FOTOGRAFO

5 hours ago, Gina said:

The only software I know of that does it all in one package is PixInsight.  Costs money but has a free trial period.  Not that that is long enough to learn very much about it.  It has a steep learning curve but there are tutorials on the net and I recommend the book "Inside PixInsight"  Second Edition.  Compared with the cost of hardware, PixInsight and the book aren't much.

Gina:

I have heard a number of astronomers commenting on this program. As for the cost, that is very affordable. 

Thanks,

Don

To all you who have dropped in and left remarks... Thanks. 

Don

2 hours ago, assouptro said:

Hi Fotografo

we all have to start somewhere, and this is better than my first attempts! 

If I was to offer any advice, make sure you double/tripe check the focus.

If you don’t own a bahtinov mask, buy one or make one, zoom right in to a bright star and spend a bit of time making sure that focus is as tight as you can get it. 

Thanks for sharing, looking forward to many more images! 
Bryan

Bryan:

I do have a Bahtinov and use it. I would think that having an Stepper Motor Autofocuser would be beneficial as the focus can change with temperture.   At some point, I will probably begin to study those that are on the market. 

Tnx for your tips. 

Alwasy Forward.  Don

3 minutes ago, tooth_dr said:

Nice shot Don. I have a D800E but haven’t hooked it up to a telescope yet. What ISO did you use?

Thanks for your comment. The ASA was 800.

Don

Well, I imagine there are plenty of solutions for stacking. I would like to see One Program accomplish it all. I use Adobe for all my terrestrial imaging and enjoy how it all integrates seamlessly. It would be good if someone would  build an application that Stacks, Edits and finalizes compiled images, that type of workflow is essential. 

Don

8 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

A great first image, and the Running Man is there.

How many light frames did you stack? Any reason why not trying to stack say using deep sky stacker?

I stacked 10 light frames. I decided to use Photoshop because I have been watching Trevor Joneses training videos on Photoshop. As for Deep Sky Stacker... I cannot run it on this older Mac-Pro which is religated to El Capatin 10.11.6

Thanks for stopping by and your comments.

Don

We all have to begin somewhere. I do a great deal of Landscape Photography and some Lunar. But, have not done any Deep Sky photography until a few nights ago. 

I have been practicing aligning my mount an AVX for weeks and finally decided to try some imaging. Orion Nebula: Scope Stellarvue 80 mm Triple ED APO. Camera: Nikon D800E. Stacked and processed in photoshop. I can see the sensor has a significant cutoff as the color Red is subdued. 

Don

This image of the Moon on Feb 11, 2020 was shot from behind the house. Scope mounted to a Celestron AVX EQ mount.  Moon Waxing Gibbous @ 93% illumination. 

Scope: Stellarvue 80 mm ED Triplet APO Refractor. Camera: Nikon D800E coupled to a Field/Flattener-Reducer in the Draw Tube.. Exposure Values: 1/500 Sec @ f/6.3, ASA-200. Post Processing Adobe Photoshop LR & CS

Dec 8, 2019 Moon. Waxing Gibbous at 86% Illumination.

Telescope: Stellarvue 80 mm APO Refractor. f/6 @ 480 mm. Camera: Nikon D800E. ASA-400.  PP Adobe LR & CS6

On 04/11/2019 at 10:40, Whirlwind said:

A bit late to the conversation but Prism is worth looking at too because it is all in one and there is no need to use multiple software packages.  Used by professional observatories too

Thanks for the Tip on (Prism)... I will have to take a close look at this one. 

Re,

Don

Boy...

A simple question turns into a Complain-O-Forum. 

Don

3 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I have ASCOM drivers installed, then use EQMOD for mount control, Cartes du Ciel for targeting and PHD2 for guiding.

Thanks for your remarks. I have been reading about ASCOM standards and software applications. 

Regards,

Don

4 hours ago, Fivel said:

Hello Don.

Here are a few more free apps to look at.

1. Stellarium (with Stellariumscope app)

2. kstars (with Ekos and Indi)

3. N.I.N.A.

4. Skysafari usin the Wifiscope app (lets Skysafari work via the laptop without a wifi device or Skywire cable)

I have used all (on a Windows 10 laptop) except N.I.N.A. since I now use Mac only apps.

Fivel

Thanks for the detailed reply, I appreciate your inputs.

Don

12 hours ago, Star101 said:

https://ascom-standards.org

You will probably need ASCOM drivers to connect the scope to CdC.

Your input is appreciated, Thank You

Don

13 hours ago, MartinB said:

Cartes du Ciel is free,  reliable and works very well with my CGEM mount.  

Thank you for information.

Don

TELESCOPE CONTROL SOFTWARE---NOT CERTAIN WHAT TO SETTLE ON

I have a Celestron 8" with AVX Mount and am pondering what Software to settle on for controlling the mount that I can use as I progress to a better scope and mount down the star-path.  I have a Windows based Laptop... a recent vintage with Windows 10  that I have dedicated for Astronomy Purposes but, I am not certain what software package I want to work with controlling the mount. My primary interest is astrophotography.  I have a Stellarvue 80mm APO Triplet  on order and plan to move to a Losmandy Mount sometime next year.  I have fooled with Sky Safari Pro on my Mac's for some years now however, that software was purposed to operate in the OS X environment.  For someone interested in Astrophotography, what are the options for quality Mount Control?

Regards,

Don

Greetings:

I have been behind a Celestron AVX 8" SCT for a number of years, its pretty good for just looking around but, my real desire is Astrophotography. So many systems to choose from and so many decisions that one becomes a subject of Information-Overload. So, I have been studying equipment for an Astrophotography System but, I am not firmly fixed on specific hardware. I have narrowed down the field some and been looking closer at an iOptron CEM 40 or 60 Mount Head and an APO from Sky-Watcher, the 100mm Esprit ED Triplet Refractor. 

I would like to hear from those on SGL who have this equipment and get some Pro & Con feedback from them. 

Regards,

Don 

Thanks for the tip...  I will look into this.

Photoshop has some very good tools for this as well.  But, my goal is to produce sharp images with the system... before I introduce the file into Photoshop.  

Don

A few nights ago I decided to try my hand at Astrophotography. I drug out the Celestron AVX 8" Reflector Telescope and coupled it to old and nearly worn-out Nikon D3 DSLR. This was a direct couple of the D3 to the Visual Back of the Telescope Tube without any magnification eyepiece elements involved. 

Acquiring a sharp focus was difficult at best. I plan to incorporate a magnification element soon and hope the results are sharper images.

Enjoy,

Don

Camera: D3, Connected to 8" SC Telescope, 1/160sec @ f/3.5, ASA-200. PP Adobe LR

 

To all those who have sent greetings, thank you. 

I look forward to hanging around here and learning.

Regards,

Don

Hello:

I am new to SGL. The Telescope has been covered for quite sometime, due to Light Pollution but my desire to look at the heavens has returned. I look forward to meeting some of you on SGL, I have a great deal to learn about Astrophotography my primary interest. 

Regards,

Don