Andy R

One thing I’ll never forget seeing is the Aussie night sky for the first time, second time, third time...........etc.

Fantastic image, brought a few memories back.

Thanks for sharing.

Rosette Nebula area with Betelgeuse,

28 x 240' subs, 20 darks, 25 bias and 25 flats. ISO 400 @F5

Modified Canon 600D - Full frame Kit lens 24-105mm @ 50mm (*1.6 crop factor) unguided Star Adventurer & WO wedge.

Stacked in DSS, processed in StarTools v.1.6.383A and tweaked a little in GIMP.

further 92 minutes of data lost due to loss of focus🤡

Thanks for looking.

Andy

18 minutes ago, rickwayne said:

"The dog ate my astrophotography session."

There's nothing she wont try eating once lol. 

Thank you for the replies fellow members @cjdawson @rickwayne  . A bit of a disaster last night with cloud and wind, dew heater went on the blink, my dog chewed the polar scope EP cover and I knocked the lens out of focus after changing the camera battery. I didn't realise (my fault for not checking as I usually do) resulting in 1.5hrs of blurred subs. Im using a small strip of masking tape in future to hold focus.

I didn't take any flats last night so I'm just about to as it was 5.30 before I finished and rather angry with myself.

Im thinking some is better than none perhaps (I will stack images with & without to see) so I will cool the camera outside for a bit first as roughly same temp.

Andy

Evening all,

Just set the equipment up, framed the image, set the intervalometer and booom, the clouds come rolling in, however there are clear patches in between them so all is not lost. I should be used to it by now, anyhow what I usually do is take dark frames when this happens. I imaged a couple of nights ago with exactly the same lens on the same DSLR camera,  same 18mm focal length same ISO, exposure etc. I know you can re-use the dark frames but can I use the flats and bias frames as they have exactly the same lens orientation (lens locks into place). the focus may be ever so slightly different thou. Would this make a difference when stacking?

Thanks in advance.

Andy

Widefield Cygnus region, imaged 01/12/2019 whilst waiting for Orion to rise.

16 x 330' subs, 25 darks, 25 bias and 25 flats. ISO 200 @F5

Modified Canon 600D - Kit lens 18mm, unguided Star Adventurer & WO wedge.

Stacked in DSS, processed in StarTools and tweaked a little in GIMP.

Thanks for looking.

22 minutes ago, rickwayne said:

<falls off chair, laughing hysterically, gropes frantically for asthma inhaler>

 

lol slight understatement

Orion constellation and surroundings 01/12/2019 and into 02/12/2019 -3C and very walnut whippie weather!

29 x 330' subs, 25 darks, 25 bias and 25 flats. ISO 200 @ F5

Modified Canon 600D - 18mm, unguided Star Adventurer & WO wedge, usually I image with a cat 51 but as I've never even thought about a using kit lens (18-55) I thought why not..... and I will do again!

Stacked in DSS, processed in StarTools and tweaked a little in GIMP.

Glad I'm not the only one to suffer mishaps when imaging. Binned all my subs from last night of the Witch Head Nebula tonight. The previous night I used a full frame camera but didn't get the result I wanted, Used a modified crop sensor camera last night, positioned Rigel in roughly the same place on the screen and cut half her chin out of the frame. One of many mistakes, best way to learn...………………………………………………………….so they say.

Plenty of dark sites down the road across  the border. The further west the better. Are you hoping for Milky Way nightscapes, widefield, DSO etc?

a couple of links Ive found useful 

https://gostargazing.co.uk/events/locations/llyn-geirionydd/

https://www.nightblight.cpre.org.uk/

as for the camera, we all got to start somewhere and the 1100d is good enough    . It can be an expensive hobby thou  

Im lucky to live on a farm with woods either side attracting an abundance of wild life. I’ve pretty much heard every strange nighttime noise going from shrieks and screams to the sound of branches snapping and rustling bushes. What usually makes me jump is when the farm cats stalk me and jump out.  

That said if I have a drive out to a dark site  carpark i find the human species to be rather annoying. Then again I’ve given a few people a fright too, must be the clown suit and chainsaw lol🤡

30 minutes ago, alacant said:

This one was processed using Siril and StarTools 6.

Thanks never heard of Siril but I am currently viewing their website, do you use it for image stacking then process the output in StarTools?

I currently use DSS & StarTools but I'm still very much a beginner. That said I'm pretty happy with both DSS & StarTools but always happy to learn about other software.

Thanks

No recommendations or ideas I'm afraid, just compliments...…… very nice! 

What software did you use to process?

nice video, I look forward to ploughing my way through the rest of them on your channel.

51 minutes ago, Benjam said:

I don’t have any editing software (apart from DSS, which I haven’t used) so I’m not sure what the finished results would look like.

Try having a look at GIMP for editing too. it’s free and there are tutorials on YouTube for AP image editing. it’s not the best but certainly better than a kick in the teeth, failing that as spillage says StarTools does a free version just have a research for best DSS settings to use for best results. Nice solar/lunar images btw

2 hours ago, jager945 said:

Thanks for the details Andy!

Bortle 4 is definitely helping you here, allowing you to easily capture fainter objects (e.g. galaxies) and nebulosity. The CLS filter will skew colours a little, as it removes part of the spectrum. Yellows are usually impacted once the image is properly color balanced (usually yielding foreground starfields that have a distinct lack of yellow stars). It's not the end of the world, just something to be mindful of.

If you're using a 600D, ISO 800 seems to be recommended. For a 6D, it's 1600 or 3200 (source).

As far as ST goes, if you want to reduce the Saturation, in the Color module use the slider named... Saturation

If you'd like to switch color rendering from scientifically useful Color Constancy to something PI/PS/GIMP users are more used to (e.g. desaturated highlights), try the "Legacy" preset. Finally, a maintenance release update for 1.5 was released a couple of days ago with some bug fixes. Updating is highly recommended. And if you feel adventurous, you can also try the 1.6 alpha, which comes with an upgraded signal quality-aware multi-scale (wavelet) sharpener.

Clear skies!

Thanks for the advise and source link👍I’ve added it to my bookmarks. I will download the update and yes I am feeling adventurous. 

Clear skies all

17 hours ago, jager945 said:

Hi Andy,

That's an excellent start! At a glance, your images look nice and clean and well calibrated. It bodes very well!

Can you tell us if you used a light pollution filter in the optical train? What software did you use to stack? Exposure times for each image and what sort of skies are you dealing with (e.g. Bortle scale)? I'm asking as it gives us an idea of what to you can reasonably expect.

The stars in image of the North American nebula are suffering from the Gibbs phenomenon (aka "panda eye" effect). This is most apparent when using "dumb" sharpening filters such as Unsharp Mask. If you used StarTools deconvolution module, the choosing a "Radius" parameter that is too high will start introducing these ringing artifacts. Not using a star mask will also cause ringing artifacts around overexposing stars. 

Cheers!

Hi thanks for taking the time to view and comment, very much appreciated, details as follows:-

I used a CLS filter on a IR modified Canon 600D on M31, M33 & North American Nebula. As for M45 is was taken on a unmodified Canon 6D mkii with no filters all attached to a Whitecat51 with Star Adventurer unguided tracking mount

NAN 21 x 30' subs iso 1600, 10 darks 30 bias, no flats due to newbie mistake,, forgot to take them. camera got wedged on scope. deleted a lot due to cloud and start trails

M31 76 x 90' subs iso 3200 37 darks 20 bias, no flats due to newbie mistake, moved camera position on scope

M33 100 x 90' subs iso3200, 40 darks, 60 bias, no flats due to, yep newbie mistake removed scope from camera

M45 139 x 30' subs iso2000  57 darks, 30 bias, 38 flats.

All stacked in DSS {Kappa sigma clipping if enough subs} 

I'm under bortle 4 mag 20.52 but light pollution dome from Merseyside to north & east. the subs & darks etc are a bit random but still learning.

Thanks again

11 hours ago, tooth_dr said:

Fantastic images Andy. The only observation I would make would be that the background is a little too black. 

11 hours ago, Ouroboros said:

@Andy RI agree with the points made so far. You've made a great start.  It looks like you've gathered some really good data there. 

Personally, and this is a very subjective opinion, I feel the images are somewhat over saturated - too much colour in otherwords. I tend to prefer somewhat subtle colouring because I feel it looks more natural. On the other hand what's "natural"? We don't  see these celestial objects with the eyes like an astronomical imaging camera. But as I say, it's a matter of personal preference. 

I would suggest that since you've spent a lot of money on the hardware then it's a good idea to get some decent processing software designed specifically for astro images. I use PixInsight, and several other applications are available. They all involve a learning curve, but time spent can be very interesting and rewarding. Frustrating too at times. 🙂 You've got plenty of images there to learn to use such software. Plenty of advice on SGL, video and other tutorials on line. Good luck. 

10 hours ago, happy-kat said:

StarTools is a specially designed astro imaging tool and it's price is not a reflection of its quality, it shoots well above hence it is very good value. 

You do need to use the right stacking parameters so have a check against the getting started guide Ivo put on the StarTools website.

9 hours ago, bottletopburly said:

 Your images look like good data ,Once Ivo has your  imaging setup  he will soon have you on the right path as your in Norh Wales then I’m sure you have good skies , Startools is a very powerful program don’t be fooled by its ease  of use  as ever there is a learning curve 👍

7 hours ago, ebdons said:

Yep slightly oversaturated as has been said, and M45 is the best image you even caught the nebula on the lower right as well so that bodes well for your AP future. I would be pretty happy with M45 and using a DSLR. well done! Ton

Thank you all for your advice and heads up, very much appreciated and all taken onboard. I think ill stick with Startools for the time being and is certainly worth every penny. The laptop was financed by the new EQ mount fund. Its a very expensive hobby but worth it.

I have a half read copy of making every photon count but is currently missing in action somewhere, ill have to make more effort to find it.

Well im off for a tinker again

Andy

Hi all

I've been imaging since August, collecting data on a few targets but I've never had the computing power to properly process the images. I have mainly used GIMP and Ipad apps which is ok but not a not ideal.

I bought a half decent laptop and a license for Startools yesterday and have tried my luck with it. There is quite a lot to take in but im getting there I think. 

Anyhow  any pointers, advise or criticism would be welcomed, are my stars looking ok?

All taken with a DSLR and Whitecat 51

Thanks

Being new to astronomy I've had a fair few wow moments over the past 12 months. From Andromeda filling my binocular field of view, seeing Saturn's rings to capturing the N.American Nebula on a modified DSLR. But seeing the Milky Way on a moonless Bortle1 night sky over twenty five years ago has always stayed with me. More of a mouth gaping fly catching moment than a wow moment.

24 minutes ago, Glob said:

Andy R unfortunately I don't drive mate, so unfortunately I have to make the most of what I have.

Hey next time im out in the wilderness ill drop you a message and see if you want a trip out with me. im started imaging lately so im not so much observing but im still learning.

I've been Moel Famau a few times and Llyn Brenig. the latter being better as its darker and not so many nightime idiots.

Andy

Clear skies forecasted from Elevenish tonight. Greetings from up top of the hill. 👍 

Do you drive Glob? There’s plenty of dark areas to view the night sky locally to you. 

Andy

02/10/2019

231 @ 25 second subs stacked in startrails, processed in Gimp

Canon 6D mkii with Samyang 14mm wide angle @ F4

Special mention to Liverpool, Manchester & Dublin airports for sending so many planes my way.

On 01/10/2019 at 16:57, Kev M said:

Looks like the Budweiser Nebula

The interstella galaxy

Cropped image of North America nebula

21x 90’ lights at iso 1600, 11x darks (should of been more subs but camera jammed the tracking mount and I lost a lot oops). 

Canon 600D Ha mod, CLS filter, Whitecat51, Star Adventurer tracker unguided. 

Stacked in DSS (first time) processed in GIMP (first time) and buffed up in Lightroom IOS.