TerryMcK

I finally got some decent OIII on the target. I've been playing around with the image and come up with this. It needs some additional work on removing the cyan rings around some of the stars. I think that may have been caused by deconvolution in PixInsight as I am still coming to grips with it. I've also rotated the image around a bit so the pillars are now vertical.

It also depends on what you use to calibrate. For instance AstroPixelProcessor barfs if you don't have bias files but does continue after you acknowledge the message. DeepSkyStacker just gets on with it. On my OSC's I use lights, darks, flats and sometimes bias although it can sometimes (but not always) have a negative effect and the amp glow can still show. Removing the bias frames helps. I've never used dark flats or flat darks (whatever terminology it is!). I haven't got my head around PixInsight calibration processes yet as it seems to be complicated. I'm sure once you have done it a few times it comes send nature but my number 1 calibration tool of choice is without doubt APP. I also use APP for my two mono cameras (although the 1600MM is out on long term loan). Again using exactly the same lights, darks, flats (maybe bias) but lights and flats are per filter of course.

Maybe the button and countdown timer need labelling. It could be the nuke button for all we know.

The biochemist knew his stuff on the Sky At Night episode. However he should not give up his day job to become a musician!

I'm not sure how much power they are drawing combined (might be more than the hub is rated for) but try unplugging them to see if the camera shows up. To answer your question about could they be too warm - not really they never get too hot (or shouldn't do) and only raise the temperature slightly. You can feel them but they are warm rather than toasty.

It should all work ok. What is your guide cam though? I've just noticed it in your signature a ZWO ASI120MM. That should work fine. However are some of your USB ports switched off?

I was aiming to get 3 hours each of Ha, OIII and SII on NGC7822 specifically to show the "Elephants Trunks" or "Pillars Of Creation" within the complex - not to be confused with similar structures in different nebulae. I then discovered that my OIII was slightly out of focus so I need to recapture when the conditions permit. In the meantime I tried a bi-colour combination of Ha and SII. Camera ZWOASI183MM - Scope WIlliams Optics ZS103 with x0.8 reducer flattener (568mm F/L and f5.5)

You will need a diagonal for visual to aid comfortable viewing.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-54133538?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science_and_environment&link_location=live-reporting-story Not proof of life yet but the existence of Phosphine gas. Watch The Sky At Night tonight!

Thanks Mark. I need to reduce the magenta halos around some of the stars and need to watch the Ikarus observatory SGL Pixinsight processing talk on Youtube again.

I've been playing around with the Crescent Nebula and this has been a long project so far due to the poor weather we have had this summer in the UK. This combines about 4.5 hours of OIII and 3 hours of SII that I captured in the evening of 13-09-2020/morning 14-09-2020 with some Ha data (I think it was 4 hours) captured late August. Unfortunately my Ha data was 30 degrees rotated from the OIII/SII data due to me installing ..... a camera rotator(!) - in between sessions. On the Hubble ST they call it a maintenance mission! Anyway I still had enough to get a decent crop. With luck I am (hopefully) going to capture some more Ha tonight 14-09-2020 this time with the correct camera orientation. I shunned the SHO Hubble pallet as it was too green and went for a mapping of Ha-red, OIII-Green and SII-blue for this image. Looking at the stretched SII data it did indeed have some nebulocity - faint but definitely there. As usual the jpg does not do the image justice. Camera ZWO ASI183MM Pro - Ha, OIII and SII filters, Scope William Optics ZenithStar 103 with x 0.8 field flattener (FL568mm at f5.5) Processed in APP, PixInsight and PhotoshopCC 2020

A great image Peter. I saw Mars adjacent to the crescent moon through a break in the cloud last night before I went to bed. The derotation has worked well giving detail edge to edge.

All our photos in the future may look like this, courtesy Mr Musk, if we don't use Sigma clipping (People and Space category: The Prison of Technology, by Rafael Schmall from Hungary)

It has done everything the artist intended - make people talk about it

I have Topaz Denoise and personally think it is very good. However it is possible to go over the top with the sharpening function especially in auto mode. So best to tackle each image subjectively rather than use the same settings everytime

Hmmmmm. Not my cup of tea.

I do have one of the cheaper Telegismos but actually cover it with this https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07X57LRT4 The Tele is good for covering during the day as it reflects heat (when we get the sun that is!) but the garden chair cover is great for water resistance and I have kept the gear out for weeks under this with no issues at all.

Very good results with a mobile phone and a Dob. It just shows what can be done with modern consumer technology. Well done.

A great shot there. Looking forward to see if you get any OIII from it. That's a target I am unlikely to get but you never know!

You might be able to run the video through AutoStackert to get some decent stills from the movie.

The thread about stolen equipment specifically the SW mount that had been recovered prompted me to get a UV marker pen and UV flashlight to mark all my gear (not just astro). So almost £11 later and these arrived.

I bought a 52mm mask from here https://www.secure-eshop.com/epages/www_astrograph_net.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/www_astrograph_net/Categories/Shop/Focusing_Aids and fixed it to my lens (49mm) with a step up ring. It works supremely well. You could do the same with a step down ring from 49mm to 46mm. You are only interested in a bright star, like Vega, and the slight amount of vignetting caused by the step down ring won't really matter. I also fixed it into a plastic mount I made so I don't have to use any form of adaptor when attaching to my guidescopes. It can also be used on a camera lens with a hood.

Great image

Fantastic image.

Fantastic