Planitair

On 22/07/2023 at 00:09, TheOrion42 said:

So, I have the Sky-Watcher 72ED, without a flattener or reducer, and I use my DSLR camera Canon EOS 2000. Now I finally decided to ubgrade to dedicated CCD camera, and I ended up choosing between theese two, but I'm just not shure which one should I take.
So if anyone can give me advice and share his/her expirience with the cameras, I whould be very glad.

Clear Skies!!!

Just a mention the 533 is a CMOS not CCD, the advantage of modern CMOS is that exposures can be much shorter than with the older CCD.

Eric

I took this image on the last clear night we had in my area, 13th Feb 2023, Sky from my backyard is Bortle 7, we are experiencing clouds that are getting more and more regular in the seven year since I have been doing EAA, its taken me this long to get where I am with both my Astro Gear & how to use it correctly.

Rossette Nebula ngc 2244 (Caldwell 50) or Satellite Cluster in the Constellation Monocerus, taken me 2 yr to wait for a reasonable night and at the right time of year to

get this Beauty. Sharpcap pro with Optolong L-eNhance filter, 17 mins think taken at 15 secs, I nipped inside for a cuppa and returned finding it had dropped a lot of frames due to FWHM being too low, readjusted FWHM and then Clouds rolled in !!!!!

eric

2 hours ago, Astro74 said:

Fast focal OTA would need to be purchased - any ideas welcome 

Cam wise I’m looking at the zwo224

I have the SW az/eq 5 gt mount with a SW Espirit 80mm, (f5), ZWO 533pro OSC, great for everything except the very large DSO's, I would recommend

a Refractor and Sharpcap Software. Unless you have plenty of time & regular clear skies then I would steer clear of a Mono Camera, OSC is easier and more convenient.

Eric

I have the SW az/eq 5 gt mount with a SW Espirit 80mm, (f5), ZWO 533pro OSC, great for everything except the very large DSO's, I would recommend

a Refractor and Sharpcap Software.

Eric

On 25/03/2022 at 14:08, PatrickO said:

Got to admit after all the discussion I still don't know how to use this polar scope 😂

I had problems with this new Polar Scope, I ditched it for Sharpcap Pro PA, NO MORE KNEES creaking, easy and accurate.

eric

This Polar Scopes should be first Calibrated before using.

SHARPCAP is easy PA, easy on the neck & Knees 😁

As if Clouds, Rain, Wind, & Moon doesnt Blight us, we now have little or no  cloud, Moon out of way until early hours BUT, Minute Sand Granules from the Sahara are giving a Milky aspect to my sky.

They apparently called Particulates.

Eric

What I have learned is to keep things as simple as is possible when starting out on the imaging trail.

It is a very Subjective Hobby, so find out what works for you to start. Point  Tripod North & level  Balance both Mount & Scope with accessories  Camera etc attached in place, I use a Telrad Finder

I dont use Calibration Frames at all, I dont Guide either. 

Use Sharpcap Pro for PA & collecting my data on the night, it does the lot really well so you can advance at your leisure learning the other great things it has to offer.

In Sharpcap Pro I do short 30 sec subs and lots of them at Gain 250 to 350 depending on conditions. Get the colours lined up on the Histogram, I dont use the display Histogram but check it is reset.

The ASI 533 pro is a great OSC Camera and with my 80mm refractor i can get enough Stars in the field to PA with Sharpcap.

I use my handset (still) 2 Star Align and find my target easily following Focus with a Bhatinov Mask, sometimes forget to return my mount to Home position after PA, goes Haywire lol.

My images end up decent.

Of course, if you want to get really good images then use Calibration Frames, PHD or equivalent to Guide, longer sub exposures and even Dither etc if you want.

Pixinsight seems to be the leader of the Pack in Post Processing, expensive to buy & steep learning curve to start but excellent by all accounts

The ASIair products are becoming popular but have hitches for some I have been reading, maybe if they brought it out for use with a Laptop then I may have a try.

Your own set up can determine what is the best set up & Capture method for you of course.

Hope this helps anyone just starting out on the rewarding hobby of Imaging DSO objects I havent done any Planetary imaging due to them being not well placed this year for me.

 Put the subs mine are just lights (or with Calibration Frames)  through DSS then after  I use  PS & the free Gimp Software.

Eric who cannot dodge the Clouds

Plus for Sharpcap pro

This like everything else in Astronomy regarding all equipment, Software, Scope, Mount, Camera etc etc is quite subjective

Its down to personal choice. after looking around, reading up, asking questions like you have, then you will have a good idea of what will work for you.

I keep things simple by using a comprehensive piece of Software like Sharpcap Pro, PA, high gain, short 30 sec subs, Stacked, no guiding, no calibration ,play with the Histogram and obtain reasonable images, save Stack and run it through DSS, then improve in post processing software, I use PSCS2 ( found it free a while back on internet)

GIMP is free but I wasnt keen on it.

Pixinsight is probably the best but cost a bit too much for me.

Eric

Not sure how you can get a 2" filter near to the sensor on the 533 using the available spacers for back focus. 86mm is nearest I can get it, seems to work ok, would be glad to get some advice on this. I use Sharpcap high Gain ( 300 +) with lots & lots of 30 sec subs.

I have a ZWO IR/UV cut filter that I have no issue with

I have had 6 clear nights since beginning of late September 2021, 2 with New Moon.

I kept a record 2019 and tallied 15 good nights for the season.

I am Bortle 6/7 backyard but can get to a good Bortle 5 in 40mins.

I suppose depending where you live is the factor, I am West Yorkshire not far from Pennines.

I keep my set up basic so as to ensure not too many issues on the night ( Well not too many anyway)

Eric

22 minutes ago, mapstar said:

Looking good at present. It's going to be another cold one. Last night was -5°C at 3am.

Hope the Weather holds up for you Damian.

Eric

Just found this in the loft

The ' Cosmic Anarchist' Sir Fred Hoyle

6 hours ago, Stu said:

I was out at the time but didn’t know it was happening! Must having been too busy looking at Jupiter. Looks amazing, would love to see something like that. Thanks for the pics.

Yes, you were facing the wrong direction, it was travelling North, I was going to have a go at Jupiter myself but decided on M33 instead, glad I did now

Eric

6 hours ago, Grant93 said:

Saw this myself whilst imaging last night, only had enough time to whip my phone out. Sad I couldn't get a better picture. Was baffled when I saw it though 😆

Same shot i got from W/Yorks on my iphone while I was imaging M33, great sight.

I saw it (while imaging M33), was inside having a cuppa looked outside, travelling North it was a great sight. Managaed a quick shot on my mobile.

Now confirmed as being the Atlas V Rocket entering the Atmosphere to deliver 9 Satellites, launched earlier from California, last seen heading North across the UK, Centaur upper stage debri burn.

Eric

1 hour ago, Magnum said:

I took this image of the Elephant Trunk IC1396 3 weeks ago but forgot to post until now. This is 43 x 5 mins with my ZWO ASI533MC camera + Altair Triband filter and the Samyang 135mm f2 lens @ f2.4. Guided, captured stacked and stretched in MaximDL, processed in Photoshop, no calibration frames as that's how I roll 😛 

P.S. Yes I know there is an odd ring Halo around the Garnet star, but its an unavoidable artefact on specific colour red stars when using the samyang 135 with Dual Narrowband filters, ive experienced it with the L Enhance, L Extreme and now the Altair Triband. It pops up randomly on specific wavelength red stars and is not related to their brightness. It doesn't bother me at all but thought id point it out before I get comments about it hahahhaahahha, most of the time the red stars are so dim it doesn't really show.

Lee 

Great Image, glad someone else doesn't go with Calibration Frames, short subs and lots of them for me, no guiding either, mount tracks well , PA in Sharpcap pro, 2 star align and thats it,

due to the weather here cant afford the time to mess about with too many things lol.

eric

17 minutes ago, Skyline said:

I love it, I am thinking how this camera would be suited with my SW ED72?

It would be well suited I imagine, it goes well with my 80mm Frac.

Eric

On 27/07/2021 at 04:16, DDH said:

Thank you very much for all the replies I will look at all of your advice .  Last night I tried to set the system up again, so will run through what I did to setup.

Level the mount in both RA and Dec and check its pointing North.  Turn on Synscan and delete PAE then did a factory reset. ( I assume at this point all previous settings should have gone).  I checked NPE and it showed a value of 0.  Check PSU voltage  Reading on handset 13.5v.  Shut down Synscan at Home.  Restart, enter location E 24.56  N 42.49 enter,  time zone +02.00 enter, now the strange one, the system remembered the elevation setting from previous. ( I thought it should have deleted all previous info).  elevation  +352 enter, date 07/26/2021 enter, time 22:04 enter,  daylight saving yes enter, Polaris pos. set HH MM on center circle at time shown on handset, ( must remember to make a log of this) enter, start alignment, 2 star,  Arcturus, mount stopped high to left, center star enter, align success, 2nd star Dubhe enter,  Now the same happens the mount stops high to left, center star enter, align success,  ESC enter, select object list enter,  from this point on all objects selected the mount stops high to the left.  All of the final positions were exactly the same amount out of alignment and I had to re center.  The strange thing is previously before the handset upgrade the mount did work perfectly with all the same settings as above and was very accurate and did track objects very good.  One point to note though, was that the scope would never locate Polaris when I selected Star object, the mount would stop high above as though the scope was not aligned with the polar scope, another point I noticed last night was on my 2nd attempt to setup, Polaris did not appear on the clock, it was to the right of 12 above the circles?  This was probably due to the fact that I had to switch off while the mount was moving to another star as it was moving below the horizon and the scope was about to collide with the tripod!.  Sorry for the long post and I will look at all your suggestions today.

After a PA, do you return the Mount to home position ? if not you will be way out with your first alignment star and the second.

ew

On 26/07/2021 at 12:25, Cosmic Geoff said:

Unless you explain in some detail what exactly you do or did to align, so we can spot your error, it may be difficult for us to do more than make random suggestions.

One thing I found out is that accurate polar alignment is not necessary for an equatorial GoTo to work properly for visual observing.  The precise polar alignment is only required for imaging (to prevent field rotation).  If you are still not convinced, I will point out that alt-azimuth mounts manage the same task just fine without any polar alignment at all.

Newbies are often confused by the design concept of the Synscan software - you are meant to use a 'start position' so that the mount can slew to the approximate location of an alignment star before you have carried out the GoTo alignment.

Another thing I found out is that the mount can GoTo accurately on one side of the sky but allow it to do a 'meridian flip' and it is out of alignment on that other side of the sky...

Agree regarding Start Position, often overlooked by beginners.

This hobby is very subjective when it comes to equipment advice, read up, look at what other folk are getting & using , think about what you eventually want from this game, dont rush into buying anything, you can throw a lot of cash at this and then find you need the other.

ew

Just now, Planitair said:

Hi Paul, what capture Software are you using, Sharpcap Pro is great, also it has an easy **PA tool in it, good histogram etc, for about £12 pa well worth it.

The 127 Mak is not ideal for DSO imaging, more suitable for Planetary work by the way.

You have a great Camera, I shoot without any Calibration frames or guiding at all, and just do 30sec subs lots of them in Sharpcap.

**You would need a guidescope and camera to get enough stars in the field of view, the 127 cant do that , too narrow FOV, I am lucky with my 80mm frac it gets me the required number of stars needed in Sharpcap to plate Solve for PA (about 15).

Eric

ps: I use the Optolong L-eNhance Filter for most Nebulas, makes a big difference, I also use a UV/IR filter on Galaxies.

This Hobby is very subjected when seeking advice, go with what works best for you.