AstroMuni

1 hour ago, Thenu said:

From what I researched, I think I need to try reducing the shutter speed and stack multiple photos with something like deep sky stacker. I just want to know whether I'm heading in the right direction.

Definitely in right direction. As others have said it would be useful to know what is goal of your project. Take a look at the free Siril software too. It has some tools in it to reduce background gradients etc.

On 20/11/2014 at 15:13, cotterless45 said:

Apps and Stellarium are a rich source, just get them down on paper !

Would like to add Kstars to that list. It has a great options that allows you to plan for the night, aids to star hopping & record your observations. I too prefer to use paper instead of the tool 🙂

On 11/10/2022 at 08:44, Ian McCallum said:

I don't have many filters, but I've never really tried coloured filters on the planets before. 

For planetary imaging and the use of filters, I would recommend taking tips from  https://www.youtube.com/c/RefreshingViews

@MarkRadice the author is on this forum too

5 minutes ago, Elp said:

The Samyang 135mm is a wide lens compared to a typical telescope so you'll get much more in the FOV. It runs well at one stop down from F2, so it'll be faster than what you're used to. Only issue is obviously loss of resolution.

If you're looking to do the type of IR imaging I am imagining you want to try (IE not planetary), note, A. Most cameras are not very quantum efficient in the full IR wavelength (hence why some planetary cameras are advertised as Near Infra Red NIR), B. I had read somewhere to capture a similar signal compared to visible light in IR you have to expose for 25 times as long in comparison and C. Moisture in the atmosphere doesn't play well with allowing IR photons through (hence why IR scopes are high altitude or in space). It'd be interesting to try though and works quite well with planets.

This is what got me interested. I am more into DSOs at the moment...https://satakagi.github.io/IR-imaging-of-galaxies-under-light-pollution/.

1 hour ago, wimvb said:

The main issue people have with the 130PDS, is that the focuser draw tube may protrude too far into the light path, resulting in diffraction artefacts around bright stars.

And the 150pds doesnt have that issue?

3 hours ago, Clarkey said:

What is wrong with a widefield refractor? Simple, reliable and very portable?

Just the aperture ....esp since I would like to try IR imaging

49 minutes ago, Elp said:

It's much wider than you're looking for

Sorry, didnt understand that bit. I am using a 130/650 scope at the moment and perfectly happy with the FOV with the ASI533. The Samyang is definitely on the cards but thats a separate parallel track 🙂 One of the reasons I want to stay with the reflectors is wider aperture and an ability to go down the track of doing IR photography. JWST has inspired me in that direction.

35 minutes ago, wimvb said:

If you save a few £ on the scope, you can use that to eg upgrade the mount with a belt.

So are you suggesting I would get more bang for the buck if I opt for the 130PDS instead, and upgrade the belt etc.?

4 hours ago, NGC 1502 said:

All the best in your endeavours…..however-

Perhaps your enquiry would be better in the “getting started with imaging” section😊

As this was equipment related I posted it here...but seeing the lack of response I guess it would be better suited for the imaging section 😞

@admin if you think this is more appropriate for Imaging section could you move it please?

Hi, I have some experience of doing AP with my Astromaster 130, ASI224mc/ASI533mc on HEQ5Pro. I have purchased the Baader MPCC Coma corrector and that should be arriving this week. The weak link is the Astromaster hence wish to upgrade.

I DONT have an obsy so end up carrying the equipment in and out of the house. I have limited time to image due to work, lack of obsy and Clouds, hence need to make best use of the moments I get for imaging.  So after a lot of reading (and getting confused) I believe I need to look at 6inch aperture. Anything larger would make it too heavy for the HEQ5. I have deliberately stayed away from refractors at this point in time.

The choice that I have narrowed down to is between:

- SW 150pds vs TS Photon 6 f5 (Chris from FLO tells me that TS has a better focuser)

- SW Quattro 6 f4 vs Stellalyra 6 f4 (I would love to go for these but the question is what are the chances that it will lose collimation when I carry it in and out)

I have restricted myself to look at products available on FLO at the moment, but open to suggestions.

Need your advice please.

17 hours ago, ClareMcMullan21! said:

Hi, thanks for the responses. She’s 10, was thinking somewhere between £50-£100. Am I being unrealistic with that budget? 
many advise would be greatly appreciated. 

You can certainly get a scope in that budget range. Take a look at https://astrobiscuit.com/best-budget-telescope/

On 13/03/2022 at 17:37, AbsolutelyN said:

I've been looking at the recent addition of f/4 Newtonians from First Light Optics under the Stella Lyra brand and am curious as to how they compare the SkyWatcher Quattro scopes.  One thing in particular that stands out is the mirrors themselves .... they are BK7 whereas SkyWatcher use Pyrex. My very basic understanding is that BK7 has different thermal properties. In terms of using the scope for astrophotography is the difference negligible or is the mirror quality significantly different? Any thoughts much appreciated. 

Did you get any further with this? I am also interested in these and couldnt find much info.

1 hour ago, Seoras said:

One of the many things that puzzle me is the use of an eyepiece when using a camera with my telescope.

When you are doing astrophotography with a DSLR or astro camera you dont need an eyepiece. But if you are using a phone camera then you would attach it to the back of the eyepiece. You might need to add lenses in between (eg. barlow to zoom in or a focal length reducer to zoom out). Hope this helps.

My take on this starfield using the ASI533mc and Astromaster 130 on HEQ5 pro managed by Kstars/Ekos on RPi. 40x60s subs (no flats or darks) processed in Siril and star reduction done in Gimp. This was taken on Fri night when the moon was quite bright, lots of patchy clouds and plenty of dew. 

The fireworks galaxy is 22 million ly from us and is named so because of the number of supernovae that have been observed in it.

There is plenty of coma around the edges and focus is not perfect, but I quite liked this image. Comments welcome.

5 hours ago, SzabiB said:

What I want to improve:

- I try to find solution for the tripod - mount situation

- upgrade the finder scope..... the current has an equal quality of a pirate costume accessory from the fancy dress shop

Welcome!

- Buy a second hand mount+tripod OR weigh down your existing tripod with sandbags/ milk bottles filled with water to dampen the vibration. You can hang these from centre of tripod by strong string/rope. The other option of building a Dob base (as mentioned by others) is another good option.

- Get a Rigel or Telrad.

I have the Astromaster 130EQ and I purchased a 2nd hand mount and Telrad. I purchased a HEQ5 as I was trying to get into AP, but for taking images with phone an EQ3 should be fine. Also purchase a decent Barlow for planetary work. I have the Baader 2.25x.

Good luck.

EDIT: You can get decent images using the milk bottle route btw. Here is a picture of the moon taken on iphone 8 attached to holder using that technique 🙂 Just remember to put a long delay for system to stop vibrating after you have pressed the button to grab the picture. I had set this for 2-5sec.

17 hours ago, YogSothoth said:

I was thinking of the iPad more for the processing side rather than taking the photos. I have a DSLA and was thinking of buying a tracker to use it on. It was more a case of using the iPad for stacking, rather than having to buy a laptop as well but, it appears that none of the Apple apps have a stacking facility 

Stacking needs lots of RAM & Disk space. Compute power is also good to have, but if the other 2 requirements are adequate then a slower processor with less cores will just take longer.

5 hours ago, Astro_Nic said:

Now you've got me worried I'll spend all of this and not be able to focus and it will all be a waste!  Is there a way to find out prior to I spend a small fortune?

Check how much travel is left on the scope (at the moment) when you reach focus. Then you can approximately work out how much extra distance you need to add/minus depending on equipment added. Thats the approach I took before I purchased my ASI224 for a scope that wasnt meant for AP (the Astromaster 130eq)

@FLO a wishlist to add a calculator for focuser travel distance please 🙂

54 minutes ago, RolandKol said:

I failed to achieve focus (on the secondary/primary mirror view) without it at all.

I think I understand, you are using the ASI224 with fisheye just to show us how it looks right? And not for actual AP! I was thinking why is he using fisheye to image? Duh 🙂 I have the ASI224 too and so very familiar with it.

18 minutes ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

I am currently using an ASI462MC, which is an improvement on the ASI224MC

And the 662 is the next gen, I guess. No amp glow.

On 11/09/2022 at 21:37, OK Apricot said:

so for now I'm going to rule out a mini PC and long cables running inside the house.

I appreciate that you have concerns on security....You dont need to have cables running into your house, btw. If you have an external powerpoint then thats a good start. You have options of ethernet over powerline or a wifi extender. Laptop and you can stay inside. I use the extender option and sit in a position where I can see the scope through windows.

On 11/09/2022 at 21:37, OK Apricot said:

A side thought - is dew the reason people put their laptops inside a blue bin type box when imaging? 

Yes. Keeps the heat in. Any old cardboard box will do too

56 minutes ago, Astro_Nic said:

Was looking at the ASI662MC (2.9 um 1,920x1,080 5.6mm x 3.1mm) or the ASI678MC (2um 3,840 x 2,160 7.7mm x 4.3mm)- they give good close up views, but is the sensor too small?  Then there is the ASI585MC (2.9 um 3,840 x 2,160 11mm x 6.3mm)- nice large sensor and resolution but a smaller view......what do I need?

Have you considered the ASI224MC? Small sensor but great specs for planetary AP. Of the 3 you have listed the 662 would be better as it has faster frame rate which is good for planetary

On 30/08/2022 at 20:55, RolandKol said:

I suspect, the ZWO fisheye lense creates a slight offset.

Out of interest how & why are you using the fish-eye lens for this?

13 hours ago, shedifice said:

I have a few of them

Ah for the next JWST then using them in an array 😉

14 hours ago, david_taurus83 said:

It definitely looks like they forgot to take the bahtinov mask off before launch. We're all guilty!

🙂 I think they left the Y mask in as backup too

9 hours ago, gorann said:

This image is from the second night that I aimed at the Wolf-Rayet object WR 134 (first night in the link below). This time with a different framing to include the Crescent nebula, the elusive Soap Bubble (although apparently not elusive for a RASA), and the strong Ha emitting nebula Sh2-104 (near the upper edge of the image). I actually forgot about this Sharpless object so it was cheer luck that it just about ended up within the frame.

Great shot as usual. A bit too red for my liking but thats personal choice 🙂