR (Canon 650) and good guiding on a HEQ5 mount.

Lights: 49x240secs (3hrs 16mins) at ISO800 and usual Bias / Flats / Dithered frames using APT & PHD2.

Stacked in DSS and processed in Photoshop.

Hope you like.

Gerr.

I've done some more smart sharpening to Plato crater and the Frigid Sea image which I hope you agree has improved it's details without noise becoming too apparent.

Gerr.

Bit more tweaking to the zoomed image:

1 hour ago, wouterdhoye said:

Lovely images. I believe there is more potential though. Have you tried performing a Lucy-Richardson deconvolution sharpening on it. Can do wonders. 
 

Wouter. 

Hi Wouter,

I only did unsharp and smart sharpen in photoshop. Not tried deconvolution sharpening as you suggested. Is this available on a specific program or a specific process? Happy to try it out.

Thanks,

Gerr.

Messier 94 (M94), also known as Cat’s Eye Galaxy or Croc’s Eye Galaxy, is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation of the hunting dogs - Canes Venatici. The Cat’s Eye Galaxy has an apparent magnitude of 8.99 and lies at a distance of 16 million light years from Earth. It has the designation NGC 4736 in the New General Catalogue.

A difficult target for my 8" reflector but the seeing conditions were good (waxing crescent moon) so an attempt was made!

Canon 650D   Optolong L-Pro filter

Lights 44x120secs (1hr 28mins)  ISO800

CC's welcome.

Gerr.

Original and cropped images:

Correction.

Camera used was ZWO ASI462 !!!!

43 minutes ago, Ouroboros said:

Owl and Surfboard.  Sounds like a pub.  
 

Neat image. Did you use a field flattened? There doesn’t appear to be any coma. 

Hi,

Yes, I used a field flattener and I do hope to see a pub soon too!!!!

Guiding was good (no wind), RMS error was less than 0.3 and mirror collimation was done prior to session.

Not many subs lost.

Thanks,

Gerr.

My second foray into Lunar imaging (first was with ZWO 120mm mini - my guide camera). 

I enjoy targeting the craters and smooth plains of the moon surface even if I don't know their names yet!!

The following images were taken with SW200P reflector and Barlowx3.

ZWO ASICAP software for video capture (couldn't get Firecapture v2.6 to work).

Avistack 2 was used for stacking and processing (approx. best 30 - 40% of frames which ranged from 75 to 100 frames for final images).

I found it did a better job than Autostakkert.

Then Photoshop CS2 for final levels and sharpening (superior to Registax wavelets in my case).

Moon was waxing gibbous (April 22nd) and viewing conditions were mediocre (focusing was through 'Lucky Imaging').

Had to balance image noise with sharpening so images may appear 'undercooked'!!!!

CC's welcome.

Gerr.

These two small Messier targets in Ursa Major (M97 & M108) were captured mid April with my SW200P and Canon 650D camera with Optolong L-Pro filter.

Nice to get a galaxy and nebula in one image (plus a fuzzy or two in the bottom of the frame).

Lights: 114x120secs (3hrs 50mins). ISO800.

CC's welcome.

Gerr.

The Black Eye Galaxy (also called Evil Eye Galaxy and designated Messier 64 or NGC 4826) is a spiral galaxy 17 million light-years away in the constellation of Coma Berenices. It was discovered by Edward Pigott in March 1779, and independently by Johann Elert Bode in April of the same year, as well as by Charles Messier the next year. A dark band of absorbing dust partially in front of its bright nucleus gave rise to its nicknames of the "Black Eye" or "Evil Eye" galaxy.

This was taken from my Bortle class 6 garden under a waxing crescent moon. Wind and clouds were virtually absent.

SW200P Reflector      Canon 650D      Heq5 Pro Mount     Optolong L-Pro filter

Lights: 68x180secs (ISO 800)   20x Flats and Bias Frames  Dithered instead of Darks

Stacked in DSS and processed in Photoshop CS2.

Not an easy target for my set-up but why not have a go anyway is one of my motto's!!!

Hope u like.

Gerr.

Original and zoomed images:

Hi Wouter,

Thanks for the reply. I have had a look at the Asi462 and think that may be the one to consider. It comes with a 150deg all sky lens too (Milky Way shots???). 
It is colour version only but should be fine as I would convert to monochrome in Photoshop anyway. Maybe nice for Jupiter if I manage to see it well this year?

Gerr.

Hi All,

I would like to do some lunar imaging this season and would like some advice on a good camera to do this.

I have done some Lunar imaging with my guide camera (Zwo 120mm mini) and a DSLR (Canon 650D) with some success (see image below - Zwo).

My scopes and equipment are in my signature below.

Any recommendations?

Gerr.

Great image. Excellent detail and lots of dusty stuff. I like the other fuzzies you captured as well. Nicely processed (I de-noised way too much on my last attempt but yours is nicely balanced). I myself am looking at RC6 as next scope perhaps. Keep the images coming to persuade me more!!!

Gerr.

Bigger aperture telescope with longer focal length (hope f number stays low). Better camera (dedicated astro CCD - can crop to smaller targets without losing too much detail). Better guide camera to deal with longer focal length telescope. Better mount to handle the increased payload. Lots of moonless, cloudless, windless skies and a very big wallet to pay for it all!!!! 

If I was to upgrade to achieve better imaging smaller DSO's then I would consider:

SW250PDS reflector telescope. EQ6-R Mount (belt driven). ASI2600MC camera (or ASI1600 at least). But up to you on OSC or Mono(+filter) cameras.

Can't think of a guide camera (can anyone else suggest one for the above).

Consider RORO Observatory??

That's off the top of my head for the main components.

Gerr.

Last night I had a go at this face-on spiral galaxy in Ursa Major (being only 21million light years away!!!).

My second attempt and with no wind, virtually no moon and no clouds either things were looking good for me.

I am still trying to avoid spending loads on new equipment and so my old faithful Canon 650D and 10 year old SW200P reflector were employed for the job (like they usually are). My mount is pretty decent though (HEQ5 Pro) and I managed excellent guiding achieving 0.29 RMS error only. Even so I still had to discard nearly a third of my lights due to stars refusing to stay round!! Probably due to mount payload being maxed out with a big scope and extras.

Method: 68 Lights (150 secs at ISO800), 2hrs 50mins total.  Optolong L-Pro filter. Bias and Flat frames (20 of each).

Stacked in DSS and processed in Photoshop CS2 (I don't use anything else as it usually involves more cash).

Hope you like?

Gerr.

Results (original and cropped images):

Not sure on your rhetoric but it’s the image that counts and I like it. Nicely detailed and dusty galactic arms bisecting the central bright galactic core. A small object that you’ve captured well with pin point stars too. Your guiding must of been good. Impressive image. Well done.

Gerr.

Your M51 looks great. Nice and sharp details in the spiral arms with lovely colour. Nice bit of dusty stuff too.

Your stars appear to have dual colours. Not sure what the cause of this is?

Gerr.

Thanks for the comments.

Regards to denoising - not sure?

Image was obtained using a sub £200 camera with a £100 telescope.

My mount was expensive at £900!!!

My imaging software was free - DSS and CD-ROM photoshop CS2.

I'm pretty happy!

Gerrr.