rob_r

Thanks @powerlord and @knobby. I will certainly look into those functions in Siril. No flats as yet, I need to figure out a good method for getting those so will read up on here further. Thanks!

My first processed deep sky image for this season. Imaging was done last weekend 11th Nov 2023, on a bitterly cold night. Seeing was decent with some high thin cloud. Taken just outside Preston, Lancs. 100x 25s lights 20x darks 20x bias Processed in Siril on Mac OS. AutoStretch and Green Noise Removal. Further processing in Photoshop, levels, hue/saturation, curve adjustments, and Camera Raw filter. Equipment used SW Evostar 72ED, StellaMira 2" Adjustable Field Flattener & Canon 600D (unmodded). Thanks for the advice offered in this thread regarding focus and field curvature, everything in the imaging train was screwed together for this run. Pleased with this despite the exposure short time and a definite improvement for me. Thanks for looking and any feedback is welcome. Thanks!

A few captures from last weekend (21st & 22nd Oct 2023) from Beadnell Harbour, Northumberland during the half-term break. Always good to get away to darker and better-quality (Bortle 3) skies. Clear skies opened up after Storm Badet ripped through the East Coast on Friday night. The journey over the Pennines was a bit fraught! Taking the portable setup of my SW SkyMax127 & ASI227MC with the AZ-GTi mount, I managed a few pleasing captures of both Jupiter and Saturn (including Europa, Io, Ganymede and I think with Saturn, Triton). Unfortunately, no further opportunities have afforded themselves during the rest of the week so far. 60s x 5 AVIs via ASICap Best 40% frames stacked Registax 6 wavelet sharpened Final levels/curve adjustments in Photoshop. Thanks for looking. As ever, feedback is welcome!

After seeking further information from FLO, I got the following purchases. ZWO M42-M48 Extender 16.5mm Long StellaMira 2" Adjustable Field Flattener with M48 Adapter Astro Essentials M48 adapter for Sky-Watcher Newtonians and 72ED Refractor (M54) with 10mm Backfocus They said the flattener is a great match for the 72ED plus the ASI224MC and the 600D. With the above extensions, plus another set of M42 extensions which I already have the imaging train should all screw directly into the focuser tube with the correct backfocus required. Fingers crossed and thanks for all the advice. I'll keep you updated on progress.

Hi, welcome to the 127 Mak club. Yes, I would agree with your initial shopping list plus a dew shield. A portable power pack certainly and replace the red dot finder with a RACI/finderscope. I got an AstroEssentials one, https://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/astro-essentials-9x50-right-angled-erecting-finderscope.html . If you are primarily observing perhaps upgrade the diagonal and EPs too, the stock ones the Mak comes with are not all that well regarded. The whole setup is quite light and portable which is a nice plus. The above and the other suggestions should be good starting points anyway. Have fun!

Apologies for the late reply. This is all great advice so thank you both. The diagram is a great help. When I got the 72ED I didn't account for the 2" focus tube as my Mak uses 1.25" accessories. At the moment, I am using this which looks like it may not be all that suitable from your suggestions to help reduce the tilt, https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/baader-2-to-125-reducer-adapter.html and this is the set of extension rings I got, https://www.firstlightoptics.com/adapters/astro-essentials-t2-m42-extension-tube-set-4mm-5mm-6mm-7mm-8mm-9mm.html . So the recommendation would be a FF perhaps. I was considering the SW one, https://www.firstlightoptics.com/ed-pro/skywatcher-85x-reducerflattener-for-evostar-72ed-pro.html but maybe go for this one instead and everything screws together, https://www.firstlightoptics.com/stellamira-telescopes/stellamira-2-0-8x-reducer-field-flattener-with-m48-adapter.html . The price is a welcome bonus too. Thanks for the help as ever. I'll get there hopefully!

I had another go last weekend, everything was screwed in. 71x lights at 30 seconds, 15 darks and 15 bias. Still having issues with the backfocus despite the extension rings which added another 49mm on top of the other extension tubes. I tried different combinations but focus is a struggle. The cam seems so far away from the scope. The Bahtinov mask helped and spikes crossed over, but still the stars have come out bloated. I see if another opportunity presents itself very soon.

The M81 Group of galaxies, 7th April 2023 near Preston, Lancs. One day after the full moon. 74x15s light frames, 26 dark frames and 23 bias frames. SW Evostar 72ED, Canon 600D, SW EQ5 GoTo mount. Stacked in DeepSkyStacker, processed in Photoshop. Curve adjustments, saturation boost, minimum filter on the stars. At least one decent image from an otherwise very poor season weather wise so far. A first venture into widefield for me and good to capture some detail despite the moon phase and small amount of frames with some stretching along the edges however. Certainly have to revisit this target when the weather and my four month son allow. Thanks for looking.

Hi. A huge improvement on last year's effort on Mars for me. Very pleased with how some of the details have turned out despite being close to the nearly full Moon. 5x 30s AVIs (via ASICap) stacked 33% best frames in AS!3, wavelet sharpened via Registax 6, de-rotated in WinJupos with a final unsharp mask in Photoshop applied. Taken near Preston, Lancashire. SW 127 SkyMax, SW EQ5, ASI224MC, 2.5x Powermate plus IR-cut filter. According to Mars Mapper, the dark areas are Mare Sirenum and Mare Cimmerium. The brighter dot towards the top right is Nix Olympica I think. Northern polar ice cap clearly visible too. No ADC as I felt the Mars was high enough. Not sure if I could get this sharper or the focus is slightly out. In any case, the best one of Mars for me at the second attempt. Thanks for looking.

Hi, first imaging run on Jupiter on the Mak 127 from last week. Europa transit towards the bottom left and Ganymede towards the bottom right. Best 25% of frames from stacked from 8x 30s AVIs (via ASICap) in AS!3, wavelet sharpened in Registax 6, derotated in WinJupos. Imaging train included IR-cut filter, 2.5x Televue Powermate, ZWO ADC and ASI224MC. Tracked on EQ5 mount. A bit disappointed with the grainy look to this final image and passing clouds hampered the imaging run. By the time I packed up, the sky was pretty much completely overcast. Thanks for looking.

From a recent trip to Dorset, perhaps a bit foolhardy to do some imaging on the night after the Summer Solstice (22nd June). That said, it was a good week which included a few clear nights and was very warm mid week. Visited Lulworth Cove, a popular photography spot. I had all sorts of issues with the lightweight tripod, mounted the scope on the wrong side of the GTI mount and the clutch appeared to be slipping slightly. But, that said, I am reasonably happy with the image considering the amount of time spent. Having a view to the East, I pointed the scope at Sadr in Cygnus. I hoped to pick out a little nebulae but I got NGC6910, an open cluster nearby. I was accompanied by the holiday park resident cat, Tess. Being slightly mindful of the noise of the DSLR and other residents, I kept the session quite short. Location: Higher Brockhampton (not far from Tom Hardy's cottage, 3 miles east of Dorchester) Scope: Skywatcher Evo 72ED Mount: Skywatcher AZ-GTI Camera: Canon 600D Exposures: 100 x 1s (10 darks, 10 bias) ISO3200 Stacked in Siril, processed via Photoshop. Plate solved using astronomy.net.

Thanks @tomato . The 2" to 1.25" has a thread too so screwing any additional extenders in should not pose an issue. I only have a Bahitinov mask for my 127 Mak at the moment so I will get or make up a smaller mask for the 72. I just focussed in on Alkaid on this particular run as it was the nearest identifiable star to M51 for me. I took about a dozen darks and bias frames too. The camera and scope should be a good pairing according to various calculators. I'll read up on the drift alignment method as it seems complex at first glance but I guess some Youtube videos may help me understand the process better.

Thanks for the reply. The T-ring doesn't screw in, it just slots in and it is all tightened up by the 2" to 1.25" adaptor brass ring so some tilt may well have been introduced. I'll have a look into getting a M42 extension ring, a 10mm extension may be all I need. I may have to find a better alternative to ASIImg too as I prefer to have finer control over the exposure and gain settings. The weekend didn't pan out as expected so will have to wait for another opportunity to retry. Thanks again.

Hi, Finally I got around to my first imaging run with the new Evostar 72ED paired up with the ASI224MC, this is more a widefield image run than previous (mostly planetary imaging) runs with my Mak. The learning curve has been tricky using the 72ED as opposed to my Mak127, I'm guessing it is due to the wider FOV and shorter focal length. Additionally, so I can use the same T-rings and eyepieces I got a Baader 2" to 1.25" adaptor but I'm unsure if that is suitable for imaging. To gain focus with the ASI224MC I needed an 2" extension tube which needed to be just... not quite fully inserted into the adaptor (see photo of my setup). I needed another 10mm or so. The images below are with 70 lights at 30secs on a EQ5 GoTo mount. Star trailing is clearly evident on a quick post process on the resulting stack via DSS. I like to think I'm fairly decent at polar alignment but I guess only a second pair of eyes could tell me otherwise. The stars appear stretched at the edges too as well being incredibly bloated. The next couple of nights look promising here despite a moderate breeze so I am going to retry this target again, hopefully I'll remember to add the IR cut filter next time too. Any advice would be welcome please. Plus, I have a couple of questions. I read that realistically the EQ5 tracking can only do a maximum of a 30 second single exposure...? For the data, I was disappointed that the lights were all in mono but then had that light bulb moment of de-bayering the data to get the colour. I know far more data is needed even the colour image looks dirty and quite noisy. But, despite the lack of data some detail is starting to come through. Maybe try and up the resolution too on the camera if I can. So a couple of questions please: Will the 2" to 1.25" adaptor cause any issues with the data collected? Would I be better just getting some 2" fittings for the camera(s)? Can I achieve focus using another method without the extension tube? Do I need a field flattener? Any advice would be great how to better the tracking and quality please. Many thanks, Rob --

I have both the Mak127 and a Evostar 72ED. Both perform fine on the AZ-GTI for observing, might be taxing the mount with a heavy DSLR though. I think it will depend on your targets, the Mak will favour close up lunar and planetary. The Evostar will favour DSO objects. The 127 with it's long focal length will struggle to fit some of the larger DSOs with the FOV, such as M45 and M31. The Mak coupled with a dedicated astrocam will excel at planetary and close up lunar shots. I only got the 72ED recently for astrophotography (and as a grab and go system with the AZ-GTI) rather than for observing but finding so far that the Mak may will be staying in the my carry bag until the Summer.

I dropped the Red Dot finder for a 9x50 AstroMaster RACI, a dew shield is a definite requirement too. Certainly consider upgrading the EPs too and especially the supplied diagonal. As for Barlows, I only really use my 2.5x Televue for AP. The Mak is a theoretical maximum magnification of 317.5x.

Another +1 because this is exactly how I started out a few years ago, it is the SynScan version controlled via a mobile phone app. I've recently purchased the Evostar 72ED to complement my Mak for it's shorter focal length. I also have the weightier EQ5 GoTo mount too. The Mak is great for lunar and planetary but will struggle to fit the larger DSOs within the FOV or frame if you go down the AP route.

A brand new SW Evostar 72ED OTA. This is to complement my SW long focal Mak127. It will hopefully be quite comfortable on my AZ-GTI and EQ5 mounts. I’m wanting to try more widefield photography this year and to actually fit those larger DSOs in frame. Next, will be a field flattener then perhaps move on to a the EvoGuide 50 / ASI120M pairing to start guiding. The case is decent too, all quickly delivered via FLO.

I'm not that experienced with AS!3 but it just looks like way too many alignment points. Taking nearly 7 minutes to stack a little over 800 frames seems excessive to me. Nothing in the screenshots is jumping out at me as incorrect though. Puzzled. Have you tried checking 'manual draw' and place say a couple of dozen APs then rerun the stacking process?

A quick capture from the 12th January (being a work night and all). I was aiming for capturing the Sinus Iridium and the Jura range but realised I was far too early for that. Captured via ASICap via ASI224MC with Baader IR Pass 685nm filter on the SW Mak127 and SW EQ5. I think the exposure was 7000m/s with a gain of 100. Best 40% of 3000 frames via AS!3, wavelet sharpening in Registax 6 and final level adjustments in Photoshop. No barlow so it was a the native 1500mm focal length. Still seeing a internal reflection using a barlow when pointing at the moon, more so at a gibbous phase. Thanks for looking.

Congratulations to the worthy winners. I enjoyed this challenge.

I have been following this thread with interest as I'm in the same boat with the SW127 and considering a wide-field/shorter focal length scope to complement it. Thanks for the update on which scope you eventually went for. Looks good in any case. Clear skies.

Mare Crisium Date: 21st November 2021 Scope: SkyMax 127 Mount: EQ5 Camera: ASI224MC (via ASICap) Filter: Baader 685nm IR pass Capture size: 1304x976px Capture format: RAW8 Gain: 700 Exposure: 7ms Best 20% stacked of 3000 frames using AS!3. Wavelet sharpening via Registax 6, final level adjustments in Photoshop.

Welcome. I have this scope too with the AZ-GTi mount and tripod. It a great portable setup. I have since added a felt lined dew shield (absolute must have), 12v powertank as running from batteries is unreliable and ditched the red dot finder for a Astromaster 9x50 RACI. Payload is something to look out for too, I think if I remember rightly the scope is 3kg and the AZ-GTi has a limit of 5kg so be mindful of the weight of any upgrades. As others have said and I agree with, the focuser is fiddly so I must try a few of the suggestions in this thread. I got some additional Celestron eyepieces along with a 2.5x Televue Powermate also. I know some suggest hanging a counterweight from the tripod to anchor it down too if budget is a premium but I find the clutches on the legs can slowly slip at times if overloaded. I since upgraded to an EQ5 anyway as I'm considering a second widefield scope and fallen down the astrophotography rabbit hole. Generally, if I go anywhere on vacation the AZ-GTI comes with me.

Hi, Another decent evening last weekend, I captured Mare Crisium, the Sea of Crises through the Langrenus and Petavius craters down to Furnerius crater, the Great Eastern Chain along the terminator. Even picked out O'Neill's Bridge. Taken on the evening of the 21st November from 9pm to 10pm, one day (I think...) after the full moon. Covered the notable mares in this area of the Sea of Crises; Sea of Tranquillity; Sea of Nectar and Sea of Fertility. Just a hint of Rheita Valley at the very bottom right. The 2.5 Barlow was reflecting light internally onto the sensor so didn't add to the imaging train for this session. Scope: SkyMax 127 Mount: EQ5 Camera: ASI224MC (via ASICap) Filter: Baader 685nm IR pass Capture size: 1304x976px Capture format: RAW8 Gain: 450 Exposure: 7.5ms Stacked best 25% of 3000 frames, wavelets applied via Registax 6, level adjustment and unsharp mask applied via Photoshop. Placed five images together into a partial mosaic in Photoshop. Thanks for looking.