Hallingskies

I managed to grab 12 x 600s of luminance data for the M81/82 pair on the night of the 20th, before the inevitable clouds rolled in. In the absence of the RGB and Ha data I was after, I thought I’d have a play to try and bring out the wisps of IFN that could just about be seen lurking on the calibrated monochrome stack (20 flats, no darks, hot pixel removal in Astroart instead). To tease out the background integrated flux nebula (IFN), a copy of the processed luminance stack was histogram equalised in PaintShop, given a thumping great Gaussian blur, layered back over the original at 10% density and the bright galaxy areas then carefully erased to give this rendition. Yes it’s a complete fudge, but it does give a hint of the IFN that can be found in the region. Either that or my flats are really bad...

Clearing here. Have just set up for some deep OIII on the Pumpkin nebula, waiting for the last few scattered clouds to clear before I press run.

Have a chat with the scout master, but from my experience in a previous life with giving talks to younger teenagers, you can treat them as you would your adult audience. If they are smart enough to want to hear what you have to say, they’ll be smart enough to understand it, or to ask questions if they don’t. Only thing was that I never talked to the coerced - attendance was on a voluntary basis. I got the odd querulous sceptic (my subject matter was environmental management at modern power stations!) but no real trouble makers. Not sure they’ll be too many flat-earthers among the scouts...

Clear here but subs don’t look brilliant, maybe a high haze. Mind you, I am going for 600s Ha subs on LDN 1622, which may be pure optimism from my location.

Yes, it works. I am not particularly mechanically gifted but I had no problems with the actual fitting. The hard part was tuning the mount to get the backlash down to acceptable levels for guiding purposes without the RA motor stalling.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/TJW-Rechargeable-Flashlight-Fishing-Hunting/dp/B07CVGWGR7/ref=asc_df_B07CVGWGR7/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=394256153971&hvpos=1o6&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16584086144994120580&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045021&hvtargid=pla-838780295726&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=87474905171&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=394256153971&hvpos=1o6&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16584086144994120580&hvqmt=&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045021&hvtargid=pla-838780295726 Rather useful. You’d need to red tape the LEDs if you were at a star party, though...

Image on camera then pow, cloud. Looks like it’s going to be on off, so I decided off. Looks bleak for the next week or so.

Now solid cloud here! Hooray for Remote Desktop, saw it as soon as it come over. Kit all put to bed now, and an early one for me as well. G’night folks.

Melotte 15 for me as well. Just got 12 600s Ha subs in the bag, look a bit bland, think there might be some high cloud up there, seeing not brilliant but beggars can’t be choosers. Going for some Olll now, not sure if I should bin, will see what they look like.

Perfect conditions here, best sky in months, good seeing and clarity. Will keep going assuming everything stays as is!

Clear here. Currently shooting a few binned Olll subs of the Fish Head. Last set from a couple of nights back were washed out by high cloud and the rising moon. Hoping the clouds and dew will stay away for the next few hours...

High cloud scudding in now, but I will keep going until I lose the guide star, on the illogical basis that bad data is better than no data. After a month of nothing tonight has been a bonus.

Wow. What length subs? What filter used?

Having a go at the Fish Head. Lost an hour, both PHD and Artemis crashed, no idea why. Restarted, seems to be running OK touch wood. Cloud expected around midnight, will take what I can get!

It’s not just me then! I like Artemis a lot but it seems to be a bit random sometimes. Shutting it down and restarting it seems to work most times. It seems to be a lot better when not anywhere near Windows 10....