Synchronicity

I'm looking at mounting my DSLR on top of the scope and wondered what the plate I've arrowed is for. Can it be used to mount a bracket? I'm wary of just taking the screws out to see what happens - invariably what happens when I dismantle something I don't understand is something goes 'ping' and flies across the room, never to be found again!🤔 Thanks Michael

That's what I get for not reading the thread properly 😳 Where's the D'oh smiley face😁😁

For setting the weight bar vertical I first set it horizontal using a spirit level, adjust the setting ring (don't know the proper name) to zero, then rotate the bar 90 degrees. Simple but accurate. Michael

I'd been swithering about buying this book after reading the thread but couldn't decide. I downloaded a few videos about processing to get me started and the first one showed someone using several of the PI tools, saying what he was doing and seemed to be getting results. The second video had the guy using the same tool but he took 30-45 seconds to explain what the tool was changing and what the settings meant. That's when I decided I needed the book! Having started working through the book I'm amazed at how much detail there is and how well everything is explained. In the reference guide each process has a short description, When to use... and details of the parameters and what they do. It might take a while but I think that knowing exactly what changes to expect from each process will be key to getting the best out of each image. All the best Michael

So far I have 2 nights worth data and plan to add more. I need to stack each night seperately as the imaging train was dismantled between them so different flats need applied. What is the best way to combine the stacked images and am I best to combine right after stacking or should the I process each individually first? Thanks as ever...Michael

It seems a cheek to continue a blog about being a beginner 2 1/2 years after the last post but in many ways I still am. Family health issues have meant that I got out with my equipment irregularly so spent most of my time trying to get set up. I would collect an hour or so of data but rarely enough to encourage me to do anything with it. This year I decided to use what I have learned, solve my issues, and do a ‘reboot’. Equipment. I’ve bought a QHY10 OSC cooled camera and spent time getting the spacing right so that I can assemble, connect and go. I’ve also bought a used Skywatcher NEQ6 Pro GoTo mount which is much more solid and capable than my EQ5. I need to strip down, clean and adjust the EQ5 and I plan to keep it for travelling. I also have my Esprit 80ED with flattener and a Starshoot Autoguider camera on a small guide scope. Set up. I’ve assembled my setup in the house and found good safe routes for all the cables, looming them where I can. I’m planning to mount my USB hub on the body of the NEQ6 to cut down the cabling even more. Setting up for the night. The biggest timewaster I’ve had since starting is between assembling everything and getting the first usable shot. I have tackled that systematically and, though my process needs refinement it works consistently. The best advice to give a newcomer is take your time getting set up. I always rushed so I wasn’t wasting good shooting time but inevitably got poorer results. Polar Alignment. I’ve taken photos of where the tripod feet go so I can set it up in the same place each night. I have a small digital level which I use to ensure the top plate is level and that the angle is adjusted to my latitude. Being roughly there I start SharpCap, connect the guide camera and start the polar alignment tool. If you are within 5 degrees this will give a quick and accurate polar alignment. Camera Focus The guide camera is permanently mounted to the guide scope and the focus is locked tight so I check that occasionally or if there seems to be an issue. For focusing the Esprit, I start by setting the focuser to the previously recorded position. The imaging train doesn’t change between sessions, so this is close enough that I know I’ll get a usable image to start with. I use the QHY software EZCAP and set it on live view with high gain and 5-10 seconds exposure. Switch to the Focus tool, find a reasonable sized star and make the fine adjustments. The computer is inside in the warm, so I use the Google Remote Desktop app on my phone so I can see the screen in real time as I make the adjustments – this is a great timesaver! This all takes about 30 minutes but if I can start as the light is fading, I am set up and ready to go well before it’s properly dark. Imaging I’m using PHD2 for guiding, Astro Photography Tool – APT for target selection and imaging and Stelarrium for position confirmation. I’ve used the Focus Aid and Bahtinov Aid tools there to check my focusing, especially as the night goes on. More on this in the next post… As a marker of how far I've come - and how far I still have to go, the attached is 2h of 5 minute subs stacked in DSS and with Pixinsights ABE and Screen Intensity Transformation applied. Thanks for reading, Michael

Everything I know about this I've learned from Sean Carroll talks - can any of you recommend anything else for the interested amateur? Thanks Michael

Thanks folks I had trials of Pixinsight and PS last year and settled on Pixinsight. I've experimented with images before but I now have my first good data. I've got about 6 hours on M31 over 2 nights. The camera was rotated the second night so I have flats for both nights but am using the darks and bias from night 1. It's a QHY10 OSC camera, steadily cooled at -25 C I've stacked both sets with DSS using the default or recommended settings and am reading up on how to align and combine the two stacked files. Excited and daunted by all there is to learn but it keeps me busy 🙂 Michael

Because it's fascinating! I couldn't agree more. The numbers of 'split' universes we'd have after an hour when there's about 1.5×1053 kg of matter in the known universe. Every new universe has the same number of splits every hour. Now consider how many that could be after about 14 BN years. To me that's just irrational - especially when the same physicists will tell you that matter and energy cannot be created or destroyed! I think the answer is around that 'special' moment of time we call now. All the potentials are there and the possibilities calculate out as MW theory suggests until now happens. After that there is one actual universe - the same one with the event now part of history and unchangable. That's why we can't go back in time - we wouldn't know which choices were made. Michael

Actually, it is very likely we won't. If the coin is biased as you say it is most likely we would end up with 4 worlds, hh, hh, hh, hh. Therefor it is vastly more probable that we will end up in a hh world, but there is equal liklihood as to which specific world we land in. Michael

The probability of detection only exists where there is a detector. As each detector is passed the particle is either detected or not, so it becomes a binary split again. Effectivly the quantum waveform 'collapses at that point into a specific result. Repeating the experiment multiple times gives the liklihood that you would see an even distribution between detectors but there should also be a split version where all particles were detected at the same point. The liklihood of you or I being in that version is tiny simply because there are more vesrions where an even spread happens. As I understand it we are in both, probably typing the same messages, but we can't percieve the other versions of us. Michael

Sorry to but in but my understanding is that the 'splitting' happens at the point of detection so at event 1 we have a spin up world and a spin down world. At event 2 each of those worlds splits (we have 4) and at event 3 each of those 4 split again... and so on. Michael

I've just watched a video about processing and realised that this is wrong. While processing each image is read into memory, processed and then written back to disk, or a new version of it is. That means there's going to be a lot of disk activity during all preprocessing and batch activities so a SSD would certainly show a speed benefit. Michael

I've watched the video posted by GuyST and think I have the answer to my specific issue. When doing Aim and then GoTo++ I answered Yes to the dialogue box when it seems that I should have answered No. Up til now I've just used the APT list to select targets and that has worked fine for the 2 nights I've been at this stage of refinement!! I would solve and then send the data to Stellarium to show where I was but have not yet tried getting Stellarium to send the mount anywhere. I think I understand what's been said here and have a better handle how each part interacts with the others - the next clear night will be the test of that! As ever, thanks to those with knowledge that give their time passing it on... Michael

I've been trying to do this with APT. As an example, with accurate PA I then select M31 from the APT Objects list and tell it to move the scope there. Typically I've got the centre of the galaxy in frame but not in the centre. The image preview and platesolving confirms this. Using the Aim and Goto++ buttons I tell APT where I want to centre on the image, it does its stuff and I end up farther away. Reading the manual for APT I'm supposed to select Aim, click on the point I want centred, four concentric circles show the selected point, then I click GoTo++. It never works so I'm sure I'm missing something obvious but don't know what. I can platesolve in APT then select Show to send Stellarium to that point but I don't have it set up that Stellarium can send goto requests to the mount. Michael

Specifying a computer for someone is really difficult - for many reasons. The biggest impact on performance will be RAM. With Windows 10 8GB is quite limiting for normal stuff. Nobody notices if an email takes 2 or 3 times as long to send on one machine compared to another but if a 90 second process takes 4 minutes that's different! If you have enough RAM then a SSD (solid state drive) is less important as the computer isn't swapping blocks of data to and from the disk. Data can build up quickly, especially when your new to processing images and don't want to delete anything just in case! I'd go for something with 16GB RAM minimum and the ability to upgrade it if needed. 2TB hard disk is a good compromise between size and cost. Also, don't forget to check how many USB ports it has - I'd say 3 is a minimum. HTH Michael

Before I go to bed I'd say probably not because, as you say the movement you see is from the earths rotation. To check the difference between a planets movement and a stars, I used Stellarium. I selected Mars and told Stellarium to keep the selected object in the centre of the screen. Fast forward the time and days whizz by with not a lot of movement between Mars and nearby stars. A fun way to spend two minutes! You could use your idea to calculate how fast the earth rotates - my guess is once per day 😂😂 Michael

Taking flats at the end of my best night yet - as in everything worked !! Look carefully and you might spot Orion in the background Michael

I've just passed 2 hours worth of 5 minute guided subs on Andromeda! And I know how I did it!!! I'd almost got to this a couple of weeks ago with my EQ5 but bought a nice used NEQ6 last week so had a lot of extra learning and fiddling to do. I've spent so many nights trying things, making progress, having setbacks and sometimes getting it all going ok but having lost track of what I did! I'm grateful to everyone who has answered my questions and all the other questions I found answers to searching and browsing here - I absolutely couldn't have got this far without all you good people 👍👍👍👍 Now. How the ???? do I process this? 😂😂 Michael

I've just started S284 Astronomy with the Open University and this video was included. I found it on Yo!Tube What bit is harder - getting the data or managing and interrogating it? Michael

I bought my Esprit 80 2nd hand and it had already been back to FLO for Es Reid to check after the previous owner saw issues. The attached was Altair taken September last year with my Canon 7d Mk1. Because it had been checked I assumed that this was something to do with saturating the camera but reading this thread has got me wondering. Raw file below if anyone wants a look. 2019_09_20-800-0004.CR2 All the best Michael

Thanks everyone, especially vlaiv for making me feel less of a fool! I guess one of the pitfalls of reading lots but having little experience is sometimes not having good perspective on how significant an issue is, or is not. 40 years in electronic engineering, where indicators close to the right and in the red make me very uncomfortable probably didn't help 😁😁. All the best Michael

I have a Sky-Watcher Esprit 80 ED with matching field flattener which will sit on my newly acquired, mint condition used NEQ6 pro (thanks Michael). I recently purchased a 2nd hand QHY-10 OSC camera - I have to admit it was a spur of the moment decision without investigating camera /scope matching. The CCD Suitability Calculator at https://astronomy.tools/calculators/ccd_suitability tells me it wasn't a great choice and that I will be significantly under-sampling (see below). As I see it my options are: Do nothing. I'm still learning and can use this setup to improve my knowledge and skills at aquiring images and processing them. At some point the under-sampling will be the limiting factor and I can decide then whether I want to change camera, scope or both. Change the camera for something around the same cost 2nd hand. If I do that does anyone have any suggestions or recommendations? Change the telescope to suit the camera. The tool says it is a good match for the Esprit 120 but a good used one is probably outside my budget zone so I'd be looking for recommendations for a good 120mm refractor under £1000. The smaller field of view would annoy me at times but I'll probably go there eventually. Change both. I like the simplicity of the refractor but I could investigate different scope types. I probably like this option least because I'm just reaching the point I'll be able to set everything up, polar align, get on a target and guide well, enabling me to get good amounts of data for processing. Up to now every night has been more experimentation, fixing problems or just getting everything running sweetly and the clouds drift over to watch me🤯🤯 Any thoughts, experience or advice would be most welcome. Michael

I've used 2x 10m active USB cables in series to a passive USB hub which connected to my Canon 7D Mk 1, EQ5 mount and starshoot autoguider camera. Not a setup anyone would advise but I had the bits and it worked perfectly! I'm in the process of upgrading including installing a pier - I won't be using this setup much longer. Michael