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Thanks Nick! I reprocessed quite a lot with additional data (initially 2h RGB), and found that adding the extra RGB made all the as it definitely stopped Luminance from overpowering RGB. I know this can be done via adjusting weights in PI etc, but what I've realised is that there's no real substitute for more data. I really had to hold back with sharpening and saturation, as I usually go all out and end up overdoing it! Thanks Paul, the aim was to get the colours a bit more subtle than my usual, good to see that's been somewhat successful! Thanks Carole! Thanks Geof, means a lot! Thanks Roger! The Esatto is a superb piece of kit, it hasn't skipped a beat with carrying my kit and is rock solid with precise movements. I already had the 3" version for my FSQ85-EDX and it performed so well that I decided to get it for the Edge as well. Autofocusing has been a dream! My kit at the moment is suboptimal in terms of spacing distance due to the Esatto's optical length, as the distance between the 490EX and the reducer is 135.2 mm, and the optimal quoted spacing is 106 mm! (105 mm + 1 mm for 1/3 of filter thickness). However, I messaged Primaluce Lab about this as I really wanted to use the Esatto and they stated that although the spacing should be 106 mm, they had a customer whose spacing was off by a good amount and they managed fine. I guess this is proof for me! If I pixel-peep then maybe I can see some star distortion, but that doesn't really matter to me as long as the overall image looks reasonable. Thank you! Colour is something I struggle with, so this is good to know!

The rhyming was completely unintentional! However, I feel like I've processed this to death by now! A very tricky target, where pulling detail from one region can mean overdoing another. I've left it with a more "ethereal" and glowing look, rather than chasing after the intricate detail that is no doubt present there. Maybe I'll come back to it later at some point. Equipment: Atik 490EX Atik EFW2 Chroma LRGB filters Atik OAG Primaluce Lab Esatto 2” Robotic Focuser Celestron Edge HD 8" Celestron 0.7x Reducer for Edge HD 8" Avalon M-Uno Pegasus Ultimate Powerbox Intel NUC Mini PC L: 600 x 60s = 10 hours R: 130 x 120s = 4 hours 20 mins G: 130 x 120s = 4 hours 20 mins B: 130 x 120s = 4 hours 20 mins Dark, flat and bias frames applied Processed in AstroPixelProcessor & Pixinsight Bortle 5 skies Major credit to APP for processing the data from multiple nights in a painless workflow without skipping a beat!

I agree with Josh in that it does look a touch out of focus. The best thing is to take a video which comprises a few thousand frames, and then run these through your software; the caveat to this is that the video for Jupiter shouldn't be longer than a couple of minutes due to rotation coming into play (I'm not sure whether Lynkeos can compensate for this?). I use PIPP and Autostakkert for video pre-processing and stacking respectively, followed by editing in Registax. I see that you use a Mac, but both PIPP and Autostakkert apparently do work on Mac according to their websites. As Craig said, the magic happens once you start to colour balance and sharpen the image using wavelet controls.

Hi there! It would be helpful if you could post details e.g. did you capture a video or just images, how many images/videos you took, and your processing workflow. As for the Galilean moons, those are usually composited from an image with higher gain. Cheers

That is an absolute beast of a setup! Hope you're not setting up and tearing down every time? 🤣

You could buy a right-angled connector? My setup uses both 2.1 mm and 2.5 mm jacks, so I just bought some 2.1 mm to 2.1 mm and 2.1 to 2.5 mm right-angled connectors: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07M7JWC67/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07MQ9CYTH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Managed to see them in my 12x50 bins, amazing! Waiting for them to rise earlier so I can capture them with my SCT.

PoleMaster. I can be aligned within a minute, no need for guesswork and to re-check during the session. Usually achieve sub-arcsecond alignment. My guiding is spot on, no need to check with PHD2 drift align etc. Easily the most worthwhile investment in terms of my equipment.

There's a theoretical risk of overheating the optics. I haven't personally come across this happening to anyone, but I feel it's better to be safe and invest in one instead of risking damage to expensive equipment.

I have to say I've never been one for lunar imaging, but I quite enjoyed it yesterday. Just prior to astro dark, I thought I'd put the new 290MM through its paces. I left the 0.7x reducer on the Edge HD 8 as I was going to try to do some DSO work afterwards (which was cut short thanks to the clouds). 2000 frames in RGB, best 50% in AutoStakkert!2, wavelet edit + RGB balance in Registax 6. I'm now really looking forward to completing a mosaic! Cheers

Yep!

4.29 µm https://www.digicamdb.com/specs/canon_eos-1300d/

You can run a cigarette lighter cable to the USB hub as the hub has a 12V DC input. As long as your power tank is charged up and able to supply the voltage in a stable manner, it shouldn't matter where the power comes from as it's a DC supply either way. Just a point to make: The hub I used had a 2.5 mm jack, whereas most cigarette lighter cables tend to be 2.1 mm; I just bought a 2.1 mm to 2.5 mm connector and it worked fine.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/RSHTECH-Aluminum-Portable-Splitter-Individual-Black/dp/B081NK6LH6/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=powered+data+hub+12v&qid=1588517678&s=electronics&sr=1-3 https://www.amazon.co.uk/ORICO-Aluminum-Charging-Extension-Splitter-Silver/dp/B0848N7HK5/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=powered+data+hub+12v&qid=1588517746&s=electronics&sr=1-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExQlBUV01MSEdBUldLJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNTk1ODQ5NkpQTkYwNVRXWFVOJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA0ODc2OTQyOFpHRzlNUTRLNUVVJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ== https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sabrent-Charging-Individual-Switches-HB-B7C3/dp/B0797NWDCB/ref=psdc_430443031_t3_B0848N7HK5

I used an Anker 10-port hub (7 USB, 3 power ports): https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00VE4UJD4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1. I didn't really need the power ports but that was the package, and it worked perfectly. I've since upgraded to a Pegasus Power Box but still use the USB hub with my PC and it performs really well. It seems it's not available any more which is a shame! As long as it's a 12V input, your power tank should work fine with it.

Thanks for having a play with it! I think I'll run the image of the milky way separately in DBE and see what it does! It seems to correct the background very nicely.

Powered hub would be your best bet!

Will give that a go! What I'm having trouble with is that the colour balance seems very fine. The tiniest tweak in the sliders sends it the other way! Perhaps I need to come back to it another day. Canon 6D, Samyang 14 mm f2.8.

That's very kind, thank you! I just have a feeling that I can extract a lot more from it, but am at the point of giving up!

I took this image a couple of years ago and thought I'd have a go at re-processing. This was taken in relatively dark skies (Bortle 4) but with population nearby, and scattered clouds didn't help. I'm having trouble getting rid of the background tint. I've read that this is usually due to airglow so can be tough to mitigate. Any words of wisdom would be appreciated! Happy to send over a raw TIFF as well.

Cost £230 second hand! I did make sure that it wasn't too old and was in good condition though.

I run Sequence Generator Pro and Stellarium with StellariumScope. Does the job well! Processing-wise, I use AstroPixelProcessor for stacking and LP removal, and Pixinsight for further processing. APP is an excellent app which I can't recommend highly enough, really simplifies stacking. I recently blended images of M51 @ f10 and f7 and I couldn't actually see the borders where it had integrated them. Pixinsight everyone knows about; steep learning curve but worth it.

Hey Ant, I run my setup with an NUC. Granted it's a fairly powerful NUC (got a good deal on it via eBay), but even a basic one would suffice for image acquisition. I control it via Windows Remote Desktop over Wi-Fi and it works flawlessly, hasn't dropped a connection yet, plus no cables trailing into the house! My NUC is the 5i7ryh with Core i7-5557U @ 3.10 GHz, 16 GB RAM, 128 GB M.2 SSD and a HDD. It boots up pretty much instantaneously, connects to Windows RD very quickly and runs SGPro, PHD2, Stellarium, StellariumScope, PoleMaster and whatever else I throw at it easily. It's very compact and sits on a dovetail bar on top of my imaging scope, and means that there are no trailing wires to a laptop etc which might snag. You can check out an imaging session timelapse I did which shows the equipment:

I've had several runs of frustration with my equipment and processing. When guiding would work, autofocusing wouldn't, then platesolving would fail or something else would happen. I finally managed to get all the gear I wanted, and now it works (relatively!) well together. There were times when I just felt like selling everything off and giving up the hobby, but I'm so glad I didn't. There's something very special about being able to capture what the naked eye cannot see, and that for me is something that draws me towards AP. Processing is a steep learning curve, and I'm sure everyone who is an expert now started off with a very basic workflow and just continued to build on that. If you go for software, I would recommend AstroPixelProcessor and Pixinsight. APP has made stacking very smooth, and Pixinsight does have a steep learning curve but there are many excellent tutorials online (that's how I've learned). I'm still working on my processing and learn something new pretty much every time I process an image, but that's the best way to develop good processing skills! Good luck!

I clearly missed a trick with my ED80 then!