Padraic M

Superb image! Great colour and contrast.

First question is - do you have this scope and you're a beginner? Or, are you a beginner and you're thinking about buying this scope? If the former, then this is a mighty fine scope. I have the non-EdgeHD version and it is more capable than I am. An 8" SCT is a specialised long-focal-length scope that works well for planets. You'll also enjoy looking at surface details on the moon, but it is actually probably too long even for lunar observing. It's not ideal for deep-sky objects. It's not a beginner's scope, but if you already have it you'll enjoy learning how to work with it. If the latter, then I would not recommend you buy this scope. There are much better options for beginners that start at 10% of the price, and aren't heavy or difficult to use. The EdgeHD option is designed specifically for astrophotography, and will add little benefit for visual observation. You didn't say whether you wanted to get into observing or photography, and there's a world of difference between the two. Most advice for beginners is to start either with a small (4") refractor, or a Newtonian. Both are good general-purpose scope types that are easy to learn on, and aren't too demanding on either your skill levels or your mount. You could even push the boat out and buy a decent Goto mount (EQ if you want to take photographs; Alt/Az if you'll mostly do visual) and sonething like a Skywatcher Evostar 80ED with an EQ5 mount or similar; or a Skywatcher 150P Newtonian (or the PDS version if you think you'll get into photography). Either of these set-ups would cost less than half of the NexStar Evo 8 HD and would be way more suitable for a beginner or intermediate.

I have to say, looking at that US one, the Losmandy lip on the far side looks very short. Compare that to the PLL one (which I have). I'd happily hang the heaviest of scopes from it. It's excellently made and worth the money. The ADM one looks the same. I would be slow to trust your first option. Makes me nervous just looking at it.

Wow - same version number, same date, different information!

@teoria_del_big_bang yes, isn't it irritating that the standards are so close but yet not interoperable! To make matters worse - and to prove that I've not gone mad/blind/stupid, having read the SS2 manual many times trying to find the information that you pointed out above - my manual doesn't say that! Aargh! Also, still waiting for PLL customer support to come back to me... not great. Love the SS2 though, apart from this little issue. Manual version information:

@Hogarth Thanks - another good option!

@Dinglem that's great, thanks for that info, they look just the ticket.

Hi, does anyone happen to know what size the Sesto Senso 2 power socket is? I've just got a PPBADV and the power cable supplied won't fit the SS2. I need an adapter or a different cable.

I hope you can make out the arrangement in the photos below. As @StuartT has already explained, having the guidescope at an angle pulls the scope off to the left and makes it difficult/impossible to balance properly. It works ok but it's definitely better this way. My PHD2 guiding figures have improved significantly. For this arrangement: - you need to remove the Esprit foot. There are videos/articles here somewhere showing how to do that - you will need a new dovetail bar. I've used the ADM 7" metric Losmandy. A Losmandy bar really gives much better 'peace of mind' because the grip on the mount feels so much more secure. than a Vixen. The scope, fully loaded, is actually quite heavy. - the Primalucelab 100mm scope rings are just slightly too small, but they do fit. If you can get 101mm rings anywhere they would be perfect but I'm not sure they're available any more. The Skywatcher rings are out of stock everywhere. - You will need the PLL 20mm spacers between the dovetail bar and the scope rings, to provide the necessary clearance - finally you'll also need a dovetail bar on top to hold the scope rings. - The usable tube space on the Esprit 80 is quite narrow, so the rings will end up close together. I'm still not happy with the arrangement. Finding the right combination of bolt holes on the ADM bar that matches up with the PLL kit is difficult - actually not fully possible. Everything is held securely at the bottom, although the rings are a tight fit on the scope (you might notice in the photos that the joint hinge bolt on the front scope ring sticks out quite a bit and forces the ring back by ~2mm. You can't reverse the bolt fitting). However, with the short PLL vixen bar on top, I've only been able to attach to the back ring, as the holes at the front can't align with the front ring. I'm considering getting a longer PLL Losmandy bar for the bottom, and a longer vixen bar for the top so that I can mount everything more securely. Of course, to do that I will also have to get spacers for the top (10mm should do I think), so that the top bar can clear the capstan ring to the rear, and the dew shield to the front. The long Losmandy bar will also help with front/back balance as the whole rig is quite back-heavy. This PLL stuff is good but not cheap! The Esprit really is a super scope for AP or visual but really it's a pity Skywatcher didn't put more thought into usability.

Yes, the Esprit 80 'foot' is a Vixen-style dovetail fitting, but it doesn't allow much forward-backward adjustment. With a camera mounted on the back, it's hard to balance. That's a strange design for a scope that is specifically meant for AP. There are two sockets in the under-side of the foot which iirc take 1/4 20-UNC bolts, which can be used to attach a longer Vixen or Losmandy plate. I got an ADM Losmandy ~9" bar which gave a much better grip. However, I have since removed that foot altogether and fitted Primalucelab scope rings. This allows the guide scope to be fitted above the Esprit, rather than at an angle in the finder scope shoe. It's a reasonably straightforward job if you're not squeamish but should probably be left until you're out of warranty!

M101 is not an easy target - it's quite faint and takes many hours to bring out the detail, so you've done very well. In fact, at the moment with Galaxy season, it's hard to pick an 'easy' target, although there are many amazing galaxies to capture. You might be better off taking a slightly different approach, and just 'tagging' different galaxies and gathering experience, then revisit them in subsequent seasons when you've learned more craft. Success definitely is easier with better kit and the sky's the limit with that. In the early stages, tracking and focus are absolutely key. A better mount on its own will help with tracking, and/or you may decide to go with autoguiding which will require at a minimum a mount that has at least an RA axis motor, and supports ST4 guiding (Starquest and Skyguider both do); and a separate guide scope and guide cam. This will give you long-exposure capability, possibly into multiple minutes. With focus, you can just put in the time and effort to get the best manual focus you can - use a Bahtinov mask, they really help and are quite cheap - or upgrade to autofocus. One thing to check - I believe that Astrophotography Toolkit (APT) can autofocus AF lenses on a Canon with Digic 3 or higher - your 1100D is Digic 4 so it may work. I don't know if the lens has to be a Canon ef/efs lens in order for it to work. My DSLR isn't Digic 3 so I haven't been able to try it. I always found manual focus to be a pain and I never nailed with the DSLR. APT is a fantastic piece of software to control all aspects of your image capture workflow, but it does mean you'll need to bring a laptop to your mount. My first image of M42 Orion was only vaguely recognisable - a big bright blur that was the trapezium, and three smaller bright blurs that were Theta Orionis. I thought it was great!

Well done Goran, it deserves to be there - although we could start a healthy debate here on exactly WHICH of your recent IFN images should be there!

Thanks @tomato, I've just been reading up about ngc5471, that blue 'Giant Extra-galactic H-II Region' (GEHR) just above M101. I knew it wasn't a star! Hard to extract any more detail out of this shot without bringing up the noise.

Took this image over three nights in the last week. Unfortunately I've got Bortle 8 skies, with a 3/4-to-full moon so plenty of LP and noise in there. I've drawn a line under it now, not going to collect any more data until I get dark skies and no moon. A total of just over 11 hours, made up of: 36x 600s Ha 110x 60s Red 110x 60s Green 110x 60s Blue Luminance created from an all-channel stack. Processed in APP, Gimp, Noise Ninja. Captured with NINA and PHD2. Esprit 80, HEQ5 Pro, ASI1600MM Pro at -20C.

Superb!

Taken over three nights 9th, 10th and 14th April, no moon or cloud. 71x 150s each of RGB 12x 300s + 18x 600s Ha Total integration 11.4 hours. Synthetic luminance channel added @50%. Captured with NINA, Sharpcap and PHD2; processed with APP, Starnet++, Gimp and Noise Ninja. Bortle 8 city-centre skies Full resolution here.

I hadn't seen that EKOS summary screen before. Very cool! Lovely M51 too btw!

I like the tight crop - gives it a kind of 'personality'.

No, on the Starwave 50 there is a single thumbscrew that allows you to lock the focuser. I loosen this to focus, and then use it as a fine lever to focus. The lock it off again. If you're removing the diagonal are you sure that you can get enough back-focus to ever achieve focus with your GPCam? Also, the camera image shouldn't rotate as you focus. There's something wrong there.

I don't know for sure, but this may not be a suitable scope for polar alignment. I haven't seen anyone else using a right-angled corrected image finder for PA - will Sharpcap plate solving be able to work with a mirrored and corrected image? Also, is that focuser a non-rotating helical focuser? It doesn't say it in the spec so it's probably not. If your polemaster works well for you then keep using that. This is the one I use: https://www.altairastro.com/starwave-50mm-guide-scope-straight-thru-with-non-rotating-helical-focuser-no-eyepiece-2496-p.asp I've never had a problem with the star moving out of frame when I'm focusing. If you're not happy with your PA, then use Polaris for an initial focus. Don't try to focus on another star until your PA is accurate. You can always fine-tune your focus on Capella or Arcturus later. Don't manually centre Capella to correct the star alignment. The whole point is to use the app (or hand controller) to correct the alignment so the mount realises that it got it wrong. It can then correct its internal sky model and identify where the celestial pole is wrt the alignment stars. If you manually centre the alignment star the mount can't correct its model. While it may get the 2nd star location correct, it still doesn't have a fix on the CP so there's no guarantee that it will Goto a 3rd star reliably.

Which guide scope have you got the GPCAM camera attached to? I have the Starwave 50 so I understand to some extent what you're saying but it sounds like you need to make sure your connectors on the guidescope are tightened properly, and that the thumbscrew lock on the focuser is loosened. The focuser camera shouldn't rotate when you change focus. I find that it's useful to use the thumbscrew as a focusing lever for fine focus, but it's not essential to have the guidescope perfectly in focus. No need for a Bahtinov mask. Dedicated guide scopes don't have r&p focusers and don't need them. Once you've got reasonable focus, you should just lock the thumbscrew and try not to knock it out. No need to ever focus again. The other option that occurred to me - have you checked if the guidescope has fogged up? That would impact on visibility. I have dew straps for the main scope and the guide scope.

After having problems earlier last year with my HEQ5 Pro Synscan mount, I have learned to love the faint noises that the mount makes when it's working correctly. Firstly there's the soft hum when it powers up and the electronics are alive. Then, when it starts to track, there's a cyclical whirr-whirr-whirr which is the RA motor in action. I'd expect something similar with your EQM-35 Pro. I haven't used the Android app. Do you have access to the hand controller? It might be easier to trouble shoot using the HC rather than the app. It's important that your initialisation settings are correct for your location and time. This WILL have an impact on your tracking and will cause star trails. GPS coordinates for latitude and longitude should be accurate (North and East are '+'; South and West are '-'. I have often forgotten that I'm West! ). Setting -55 latitude instead of +55 would have you pointing through the floor. Altitude, time zone, daylight saving and date/time must be correct too. I'll assume your polar alignment is correct, but a bad PA would also cause star trails. Other than to get your mount aligned roughly into the Home position, you shouldn't need to loosen the clutches. As mentioned by AstroMuni above, you can instruct the mount to Park to Home Position (the HC definitely can; I would be amazed if the app doesn't, and if it truly doesn't I'd ditch the app.) If the mount has an incorrect impression of where home position is, loosen the clutches and move it there yourself. Lock the clutches and try again. When performing Star Alignment, use the hand controller keys to centre the star in the FOV. Don't open the clutches and manually move the mount head. Sorry for asking the stupid question but I presume that the star you have selected for SA is in the Northern Hemisphere? You're better to complete the alignment process, then ask the mount to park at home position, and then try Goto a target again (or do a Star Alignment again). Everything should work fine the second time (and every time after that). If not, there may be an actual mount problem. You can check/change tracking on the handset under the Setup menu: Setup/Tracking. You should be using Sidereal mode. Change to Stop Tracking and back to Sidereal Rate to hear the difference in mount sounds. Sidereal Rate should be started automatically once you start Star Alignment, unless you've previously selected a different rate, or have stopped tracking manually.

Great image!

Really nice. I love the blue structure in the spiral arms.

Hi all, with lots of great star clusters coming around at this time of year, and not having imaged them before, is there any advice on what factors and techniques are important with clusters? I'm assuming that the key items to capture with clusters are: - good sharp star shapes - faithful star colour - some way to make the cluster stars stand out against the general star background (highlighting the 'shape' of the cluster) I've seen examples here and on AB that use long exposure times, just as you would with nebulae or galaxies, but this doesn't necessarily make sense to me as you can expose stars with short exposures, and many clusters don't have surrounding nebulosity or fine detail that requires a deep image. I've included a sample taken over the last few nights of the Beehive M44. What strategy would be best to bring the cluster out better? That was captured using an Esprit 80, ASI1600mm @ -20c, gain 139, offset 21, and 60-second exposures (40x for each of RGB), and processed in APP. Some thoughts: A lot of the cluster stars are saturated. I believe that this means that the main core of the star is white, and the actual star colour is only visible in the non-saturated halo. This implies that I should use either a shorter exposure time, or a lower gain - maybe even down to gain 0. Is there any science that says one approach is better than the other? Many of the background stars seem to have a yellow core with a cyan or green halo. Does this imply that my overall colour balance is out? If I use shorter exposure or lower gain, some of the background stars are likely to disappear. Maybe that's a good thing? Should I try layering two sets of images (or two different stretches) to have a primary layer of cluster stars, with a secondary layer of starfield stars?