FaB-Bo-Peep

This is one of my favourite objects and you've captured it stunningly!

I like these a lot, well done!

Beautiful!

My first attempt at comet Neowise taken using a compact camera mounted on a static tripod. This is the combination of several 15 second exposures combined in Deep Sky Stacker. Even though I travelled to a field on the north edge of town so that my camera was facing away from it, I was amazed by how much light pollution there was from the neighbouring villages, (just look at the glow on the horizon). While not great I'm pleased that I have at least managed to capture an image and will return for another go on the next clear night.

Think this could be the best I've seen so far, absolutely sunning!

Simply stunning! I would be ecstatic if I managed to capture anything like those 🙂

Very useful video thanks Chris. My wife and I went out to a perfect nearby location last night but while we could see the Big Dipper and Capella, low cloud prevented us from seeing the comet. Thanks to your video we now have confirmation that we are looking in the correct area and it's big enough to the naked eye that there will be no missing it when more favourable conditions allow us a clearer sky 🙂

Beautiful!

Absolutely superb!

Hi everyone, The attached image is the result of a short AVI file, captured in ASI Capture, stacked in AS!S, (because Registax6 would not load the file), wavelets then adjusted in Registax and the resulting image then tweaked and cropped in Paintshop Pro. As with my recent Mars attempt I'm eager to try again with a barlow. Scope is a Skywatcher 250PDS and camera is a ZWO ASI 120MC. 🙂

A few moon shots, my first in ages. They are the results of some very short AVI files, captured in ASI Capture and stacked in AS!S, (because registax6 would not load the files). Scope is a Skywatcher 250PDS and camera is a ZWO ASI 120MC. 🙂

I can relate. For me the WOW! moment was with a blue Skywatcher 130PM and the planet in question was Saturn which I purely stumbled on by chance. My wife was equally unimpressed about being woken up and dragged out into the garden in the dead of night 🙂

Hi everyone, Last night I finished watching a film, looked out the window and Jupiter, Saturn, Mars and of course the moon were all visible! I quickly plonked my mount and scope in the front garden and roughly pointed it towards the NCP, (not even looking through the mounts scope), no alignment of any kind. The attached image is my first ever Mars and although it wont win any prizes I'm surprizingly pleased with how it's turned out. There appears to be a fair bit of surface detail and have I managed to capture one of the polar ice caps? It's the result of a very short AVI file, captured in ASI Capture, stacked in AS!S, (because registax6 would not load the file), wavelets on the saved image then adjusted in Registax6 and final tweaks in Paintshop Pro. I think ideally a 2 x barlow to give a bit more magnification might be advantageous. What do you think to the image? As always constructive criticism is welcome. Scope is a Skywatcher 250PDS and camera is a ZWO ASI 120MC. 🙂

Thanks Tony, Your response is very much appreciated. The above along with your images, (which speak for themselves), have convinced me that going for the much cheaper CLS filter would in the end be a false economy. I do like my coloured stars and the fact that your images have retained this has convinced me. I compared your M13 to my recent attempt and could absolutely live with the colours you have captured. Right so that's me convinced, now just need buy a bottle of wine and convince my wife! 😀

That's a very impressive image! How are you getting on with the Optolong L-Pro filter please? I am considering buying one over a CLS because it's reported as being less harsh and does not have as much of a colour balance shift, but it is significantly more expensive so hearing your views would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance Ian

Hi everyone, Over the years I have been amazed by what I can capture from my severely light polluted back garden but some targets really suffer with lack of contrast and details are just lost in a sea of light pollution. In an attempt to at least partially combat this issue I am thinking of buying either a SVBony CLS or Optolong L-Pro light pollution filter. It is my understanding that the CLS is stronger in the amount of light pollution it blocks but also blocks some good light in the yellow / orange range of the spectrum making it more tricky or even impossible to achieve natural looking results during processing. My scope is a Skywatcher 250PDS which obviously gathers a lot of light so I'm not too concerned about needing longer exposures, (especially as I've just started guiding), but while the extra light pollution blocking power of the CLS is appealing I'm a bit concerned that with my very limited processing skills I simply won't be able to get back the yellow / orange in my images and if this is the case would probably regret not going for the Optolong L-Pro. I would be going for the 2" threaded version to attach to my coma corrector rather than the Canon clip in variant as this way I can continue to use it should I ever change my camera. What are your thoughts / experiences with the above mentioned filters please? Thanks in advance. 😀

Stick at it, the scopes ability to grab light is significant and I'm constantly amazed that pleasing images can be achieved in such a shot time. Shout if you need any help, (but be warned I'm no expert).

Thanks and correct, darks but no flats. At the end of the imaging session I just put the cap on the end of the telescope and take 8 - 10 exposures of the same length as I've been imaging at then load the light and dark frames into Deep Sky Stacker. I've yet to do flats as I have no suitable white shirt to stretch over the end of the scope but really must do so soon as I'm sure they will significantly help. It's my understanding that darks help with hot / dead pixels and flats help with abnormalities in the imaging chain such as vignetting. The 250PDS is hard work at times because of it's size but it's ability to grab so much light in such a shot time perfectly suits my bang for buck approach to astro photography 🙂 You should give M27 a go, it's a very nice looking object and is fairly large and bright which helps.

Hi everyone, The attached image is the result of just 32 mins worth of RAW subs captured from my severely light polluted back garden, stacked in Deep Sky Stacker, (with darks but no flats), and processed in StarTools and Paint Shop Pro, (I really have no idea of what I am doing though). Scope is a Skywatcher 250PDS and camera is a Canon Rebel XS, (1000D). In terms of my processing in StarTools I'm not sure my technique is any better than last years attempt but one thing that is obvious is that even though my subs were longer this year, (75 secs), the stars are rounder and that is thanks to the fact that I am now guiding using a ZWO ASI 120MC camera attached to my Skywatcher finderscope. My next purchase is going to be a CLS filter as to say the light pollution in my back garden is bad would be an understatement!

Ring nebula (M57), Dumbbell nebula (M27) and the great globular cluster in Hercules (M13). Whirlpool galaxy (M51).

Be careful, it's always hard knowing when enough is enough in terms of tweaking an image, you could easily lose many hours, trust me I know! If you haven't already done so, be sure to also check out M27 - Dumbbell Nebula which is in the same area as the Ring, it's much larger and a very impressive sight. I had a crack at it last night and will be posting the resulting attempt at an image later this evening 🙂

I won't even attempt to comment on processing techniques as I'm still very much learning and half the time have no idea what I've done when I manage to achieve a pleasing result with my imaging but all I will say is that there's a lovely amount of detail in that Ring and you should indeed be excited by it, especially as it's your first attempt. Well done! 😀

Hi everyone, The attached image is the result of just 22 mins 15 secs worth of RAW subs captured from my severely light polluted back garden, stacked in Deep Sky Stacker, (with darks but no flats), and processed in StarTools and Paint Shop Pro, (I really have no idea of what I am doing though). Scope is a Skywatcher 250PDS and camera is a Canon Rebel XS, (1000D). While it won't win any competitions I think this is my best attempt so far and as long as each attempt is better than the previous then I'm happy. I think my next purchase will have to be some sort of light pollution filter as the lights in my area are severely hindering further progress. 😀

Simply amazing!

Hi everyone, Last night I setup my gear for the first time this year, primarily to test it's functionality prior to the arrival of my guide camera. Thankfully everything worked as it should and I found myself hoping from target to target checking the goto accuracy. I also managed to gather a few subs of M81 and had a crack at processing them in StarTools. The attached image is the result of 28 x 40 second subs captured from my severely light polluted back garden by my Canon Rebel XS, (1000D), scope is a Skywatcher 250PDS mounted on a n AZ-EQ6 GT. No darks, flats or anything like that. While it wont win any competitions it's still my best M81 to date and is credit to the power of StarTools, (with which I don't really know what I'm doing), and the 250PDS for gathering so much light in such a short time. 🙂 m81-dss-startools-bmp.bmp