AstroMuni

Here is my first image taken with the 130pds, ASI533MC Pro on a HEQ5 Pro. This is 30mins worth data. EDIT: Forgot the Baader MPCC. Comments welcome.

I have acquired a 130PDS recently and need some advice. I use an ASI533 pro and 30mm guidescope+ASI120mini attached to it. As I setup and takedown the scope every night, I need a space-saving way to store the OTA with cameras attached. On my 130 Astromaster it stands up on its base but with the 130pds I find it impossible and that means I have to store it along its side making sure that it doesnt roll and cause the main camera to hit the floor. How do others store their scope?

I use Kstars and it has the feature to show all the objects of interest for that night on a single screen. Here is a screenshot. I am assuming that similar feature should be available in Stellarium. Even though the ASIAir runs the INDI server that Kstars can use, ZWO have made it a closed system so you cant access it from external devices 😞

Have you tried this in daytime inside your house? Does it still misbehave? That will help rule out if its because of dew or cold.

This is looking like a JWST image. Nice

The star adventurer seems to come with a polarscope ( https://www.firstlightoptics.com/star-tracker-astronomy-mounts/skywatcher-star-adventurer.html) and that should get you in a very good position. The additional software would let you reduce that error to reduce tracking errors. As an example I use the PA scope on my HEQ5 all the time and without using any software can still get very decent images. EDIT: I know I am not comparing apples to apples as HEQ5 has motors for both axes.

In my experience, you dont really need the moon filter or the planisphere. To reduce the brightness of the moon, just reduce the aperture. Most good scopes come with the option to expose only a part of the aperture. Free Planetarium software on your phone/ pc do the job of planisphere very well. Phone adapters can be found on Amazon. And remember, the views through the eyepiece using our own eyes can be the best! Its quite tricky (esp for a 10yr old) to get those beautiful pin sharp images with a camera/phone. Good luck

Most good mounts can hold their tracking quite well between 30-60s. For long exposures (over 60s), a guidescope is essential. Think of it this way - when the shutter of the main camera is open it cant see the small movements that are causing the object to move away from the centre. But the guidescope would be taking much shorter exposures and can notice these and send correction signals to the mount. There is a workaround of working without a guidescope for exposures that cause a small drift but you can live with.... You could get the mount to realign every couple of exposures using platesolving so the drift will be corrected once every so often.

In this case I prefer the image with lots of stars. 🙂 Puts things in perspective about what else is out there

I am a bit confused reading this....As IPA is alcohol, are you saying that folk have cleaned the filter itself but making sure it doesnt touch the edges?

As Allworlds has said, with the stars missing its hard to figure out where exactly you are pointing in the sky

Which operating system are you using? Windows/Linux etc.

I was recently speaking to a friend who works in the metal casting industry and he was saying that most of the products these days are from recycled metal. In the case of the OTA tube rings they certainly look as if made from cast or wrought iron (not Aluminium). Need to check with a magnet 🙂

As its a faster scope, its best tested using an actual star. If like me, you are in the UK then our weather conditions are not exactly great to get perfect airy disks, so our imaging is more in the hands of atmosphere than in precise collimation. Good luck.

True. I think at this rate we are now getting into the realms of 3d printer vs laser cutter, so needs a new thread 🙂

Thats a great first image... Please add details of exposure, ISO setting etc, so other newbies can learn from your experience.

One to add to the list when folk ask what are essential items to get into this hobby, then 🙂

Do a star test and get the airy disk to tell you how good or bad your collimation is. Small alignment differences wont make much of an impact to your images anyway. BTW what scope do you have?

The picture explains it beautifully 👍🏾

Could just mean that your scope has an offset. Several faster scopes exhibit such behavior.

I agree with @fozzybear. Over and above what fozzybear has said, the Skywatcher 114/1000 is a catadioptric (hence shorter tube) whereas the Celestron 114/900 is a regular Newt with a smaller focal length. Suspect that both these scopes have a spherical mirror (not a bad thing, I have Celestron 130EQ) but Parabolic are considered superior. The SW skyhawk 1145PS has a parabolic mirror and has better reviews.

I think the reference to transport is intended for long journeys, not a short trip from indoors to outdoors.

Its like the series Location, location 😉 there are tradeoffs. If you were a Mac / RPi user I would have said use Kstars which can be configured to be pretty or plain.

Thats a lovely shot. There is a lot more data in there which I can see just by using the Preview tool on my Mac. So you should be able to get more detail out with your original. Good luck!

I love this shot. 😍 And its amazing how there is some much dust in the left and a clear patch on top right as if someone has carved out a space.