Simon Pepper

Perfect will do will check out those books too Is there a toggle in PI that shows once you have completed a step lets say TGVDenoise to toggle on and off the change so you can see what its applied? In PS you can select that layer and then deselect to quickly see if there is an improvement or not? Thanks

Perfect will do will check out those books too

Hi Lee, Nope all I did was nuke it using STF then dove straight into the BackgroundNeutralization. I will have a look around to see if I see the background extraction and try running that first. I think all of your comments make sense definitely a lot to take it and learn, but will definitely stick with it. Thanks

I have a lot to learn here... Ok so I did that and the image looks a lot better a few gradients but I am sure I can find a yt tutorial on that. Quick question then when using the STF tool do you need to press the nuke button after each step through other screens like colourcalbration, backgroundneutraliasation I thought all that was needed was to use the triangle and drag and drop onto the image? Thanks

Hi all, So I am trialling the free license with PI to see how I get on and I am struggling with the BackgroundNeutralization step. Watching some YT tutorials I have stacked and integrated and performed the nuke stretch using the ScreenTransferFunction then people are saying to use BackgroundNeutralization followed by colour calibration and SCNR as the first few steps. However when I complete the BackgroundNeutralization it just wipes out a lot of good data and turns from the narmal green (as I see in tutorials) to a really hevily contrasted image. Am I missing a step here? I am sure the data is good as I have processed in PS and got a decent result. Pretty sure its 4.5 hours of lights plus calibration frames. Any help from those with a PI degree or not will be appreciated See snips of before and after BackgroundNeutralization After the colourcalibration and SNCR it gets even darker and loss of more signal. Thanks

Thanks Olly will give this one a go!

Thanks Dave not heard of Nik or IIRC is there a YT tutorial or point me in the right direction? Thanks

Thanks Lazy I will give that a go. Well It was an old Celestron 127 SLT scope (F12) that I used for visual when I got into Astro its been gathering dust for about 10 years and thought I would get it out and see what could be done with it. Paired with ZWO 294 MC pro on HEQ 5 mount. I think it was 4 hours of 120s subs at unity gain plus calibration frames. No filters or flattener reducer, never collimated it either I was surprised myself by its capability. I am usually a widefield Redcat Nebula kind, but as it was galaxy season and didnt want to blow another 2k on a Edge HD thought I would give it a go! Just need to sort that bloating Ill see what I can do

Hi Seelive i use starnet to remove the stars to wok on the dso but how do I remove the stars and leave the dso? thanks

Hi all, I was wondering if anyone knows how to get rid of the halos on larger stars? I have tried several ways in post. I use PS but when I stretch the image they appear I have tried the astronomy tools plug in as well as running a minimal filter but I think as they are so big the software doesnt even recognise them as stars! Am I over or under sampling causing it? I have only noticed it since switching to dedicated camera from DSLR. Is there any other tricks I can do in post or is there something out in the field I can try? I have attached my image over Bodes Galaxy so you can see what I mean (not finished) Thanks

Thanks Vlaiv great explanation as usual!

Its funny when asking these questions I almost addressed it specifically to Vlaiv @Vlaiv thanks for putting in the effort there its helped me and others I am sure who come across this. Just to clarify things if you could I am bortle 4 with good sky conditions and have a HEQ5 pro currently my guiding usually averages around 1 rms total error. So checking your scale ideally I need to be somewhere around the 1.5 mark? Looks like with a .7 reducer and binning 2x2 that gives 1.34 or 2.01 at 3x3. I guess what I am asking here is the combination I am looking at isnt going to be a disaster? By the sounds of it there are options available if I invest in a reducer and add in some binning? I did dust out an old slt 127 1500mm with the 294 and was pleasantly surprised at the result hence why I am looking into the Edge 8. Also just to edit reading again you mention the 294 has 2.3µm is that a typo as I believe its 4.63 when not binned? Hopefully that will also help? Thanks again!

Hi all, I have been using the https://astronomy.tools/calculators/field_of_view/ site to choose my next scope (galaxy season) but I will use this with my current ASI294 MC pro I need to better understand the arc seconds per pixel and what this means to the final image and does it have any impact on that image if I want to get it blown up and printed? I like the look of the Edge HD series so I am thinking the 8 with my 294 this gives me a resolution of 0.47x0.47 and a dawes limit of 0.57 per pixel, but I have absolutely no idea what these numbers mean. I have seen on other posts saying the lower the numbers the better, but I am not sure if this is accurate. To throw another question out there as well I do plan on going mono at some point and I am keen on the 294MM. I have seen this has a feature where you can bin 1x1 (think default is 2x2) and this increases the MP to 47 which sounds interesting, but again how do all these figures go hand in hand? Hopefully someone can assist. Thanks

Thank you I was really surprised as well didn’t expect this I am bortle 4 so that would have helped had good seeing. That’s a great image as well I have heard about this nova from Alyn Wallace am I right in saying a nova is a new star? Did you centre on another object or have the coordinates as this could be my next target fascinating to know it’s a brand new star!

I thought I would share this was just two hours with calibration frames. I have never used another scope just my redcat which is 250mm this slt was 1500 so I was thinking it was going to be an uphill task but I was surprised with the result considering it comes in at F12! The focus is a little soft as trying to get that right without bahtinov mask and dedicated camera was hard (I have now ordered a mask). But thanks really for giving me the encouragement else I wouldn’t have bothered!

Pretty good result I have a clear night tonight so will give it a shot thanks

Hi Nik, yep got heq 5 pro so should be good there. Any ideas what kind d of back focus I need? Will be the same as I have with my redcat? I have guiding as well so should be good Thanks for this though sounds like its worth a shot 👌

Hi all i have been imaging with my redcat for a year now and had some ok success with it I love my rig and what it can do, but now we are in galaxy season some more focal punch is needed for these targets. It suddenly occurred to me I have my first scope the 127 sitting gathering dust from years ago when I first started out visual on planets and moon. Is it possible to use my zwo 294 on this scope and if so how? Where would I attach the camera I assume right on the end without any diagonals? Also is it worth even trying or am I going to be wasting my time due to issues I may encounter and longer focal lengths with shorter F ratios? Interested to know if anyone else has tried this. thanks

I have upgraded as well and have the same issue! No bolts included!?!? Your image above is useful, but wondering how I am going to connect my redcat and asi air pro no idea what bolts I need. Did you ever find a solution? thanks

Hi SGL I upgraded to the WO losmandy dovetail, but was disappointed to see no bolts included. This has left me a little confused as to what bolts I actually need? There are many different sizes on the plate, but no instructions or anything so I have no idea what width or length I need. Anyone with similar or same plate can help please let me know thanks

Double cluster! What was that shot with? All are incredible though!

Thanks all this is great info and hopefully should mean one additional night not wasted trying to troubleshoot. These clear nights are precious

Thanks that looks perfect will reference that when it arrives.

Hi all, I am making the transition from DSLR to dedicated camera (turn up next week) and wanted some insight on back focus. I opted for the 294 and as per FLO it shows a back focus of 6.5mm. I assume this just means from the back of my scope which is a redcat to the front of the camera should be 6.5mm is it that simple or is it 6.5mm from the glass? I have a filter in the redcat will this affect back focus? Also will the 294 have all the necessary spacers as looking in the FLO page I can only see a spacer and adapters all of which are over 6.5mm so confused how they will help it used for? if my back focus is wrong what are the signs? Elongated stars in the corners? thanks

This looks pretty awesome to me! What scope and camera do you use? Thanks