StuartT

Usually I image DSOs with a 700mm frac and get good results. But recently I have had my 2000mm SCT on the mount to do the moon. So rather than remove it, I decided to try imaging part of the Rosette with it (realising I would not have the FOV to get the whole target in). But the results are disappointing. I don't use guiding, these are just 20sec subs. I used NINA's direct dither function (which dithers just straight to the mount). The image scale with this camera ASI2600MC Pro) at this FL was way oversampled at 0.39 arcsec/px so I used 4x4 binning in NINA to get a more reasonable 1.55 arcsec/px So what went wrong? Not only do the stars look blurry (despite autofocus working well), but there is a TON of walking noise (which should have been dealt with by dithering every three frames). It's only half an hour of integration time, but still...

global shutter too

Thanks for taking the time to watch. Sounds like I don't need to worry then. My mount isn't a fancy one (EQ6R Pro) Wonder why syncing near the meridian would be problematic? 🤔

I have been using NINA for a while now and I really love it. But I was watching a video the other day which explained the "noSync" function, but I didn't understand it. Normally, when I do a plate solve in NINA it computes from the image how far away it actually is from where it thinks it is and adjusts the telescope position to match. I thought that was 'syncing' I assume this then also means that if you slew to another target, the scope is more likely to be in the right place because of this syncing because the mount now has a more accurate knowledge of its position following the plate solve (i.e. the mount has updated its model of the sky). Am I correct so far? If so, why would I need to use NoSync? What would be the point of plate solving if NINA doesn't then correct the mount?

Thanks! Just ordered the Apollo M 👍

haha! sorry. I don't mean 50GB a frame! I mean 50GB a video (which are 5000 frames long)

Just starting to try some solar for the first time today shooting short movies and stacking them. Moderately happy with this one. 20cm SCT, ASI2600MC Pro, best 10% of 400 frames

Do it. You'll not regret it

seriously considering getting me one of these 👍

I was wondering about one of these as a second scope to use with a Quark for solar (the aperture being under that which requires an ERF). For a doublet, this scope is meant to be very nice indeed and it has a very good focuser, I gather)

Anyone know who handles Player One cameras in the UK? Their dealer is supposed to be Starfield Optics, but their URL is dead https://starfieldoptics.co.uk/

I've figured out my ideal gain, but I don't know what offset is supposed to be. The ASI2600MC Pro manual doesn't mention it. I have it set to 50 in NINA (which was the default value). Any ideas?

I have a Meade LPI-G mono camera and it connects fine in SharpCap (using the Meade DirectShow driver). But to connect to NINA I apparently need an ASCOM driver. Does anyone know where I can find one? I tried at Meade and at ASCOM Thanks EDIT - sorry. found it

You've given me something to aim at!

Oh boy! These are superb.

Sure, I know about image scale, but I thought the formula was (206*pixel size)/focal length Where does frequency come in?

Sorry @vlaiv but I don't quite understand this part. Why would f ratio affect filter performance?

@vlaiv Thanks once again for a full and expert explanation. This is great news as I already own the Baader solar continuum filter 😃

If the top graph is indeed the correct one, the 685 filter would mean I am imaging the moon only in a window of about 15nm. Is that ok? I guess light is not in short supply where the moon is concerned

Thanks. I think I first need ZWO to answer the question of their conflicting graphs and what the IR cut window actually cuts in the 2600.

Thanks. The Baader passes all wavelengths longer than 685nm The Astronomik 807 allows all wavelengths longer than 807nm The Astronomik 742 allows all wavelengths longer than 742nm The Astronomik passes only between 642nm and 840nm (so blocks the longer IR) Not really sure how to choose between them. My camera is a ZWO 2600MC and it has an IR cut filter which blocks some IR, but it's not entirely clear to me which wavelengths as the manual appears to show two conflicting graphs

Hi Lunar Types Just getting into this and wondered if you have any recommendations for a good filter to use for imaging the moon? I hear good things about the Astronomik Pro Planet 642 IR pass filter Thanks

Thanks Ian. Fortunately my camera has a very convenient second peak at the same gain as the read noise drops off. So there is clearly a 'sweet spot' at about gain=110-120 where you get the best of both worlds

Ok thanks @vlaiv So what is the reason for cooling the sensor ? I thought this was to reduce noise?

My camera (ASI 2600MC Pro) has a specified read noise of 1 - 3.3 e Am I right in thinking that the sensor temperature determines which end of that range I will actually get? Generally I cool the sensor to -15°C but I'd be interested to know if it would be worth going lower, so does anyone know where I can find a graph of read noise v temperature?