wesdon1

On 21/05/2023 at 23:04, Neil_104 said:

I really sympathise with you there - I used to live in a 1st floor flat and had a similar trek up & down stairs. I'm very fortunate today to have patio doors straight out into the garden - I shall never complain about setting up again!

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!

On 19/05/2023 at 23:52, Neil_104 said:

So I'm finally off and running with imaging M88. After setting up, polar aligning, aligning the mount, focussing on a star, having plate solving not working so had to manually search about a bit for M88, setting up & tweaking the guiding, to finally clicking the sequence run button, I'm not going to lie - I have a headache and I need a drink.

It's not just me is it??! 

But bl**dy hell is it satisfying once it's all up and running and you can finally sit back enjoy the images rolling in. And enjoy that drink 😄

@Neil_104 LOL my friend, you most definitely aren't alone in this one! I live upstairs on 2nd floor flat, and I have to carry all my gear, in one go ( trust me, it's hard! ) down all the stairs, then go through around 1 hour of setting up! ( and obviously carry it all back up the stairs again when finished! ) But as you rightly say, that feeling when FINALLY everything is setup and running, and you can sit back and watch it fire away taking subs, it's wonderful! I can't go back inside my flat until everything finished though, so I have my leather chair outside and a flask of coffee ( I carry the flask of coffee down too, but the chair gets left in the garden! LOL ) 

This hobby takes commitment, patience, and lots and lots of time! But it's so rewarding when you start making progress, even with the smallest of things, like getting your polar alignment spot on, or finally working out how to use PHD2 Guiding, etc etc etc. All the little victories mean so much more when you had to actually work for them! 

Clear Skies! 

Wes, Bortle 7 ( Liverpool UK )

Hi all. I'll do my best to keep this straight to the point.

Basically I got around 1 hour 50 minutes subs at ISO800, 60sec each sub. The target was Bodes Galaxy. Now my problem is, I can't - 

A - Tease out any colour in Bodes Galaxy 

B - I can't get spiral arms to show in Bodes galaxy, only the bright core

My suspicions are falling on a cheap filter I bought some weeks back, namely the SKYTECH CLS Canon EOS Clip Filter. I could be mistaken, but aside from causing awful green cast on subs, It just doesn't seem to allow reds, blues etc to show through in the Galaxy images? Included is the stacked and processed image. Notice how the spiral arms are practically invisible? What confuses me more though, is the little Cigar Galaxy has red and other colours, so why is Bodes so bland?? It's a mystery!? 

If anyone has any tips, i'd be very grateful! Thanks!

Canon T3i ( unmodded )

SKYTECH CLS Filter

SW 200P Newt. Reflector

Well tracked/guided with PHD2

* I don't feel the need to make the post even longer by including in the list, every single piece of equipment I used.

50 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

Unless you have very sophisticated algorithms to deal with that - mixing of different SNR subs can be rather damaging. You can end up with worse result compared to not using those subs in the first place.

It behaves pretty much as light pollution, and if possible - minimize it. Most people image only during full night and avoid any sort of twilight. I know it is impossible to do so in summer time in northern latitudes (no true night, only twilight), and for that reason some imagers skip summer months all together - or use them for practice and trying out things - without having high expectations of good results.

Thank You for answering this question to @imakebeer. I had a ton of subs that looked almost as bad as his last sub, the "bluey blown out sub" above, and I was only doing 152sec subs, ISO1600. I had taken them around 12midnight to 2am on 15/05/23 and although still "dark" they were blown out, and I was wondering, was it because at the moment in UK, it's not truly "dark" due to such short nights in summer and the fact the Sun never dips very low below horizon. So again thank you for clearing this up! 

Wes, Bortle 7 

On 13/05/2023 at 16:11, Piotrstrama46 said:

Pozdrawiam wszystkich z Centralnej Polski..😊

hello and welcome

6 minutes ago, neil phillips said:

I've always been known. To help where i can. So if you ever get stuck just give us a shout. Enjoy the new journey. There's whole world of fun at the end of it

@neil phillips Aww thanks Neil! 

10 minutes ago, wookie1965 said:

I have never seen M51 or the Leo trio from home but here in really dark skies with my 10" I could see the easily see them dark skies makes a hell of a difference. 

I've seen the core of Andromeda Galaxy from home. And even then I was having to use the averted vision technique to really brighten the core up. It says I live in a Bortle 7 location, but that Bortle scale doesn't count for anything if you have white LED street lights shining down your telescopes OTA! LOL

13 minutes ago, neil phillips said:

Appreciated Wes its a very fine line between detail and noise. That's normally my goal. Pushing it to a point just before the noise starts becoming easily seen. Any more and it can seem impressive at first glance with the sharpness. But on closer inspection the images become covered in grain. Its false information. Its not real. So from that stand point it really shouldn't be there, no matter how impressive the overall sharpness is as a whole. A balance can be struck. And i like to think i am getting close to that,

I will leave it to others to decide if they think i am or not. But i am happy my end

@neil phillips Yes Neil it makes sense what you're saying. I am only 8 months into my imaging journey, and have a lot still to learn! 

Wes. 

14 minutes ago, Franklin said:

I agree, that would be awesome but the largest scope I own is a tiddly 41/2" refractor, the Vixen SD115s and it was this scope that I took along to the Astrocamp. The difference in views under a truly dark sky and my light polluted back garden is completely "chalk and cheese". I only viewed some of the "showpiece" Messier objects and they definitely were "showpieces" that night. I'm thinking of doing some basic EAA to try and combat my poor skies.

Oh right I understand! So that really proves that a dark sky is so important for resolving/seeing faint DSO's. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the council would turn out all street lights for a couple of hours every evening, say from around 12midnight to 3am? Most folk are fast asleep in bed at that time anyway!? I doubt they ever would though because they're too afraid of someone being attacked in darkness and council getting blamed for turning out street lights!? Impo though, if someone is sick and twisted enough to attack someone else, then a silly street light isn't going to stop them!? LOL

On 30/04/2023 at 03:29, neil phillips said:

Got a few to go through. here's one just done 

 full size click to open.  last one sharpened more. As can be seen i allowed the rims to over expose ( intentional i could see it ) As i wanted to see how much of a increase in perceived resolution was possible. Somewhat of a experiment. Think i will hold back a bit more in future. But it does help highlight finer smaller detail i think

 

@neil phillips IMPO Neil, the extra details/craters etc give it a much more "in-depth" feel to the image. It appears as though you have took a carving knife to the Moon and cut/shaped every perceivable rim and crater! Very impressive! 

Wes

1 minute ago, neil phillips said:

Another process full size capture size

 

@neil phillips My goodness! You can actually see all the much smaller craters, that are never normally resolved in images with 'scopes of around 8inches of aperture or less! Incredibles! One of the best Lunar images I've yet seen Neil! 

Wes, Liverpool ( Bortle 7 )

37 minutes ago, Franklin said:

Amazing skies out there. I thought the same on the single clear night at the recent Astrocamp. Best views I've had of numerous Messier objects, M51 and M13 were fantastic and even the Owl nebula M97 was easy. The Ring and Dumbbell were very pronounced and the galaxies in Leo were stunning and in Virgo there were so many I got lost. 

@Franklin May I ask Frank, what size aperture 'scope did you view the Virgo Super Cluster through? Normally at Star Parties, there's usually atleast one person with a +20inch aperture behemoth, and that is my dream, to be at a dark sky site one day and look through a very large aperture 'scope, +20inches, and see DSO's like Galaxies and Nebula etc

*REPOSTING THIS TO DEEP SKY IMAGING SECTION, AS KINDLY SUGGESTED TO ME SOME WEEKS BACK, BUT I COULDN'T WORK OUT HOW TO DO THAT! LOL

On 29/04/2023 at 15:12, wookie1965 said:

Cheers Wez,

             I'm in St Helens just down from the "big head" if you know that. 

I have horrendous light pollution I am going the Brecon Beacons next weekend hoping get a clear night 

Best Wishes 

Paul 

@wookie1965 Hi again Wookie. Sorry for such late reply, I've been unwell with my throat and other health issues. 

I just read your reply and you mentioned travelling to Brecon Beacons the following weekend? My goodness the clouds/weather these last couple of weeks have been the worst I can  remember in around 7 years visual astro and the whole of my small 8 months of imaging astro!?? The clouds just will not sod off!?? Did you still go to the Beacons? Any joy with weather? I believe it's that damn Jet Stream pushing weather system after weather system into the UK, and there seems to be no end in sight, at time of writing!? 

Mate I have exact same blazing LED lights like the one in your pic. I have often seriously considered opening up their servicing box and sabotaging them! LOL. The broadband white light they emit is a nightmare to filter out without affecting imaging data. 

As soon as this weather allows, I'll do what I planned to and see how I fare viewing galaxies visually and let you know mate.

Clear Skies my friend!

@Chrissyfbpe Hi Chrissy, welcome to SGL. I would suggest you watch some astronomy related YouTube vids to start learning about the hobby. Also, there's a brilliant book titled "Turn Left At Orion" which is great for beginners. Over time, with experience, you will get a good understanding of the basics of owning and using your telescope. Seeing as you own a GoTo telescope, I would also, if I were you, prioritise learning how to setup that telescope to use it's GoTo function, so you can then easily find any target you wish to see, quickly. Then you can go from there, and see how far you wish to go in the wonderful hobby!

Clear Skies!

Wes, Liverpool UK.

Hi all. I need some advice from more experienced members if possible please?

Basically, I can't remember if this sound has always been there from new, but recently, when slewing my mount, I notice a regular but intermittent "rattling" sound coming from what I assume are the gears in my mount? It sounds like the gears are somehow slightly loose or something somewhere isn't meshing perfectly as the drive/mechanism is rotating? Now, just for context, my guiding seems ok, my GoTo seems ok, and 3 star alignment is bog standard typical of what you read about other folks experiences with SW HEQ5 Pro mounts, and is as follows...

"1st star, quite a ways out.

2nd star, almost spot on centre.

3rd star, practically perfect dead centre"

It's just I'm concerned that if the rattling sounds are a sign of a problem, I want to address it now rather than later when it could develop into a catastrophic failure? 

If anyone does believe it's something they know of, would you be so kind as to suggest/advise what I should do to address the issue please? 

I have done multiple online searches to find help, but there's nothing coming up in searches that even partially matched my specific issues?

Many many thanks in advance for any and all help!

Wes.

On 26/04/2023 at 13:32, wookie1965 said:

Yes Wow for the picture and yes I have never seen M51 from home or the Leo trio I have even purchased a 10" dob, had a couple of clear nights here but the wind was horrendous blowing a hooley no point setting up as the scope would of been all over the place.

Paul

@wookie1965 Thanks so much for kind words Wookie! 

Aww that saddens me! Surely with a 10" dob you would atleast make out some of the cores of M51 and M101? Tbh though, I haven't ever seen them visually through an EP, I've only imaged them. Now that you've brought this to my attention, and we don't live far away from each other ( I assume? Merseyside? I'm in Merseyside. Wavertree Liverpool, more specifically ) I am going to take some low power EP's outside during my next imaging session and see if I can make out any details of said Galaxies mate. I'll get back to you and let you know how I get on. Bare in mind aswell, my largest 'scope is 8inch aperture, and I have hideous LED street lamps blazing down onto the gardens, so if I manage to resolve ANYTHING of either Galaxy, then you should definitely be able to too my friend!

Clear Skies!

Wes. ( Bortle 7 )

On 24/04/2023 at 14:03, wookie1965 said:

Wow I have still not seen this from home.

@wookie1965 Hi wookie, did you mean you haven't been able to view M51 from your home/location? and was the "wow" a reaction to my pic? If yes then thank you so much for such kind remarks my friend! It would have been a lot better if the wind hadn't ruined about 70% of my subs! lol. @happy-kat very kindly made some really helpful suggestions to tackle said issues with my subs so I'm going to try them all out at the first opportunity!

Clear Skies! 

Wes ( Bortle 7 )

On 23/04/2023 at 13:36, happy-kat said:

you were fortunate it was clear (hardly any here) even if windy, perhaps when windy now you've seen your reject list % you could cut the individual exposure time further to see if that increases your keep rate, a kappa clipping algorithm can help round the stars a little, set your highest scoring frame as your reference.

@happy-kat Oh wow thanks so much for those tips/advice happy-kat! I never knew the "kappa sigma clipping" helped make stars more 'round? And the highest scoring reference frame, that sounds so so helpful and makes total sense! I wish I'd have thought of that myself months ago! And yes I think cutting the sub exposure times will help my keep rate in future windy conditons. It's horrible having to bin so much of your very hard earned subs!

Thanks again so much! I'd be lost without this forum! 

Wes ( Bortle 7 )

14 hours ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

So , first night with the new 102 ED starwave and would you believe it , first light too . Just an hour but enough time to look at Venus , the moon , beehive cluster , castor and Pollux . The highlight was using the SVBony 3-8 zoom on the moon … absolutely amazing . Even down to 3mm (x374 ) the moon was clear and showed no false colour . Finished off looking at Capella . 
A great start for the new scope 

@Stu1smartcookie Hi Stu. I have the Altair Lightwave 66/400 ED Doublet Refractor, which I believe has the same optics/glass as your larger Starwave? ( I could be mistaken? ) I have found the optics to be great quality and little CA that I can see either visual or photographic/astro. I am actually looking for a larger aperture refractor because I need more "reach" and light gathering ability for certain smaller DSO's like Planetary nebs and small galaxies etc. I would love to get the same model 'scope that you just got, obviously because I know the optics are great.

I look forward to seeing any reports you post about your future adventures with the new 'scope!

Clear Skies!

Wes, Liverpool UK ( Bortle 7 ) 

Hi all. I am just putting this out there, because I have tried reading online, but there's so much conflicting advice! Basically I am asking, will anyone who has plenty of experience imaging galaxies from light polluted city, recommend a good filter for predominantly imaging Galaxies? I currently own and use the Optolong L-Pro 1.25", and was wondering is there a better filter for aforementioned imaging targets? Finally, would you say that a 2" version of my L-Pro filter would yield better results than my 1.25" version? ( I image using a SW 200P newt. reflector, and a ALTAIR Lightwave 66/400ED Doublet refractor )

Thank You in advance for any advice and recommendations

Wes, Liverpool ( Bortle 7 )

Hi all. I just wanted to share my latest, best image of a Galaxy. It's M51 whirlpool galaxy. I only managed around 45 minutes total integration after most of my subs were ruined by strong winds. I'm still very happy with the final result though, because i'm still learning.

*Target - M51 Whirlpool Galaxy

*Canon EOS T3i unmodded

*SW HEQ5 Pro Mount

*SW 200P newt. reflector

*Skytech CLS Filter

*ZWO 120MM Mini Guide Camera / PHD2

*119 x 65sec sub-exposures ( I didn't want to attempt longer subs due to awful wind ) ( Only 42 subs were usable due to wind )

Laptop - LENOVO IDEAPAD 1 ( rubbish Laptop, btw! Super slow! lol )

On 21/04/2023 at 22:59, Neil_104 said:

Snap. Out of 2hrs 40 mins total imaging time I was able to use...........25 mins worth. I really should have packed up early but it was only the 2nd clear night since the end of Feb and I just wanted to get something....anything! 

It was still enjoyable though with Venus keeping me company, hanging low in the West 🙂

@Neil_104 My goodness all that data and you only had 25 minutes left that wasn't ruined! And SNAP! I totally understand your desperation to get something, anything, because I too felt the same way, after not seeing clear skies for so long! LOL. Next time I'm not even attempting to use my big 8 inch newt if it's very windy, atleast I won't do until I get a much bigger stronger mount, like a Skywatcher NEQ6 or EQ6R-Pro. The HEQ5 Pro I currently own is at it's imaging/payload capacity limits with my big 'newt, especially in high winds. Atleast that's my personal opinion about it anyway.

Yes Venus is looking beautiful at the moment.

11 minutes ago, wookie1965 said:

It has been that windy it was no use taking my scope out the scope would have been rocking and rolling 😄

That wind played havoc with my setup a couple nights back. I was trying PHD2 for the first time and the wind kept ruining my subs. I was using my largest scope, the SW 200P mounted to my SW HEQ5 Pro. I should have used my tiny ALTAIR 66/400 ED Doublet Refractor, because I think that would have been much less vulnerable to the wind, being "over-mounted" on the big strong HEQ5. Never mind, I've learned my lesson! LOL

LOL I recall with sadness, about 2 months ago, I spent almost 5 hours in the freezing sub-zero cold gathering data on the Leo Triplet, only to discover the next morning that I had accidentally deleted all my data from my Laptop!!?? I was devastated!! Haha!! I was trying to delete older files because my Laptop was running so slowly after my imaging session ( I was starting to look through my subs in anticipation of processing/stacking them all the next day after work ) and somehow, such the dope that I am, I managed to delete the whole nights data!! ( and I couldn't retrieve them from the Recycle Bin because I have the settings on my Laptop to permanently delete when I delete things, just to save me having to delete stuff twice, and to try help Laptop stay fast, because it's a slow Laptop in the best of circumstances, it only has a crappy processor and 80GB total storage space ( I recently purchased extra storage space by way of a SONNICS SATA 500GB storage device )

What a monumental IDIOT I am!! haha!! 

Wes Liverpool ( Bortle 7 )