Z3roCool

1 hour ago, geeklee said:

Lovely @Z3roCool A real treat to browse around the image. 

Thanks for your kind comment

Hi there, another attempt at my Heart Nebula data in Narrowband. Think I need a lot more data in OIII & SII as seem very week (In know it gets swamped by Ha but almost no data in an hour and a half of subs).

Anyway. this is taken with my an ASI 1600 MM Pro and Canon 400mm camera lens.

Ha - 1.5 hours

OIII - 1 Hour

SII - 1 Hour

Any feedback much welcomed  

Thanks for looking.

First go at Narrowband and first go from my backgarden in Bortle 6. Tried processing in Photoshop, will hopefully get PixInsight soon (Loved it when I trialed it!). A lot wrong with this but as a first effort I am fairly happy

Equipment - ASI 1600 MM Pro, Canon 400mm Lens

Ha - 30 x 5min

OIII - 36 x 5min

SII - 36 x 5min

Need to try and work out how to process the large stars (Mu and Eta) but think the effect is due to the ASI 1600, sure I can work them better though.

Cheers,

Tommy.

15 hours ago, jimjam11 said:

Bike shops?????

At a time of global crisis what I really must do is go bike shopping...

There are a lot of people I know who have not got cars and they have signed up for the NHS help and will be delivering pharmacy items to people who cannot get out. Guess it is for buying bikes and servicing?

Hi there, just wondered if a plan I have is worth doing? I currently have a 1600MM Pro that I use with my 400mm camera lens. I live in Bortle 6 sky and RGB is terrible (and have read bad things using 2 filters - RGB with LP) NB is brilliant but would like to try and get some more natural images. 

My thought was to get a 294MC camera to shoot colour with an LP filter in an adapter then shoot a load of Ha to add to image as a detail layer. Maybe even bin the colour 2x2. The camera is similar FOV so should work okay. 
 

Does that make sense or am I being daft? Just wanted to Sanity check the idea. 
 

Tom. 

20 hours ago, symmetal said:

I would have expected better from a Canon 'L' zoom from what yours shows. I have a Canon 100-400 L zoom and it has noticeable coma too but not as bad as yours. I've not had much luck using lenses for astro. Even my Samyang 14mm which is widely regarded as giving good astro images has bad coma like aberration over the whole frame, even when stopped down. The only lens I have which doesn't show noticeable coma is a Canon 40mm 'pancake' lens. 

Alan

I think I will be looking to get my first scope at some point! Just need to save up and then get by the other half  I love the Canon lens nicknames!

6 hours ago, symmetal said:

This is a problem primarily with coma caused by the lens itself, and is visible in varying degrees when using normal photographic lenses for astrophotography. The lenses were not designed with astrophotography in mind and controlling the coma of point light sources off axis is not a high priority, particularly in lower cost lenses. Zoom lenses, having more elements than prime lenses are more likely to show more coma too. The lenses not being perfectly centred on the optical axis can also cause this effect so two lenses of the same type may exhibit different coma characteristics depending on how well they were aligned in manufacture. This is probably why your image shows it worse at the top.

There are a number of lenses mentioned in various topics here that are noted as having very good coma characteristics, though some people have had to send the lens back to have it swapped for another, to find one that is good.

The only way to reduce the lens coma shown is to reduce the lens aperture, by stopping the lens down by a stop or two. This reduces the maximum angle of off axis light rays. This does mean longer exposures to compensate so is not always a practical solution.

Alan

Thanks Alan, that makes good sense! Had not thought about stopping the lens down a bit. Will give that a go next time I am out. 

My 400mm L is not too bad but the 70-200 2.8 L (Image above) is awful. 

Thanks for the detailed feedback

Tommy.

Hi all, I wonder if you could give me some of your knowledge and possible reasons for my stars being bad. What I am trying to work out is why are my stars in the corners out of focus and badly shaped.

This is an image I took tonight. I am using an ASI 1600MM and 1.25" Ha filter (ZWO). I am using an adapter connected to a Canon 70-200 IS camera lens. 

The focus is not perfect but in the top left of the image it is very bad and stars are not pinpoint (Not many are!) Is the problem with the camera lens or the filters, or is it not possible to know? I also use a 400mm lens and the problem is also there but less obvious. Stars however still seem to have a flare off to one side.

Thanks for any input.

Tom.

2 minutes ago, fwm891 said:

Problem there is that you have to re-collimate both ways when you add/remove the secondary assembly.

How long does it take to collimate, on average if you have done  a few times? I have never had to do yet. Presume it depends on scope and a number of other factors?

A C9.25 Edge HD would be great as recommended above. That with a sturdy EQ Mount. Then for Wider Field with the same scope, could get HyperStar. Best of both worlds? Couple of good cameras - I would be in heaven!

13 hours ago, Ken Mitchell said:

Definitely worth it yes. You can also wait until May when the comet is at its brightest.

Ken

Gave it a go last night. Was just happy to find it! Only took a few minutes data in LRGB as not much time. Can just about make it out I think?

Will for sure have a go later in the year when brighter and also have more time to get data on it. Will have to work out how to do the processing for the stars and comet separately.

Wow, that is brilliant. Going to have a go at this.

I live in a pretty LP area. Normally shoot NB. Have got LRGB filters, do you think it will be worth it with a 1600MM and 400 camera lens?

It looks to be a linking issue from the Front End (Website) to Amazon's data. Hopefully if they contact him to go through they can sort.

 Yep! Had that moment a few times. Got my ASI 1600 a few months ago and eagerly set it up and balanced against a pillow so it could point out my window. This was in the day and just a test with a Canon adapter for my 400mm lens. Nothing on the screen after I powered it up and connected. Tried the gain etc but still nothing. Not used a dedicated camera before so was 100% I was missing something in the settings. After about 20mins of thinking I had a dud, I realised my 4 year old had put the lens cap on (I had taught him at a young age that he must always put this on if he ever sees it off when not being used!) 

Looks like my only 2 images are gone also. Not a bad thing! 

Feel really bad for this guy...I work in I.T and backups are a massive thing that is sadly overlooked by many. Site looks good but guessing a database in the background has died, or even worse hardware failure. If the disks have gone and no backups then data will probably be gone. If just a database failure then could stand a possibility of getting data back. The fact you can upload still and it works sounds like a database problem so keeping fingers crossed.

This is a work in progress. A quick edit in PS before I get PI. Star alignment out as done manually. Really happy with what I have got from my new ASI1600MM for a first time out.

Canon 400mm 5.6

Ha = 2hrs

OIII = <2hrs

I have had my guide and main scope (400mm Lens) both aligned and not aligned. Not noticed any difference. As long as PA is good to begin with everything else should be good. I never used Star Alignment as takes forever and it is never near. What I do use is Plate Solving. For imaging I find this brilliant as once PA'ed I can get onto target within 2 minutes and start imaging. Well worth spending the time setting up within software (APT or SGP does it).

On a side note, as said above, Sharpcap is brilliant and cheap!

I found that with a DSLR the temp would change so much that the darks would not match and therefore not help. Once I stared Dithering, I found this helped a lot more than darks. With. Cooled camera darks help a lot more as temp is constant and darks can be matched a lot easier. 

Would love to be doing this. My dream is to have an obsy I can setup in and just leave everything as is between sessions

Good luck

Always had to go to my Dads to image as using stock DSLR. Recently picked up an ASI 1600 MM Pro and got first light last night from my light polluted back garden. Still learning a lot as I go but so pleased with first result with dedicated camera. This is 5x5min subs with using a Canon 400mm lens, some Flats (Moved the focus by accident when doing!) and some darks. Only had time to use the Ha filter (25mins). I think Ha subs tend to be a bit noisier than other filters?

Thanks for info. Will take a look at those options

Hi there, I have got APT up and running with Plate Solving and works great. My problem is that there does not seem to be a great catalog of images to Plate Solve from. I tried to 'GoTo' The Heart Nebula but not in the list. Had to find an image online and 'Solve' and then 'GoTo'. Is there a way to add more targets in or is it a matter of adding them yourself under the custom option?

Any advice is much appreciated,

Tom.

25 minutes ago, tooth_dr said:

Hi Tom, thanks!

Into the camera screws a male M42 - male M42 adapter than can hold a 1.25" filter cell.  I then use a female M42 - female M42 adapter to attach this to a M42 male to Nikon lens adapter.  Hope that makes sense.

I think so!  Will give it a go.

Very nice indeed!

Can I ask where you put the filter? I have an ASI 1600 MM but using a filter wheel. I could use an Ha filter but trying to see if I can use LRGB on the filter wheel with a LP filter also. If I can install in an adapter for the CCD-->Camera Lens (I have one but not sure I can use a filter in it (It is a ZWO Canon EOS adapter). I also wonder if using 2 filters would cause problems also? Maybe easier just using the NB filter and keep mono.

Cheers,

Tom.

Was driving my gran back home after a family get together and noticed the lovely sunset. Decided to go down to the beach and see if I could catch the Moon and Venus's reflection. Taken on my phone so resolution is not great.

Tommy.