AstroMuni

13 minutes ago, alankrit rajan said:

500cm/1cm
Magnification≈500x

Hi,

Welcome to SGL. We will need more info on what you are trying to build this for etc. Do you have the lenses already? Or are you still at design stage.

Just a quick observation - 500cm FL is quite long (5m) ! Is this correct?

13 hours ago, Bloodline said:

We’ve just named a star for a friends birthday and have been given the right ascension and declaration coordinates for it.

Can you not search for the star in the list provided on the app?

9 hours ago, Killpond said:

I formatted the laptop to Kubuntu and installed Indi, Ekos and Kstars. Got the X-T5 to shoot images but in greyscale using the "GPhoto library" but while trying to get it working in colour I managed to completely break the GPhoto lib and now it just crashes every time I start Indi via Ekos. No idea how where the settings are stored to revert them and you can only change the settings via the GUI once the application thats crashing is running 😕

Have you tried posting your problem on the INDI forum? https://indilib.org/forum/index.html

Have you tried starting the Indiserver at the command line? or by using the web manager https://github.com/rlancaste/INDIWebManagerApp

Wow. Your mosaics collection is growing Dave 🙂

On 22/07/2023 at 21:46, wookie1965 said:

Its not like you can check the focuser and then tweak the primary need arms like a orangutan 😃

And this comment is from a Wookiee 😉 LOL

8 hours ago, MalcolmP said:

Really easy to input (copy/paste) a plate solution from the equally excellent ASTAP

Kstars can integrate with ASTAP as well. By default it comes with its own platesolver.

I dont use Stellarium but can certainly think of ways you could do this using Kstars/Ekos.

- Configure Ekos to use the simulators.

- Load your image into the Align module and ask it to Load & Slew

- The simulator FOV will move across the skymap and you will be able to see where exactly you are pointed

If you choose to use this software, INDI server works on Mac/Linux/RPi and that is needed to run the simulators.

I am sure other Windows based software have similar options. Good luck 🙂

EDIT: You will get a view like this in Kstars

On 28/08/2023 at 03:49, MalcolmP said:

Can they talk to each other ? ie. can ASTAP send the result of a plate solve to Stell, or can Stell request it ?
My googling so far shows that some big progs (Nina APT etc) can intercede and do this, but I dont need mount control and all the other stuff.
 

The main reason we use platesolve is to align our mounts to the exact location that we are interested in capturing. In a nutshell, we find a target in a Skymap program, the coords are sent to the mount to slew to, an image is captured and sent to platesolver which gives a set of coords (which could be slightly differenet to the ones we asked for). This is then fed back to the mount to correct itself. This negotiating role is done by the likes of NINA/Kstars etc.

So just using Stellarium & ASTAP to deal with platesolving isnt making sense (in my head). Perhaps you can explain your challenge in detail. 🙂

1 hour ago, Mark2022 said:

I  checked my 1.25 inch UV/IR cut filter screwed to the nosepiece (there is no filter over the sensor itself) and it was clean so these spots are on the sensor itself. Has anyone experience  of cleaning a sensor?

You will always end up with a couple of dust motes so best approach is take flats which are used during the processing part to remove the dust motes.

BTW, you can use this tool to figure out how far the dust is from your sensor https://astronomy.tools/calculators/dust_reflection_calculator

16 hours ago, YogSothoth said:

No, definitely not that. The whole smoke trail was moving and there were bright flashes within it.

Lightning perhaps?

14 hours ago, Mark2022 said:

I just downloaded it this month so it's the latest. However,  it's not Siril since I've attempted Pipp,  Autostakkert and Registax (and also Astrosurface) and basically, I'm simply out of focus.

Do you attempt to focus on the planet itself or do you focus on stars and then switch to the planet. I personally find the latter easier.

2 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

Also, the idea that there is a past, a moving present and a future is what kind of idea?  It is, dear friends, a theory and it is a theory which has taken some heavy knocks from theoretical physicists... I'm convinced we need a more generalized theory of time.

Thats deep. And here I was thinking that I knew that we had a past, a present & a possible future (in this world) 🙂

@ashes The choice of scope is ultimately down to what interests you in the world of astronomy. Some of us are interested on moon & planets while others are interested in Deep sky objects (DSOs). And there are still more folk who are interested in stars (double, binary etc).

Now that you have acquired a scope, my suggestion would be to get to know it and make the most of what is possible with it. Do NOT buy more items until you have figured out the shortcomings that you are not happy with. If you ask here about the shortcomings, you will get the full range of answers 🙂 and as a group we are quite good at convincing each other to buy more!

On 21/08/2023 at 21:21, Mark2022 said:

Is it just that Siril isn't good for planets (even though they will stack them and have introduced a planet 'suite' of sorts?

Which version of Siril are you using and what registration algorithm did you use during stacking?

If it wasnt aliens....could it have been a cloud patch and the flashes were stars poking through for brief periods of time?

5 minutes ago, Bullmastiff said:

basically is there a software that does it all?

Take a look at a free tool, Siril. https://siril.org/ or Pixinsight (not free)

You can supplement this with products like Gimp, Photoshop, Affinity etc.

On 30/07/2023 at 13:14, Stellaris said:

As of yet, I do not have access to a pc

I would say that a computer is essential in this part of the hobby as it lets you do all the post image capture processing. It also can be used to manage your equipment - mount, camera etc. to let you point and capture your images.

If you are familiar with Windows then I suggest getting used to NINA but if you are a Mac/Linux user then Kstars/Ekos is the way to go. For post capture tasks you can use Siril (available on both Win & Mac/Linux). All the above software are free.

12 minutes ago, Daniel-K said:

they moan when i say im taking them but when they see the milky way with a hot chocolate they love it 

Great images. Is the hot chocolate a 'Milky way' as well 😉

1 hour ago, Cornelius Varley said:

The OP doesn't have the requirements (30 days membership + more than 25 relevant posts)  to access the buy/sell section.

Good spot Peter.

18 hours ago, squipper said:

SWMBO  said i am too old for this malarkey  (I am 72 )  and  say i can go up to £1,800 full stop,  only new or used for all the gear make up your mind or the bank vault will be shut  ( being on a limited income )

Perfect match to my suggestion then. There is a HEQ5 pro + belt mod on sale for £750 in this forum, and one for £500 on https://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=203343.

So you will have some funds left from the £1800 🙂

15 hours ago, squipper said:

Just been checking there is nothing like an  astronomy show  near me all seem to be far away for me to get to them  and thank you for that info 

Do you have a local astro club? They can be really helpful.

Here is a suggestion based on my personal experience. I am of similar philosophy that once you buy you keep for ever - LOL. And dont buy multiple things that have same function.

Lets keep this simple....Buy the following : HEQ5 pro, good camera with low read noise (eg. ASI585mc), an optional triband filter such as Antlia/Optolong (this will really help for EEVA) and I have the 130PDS Newtonion scope which is a great scope so I would recommend that! So that works out to be £1039 + £365 + £116 (Optolong L-enhance) + £239 = £1759 if you purchase them all new. I have assumed you have a computer and dont own a DSLR. If you do have a DSLR there is no need to purchase the ASI585. With this combination you can easily capture 30sec images without stars trailing and get very decent images. Good luck! 👍

Software for image capture + processing you can download and use for free, so all good on that count.

If you wish to control your mount through the computer you will need to purchase a suitable FTDI cable too. Does this fit in with the budget approved by SWMBO? 😉
EDIT: Reasoning behind choosing HEQ5 instead of EQ5 is payload. The 5-6" Newtonions are close to 6kg or more.

At this rate I will forget how to use my scope 😞 As a fairly recent entrant into this hobby, its all newly learnt stuff so not yet ingrained into my brain -

Repeated message, hence removed

On 07/08/2023 at 09:11, sPhyre91 said:

My target for these nights has been the M27, and here it is!

20x180s lights, only 5 darks (my camera battery was exhausted) at ISO 800

Stacked in DSS and edited in GIMP.

Oops, dont know what happened there and its uploaded my message multiple times 😞

On 07/08/2023 at 09:11, sPhyre91 said:

My target for these nights has been the M27, and here it is!

20x180s lights, only 5 darks (my camera battery was exhausted) at ISO 800

Stacked in DSS and edited in GIMP.

Great image for a first timer. It just goes to show that you dont always have to ditch your current equipment to get better images 😉

A suggestion on post capture software - while GIMP is a great software, its cumbersome to use for AP. Try Siril (also free) as its been written specifically for AP. Good luck and look forward to seeing more images from the Mak & Redcat 👍