Hughsie

Really enjoyed the presentations, thank you for arranging this.

Mine took 4 weeks to arrive but glad we got there in the end. I do plan to use it for imaging with the Zwo ASI174mm and will also see what I can get details wise combined with a 2.5x powermate for that extra magnification.

Straight from Bresser in Germany, UPS delivered my new Lunt 60mm Ha scope and as soon as I finished work an hour ago I was outside to give it a run. Instructions were read, scope mounted on the SolarQuest, it circled around to the Sun, adjusts altitude and into view in the 25mm eyepiece comes a delightful red ball. Ok thinks me, let’s get somewhere near focus and adjust that pressure tuner. Slowly slowly I turn the tuner whilst looking for those details to pop into view. Turn a little bit more, then some more trying to eek out some activity. More turning and the tuner is getting tighter now. Mrs H pops into the garden watching me watching the Sun. Still I’m looking through the eyepiece grumbling to her that there must be something wrong as no detail is appearing and then she said it..... ”You do know it just clouded over don’t you”. And that my friends is when my wife became a solar observer and a damn better one than me!

Sol in Hydrogen Alpha Nice prominence on the North East limb of the Sun today. Captured 14 June 2020 09:07:37 BST using the best 25% of 500 frames. Seeing was slightly better than yesterday. Equipment: William Optics Z61 Daystar Quark H- alpha Chromosphere Filter ZWO ASI174mm camera SkyWatcher SolarQuest Mount SharpCap Pro Processed using imPPG and Affinity Photo. Thanks for checking in, John

AR2765 slowly moving out of view. 20 frames out of a total of 200 stacked in Autostakkert2 and processed in imPPG and Affinity Photo. Equipment: William Optics Z61, SkyWatcher SolarQuest mount, Quark Chromosphere, ZWO ASI174mm and captured using SharpCap Pro.

I have all my light frames for each lrgb channel saved in separate folders. See the website Light Vortex for an example of a good file system. Then use your Option A. Put them all in and align them to your best weighted lum image. Dont select an output folder, PixInsight we automatically return the aligned files back to the folders you stored the weighted images in. Hope that helps.

Wow, thank you Kev.

My rendition of Messier 13, The Great Hercules Cluster. One of the great globular clusters which can be seen in the northern hemisphere, this cluster is bright and easily visible with binoculars or a small telescope. This image was taken over five nights, 11th, 13th, 14th, 19th and 28th May 2020 using the following equipment; William Optics Z103 refractor. ZWO ASI1600mm Pro Cool camera. Sesto Senso robotic focuser. LRGB Chroma 1.25” filters. ZWO Electronic filter wheel. SkyWatcher EQ6R-Pro mount. Captured using Sequence Generator Pro and processed using PixInsight. Data; Luminance 217 x 60 seconds. Red 166 x 60 seconds, binned 2x2. Green 153 x 60 seconds, binned 2x2. Blue 173 x 60 seconds, binned 2x2. Total integration time 11.9 hours.

Nice to return to solar imaging, always nice to come back to the light side. The Sun, 25 May 2020 with prominence. Capture details An 500 frame video of the chromosphere was taken to reveal the surface detail of the Sun. The exposure settings were then increased to deliberately overexpose the surface and show the prominence and a second 500 frame video was obtained. Both videos were then stacked in Autostakkert 2 and integrated using the best 50 frames to create two separate image files. Processing details These two files were then processed with histogram, contrast adjustments and sharpening in PixInsight. The prominence image was then laid on top of the chromosphere and the position adjusted to match the arc of the Sun’s limb. A mask was then used and painted away in Affinity Photo to reveal the chromosphere beneath. Equipment Image acquired using; William Optics Z61 refractor. ZWO ASI174mm camera. Quark H-alpha filter. Sharpcap Skywatcher EQ6r-Pro mount. Light cloud was drifting in throughout the session and seeing was fair.

Should be ok now

Moving on from galaxies for a bit, I decided to explore the world of Globular Clusters and in particular Messier 3. Messier 3 is situated in the constellation Canes Venatici and as it is above 40 degrees above the horizon and rising, it made a good target over three relatively moonless nights from my back garden. Situated some 33,900 light years away, M3 is estimated to be 11 billion years old. Having decided to image M3 I really wanted to avoid a ‘crunchy’ image that sometimes occurs with globular clusters as well as show it in a warmer light rather than stark whites and blues. Hopefully you feel I have gone some way to achieving this. For those interested in the techy bit, read on..... Equipment used WilliamOptics Z103 refractor ZWO ASI 1600mm Pro Cool camera SkyWatcher EQ6R- Pro mount Sesto Senso motor focuser William Optics Flat 6AII reducer/flattener Chroma LRGB 1.25” filters Data captured Luminance 182 x 1 minute Luminance 31 x 5 minutes Red 31 x 2 minutes (Bin 2x2) Green 34 x 2 minutes (Bin 2x2) Blue 39 x 2 minutes (Bin 2x2) Total Integration Time 9.2 hours Dark Frames x 50 Dark Flats x 50 Flat Frames x 50 Software used PHD2 for guiding Sequence Generator Pro for image acquisition PixInsight for processing the image Processing Workflow post calibration of images Luminance 1 minute and 5 minute data Combine 1 minute and 5 minute data sets using HDRComposition to provide contrast and not over expose the core of M3. Noise reduction using MultiLinearTransformation Stretch data to produce a permanent image using MaskedStretch so as not to over expose the core. Lighten image using Curves Red, Green & Blue Channels (RGB) Combine R, G & B data sets to produce a single colour image using ChannelCombination Neutralise image to produce a flat background using BackgroundNeutralisation Balance the colour using ColourCalibration Reduce background noise using MultiLinearTransformation. Small stretch to the image using HistogramTransformation MaskedStretch to improve lightness without over exposing core. Increase colour saturation using Curves Calibrate colour again using ColourCalibration to produce a ‘warmer’ image. Combine Luminance with RGB using LRGBCombination Further noise reduction using TGVDenoise Tweaks of colour/brightness using Curves and appropriate masks. Subtle sharpening of image using UnsharpMask ..... and a beer or three! I hope you enjoy my rendition of M3 and feel free to share your thoughts and feedback. John

Just checked on Stellarium and it looks like this will be high enough to have a crack at it. I was mulling over want to image next and your rendition has inspired me!

Thats a really nice image you have there 👍. There is some great detail that may be brought out more if you tweak the contrast a little bit, bring out those darker shades.

I’m with you Francis, can’t see the fascination watching an ice cube in the night sky. Though I’m happy to watch them in a vodka, gin, rum, Bulmers cider, Pimms, mojito.....basically anything alcoholic 😊

Great image and really enjoy your website. Lots of new imaging ideas to chew over.

Worth a try. Will take a look at the weekend.

Hi Lee, The Ha turned the image a pinkish colour which looked unnatural to me but it did reveal the star forming areas. The bottom image contains Ha. If you zoom in you can see the pinkish blobs. The red didn’t reveal much. In the end I couldn’t decide between LHaRGB or LRGB. Mrs H preferred the latter and having looked at it again this morning I think she was right but......sssshhhhh....dont tell her that Thank you for your comments and I am glad the PI workflow was useful too. John

A galactic sunflower. My rendition of Messier 63, the Sunflower Galaxy located in the constellation of Canes Venatici. Lord Rosse identified the spiral structure to the galaxy, one of the first galaxies in which this structure was identified. It is considered a flocculent spiral as it does not have clearly defined arms but infra-red analysis shows that it is made up of two spiral arms dotted with regions of star formation and dust lanes. If you zoom into the galaxy you will see the dark dust lanes described above along with the red/pink areas within the spiral arms that highlight areas where stars are being born. This image was taken across three nights, 10th, 11th and 15th April with imaging taking place each night from 22.00 to 04.00 the following day. - Image 1 - LRGB cropped. - Image 2 - LRGB wide field. - Image 3 - Plate solved field of view revealing other galaxies listed in the Principal Galaxies Catalogue. - Image 4 - LHaRGB wide field (too pink for me). Equipment To capture the galaxy I used a William Optics Z103 refractor. This has an aperture of 103mm and focal length of 710mm but when combined with the 0.8x reducer/flattener the focal length reduces to 568mm. As a result I feel the above equipment gave too much of a wide field view whereas a larger aperture/focal length would have produced a larger image. For those of you interested in the process of taking the individual images and turning them into a single picture then please read on. Image Acquisition through Sequence Generator Pro Across each session I captured the following individual frames using a ZWO ASI1600mm Pro Cooled mono camera and an ZWO electronic filter wheel. The camera was set at a gain of 139 and offset of 21 then cooled down to -20 degrees centigrade to help reduce noise; Luminance 44 x 3 mins Hydrogen Alpha 52 x 5 mins Red 16 x 5 mins Green 17 x 5 mins Blue 17 x 5 mins Overall the final image represents 10.7 hours of exposure time but actually far more time was dedicated to this but I decided to bin the data I captured on 4 April 2020. All images were unbinned using 1.25” Chroma LRGB and Chroma Ha 3nm filters were used. It could well do with more colour. In addition, the following calibration frames were taken; Flats for each filter x 50 Dark Flats x 50 Dark frames (50) to match the Gain/Offset/Camera temperature and exposure (I have created a dedicated Dark library to so that I don’t have to take them after each imaging run). PixInsight processing The following processes were then applied to each individual filter set post calibration; -Each image cropped to remove edges and dark bands created after stacking. -Dynamic Background Extraction applied to remove remaining gradients and light pollution effects. - Deconvolution applied to the Luminance master to improve resolution. - Established which of the RGB masters is brightest and applied Linear Fit process to the R and B masters using G as a reference. - Colour Combination with R, G and B masters to produce a colour image. - Applied Photometric Colour Calibration to balance RGB channels and provide a neutral background. - Noise reduction applied to Luminance, Hydrogen Alpha and RGB masters. - Luminance, Hydrogen Alpha and RGB masters stretched to produce a permanent image. - Luminance master combined with RGB using LRGB Combination to bring in the detail to the RGB master. - Further noise reduction applied to LRGB master. - Hydrogen Alpha master combined using 50% Ha and 50% LRGB using the NBRGBCombination process. - Enhanced colour of stars using Curves/Colour Saturation with a range mask to protect the galaxy. This was then inverted to protect the background so that the colour of the galaxy could be enhanced. - Enhanced contrast to bring out the dust lanes in the galaxy using Dark Structure Enhance process. - Sharpening using Unsharp Mask. - Minor adjustments to curves and colour to adjust brightness and saturation levels. - Then a cup of well earned tea some 5 hours later (not including the calibration process)! I hope you have enjoyed the ’story’ and the Sunflower Galaxy. John

20” dob? Now that is up close and personal! The M51 is glorious and by far the largest rendition I have seen.

The second plate solved image shows that a lot of the pink areas correspond with galaxies in their own right though I imagine there are some areas of star birth in there too.

Cheers Jeremy. Now imagine what I could do if you would just lend me your new Takahashi (Tessa)for a few hours!

Thank you Geof, your comments are much appreciated.

My rendition of Messier 101 captured across the four nights of the 23rd, 24th, 25th & 26th March 2020. This image has been captured using the ZWO ASI1600mm Pro camera using the following Chroma filters; Red 61 x 120s binned 2x2 Green 77 x 120s binned 2x2 Blue 57 x 120s binned 2x2 Lum 33 x 180s & 55 x 300s binned 1x1 Ha 3nm 92 x 300s binned 1x1 Total integration time 20.4 hours. This image has been captured using the software Sequence Generator Pro and processed entirely in PixInsight. Thank you for checking in. John

Now that I like! Awesome moon shot don4l

Here is my rendition of Messier 81 (Bodes Galaxy), Messier 82 (Cigar Galaxy) and NGC3077 captured across the nights of the 1st, 2nd and 12 March. The image was taken using my William Optics Z103 refractor, ZWO ASI1600mmPro camera and is made up of 5 separate master images capturing the Luminance, Red, Green and Blue channels as well as emissions in Hydrogen Alpha. Overall this image represents 6.7 hours of exposure time. Equipment; William Optics Z103 APO Refractor ZWO ASI1600mm Pro Cool camera ZWO Filter Wheel Sesto Senso Focuser Pegasus Astro Ultimate Powerbox V2 Skywatcher HEQ6R Pro mount William Optics 50mm Guidescope ZWO ASI290mm mini Guide Camera Filters used; Chroma LRGB Chroma Ha 3nm Software; Captured using Sequence Generator Pro Processed using PixInsight Data; L 19 x 120s & 98 x 60s Bin 1x1 R 10 x 60s Bin 2x2 G 10 x 60s Bin 2x2 B 15 x 60s Bin 2x2 Ha 46 x 300s Bin 1x1 Gain/Offset 139/21 Camera Sensor Temperature set at -20 degrees centigrade. Calibration Frames 50 Dark frames for each exposure/bin setting 50 Flat frames for each filter/night session 50 Dark flats for each filter/night session I had some issues here with artefacts and also as this was my first attempt at combining LHaRGB the calibration of the lights with flats, darks and dark flats was a challenge. Warren A. Keller, author of Inside PixInsight was very helpful in an earlier question I put out to the PixInsight for Beginners Group on FaceBook and cleared up my confusion over calibration. Ron Brecher presentation on The Astro Imaging Channel on YouTube helped with a dust mote that wasn’t entirely cleared by my master flat (Pixel Math section “if the pixels are this, do this, or do nothing”). Using this method helped me to slightly raise the brightness of pixels in the offending area leaving the rest of the image untouched. The artefact? Well, as hard as I tried I couldn’t remove a lightish smudge to the left of Messier 81. I checked on the Astrobin website at other Messier 81 images and thought, “Hmmm, I’m gonna plate solve this before I go any further”. Turned out it was the galaxy PGC28757! So, no adjustment was necessary. This was very much a challenging project using five filters and the additional complication of imaging across multiple nights though it was well worth the moving slightly up that steep learning curve. Thanks for checking in. John