AMcD

Many thanks @Fegato Yes, striking the balance between bringing out the detail and keeping the noise to a minimum is the challenge that I have been wresting with. I plan to have another go at the data with a but more stretching- but perhaps not today as we went to a rather good 50th birthday party last night 😂

This is my first attempt at a reflection nebula. This image of the Iris Nebula represents 23 hours and 15 minutes of 300 second integrations. It was taken with a QHY8 attached to a TS152 achromatic refractor mounted on a Losmandy G11 guided with PHD2. The data was gathered using SGPro, stacked in DSS and processed with PS. I found the processing much. much harder than with emission nebula even with a substantial amount of data. Some of the data was gathered only in nautical darkness and with a waxing moon, so this may have had something to do with the struggle. 😀 As always, constructive criticism welcome. NGC7023_BB_Stack_23hrs_15minsFirstPass.tif

My all sky camera was employed on Thursday keeping an eye on the conditions as I gathered integrations on the Iris Nebula. The attached MP4 file appears to show, amongst the planes and satellites, a number of albeit mostly faint Eta Aquariid meteors. There are also a couple of quite bright ones, one following almost immediately after the passage overhead of the ISS. The video file covers the period between approximately 9.45 pm last night and 4.00am this morning. We are not best placed in the Northern Hemisphere to see the shower to its best effect, but it was nice to capture some. Aquariids.mp4

My all sky camera was employed last night keeping an eye on the conditions as I gathered integrations on the Iris Nebula. The attached MP4 file appears to show, amongst the planes and satellites, a number of albeit mostly faint Eta Aquariid meteors. There are also a couple of quite bright ones, the second following almost immediately after the passage overhead of the ISS. The video file covers the period between approximately 9.45 pm last night and 4.00am this morning. We are not best placed in the Northern Hemisphere to see the shower to its best effect, but it was nice to capture some. Aquariids.mp4

I love the fact that your test image is of an exquisite quality that I can only aspire to 😂

I have only begun this year to make serious attempts at imaging galaxies, having been overly obsessed with emission nebula in the past. This is my further attempt at M81 and M82, representing 20 hours of 180 second integrations captured under Bortle 5 skies using a QHY8 OSC attached to a TS152 achromatic refractor, mounted on a Losmandy G11 and guided with PHD2. The image comprises a combination of 10 hours of integrations taken without a filter, and 10 hours of integrations take through an Optolong L-Pro. The data was captured using SGPro and processed in Photoshop. Thanks for looking and constructive criticism welcome.😀 M81_L_Filter_Stack_20hrs_FinalLightBG.tif

My set up is remotely operated so that I can use it when working away, and so that I can take advantage of clear nights at home without disappearing into observatory when I have been away at work all week - which would not go down well. 😂 If I am at the computer whilst doing an imaging run, I tend either to do some processing of data, plan new targets or scroll through SGL to see what others are up to. The set up allows the observatory to close and open automatically in response to the changing weather, so a lot of times I just go to bed! The disadvantage of all this is, of course, that I lose the much closer connection with the night sky that you get from sitting outside under the stars with the equipment.

This is the very shallow light curve for exoplanet HD191939b. The star HD191939 is a Sun-like star with three sub-Neptune size planets orbiting it, of which HD191939b is one. The three-planet system is 54pc distant and is said to be a promising target for multiwavelength transmission spectroscopy of all three planets' atmospheres. My data was acquired on 27 March 2022 using a QHY8 OSC and an Optolong L-Extreme filter with a TS152 achromatic refractor mounted on a Losmandy G11 guided with PHD2. The acquisition software was SGPro and the data was processed using the NASA EXOTIC software to produce the light curve. I have also attached the paper from The Astronomical Journal that details the confirmation of the discovery of the system in 2020. Badenas-Agusti_2020_AJ_160_113.pdf

This is my rendition of M81 and M82, comprising a little over 9 hours of 180s integrations taken with a QHY8 on a TS152 achromatic refractor mounted on a Losmandy G11. The image was acquired over the past couple of nights using SGPro and PHD2 and was processed in PS. The image is the first part of an experiment to see whether I get better results on galaxies with no filter or with a broadband LP filter. This is the unfiltered version. When the postman brings an Optolong L-Pro I will do a 9 hour version with that filter and compare them 😀 M81_LF_Stack_9hrs_18mins_SGL.tif Center (RA, Dec): (149.014, 69.306) Center (RA, hms): 09h 56m 03.467s Center (Dec, dms): +69° 18' 22.335" Size: 81.8 x 56 arcmin Radius: 0.826 deg Pixel scale: 1.76 arcsec/pixel Orientation: Up is 199 degrees E of N

Interestingly, using the NASA EXOTIC software to produce a light curve from my data is a lot less forgiving (there is no option for 'stretching' the final data to emphasise the curve, as there is in AstroImage J). As far as EXOTIC is concerned, the best fit for my date is a straight line 😂 I like to think I can, overall, still see a dip in brightness in the data though 😉

This is an exoplanet light curve for exoplanet Kepler-408b that I obtained on 25 March 2022 using a QHY8 OSC attached to my TS 152 achromatic refractor mounted on a Losmandy G11. The data was acquired with SGPro. The light frames were batch plate solved using ASTAP to add WCS (World Co-ordinate System) FITS headers then analysed in AstroImage J. I am pretty pleased with the result, not least because I acquired the data through an Optolong L-Extreme filter, which is definitely not designed for the job. Happily the postman brought a Baader UBVRI photometry filter this week so hopefully this will improve my results. Thanks for looking.

I am going to do this experiment over the next couple of weeks. I plan to image the same bright galaxy for a set period of time, first without a filter and then with an Optolong L-Pro that I plan to have the postman bring in the next couple of weeks. I will post the comparison when it is done. 😀

This rather noisy image of the Cone Nebula (NGC2264) comprises 12 hours of 300 second integrations taken using a QHY8 with an Optolong L Extreme NB filter with a TS 152 achromatic refractor mounted on a Losmandy G11. From my location the target is often relatively low down in "the muck", but I am quite pleased with this from my Bortle 5 skies, not least because the data was gathered by way of remote operation of my observatory from three different locations around the country whilst away on work. Last emission nebula of the season before trying my hand at some galaxies. Acquired using SGPro and PHD 2 and processed with PS. Thanks for looking. NGC2264_LF_12hrs.SGP.tif

I operate my G11 remotely over an internet connection to the computer in the observatory. Last night when I told the Gemini to park the scope it went mad. A few seconds into the slew were multiple 'Com Port Timed Out' messages and the Dec slewed through 360 degrees and was only stopped because the whole thing became tangled in cables. There was no apparent way to stop it until I decided simply to (remotely) pull the plug. I have had the mount for years and have never experienced anything like this. Tonight it is behaving perfectly. Has anybody else had this experience. I have looked on the Losmandy i.o. group but cannot see that anyone has had a similar issue.

This represents twenty four hours of 300 sec integrations taken using a QHY 8 OSC and Optolong L-Extreme filter on a TS152 achromatic refractor mounted on a Losmandy G11 under Bortle 5/6 skies. The integrations were acquired with SGPro and PHD2, stacked in DS and processed in PhotoShop. The somewhat narrow format is the result of my neglecting to remember I was in the middle of this project when I removed the camera to deal with icing on the QHY8, and replaced it in a slight different orientation, and the subsequent cropping I have had to do because I failed to deal properly with the icing 🙄 Many thanks for looking... Rosette_LF_Stack_23hrs5mins-Final.tif

This is an image that I did not run through Starnet++ and processed stars and nebula together. It is really only the brightest star that shows a halo from the L-Xtreme

The L-Extreme does seem to help somewhat, although around the very bright stars it does tend to generate halos. I find that processing the nebulosity and the stars separately courtesy of Starnet++ also helps to keep the stars controlled notwithstanding the images are produced with an achromat. It is always worth putting a camera on a scope - if only to see what happens!

It is pretty well corrected and the build quality is excellent, at least on this one. I picked it up second hand. Herewith two recent pictures - The Rosette is 10 hours of 300 sec subs with an OSC equipped with an Optolong L-Extreme. The Elephant's Trunk 24 hours on the same equipment.

This is another work in progress as I tried to escape the ever brightening moon by imaging as far away from it as I could get. This is 4 hours 35 minutes of 300 sec integrations taken using a QHY8 OSC with an Optolong L-Extreme narrowband filter through a TS152 achromat on a Losmandy G11. Acquired using SGPro and PHD2 and processed in Adobe PS. As the wind and rain has moved in again, we might be at the new moon before I get to add more data... M97_LFD_Stack_4hrs 35mins_Processed.tif

I do my imaging with a TS152 achromat. I could get better images with an APO but a 6 inch APO would require a lottery win 🙂 In any event, I have indeed developed a real soft spot for it.

Targeting the Rosette after three hours on NGC1931. If it stays clear SGPro is set up to move the scope to M97 at about 1am. I hope to be in bed by then 😴

This one has been a real struggle. I have extracted the best 15 hours or so of integrations from a total of a little over 21 hours in total but even then the data is not great. Probably because of that, and my still evolving ability, the processing has been a real struggle as well. Indeed, it has felt like wrestling a bear (not that I have ever wrestled a bear). This is 15 hours 45 mins of 300 sec integrations taken using a QHY8 OSC and Optolong L-Extreme filter with a TS152 achromatic refractor on a Losmandy G11. Acquired using SGPro and PHD2, stacked in DSS and processed with Adobe PS. Moving on... NGC1499_LFD_15hrs45mins_06.02.2022.tif

This is a work in progress. The reason the format is quite 'slim' is that, stupidly, I removed the camera to get rid of some moisture that was causing icing without remembering that I was only 3 hours through this particular target, on the way to 24 hours of data or more. Hence the need to give the stacked image a serious 'haircut' after adding 7 more hours of data, when I realised I had reattached the camera in a slightly different orientation. 🙄 This represents 10 hours of 300sec integrations taken with an QHY8 OSC and an Optolong L-Extreme filter on a TS 152 Achromatic refractor mounted on a Losmandy G11 under Bortle 5 skies. Acquired with SGPro and PHD2, stacked in DSS and processed in PS. Thanks for looking, constructive criticism always welcome... Rosette_10.1hrs_Final.tif

With respect to guiding with PHD2 it is worth joining the PHD Guiding Forum (https://groups.google.com/g/open-phd-guiding). You can upload your guide logs and get advice on what might be going wrong and what adjustments might help. The people who respond really know their stuff. When I sought help I got a response from Brian Valente of Losmandy no less. He gave me some excellent feedback on optimal settings and the behaviour of my mount (by coincidence a Losmandy G11) that resulted in a huge improvement in my guiding with PHD2. 🤓

Crikey - Suffolk has changed a bit since I grew up there...😀