carastro

I have asked a couple of knowledgeable people on my Whatsapp group and got the following replies: 1. Looks like a dewy sensor 2. Looks like classic flexure plus out of focus plus cloud or dew as ****** says HTH Carole

I have 3 Atik460EXs and never seen this. Only time I have seen holes in the stars (but not these weird blackish rings) was when I was out of focus. I am no technical Buff, but what scope are you using? Maybe that might help some-one else to answer your question. One other thought, are these Single exposures or stacked subs. I found DSS introduced weird stacking artifacts if I had the cosmetic tab ticked. Carole

Oh wow, not seen that one before and your decription is very apt. Carole

Won;t those sticking out roof spports be a bit dangerous for people walking into them? Carole

I love this. Some exquisite fine detail has been brought out. Really well done. Carole

Absolutely stunning.

Great result Olly. Nice detail in the bright areas. Carole

Super, well worth the processing pain. Carole

I just did this in narrowband. Nice to see it in broadband. Carole

Not done any imaging for a while (except the comet last week), basically because I have virtually run out of targets I can do from home (Bortle 8 ) this means I am down to the lesser done targets which are often quite faint, as is this one. I spent two nights on it (the second using my dual rig) a total of 12 1/2 hours and it could still do with more data, but this is what I have so far. Not sure I want to spend any more time on it. Atik460EX & ED80 + Atik460EX and ED72 (dual rig) Ha 51 x 600 (8 1.2 hours) Oiii 24 x 300 binned (2 hours) Sii 24 x 300 binned (2 hours) Total imaging time 12 1/2 hours

Great result, I ditto all the comments above. Carole

I use an Ioptron Skytracker, this came out before the Star Adventurer which looks a bit complicated to me in comparison. But again you have to find targets manually. It is fine for milky way, and a target that has a decent star pattern to find your target. I took it to Spain and easily fit in my hand luggage and the Tripod fit in my suitcase. It tracks in RA and has a polarscope.

I got the same with DSS and when I had the comet only image I had to (as said above) draw a line around the comet and do some noise reduction to the area around it. I then combined it with the 2nd result of just stars (the next step in the comet stacking procedure. Carole

Welcome to SGL. Carole

Good luck with all this. Building your own PC. Wow. But why did you not take flats? You go to a lot of trouble to capture the comet, do all the stacking using unfamiliar software and then struggle to process because there are no flats. If you have to stop imaging and pack away - leave your camera and scope still attached so you can take the flats afterwards. I had to do this once when l almost forgot and it worked ok. In the absence of flats l can only suggest something like gradient exterminator, a photoshop plugin well worth having.

You can only do that so often before it affects your health. Carole

Had a bit of a break from imaging since early November, mainly because I have run out of targets I can do in narrowband from my home location. I don;t want to keep repeating stuff I have done before unless I thinkl I can do them better or can present them in a different way. Added that that haven't felt like braving the cold weather unless there was something I was desperate to do - which there wasn't. All the targets I am desperate to do need dark skies, and being at a campsite at the right time of year. Anyway the comet got me out of my doldrums and I got out a few days ago to image it. Not brilliant, and expecting a more defined tail I guess was expecting a bit much from the London Suburbs, PLUS I FINALLY FOUND A DECENT TUTORIAL ON HOW TO TO COMET STACKING IN DSS - yay. I had heard it was moving fast, so decided on a dual rig with DSLR for colour and Lum with a mono camera. 100 x 30secs DSLR Canon 1100D 24 x 2 mins Lum with Atik460EX on ED72. Total imaging time around 1 1/2 hours

Amazing work Olly - was this a colaboration or all yopur own work? Carole

I haven't owned a Newtonian for a while, but I used to wrap a couple of dew heaters around the tube (mainly because I didn't have a single one long enough, AND put on a dew shield. I am not sure how well this worked, but I never got dew on the secondary. Carole

I used a 450D for imaging some years ago, it was good enough for learning, but I am sure the newer models must produce far better. Some images I got with it:

Another video of it with some explanation IMG_4287.MOV

Only thing l took was this video of the Rotarian which l think was in FLOs stall. Enables switching from camera to eye pieces by use of a rotating thingy which looks like a filterwheel. Filterwheel can be added too said the designer. IMG_4285.MOV

Great day today, met a few SGL and other people. Didn't buy anything myself but helped a new imager spend £7000 for a brand new rig. Carole

Very nice. I prefer the colours in the full image as they are a bit more subtle. But I prefer DS objects to have stars in them. Carole

See some of you tomorrow, I have been told there will be a "left over" effect from the train Strike, I shall be coming up from Bromley South to Victoria and then the underground. Carole