wesdon1

@Mike Q MY goodness Mike, you have my full sympathy!

@MonsterMagnet Aww i'm gutted for you mate, those 533MC's look awesome for cooled astro. I'm planning on buying the new uncooled 585MC, i don't know if you've seen the reviews and it's stats, but everyone is raving about it. It's got amazing stats for an uncooled camera. That being said, If I had the money now I would buy the 533MC but for now I can only afford the 585MC. Hopefully you'll get a chance to test out your new camera soon mate... Wes.

@M40 LOL I finally get what you meant now! Sorry! DOH!! My goodness my brain is really slowing down! haha!! Haha were all doomed when all those new Seestars S50's arrive!! haha!

LOL i'm so sorry to you and all members! I'm guilty as charged! Haha!! LOL do you mean that new automated 50mm 'scope that does a similar job to the very expensive Vaspera and the like? Sorry if I sound dumb! LOL

Hi all, just a quick rant. This weather has been utterly merciless, it just will not go away? Rain, Rain bleedin' non stop rain for weeks!! I bought a new Optolong L-Enhance filter at the end of June and just always happens, the weather went awful and hasn't stopped since!? LOL. It really is true that when you buy new gear you provoke the angry weather Gods!! LOL. PHEW!! Now I feel better! LOL

@Elp Oh right? Thanks for pointing that potential issue with the FITS Elp, I wasn't aware of it. Thanks mate. Yes the space junk is getting awful, I nearly always see a satellite through my 'scopes eyepiece when doing 3 star alignment for GoTo, and same as you, I get a lot of subs with sat trails through them. It's going to get much much worse because Elon Musk is literally flooding the night skies with thousands of cheap sats and he plans to launch 10's of thousands more in coming years! it shouldn't be allowed! Then we have the risk of "Kessler Syndrome" if any sats collide and cause the kessler syndrome and the skies become littered with debris, making not only astro-imaging difficult, but also potentially imprisoning us all on earth because getting into orbit would be impossible without being shot to pieces by space debris! Scary!

@Elp It's funny you should mention the background extraction in SIRIL Elp because I'm actually currently watching a full series of SIRIL tutorials about how to use SIRIL start to finish! It's an incredibly powerful processing application and the fact it's free is a blessing when you consider how expensive our hobby cane get! Yes the L-PRO is a great LP Filter, and again its funny you mentioned the L-ENHANCE and L-EXTREME filters because I'm actually pricing some second hand ones up as we speak!? Are you psychic or something mate!? LOL. Jokes aside, I really can't wait to get the aforementioned filters because they will really help me block out a lot of LP and sky glow! Thanks so much for your advice and tips Elp! Wes

@Mike Q LOL Mike then you will understand how us brits feel about the damn clouds over here!! LOL. I guestimate, we get on average only around 1-2 cloudless nights a month over here in uk! I too also sometimes question my sanity about diving down into the incredibly deep rabbit hole of astrophotography!! LOL

@Elp Hi Elp! Thanks so much for your advice! I don't have problems with the canon files Elp, it was/is a problem with my APT TIF subs/files I acquired imaging the Dumbell nebula with my ZWO ASI 224MC camera. Every time I tried to register and/or stack the 224MC TIF files/subs, DSS would would crash and close within 2-3 secs of clicking start. I think I may have a solution though, I am going to start saving my subs in APT as FITS files, because another SGL member mentioned that DSS sometimes has issues with TIF files

Hi all, here are my latest processed ( badly! LOL ) East vale and North America Nebs. The NAN in particular demonstrates ( atleast to my eyes! ) just how difficult it is to capture HA signal with an unmodded DSLR camera! That being said, my total integration for both objects was very limited due to the extremely short nights and also the sky glow is a nightmare in mid June! We don't get truly dark skies at this time of year! So maybe when I manage to capture 5,6 even 10 hours of total integration, I might get much better signal and resulting final image? Regardless I still enjoyed imaging both nebs for the very first time, and look forward to many more attempts in future, hopefully with a dedicated DSO cooled astro camera! *Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro Mount *Canon EOS Rebel T1i *ZWO ASI 1200MM Mini *ALTAIR ASTRO 66/400ED refractor *OPTOLONG L-PRO Filter *PHD2 Guiding via LENOVO LAPTOP NAN - 131 x 59sec subs EVN - 119 x 59sec subs Darks, Flats, Bias for both - 20 of each I know both images leave a heck of a lot to be desired, but I'm still happy with my progress! In time, I will acquire 2" Filters ( help with vignetting ) and will improve my post processing skills, and every other aspect of my astrophotography start to finish, so the future looks bright! Clear Skies! Wes.

@Mike Q Oh dear! And I thought MY skies were bad!!?? Really hope you get your clear skies back asap Mike! Clear Skies from Liverpool, England

Hi @Dave Smith is this animation captured using a white light type solar wedge, or is it done with HA 'scope? Or both combined? Also, is solar astrophotography as difficult to master as night time DSO astrophotography? Apologies for so many q's Dave, it's just I'm considering getting into basic solar Astro-imaging. Thanks Dave! Clear Skies, Wes

@Paul M Hi again, Paul. So I have tried many different things, and nothing helps. But one part of your suggestions has only just caught my attention when I was re-reading your suggestions. You mentioned that DSS seems to have issues with TIF's? Well, surprisingly, after trying everything I could with the Tif's in DSS during recent week or two, I came to the conclusion that the problem must actually be with how I was saving my subs/acquiring my data in APT. I was thinking I must be doing something wrong during the acquisition phase of the process. Then fast forward to 3 minutes ago, while reading your suggestions again, it all seemed to make sense, I must need to save my subs as FITS rather than TIF files? So I'm going to try that out when I next get outside to image. Thanks so much for your help Paul, I really appreciate it mate. Clear Skies, Wes.

@Charming Potato Hi again, I'm so so sorry for such late reply, I have had a bad time with a family emergency. I have never used the NPF formula, tbh, so I can't tell you whether it's better or worse than the 500 formula I suggested. I do however know that NPF is more complex than the 500 formula, something to bare in mind. As for you picture, it's awesome considering you're so early into the hobby. Maybe try adjusting the sats, levels and curves a little more to "force out" more colour and contrast? Obviously you can't "force out" colours/details that simply aren't there, so it will depend on how much exposure/integration you managed overall. Just keep playing around with processing, imaging etc and have fun, and you will naturally get better with time. I learned the hard way that this hobby doesn't allow "short cuts" so to speak, it just takes time and persistence. Finally, I'd suggest you mostly listen to the very experienced vets on here, as they have been doing this for years and know all the best tricks of the trade. I wish you every success, and will follow your progress! Clear Skies, Wes.

@Paul M Thanks Paul, i'll try some of whats suggested in the FAQ page. Thanks again, and so sorry for such late reply, we've had a family emergency with my cousin so haven't had a moment to do anything mate. Thanks again so much Paul Wes.

@happy-kat Not sure, haven't tried that, i'll try it tonight, thanks. Thanks so mu7ch for your help, I really appreciate it. And i'm so sorry for late reply, there's been a family emergency with my cousin. Thanks so much Wes

Hi all. To keep it short, here goes... I acquired 101 x 10 second sub exposures of the dumbbell nebula/M27 using "Astrophotography Tool" software/program, and shooting them with my ZWO ASI224MC Camera. When I try to register & stack all the subs in DSS, it crashes DSS!? The files are .TIF, and as I say, I used APT and a ASI224MC camera. I cannot understand why this is happening?? I even tried just stacking 7 or 8 subs, incase my computers memory was struggling, but it was exactly the same outcome, as soon as I click "OK" to start registration n stacking, the screen freezes then DSS crashes and disappears?? If anyone can help, I'd be mega grateful. ( incase it's important, I noticed the subs were all black & white, despite my camera being a colour camera? ) many Thanks in advance to anyone who can help. Wes.

Maybe try a widefield shot of the night sky? They're very doable with just a tripod and dslr camera. Have you heard of the "500 rule"? Basically, it goes like this... Divide 500 by the focal length of your camera lens, and the answer you get is roughly how long you can image night sky with just a stationary tripod, without suffering star trails in your images. So for example, I have a 55mm Canon lens, and want to image with it, so I divide 500 by 55, and get 9.09, rounded off to 9. So that means I can image night sky for roughly 9 seconds before I suffer star trails. So you could get, say, 50 x 9 second exposures of night sky, and stack them all in Deep Sky Stacker. Personally, I always knock 1 or 2 seconds off the answer, just to be sure I get nice apparently round stars. You could use this easy technique for a while to get some experience in astrophotography, and go from there. Hope this helps! Wes

@Charming Potato Hi there. My friend, I am only 8 months into astrophotography, after years of visual astronomy. One thing thing I have learned during my first "Galaxy Season" ( They call the spring months Galaxy Season because Galaxies are mostly all we can see during this period ) is that Galaxies, and especially face on, faint ones like the one you imaged ( M101 ) are notoriously difficult to image. You need a good few hours sub exposures/integration, and also the processing side is very complicated when you're just starting out. All that said, I am very impressed with what you achieved with such basic equipment, and tiny total imaging/integration time! You should be proud! My best advice would be, if you can afford it, get a equatorial mount or a star tracker, and start going for the brightest DSO's, hone/learn your processing skills, and above all else keep it fun! ( I learned the hard way about "keeping it fun". I got too obsessed with wanting Hubble like astro images after just 5 minutes of doing astrophotography! LOL It made me miserable! LOL ) Best of luck Mr Charming Potato, and clear skies! Wes, Liverpool, UK ( Bortle 7 )

@sinbad40 Oh right, so you have also been enjoying this incredible run of cloudless clear nights we've been getting in Northwest England!? I've never seen anything like it in 7 years visual Astro, and 8 months astrophotography imaging!? It's amazing! Oh right brilliant mate! I really want one of those 120ED by Skywatcher, they look awesome for the money! I'm currently also saving up for a ALTAIR ASTRO dedicated astronomy camera, and your 533 Cooled model was/is actually one of two or three I'm considering. Yes I think the weather will still be clear for another couple of nights.

@sinbad40 Awesome M51 mate! I was imaging M51 myself last night. Using my 200/1000 newtonian reflector and Canon EOS T1i DSLR camera. I am still processing data so will post mine up here later when finished. I have really struggled with the processing side of the hobby. I'm making very slow, but steady progress, so I guess that ain't too bad! LOL. Your M51 looks awesome, what scope and camera did you use? Wes, Liverpool, UK. ( Bortle 7 )

@Victor Boesen Hi Vic. I just thought I'd tell you, seeing as you are located on a balcony and I assume you have no way of polar aligning up there? I too have a similar problem where I live on 2nd floor flat. But I have to look out a Skylight window. I couldn't polar align, but I recently discovered brilliant new product called "StarAid". It basically allows you to do long exposure, tracked astrophotography from a balcony/through a window without needing to polar align. Now admittedly, I don't yet own this new product ( very expensive! circa £800-£900! ) but from what I've read, it's a Godsend for people like you and me who can't polar align. As a side note, I do now carry all my gear downstairs, with some difficulty, to go outside to polar align and do my astrophotography outdoors, but for months I wasn't able to due to health problems. But it's definitely a product I'd like to try out in future. Sorry for such long message Vic, I just wanted to make you aware of the product incase you weren't. Clear Skies! Wes, Liverpool ( Bortle 7 )

@Nigella Bryant Hi Nigella!¬ May I ask, why have you got a observatory, and expensive Solar 'Scope etc, and a small cheap ( but awesome for what they are! I hasten to add! ) non equatorial mount? I would have thought with so much money invested in everything else, you would also fit an equatorial mount with a much higher payload capacity? It's a beautiful setup, regardless! Clear Skies! Wes, Liverpool ( Bortle 7 )

@PeterStudz My goodness these smartphone pics are better than some of my DSLR astrophotography images! Amazing! Well Done!

Thanks @Neil_104. I'm glad I finally met someone who has had the same problem I have with living upstairs! LOL. My goodness that must be wonderful having Patio Doors and no stairs! I'm planning to move next year, not just for astro reasons, it's also because the flats where I live has a thief, who stole my brothers bike, and other peoples property, and the landlord won't evict him because they say without hard evidence/convictions, they can't terminate his tenancy agreement. This is the main reason I can't go back inside my flat when my gear is setup outside, for fear of it being stolen by the "Thief-in-chief"! So I'm moving away early next year. Clear Skies!