Subaru19

hello, welcome

Thanks everyone for the advice and encouragement. Got almost the same field of view back ( manually)comparing with the image from the previous night. Autoguiding was a bit of a problem, working flawlessly for about 10 minutes and then there would be a big deviation, anyway that's a different issue. and then there was the near full moon. Havent stacked the images yet to see how well i have done, but I am much more optimistic with multi session imaging now. will keep you all updated. Thanks for your help!. Thanks, i did have a feeling that you needed special cable and not just st4 . thanks for clarifying it. Cheers

Thanks, i did have a feeling that you needed special cable and not just st4 . thanks for clarifying it. Cheers

thank you both for the prompt and very helpful response. the sky is reported to be clear tonight as well. will give it a go, manually as you had suggested, Carole. but would definitely try out apt if i have enough time tonight, or if not for future sessions. Thanks Atreta.

Would like to pick the brains on imaging the same deep sky object over several sessions- days or weeks, please. I attempted imaging the whirlpool galaxy last night during the brief 2 hour window of cloudless sky last night and was really pleased with the result, but obviously i need more exposure time to make the image better. My question is how do i get to the exact same field of view the next time? i am guessing that alignment and stacking will not work, if the frames are not centred relative to each other. Heard of something about plate solving software, but will these work in my set up- heq5 mount controlled by ST4 cable going from guidescope to the mount ( and usb cable from guidescope to laptop) Can't control the mount directly from my laptop. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks

hello all, i tried 2 start alignment on a couple of sessions and am glad to say that it had worked. thank you all.

Thanks everyone. will give it a go with just 2 star alignment. In answer to Cornelius' post, yes i do scroll down to select other stars, but there is only about 10 to 15 in the list and almost none of them will be in view, without being hidden behind obstructions

Hi all, I have a question about 3 star alignment on heq5 pro and hopefully you will be able to help me. After polar aligning my mount, i choose 3 star alignment and i generally try to go for stars in the west and south-west part of the sky, as that's where i have the most visibility. Choosing the first 2 stars is not a big problem, but the options ( only about 10) that the synscan controller gives for the 3rd star are not viewable from my position. i dont understand why it doesnt give me the option to choose from loads of other bright stars that are right up there in front of me. For example, the usual 1st and 2nd stars are alioth, alkaid and arcturus. The third star is something i can't slew to because of obstruction from buildings, such as vega, alpheratz, rukbah, and so many others that are on the east. This is frustrating as my enthusiasm quickly evaporates by the time i get to the third star as i have to keep repeating the process, selecting different 1st and 2nd stars in the hope that the 3rd star would be a viewable one. is this what normally happens or is there something i am not doing right. Thanks for your advice