Clarkey
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Posts posted by Clarkey
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6 hours ago, tomato said:
I wonder if there was some thin cloud affecting the sky transparency? Were your FWHM numbers on the subs poorer than average?
You might be right about cloud. The FWHM was not brilliant. As I normally image while tucked up in bed, I don't see what goes on.......
@Laurieast and @wornish - Thanks for your input and attempts to improve. There is certainly more in the inner areas, but the outer 'glow' is not too good. Also, both images are quite badly black clipped. I have done similar to some areas of the image and it is better, but I still do not like the outer. I'll keep trying and see if I can get it better. It might just be I need some more integration time next season.
New - slightly improved version:
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There won't be any awards for this one but I thought I would put this on the forum for any guidance. This is M94 which I took a couple of months ago. I have processed it on multiple occasions but really struggled to get a good background the the outer 'glow' Any ideas on improving would be appreciated.
Imaged over 2 nights with an RC8 @ F8 with a ZWO 1600mm pro in LRGB. L=264 mins, R=122 mins, G=88 mins and B=76 mins giving just over 9 hours in total. Seeing was not great and I have had to really stretch some areas to get a reasonable output. But for 9 hours I would expect better.
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On 25/04/2022 at 02:21, Louis D said:
Here's a group shot of my eyepieces I recently took, so there's plenty of choices in eyepieces out there:
You are making me feel much better about my kit now! I dread to think how many scopes you have.
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16 hours ago, Froglord said:
You guys really aren't helping with my desire for a Heritage 150P! I've only just bought my first scope - a 127 Mak.
Go on. You know you want to.....
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That's a pretty good image for 3.5 hours. The background looks OK to me - what's bothering you?
A bit more saturation might help with getting slightly better star colours and bring out the galaxies a bit more.
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Mixing sub length is absolutely fine and for brighter objects quite common. Given you are in the south east UK, I am guessing you do not have particularly dark sky, so long subs are probably not really necessary. I live in bortle 5/6 and use 2 minute subs but I could easily use 1 minute - just lots more data to process. You will not gain much from longer exposures in terms of S/N ratio unless in dark skies or narrowband. (Good video regarding exposure lengths below).
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14 minutes ago, Olli said:
Can I ask what PEC training is
PEC training is teaching the mount or software the periodic errors so it can pre-empt errors in tracking. I use PHD2 to guide (with a mini PC) and this has a predictive PEC algorithm that 'learns' the periodic error for the mount to improve guiding performance.
Just for info I use a Mele Quieter 2 mini PC to run my set up. The advantage of a mini PC is you can choose what software to run - I use NINA and PHD2. However, it does take a fair bit of setting up to get it all working. The other good point about this mini PC is that it seems to have a pretty good wifi range.
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Simple answer is Yes. Without guiding it is difficult to assess how well the mount tracks but at a relatively short FL you should be OK. Keep you subs short and be prepared to discard some and you should be fine. Try it and see how you get on.
I do find my HEQ5 does need a bit of regular fettling to keep it running well.
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The other thing to consider is if you need or want to add any other kit. For example you might need a new heater for the scope or lens. Also, come the winter when it is dark for longer you might want longer imaging sessions.
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If you assume the heater and cooler draw about an amp each (depending on settings) a 6 amp hour battery will only give you 3 hours run time. This does not include power for the pc or other kit. I would suggest the larger power supply is the least you want for imaging, if not more. Obviously it depends on the duration of your imaging sessions and the setting you are using.
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20 hours ago, tomato said:
Myself and @Tomatobro are ironing out the final bugs in the dome auto control system so I can let sessions complete unattended so I’m not up until silly o’clock to get the most out of the Astro darkness remaining
I'm still working on SWMBO to let me build my observatory. For some reason she and the kids think it is unreasonable to build it in the centre of the
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2 hours ago, tomato said:
astro darkness rapidly dwindling
My kits already packed away for the summer for this reason. Hence the dual rig I am working on for next season.
Final image is pretty good given the lack of darkness👍
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It's a good all rounder. Maybe a big short on FL for planets but a nice lightweight visual scope.
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Personally I would say that unless imaging narrowband, try not to us LP filters unless absolutely necessary. Just get a good gradient removal tool. I image in Bortle 5 to 6 and don't use filters for anything in RGB. To be honest most of the lighting is LED so the benefit is pretty minimal anyway.
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2 minutes ago, Second Time Around said:
Excellent idea!
Maybe I should suggest it to Baader. I think I even used the sponge from the focuser box!
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8 hours ago, Space Hopper said:
base doesn't sit flush with the tube allowing dust and muck to get inside (and settle on your mirrors)
I put a steeltrack on my newt. To block the gap I used an oversized bit of sponge and screwed it down under the focuser. Once fitted I just cut of the excess. Works fine for imaging so it must be quite a good seal. I have two steeltracks and I have found them excellent.
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I assume you cannot set mount limits on the Star Adventurer?
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OCD is a wonderful thing!!
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7 hours ago, tomato said:
Oh, and 10 out of the 15 subs had very prominent satellite trails, but APP sorted those out as well
This is the one thing I find APP not so good at - at least with auto settings. Even with 100+ subs I still get residual satellite trails unless I manually set the rejection criteria.
However, in general I would be producing total rubbish without the modern technology. (Some might say I still do🤣).
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16 hours ago, Stuart1971 said:
If it’s a CMOS camera, then you need flats between about 3-5 seconds, any shorter and they can cause issues….
I have flats of <1s with the 1600mm pro and it has never been a problem. I know the 294 can be temperamental but I think it does depend on the camera.
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I'm going to add another entry - the Leo triplet plus NGC 3593. To be honest it is not my best, but it is my first image using a dual scope rig. The rig is really a widefield set up, but as I was lacking in targets to try it out I had a go at this. This was taken on 18th April using a StellaMira 90mm ED Triplet with an ASI 1600mm pro for all of the luminance data. The colour data was captured using a Canon 600D on a SW Evostar ED80. The total imaging time was about 9 hours, 4.5 on each rig in 3 minute subs using NINA and synchronised dithering. Processing was in APP, and Affinity. Noise on the 600D was a problem in the warmer weather - my plan is to replace this with an IMX571 based colour camera when funds allow.
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Out of the replies, I seem to be the lazy one. Once set up in the back garden (which is pretty secure) I run it all remotely and normally go to bed. I have a rain alarm app and a rain sensor to wake me up. I still have to get up early to bring all the gear in, but at least I still get a good sleep.😁
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I think the choice all depends on your priorities. If you want to view the moon or planets the Mak is probably the best choice. For general observing with a nod towards astro photography I would say the ED80. It's a good all rounder which is better than the price suggests. I have one and I use it for visual and AP.
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I think the L-pro is more of a light pollution filter which in bortle 3 you don't need. The L-3 cuts down on the total at the blue and red ends. This will be more suitable for removing blue bloat. I managed to get away without it for my ED80 so I have not direct experience, but purely looking at the spectrum the L-3 definitely looks like the better option for you. The L-pro removes sodium and mercury vapour lines so cuts down on multiple wavelengths,
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Iris Nebula - Not going to attempt dark nebula in the back garden again
in Getting Started With Imaging
Posted
HI,
I had a quick go with the stack and I could not get a huge amount more than you. I had to stretch it to within an inch of it's life and add a load of denoise. (I should add that I normally use mono so pure OSC data is a bit of a novelty). There is the data there and I think if you add another night of integration time you will probably get a better result. 5 hours with a small scope if not that much data in my opinion. Personally, I rarely image less than 8 hours on a single target - often double that unless using the F4 scope.