Laurin Dave

Hi Rodd, maybe it’s your flats that are the issue. I recently changed from using an led tracing pad to an ElectroLuminescent panel and my flats now work much better giving a much smoother background particularly on lum Dave

Nice one Rodd, M101 is low surface brightness so to get the outer arms to show requires a big stretch .. hence the background... I got 12 hrs lum last year on it which ended up ok.. the Ha is worth getting as there are loads of Hii regions in the arms ... all the bright bits that show on your lum are Hii Dave

I had a quick look.. also seen the CN thread.. in the core of M42 the Ha only registers about 10% of the Oiii signal.. so something definitely amiss with the filter.. Hope you get it sorted and that Astrodon do the right thing…. maybe post them a link to the CN thread..

An image from 22April 2018 UK (I think) .. had no idea that I'd caught it or what it was until its existence was pointed out to me by a fellow Basingstoke Astro Soc member as we prepared to do a talk on the Lunar 100 in January this year.. also shows the Lunar V. William Optics GTF81 and ASI1600mm, lucky imaging! Dave

Very nice.. are you sure that they’re not saved somewhere.. I didn’t think SGPro would run without an output directory.. it’s happened to me where they get saved to a directory from a previous run due to my error and then spent ages searching for them Dave

A further re-process during the time of cloud... more colour (maybe too much for some) giving colour in some of the small galaxies and more detail in the core revealed by using a synthetic luminance.. Dave

Nice one Gav... what news on your camera? Dave

Not sure about the 178 but with my ASI1600 I use matched darks and matched flat darks ie. time, temperature, gain and offset for lights and flats.. I try and keep the exposure lengths similar by adding or removing sheets of paper.. I’ve recently switched to an EL panel and have found that flat exposure lengths are more similar (red intensity from the led panel I was using was much less than G and B ) and that with my CCD the lum flat now works properly.. I also put a delay of 10 seconds between each flat or flat dark as I read somewhere that it allows the electronics to stabilise between exposures..

Very impressive Ole... Luminance next I assume? Don't you miss the little diffraction spikes around your stars .. the reflections on your M45 image are so small they must be off the window, have you checked with the dust donut calculator? Dave

Very nice, your dual rig is clearly working well.. Dave

Plenty to go around 🙂.. dual scopes = photon Hoover! All the best for your astrophotography journey.. so much to learn and this is a great place for advice.

Thanks Carole.. it was your image of this that got me started🙂.. I found that the unless used sparingly the Ha overwhelmed the reflection nebula and the dust.. and that a hefty stretch and noise reduction of the RGB was needed Dave

Captured over the last three weeks through my Esprit150/SX46 and Esprit100/ASI1600 on a Mesu 200 the Cone and Fox Fur Nebulae and the Christmas Tree Cluster NGC2264 in Monoceros. Three hours each RGB and 17hours of Ha, processed in APP, Pixinsight and Photoshop. My last nebula of the season I expect.. on to the galaxies.. Thanks for looking Dave

Thanks.. dual scopes help make the most of what little clear skies we are getting

Steve once on the target take a short sub and plate solve it by right clicking.. the result will tell you the camera angle.. rotate and repeat until you have it as you want. Easy to test indoors If you're not familiar with the feature by opening SGPro loading a sub and plate solving it. HTH Dave

Maybe a spiders web Gav? I had this with my ASI1600, gave it a clean and all was well.. spiders web is enormously strong Dave

Thanks Olly.. yes I always look at yours, Barry and Steve's images to see what I should be looking for and could see the extensive halo and the integration times used. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I'd got in only 4 UK hours as 90 minutes on it last year showed nothing of the halo, I guess all this rain has washed the skies clean. I've just pushed the "Equalize" button in PS and it shows the arms extending out above and to the left and right of the galaxy (and a bunch of noise) so definitely on the to do list. Dave

The skies were clear as we left the pub quiz on Tuesday night so I turned the rig on the Sunflower galaxy and managed to capture 4hrs of Luminance on the Esprit150/SX46 and 1 hour each of RGB on the Esprit100/ASI1600 before the clouds rolled in. Putting it all together in APP, Pixinsight and Photoshop reveals the fabulous Sunflower galaxy floating in a sea of hundreds and hundreds of distant galaxies. Messier 63 the Sunflower Galaxy is a spiral galaxy in the northern constellation of Canes Venatici. M63 was first discovered by the French astronomer Pierre Méchain then later verified by his colleague Charles Messier on June 14, 1779. In the mid-19th century, Anglo-Irish astronomer Lord Rosse identified spiral structures within the galaxy, making it one of the first galaxies in which such structure was identified. This galaxy has a morphological classification of SAbc, indicating a spiral shape with no central bar feature and moderate to loosely wound arms. The distance to M63, is estimated between 16,000,000–34,000,000 light-years. The tip of the red-giant branch technique gives a distance of 29,000,000 light-years. M63 is part of the M51 Group, a group of galaxies that also includes M51 (the 'Whirlpool Galaxy'). I'm pretty happy with this given the integration time, will probably come back to it later in the spring for some more data. I've included wide field and close up views. Thanks for looking Dave

Even more amazing Tom... I need a bigger screen!

Just read an update.. non detection with Palomar 60” so most likely a coincident solar system object .. 😕

As Olly and Vlaiv have replied.. if you’re using it plate solving will also tell you the camera angle

Just heard from Ron Arbour of a possible Supernova within M66 https://wis-tns.weizmann.ac.il/object/2020cwh Dave

Very nice Gav and an interesting processing method which I shall take a look at Dave

Wow, simply stunning Tom...

Here's some of mine... .. and thanks to @ollypenriceI get six! M101 and friends... LHaRGB Esprit150/SX46, Mesu200 Crescent Nebula and Soap Bubble Ha_R_Oiii_G_OiiiB Esprit150/SX46, Esprit100/ASi1600, Mesu200 Witches Broom Ha_R_Oiii_G_OiiiB Esprit150/SX46, Esprit100/ASi1600, Mesu 200 Eastern Veil Ha_R_Oiii_G_OiiiB Esprit150/SX46, Esprit100/ASi1600, Mesu 200 Elephants Trunk Nebula SHO_RGB stars Esprit150/SX46, Esprit100/ASi1600, Mesu 200 Dave