Ollyb

Nice work 👍🏻

I’m just about to take delivery of a William Optics GT71 and Flat6A iii 0.8 Reducer…

The plan is to attach my 2600mm Pro, a 16.5mm Adapter, M54M-M48F adapter and 2” EFW giving a total spacing of 56mm (as per ZWO guidance)…

Has anyone used this combination and, if so, what setting did you end up with on the adjustable Flat6A iii?

Also, where did the focusing tube roughly end up for focus?

I know I’ll have to spend some time on the next clear night to get it perfectly sorted out but just wondered about a ‘starting position’…

Many Thanks

Olly

Stunning image 👍🏻

Comet Leonard…

I have a Redcat 51 and use the ASI 1600mm Pro to take advantage of the wide and flat  field of view offered by this beautiful OTA…

I did consider the ASI 183mm Pro to get better resolution and detail but then you pay the price of a cropped  image…

Its a decision between widefield or more detail really…

To be honest I’ve had great results with the 1600mm Pro and the Redcat 51 (see below) 

I have an Esprit 100ed and 2600mm Pro for detailed and ‘closer’ Astrophotography so I guess it wouldn’t make sense to use the Redcat with the 183mm Pro for me…

Hope that helps…

Recat 51/ASI 1600mm Pro… Optolong 6.5nm  Ha …

Pixinsight is absolutely worth the investment, my Astro images have gone from being acceptable to a whole new level since I started using PI…

Compared to the cost of a telescope imaging rig Pixinsight is actually cheap and surely the whole aim is to produce stunning images…

I love how images evolve in Pixinsight, it’s literally a stunning piece of software for astrophotographers…

I agree with all the above, Pixinsight is now my ‘go to’ processing software. 

15 hours Integration

Redcat 51

AZ EQ6R Pro

ASI1600mm Pro

Processed in DSS, Pixinsight & Photoshop 

I’ve just started using Pixinsight after seeing the results other propel have achieved, it’s a whole different concept to Photoshop and seems to be far less destructive of faint data…

Here is my best attempt at NGC7000 in Photoshop and then in Pixinsight… They are totally complementary to each other but I’m loving the results from Pixinsight, especially the ability to see faint detail…

Narrowband... Only 2hrs 20min integration so work in progress...

Just finished processing IC1396 after finally getting a clear night and some decent integration...

Ha 24 x 420secs

Sii 14 x 420 secs

Oiii 14 x 420 secs

Total 6.1 hours

Darks x 24

William Optics Redcat 51

ASI1600MM pro

AZ-EQ6 GT Pro

I have my ASIAIR Pro connected to a Nevada 12v PSU, which provides up to 25 amps, it has an ammeter...

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/power-accessories/nevada-psw-30-25-30a-switch-mode-power-supply.html

I use the PSU to provide power to the ASIAIR Pro and Mount (AZ-EQ6 GT Pro) separately...

With ASIAIR powering the following...

ASI1600mm Pro with cooling set to -20C

Two dew heaters from one 12v port (set at 100%) through the ZWO splitter cable

ASI120mm Mini

EAF

EFW

The ASIAIR draws 3 amps

With the mount slewing at maximum speed the whole setup draws 4.5 amps.

You could theoretically run everything through the ASIAIR Pro but that would be a bad idea in my opinion to make the unit work that hard...

I was running the rig (as above) through 2 separate Lynx Astro PSUs, each rated at 5 amps it worked great but I just wanted the reliability and voltage control from the Nevada Power Unit (regulated 13.8v)...

I also use Lynx Astro silicon cables...

Hope that helps

On 17/05/2021 at 10:08, Scooot said:

I think Plan has been added in the last update, I haven’t looked at that yet.

Plan is in the latest update, along with multiple star guiding.

3 hours ago, peter shah said:

love the Field of View, we don't often see the whole extent of the elephant trunk.

Presumably you have used the standard HST Palette?. The H-alpha in this object will always overwhelm the SII and OIII.  Try not to push the Ha so much and try to allow to the SII and OIII come through a little more....Colour balance on narrow band is always a personal thing and is very different to colour balancing RGB as the ratios are so much further away. Plus objects vary as to how much SII and OIII they have in them.

1 hour ago, newbie alert said:

Think the data is all there , try the selective colour to balance and bring out those golds 

Thanks for the advice, I think this is more like it... I do have a lot more Oiii and Sii data to gather...

Redcat 51

ASI1600mm

Ha, Sii, Oiii Filters

DSS & Photoshop CC

Only 4 hours integration time so, really, work in progress

I love the diversity of all these images...
Wide angle image I’ve just completed using Redcat 51.. Only 4 hours of integration so ‘work in progress’

That is stunning

48 minutes ago, Astro Caller said:

Are you using masks? you need to sperate the background, stars and nebulosity and make adjustments, on this image you have clipped the dark reference  removing data from the image   

Yes, I know the image has lost some data, it’s work in progress on the Heart Nebula... 

Believe it or not, I used Star Reduction here!...

6 minutes ago, Astro Caller said:

No worries, I always use WeTransfer to send files, i don't use photoshop for main processing, just final touch ups, all my main processing is done in Pixinsight, but this image looks really good, nicely balanced, low noise 

The red colour image was made with virtually just Ha as I have yet to collect sufficient Oiii and Sii to make a’ balanced’ RGB image... so it will be much better eventually.

I guess using a mono camera does make a big difference, I only need to use Darks to get rid of amp noise and I also use AstroFlat Pro in Photoshop but, actually, could probably not bother. This narrowband image is produced almost entirely from the above Ha Stack...

Good luck with reducing those stars!

26 minutes ago, Ollyb said:

 

Hi, sorry sent wrong image here in previous post...

my stacked TIFF is too large to email to you (67mb) but here is what it looks like after 1 level stretch in Photoshop...

1 hour ago, CloudMagnet said:

Dont forget Topaz DeNoise as well, bit expensive on first glance but you can do a free trial as well. Works great to remove "static" noise but I think ensuring you dither in RA and DEC will get rid of any walking noise as well.

Yes, forgot to mention Dither helps a lot with noise

I used ‘Make Stars Smaller’ followed by ‘Enhance DSO, Make Stars Smaller’ in the Astronomy Tools Plug-In for Photoshop... 

I found it better to do this at the start of the processing, aster initial stretching, curves etc...

Hi...

I’ve just imaged IC1396 with a similar setup to yours except I use an ASI1600MM Pro...

After reading various forums about calibration frames I decided not to use Bias frames and, as I keep my camera sensor permanently attached to a filter wheel, I don’t use flats. I used 18 x 420 sec exposure at 200 gain and used 20 Darks and got great results. I know you are using a OSC camera but maybe  this will help... 

Ha frames x 18 after stacking...

My next target with the Redcat,  beautiful work 👍🏻