carastro

Totally agree that you messed up your alignment by doing PA afterwards. Carole

I would have thought Polar alignment was done BEFORE 3 star alignment. Carole

If you are using automatic actions, then separate layers will disappear as part of the action. If you are doing the processes yourself you create you new layer and can then work on it. I find if I use any automatic action (I rarely do) that you can't step back in the history, so you need to make a duplicate copy if you think you might want to step backwards. You may find my Photoshop YouTube Tutorials helpful. https://sites.google.com/view/astrophotography-carole-pope/video-tutorials?authuser=0 Carole

Excellent, especially for a first try. You must have some nice dark skies. I tried this from a Bortle 4 location and got little after several hours. Since I have to travel to Bortle 4 sites I don't get much time on each target. Carole

I swear by Imaging Toolbox for seeing which targets are suitable for which scope. The author is a member on here too. https://www.blackwaterskies.co.uk/imaging-toolbox/

Just meant generally and should have added the lesser imaged targets. Carole

Two to three hours approx. My stacking software -Astroart - is very fast, so most time spent with Photoshop, Registar and Images Plus. Carole

Running out of targets I can do from home, so starting to tackle some of the fainter ones. Taken over two nights Taken from Bortle 8 Dual rig Atik 460EX & ED80 Atik460EX & ED72 HEQ5 Ha 21 x 600 (3 1/2 hours) Oiii and Sii (total of 15 x 300 binned x 2) (1 hour 15 mins) Total imaging time 4 3/4 hours MORE DATA ADDED - NOW; Ha 30 x 600 Oiii 15 x 300x2 Sii 17 x 300x2 Total now 9 hours 50mins and a Crop of the middle to get in closer to LDN881 itself

Not all add on motor drive systems are capable of adding guiding, so be careful what you buy. I am presuming from your response that you will be wanting to image and therefore getting a mount that is capable of guiding is essential if you want to keep nice rouind stars on long exposure. Carole

Steam rising from the snow covered ground. The homes and offices apparently have free heating from underground thermal heat. Carole

Absolutely. Swimming in the thermally warmed blue lagoon, ice cream in hand and being snowed on at the same time was another unique experience. You can scuba dive between the tectonic plates too but l imagine that is in the summer months. Carole

All the cars were very polite in the towns and would stop if there was any inkling that you might be about to cross the road. No proper crossing either. Carole

Yes, we went to Husavik too, l recall there was an interesting museum there. Also we landed in Akureyri and the route from the airport to Myvatn was full of interesting features. But we did have a guide to point everything out. Hot mud pools, cooking bread under the ground, explosion crater, an area of high volcanic shapes rumoured to be trolls etc. Carole

Really sorry to hear about your wife's health, hope you have a good time in Iceland. I took the local Astronomy Group to Iceland in February 2013. I agree with all the suggestions above and would like to add a couple of other things. Be aware that in February it will be very cold, and the nights long, so do take very warm clothing with you and walking boots preferably. I recall it was minus 12 degrees plus wind chill. Could only take my gloves off long enough to take a photo it was so cold. We stayed in Reyjavik for the first 3 and the last 3 nights, and in the middle we flew up to Lake Myvatn as it is very good there for aurora and it is very dark. Since you are travelling around the whole island, you should include this in your itinerary, there are some hotels there, but not sure if I can remember the name of the one we stayed at, will see if I have anything on my computer and get back to you if I find it. The Myvatn hotel provided a greenhouse nearby with hot drinks and a radiator so we could intermittently shelter from the cold. On the 3 nights we stayed there we saw aurora on 2 out of the 3 nights. Some interesting trips around the lake too. At that time of year the ice is 3 feet deep and you can even drive on it. We went snowmobiling while we were there and I found out afterwards we were snowmobiling on a frozen lake!!!! The two trips with did from Reykjavik (jeep aurora trips out of the city) we didn't see aurora at all, it was cloudy one night and apparently the aurora were there, on the 2nd night it was perfectly clear but no aurora. We also took a trip one day to the site of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano erution in 2010. Of course the eruption was up in the mountains, and so we could only get to the foot of the mountains. There was a farm at the foot, and then we suddenly noticed on the main road a museum to do with the eruption, so we went in. They showed a film from the Icelandic perspective, and the farm we saw was right under the volcanic dust cloud and it showed how most had to be evacuated. When we went into the gift shop afterwards, who should be behind the counter but the farmer's wife who featured in the film. I don't know whether it is still there, but certainly worth a try. Additionally our Jeep took us along the river where the glacier (under which the volcano had formed) melts into the river, and got as far as the foot of the Glacier. Not sure if this drive up to the Glacier will be suitable for cars as I recall the Jeep driver had to get out and do something to the tyres before we drove along there and then rectify it afterwards when we went back onto normal roads. Just going to google hotels in Myvatn...... pretty sure it was hotel Sel. There are pseudo craters nearby. To be honest the whole of Iceland is interesting, it is unique and different. We of course had the services of a guide on each trip so we learnt a lot more about the geology, the life style etc etc, so do a lot of reading before you go. Lovely people. N.B. if taking photos of the aurora, don't make the mistake I did and take the exposures too long, because the aurora move. I took 15 seconds, I think 5 might be more suitable. Photo taken from Myvatn and stretched afterwards, you can see the pseudo craters behind. Carole

Ditto. Carole

I would agree with that. I find it difficult to see how your rig can be balanced with that load and that tiny counterweight. Carole

I bought one of these very recently, but only used it for imaging. I have been pleased with it. Might not answer your question, but here are the images i have done with it.

Oh ok, so it is just valuation advice you wanted. Carole

I always sell 2/3 new price if in goid condition. I think that’s pretty much the norm. Carole

Sad to see Sara. was hoping you would get back into it. Are you able ti use Astrobuysell. I know he was cagey about overseas selkers. I would be happy to put a word in for you if need be. i guess selling from Soain means selling individually makes it more problematic. Carole

Very nice result, yes it is faint. Bit big for the 130PDS and I would say too faint for Bortle 7. I sturggled at Bortle 4. Carole

Struggled with this one, as I spent a week at Kelling in September and a week in the Cotswold's in October and all I managed to get was 1 hour 25 mins lum at kelling and 30 mins RGB in the Cotswolds due to poor weather., So this is only 1 hour 55 mins. 8 x 600 + 1 x 300 lum 4 x 150 binned and 2 each of RGB ED80 and Atik460EX

Very nice. Carole

Astro photographers tend to cool their cameras to -15C or even -25C. Obviously cooler temperatures will give you less problems, but a cooled camera will definitely give better results. Carole

Tale of Woe here: I only managed to get 1 hour 25mins luminance at kelling Heath due to the weather. I then went on a further week's holiday to the Cotswolds last week with some astro chums, but the weather there too was not good for imaging. This is so disappointing when these are my only opportunities to do broadband living in Bortle 8. There was one evening when it looked like a possibility but there was passing cloud which pretty much ruined any further 600sec lum subs, but I did manage to get away with doing short RGB subs binned so I could add some colour to the Kelling Luminance. But only even then managed 30 mins of RGB. So this is only 1 hour 55 mins LRGB. I have done my best to process it. Still hoping to get more data some time, but probably won;t be before the end of 2023. Astrobin link: https://www.astrobin.com/tqzek7/ 8 x 600 + 1 x 300 lum 4 x 150 binned each of RGB ED80 and Atik460EX