Nerf_Caching

Hi all, I've been struggling recently with getting my nebulae to pop out in a single sub for a certain rig that I'm using. I wonder if it has to do with the filter in my imaging train, as I've got no problem using a different telescope configuration. Attached are two subs to show what I mean. The first pic was using an Evoguide 50ED, a generic UHC filter and a ZWO ASI585MC Pro camera. Sub length is 30 seconds at gain 252, cooled to -10C Second pic used the same camera and shooting settings, but with an Evostar 72ED and Askar Colourmagic Ha+OIII filter. Both shot under bortle 9 sky, same object. Clearly the second pic pops out way more, so I don't really know what the issue is? Kind regards, Ronald

Hi there, I'm from Hong Kong and, based on experience, I find that the prices of optical equipment, such as telescopes, are definitely cheaper than in the UK. Not sure about the camera side of things, but for telescopes and mounts that has been the case for me.

Nope haven't got one for my scope.

Eagle nebula from bortle 9 Hong Kong skies using a Ha+OIII narrowband filter.

Picked up this EQM 35 Pro mount today. Works fine from initial testing although I’ve yet to have a clear night. What do people make of this inexpensive mount? Looks pretty cool.

I hope this is the right forum for this but I just wanted to showcase my imaging setup using an Evoguide 50ED. I’ve yet to use it for any serious imaging as I just got it, but I’ve done some modifications so I can mount my existing Svbony guide scope on top. Has anyone done any AP using the Evoguide, and what do you think of it?

Hey all, I haven't posted on SGL for a while since moving out of the UK and leaving astronomy for a bit previously. I've undergone some equipment upgrades in the last few months since catching the bug for AP again and the results are below. I hope you enjoy them, and feel free to shout if you've got feedback or questions! Cheers, Ronald

Yeah astro cameras are great. I recently got my first one, the ZWO 585MC Pro! I believe it's a new release too.

I live for nights like this... By the way, anyone have the Askar 71F and 585mc pro like the one I have in the background? What do y'all make of it? Mounts: Celestron CG-5 goto, iOptron SmartEQ Pro Scopes: SW Evolux 62ED, Askar 71F flat-field quad apo Cameras: ZWO ASI120mm mini guide camera, ZWO ASI585MC Pro, Canon 200Dii(stock)

Hey all, I took this picture of the Iris Nebula from my balcony in the heart of downtown Toronto, Canada. About an hour and a half of integration using 45 sec subs and no filters were used. I'll probably grab more data on this later. Any feedback appreciated. Thanks! Scope: SW Evolux 62ED, Mount: iOptron SmartEQ Pro, Camera: Canon 200Dii

Sombrero galaxy using stock Nexstar 5SE, astromod 450D and bortle 9 sky without filters. 29x30 secs at ISO 800.

How's this for only 5 subs of 90 seconds each? I was using a Tamron 28-300 lens at 200mm on a stock Canon 650d, but it dewed up not long after I started my session, plus I got clouded out anyway! Mount was a SW star adventurer, shooting under Bortle 5 skies.

Taken a couple nights ago with a stock Celestron Nexstar 5SE on its alt-az mount, featuring M2. Camera was a stock Canon 650d without any LP filters used. 30x15 seconds at iso 3200 under Bortle 9 skies.

Off-axis guider. It is when you have a guide camera sharing the same scope as the imaging camera using an OAG to reflect some of the incoming light to the guide camera.

The row labelled "Time" has three colors: Red, Amber and green. The time follows 24-hour clock. Let's say that the time '20' was colored red for a given night. That means that it will be cloudy and unsuitable for stargazing at 8pm. On the other hand, if the time '01' on another given night was shaded green, it will likely be clear at 1am. Amber color means that conditions may not be great, but there may still be gaps in cloud or some thin, high-altitude clouds which may hamper stargazing. Between times '23' and '00' on the interface, you'll notice a red line running vertically under it starting from the row labelled 'Total cloud' all the way down to 'Humidity'. This denotes the border between one day and the next. As with the sunlight row(under time), yellow color denotes daytime, while the shades of blue indicate twilight and black being nighttime. For example, if the black region starts at time '20' and ends at '04', it means that your nighttime will last from 8pm to 4am the next day. For the row under sunlight named 'Moon', it shows us when the moon will be out. This is important for astrophotographers as moonlight washes out faint detail in deep-sky objects. A silver bar indicates when the moon is above the horizon and works in a similar manner to the 'sunlight' row. The four rows underneath show percentages of cloud cover for low, medium, high and total cloud cover for a given time of day. Moving on to ISS row, a space station icon under a given time of day indicates when the ISS will pass over your region. It will look like a moving star across the sky if a pass occurs during nighttime or twilight. The rest of the rows follow a similar concept and the values listed are either percentages, distance(for visibility), units of speed(for wind) or degrees celsius(for temperature). The rows named 'rain' and 'frost' follow similar concept to 'ISS' row. Hope this helps!

I achieved this using 45-second exposures with a 72ED and SA mount. Make sure declination axis is properly balanced using a dovetail saddle and a longer dovetail on the 72ED to ease the stress on the tracking motors.

No I did not dither as I used a star adventurer.

Hi all. I tried photographing the Bode's and Cigar galaxy last night under Bortle 9 skies, but my final stacked image had a really mottled background after gradient subtraction in siril. Even before gradient removal, my background still looked quite horrible. Can anybody offer a possible explanation for this? My 30-second subs were quite washed out in the beginning but got a little bit better as the target rose above the skyglow of my area. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Tau Canis Majoris cluster taken through a Celestron Nexstar 5SE on its alt-az mount. 30 x 30 seconds with an astro-modified Canon 450d.

30 minutes of 45-second subs from Bortle 9 sky using the SA. Scope was a SW Evostar 72ED attached to a Canon 450d (astromod) dslr. I used an Astronomik CLS filter. A very noisy Rosette Nebula but happy so far!

Wow that's a superb attempt for a first! You might want to consider investing in the Celestron NeXYZ phone adapter as that's what I used for that shot. It supports many different phone sizes too!

I stacked the filtered and unfiltered data separately. Each has around 54-56 minutes of integration under Bortle 9 skies. The unfiltered data seems to have less contrast in the Ha signal from the Horsehead. However, it does have more detail in the Flame and surrounding reflection nebulae. Quite an interesting experiment really!

Hi all! Might be a strange question but is it okay to stack raw dslr subs of the same target that were taken with and without a filter? Context is that I normally shoot using an Astronomik CLS clip-in on my modified Canon 450D, but I stupidly forgot to put it in one session. Do I also have to take a new set of flats without the filter on? I'm a bit perplexed about how the color balancing works since the CLS results in a blue color cast in my sub frames. Thanks!

Search up a guy called "Nebula Photos" on Youtube. He shows you how to use siril to stack photos. I learned to use Siril using his resources.

Hi all, so I was gifted an iphone 12 for my birthday and I have come to realise its potential in the field of photography. FIrstly, the iphone camera allows wide-field landscape photography and excellent quality video. Additionally, I realised that it had the provision of doing long exposures of up to 30 seconds! One night, I wondered whether it will do any good for stargazing. I used a Celestron NeXYZ phone adapter and a Nexstar 5SE telescope to view the Orion Nebula. What came out of a 30-second exposure surprised me. I wonder if anybody else who owns a 12 has used it for any casual EAA?