AstroMuni

There are several needs to be done activities that are seen on forums (collimate, guiding, parabolic mirror etc). I have had my scope since 2012 and although I had done some preliminary checks after reading up about the need for collimation, I stayed put as the quality of my images whilst viewing was good enough for me. Even when I got into imaging this year, it seemed fine. But now with a few months of imaging under my belt, I started noticing that my stars were not as sharp as I would like it to be. So I guess at the end of the day its what you are happy about

I would have thought that to preserve colour balance we should combine and then stretch. If each colour was stretched separately then you coud end up with an unauthentic colour as each channel may have been stretched differently. Is my understanding correct?

Everytime you platesolve, the frame is rotated on screen to reflect the correct orientation. So after you rotate the camera just do a platesolve to get an updated display. Does that answer your question? If not I can elaborate. If you know the orientation beforehand you can also set the rotation in the configuration so the sensor shows the approximate framing of your object without a platesolve.

+1 I use only SIRIL and Gimp to do any touch up work post processing. This is a great place to learn the basics. I follow this workflow and this gives great results. @StuartT also take a look at the Sirilic tool which has a GUI interface for generating and running scripts.

I have noticed this sometimes using Firecapture too. It appears that the driver for some reason doesnt communicate properly with the camera and you end up with straneg patterns on the image. Using a different software to talk to that port seems to release that issue.

Ekos has a mosaic capture option. Will give it a shot. Need to check if SIRIL will stitch and align the 3 x 3 into one larger image. I use a Linux machine so limited options for stitching. 👍

I will need a bit more info on how to do this Still learning. I use Ekos to capture my images. I think ASI224 allows a max of 2x2 binning.

Got scope collimated and PTFE strips added to focuser to stabilise it, with help from a friend @skybadger The image above is post these changes

Is this just the stacked image or have you done any stretching? Please post the stacked image before stretching like Alacant suggested and you should soon get suggestions I do get the blue glow from my astro camera due to amp glow. Guessing its a similar issue with camera sensor. Once you take the darks they should cancel that out.

Here is my latest image capture. The Cocoon nebula (IC5146) almost 4000 light years away from us and spanning 15 light years. The bright star near the centre is lighting up the nebular glow and also clearing out the cavities. Cant imagine that we are looking at a star nursery where a few million stars are being born. This image is made up of around 200 subs of 30sec each, stacked and processed in Siril and polished in Gimp.

Nice image. Cheapo is a relative term 😉

I think it needs samba to be installed on the Pi to be able to do that? Just my guess really. Astropi 3 which is a very old script https://www.indilib.org/raspberry-pi/astropi3.html covers this aspect.

I absolutely agree and thats been my approach too. In your list of buys you could even skip the guider and related camera if your mount tracks decently. As you rightly pointed out there is lots of free software out there for managing the devices, image capture and post processing.

I agree it wont suffice for larger targets and in the longer run, but just to make a start without any major investment; I think its suitable. Plenty of smaller DSOs around to play with like Dumbell nebula, Ring nebula etc. EDIT: Had I done all this research I would never have started off in AP It took the 'see what I can get with my existing equipment' approach and I have and learning a lot in the bargain.

I started down this journey quite recently around April this year, so its fresh in my head The bare minimum setup is Scope, decent go-to mount (HEQ5 pro is good and I have it), an astro camera (doesnt need to be cooled) or DSLR, a laptop and cables to go between laptop and mount, camera and power cable. You have option of using a USB hub placed close to the mount and a single cable running back from it to your laptop. You also need to settle on a software that you are comfortable with (NINA, Kstars, APT etc.) to control your equipment. First 2 software are free but Kstars uses INDI which only runs on Linux, RPi, Mac. I use the latter and I use an RPi instead of a USB hub to control them. Good luck.

Hi Ian, You already have the ASI224Mc and 2 decent scopes. My suggestion is have a go with that. I am new to AP as well and have a 130mm Celestron & ASI224mc and I have managed to capture a few DSOs (see my signature). Good luck Depending on how accurate your mount is in tracking, you may need a better one. But try your existing mount before you buy.

A modded DSLR is essentially an astro camera sensor without the cooling capabilities.

Wow. That looks great.

The solution to align your finder to the scope is definite must do as this will help you long run. If your mount is a Go-to I suggest you use your laptop to control it. That gives you the ability to platesolve and the software will automatically centre your object in your Fov. I use Kstars/Ekos (free) and an RPi to manage the mount, camera etc. But you can use others like NINA (free) and a few other paid ones like SGPro.

The EQ5 Pro is quite good. The HEQ5 Pro will take on a larger payload and its gear ratio is better. So your guiding will be better. If you have the funds go for HEQ5. So consider what else you plan to add on to your 60ED - guidescope, cameras, filter wheels etc. Also consider your longer plans to upgrade. HEQ5 will have better longevity assuming you want to go to bigger heavier scope and add more equipment

It should be possible to combine some, but not all. So your question needs to be a bit more specific I guess. I am sure someone who uses filters extensively can give you a comprehensive answer

There are a few good tools out there - Affinity, Startools, Siril and the big daddy PixInsight. The final choice depends on how comfortable you are using the tool I guess. I like Siril and follow this tutorial https://siril.org/tutorials/tuto-scripts/ and its free

If you have an iPad large enough to cover the aperture you are good to go. You could also use our good old sol and cover your scope with a piece of white cloth.

Looking great. As others have said some post processing should get more details out. Good luck

Wow, as usual