Astro Noodles

2 minutes ago, Rustang said:

Camera is definitely secure. If it happens to be the pola aligment thats out (i cant see how though) could that cause it even with guiding?

It's not PA. If it was, the streaking would all be in the same direction, and it would be across the frame. What sort of scope are you using? are you using a field rotator?

2 minutes ago, Rustang said:

Could be but its pretty hand tight in its rings, i never know how tight to go though!

I can't think what else could be causing it, What about the camera, is that secure?

Is the scope slipping in its rings, or the camera slipping?

7 minutes ago, Alanj49 said:

Many thanks fore the reply, the iso was set at 100, and there wasn't a particularly bright area nearby, it was the same on other images taken in a different direction. The CLS filter I would have thought would get rid of that..

It's a very low ISO setting. 800 or 1600 would be better. That way you won't have to stretch the image as far.

See this site Home | DSLR Astrophotography (dslr-astrophotography.com) which @Alien 13 just put me onto.

6 minutes ago, Alien 13 said:

I too have an 80D and find the best ISO is between 100-400 due to the camera being relatively ISO invariant, see this site..

Alan

 

I have been experimenting at length with my 1100D and have found that the 'sweet spot' for me is iso 1600. I have been worried that I am doing something wrong and should be looking for iso 400-800 but I can't get the required signal from those. Having looked at the link you have posted, it says best iso for 1100d is 1600. so I'm pleased. 😁 Thanks for that Alan.

1 hour ago, INeedSomeHelp said:

Hi all,

my first serious attempt to take a good image of andromeda with my normal DSLR + photography gear. However, my image came out poorly and I could use some tips. I have followed this really excellent tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXcRKoxTPVg&t=1233s

I used:

Canon 80D, stock (iso 3200 and a shutter of 2s)

Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro USM (@f2.8)

Tripod and the internal intervalometer of my camerabody

SiriL for the processing

I took:

around 370 light frames (should have been more but something went wrong..) every 80 pictures I reframed and refocused on the andromeda galaxy, then took another 80 pictures.

75 bias frames

10 dark frames

25 flat frames

Regarding the ISO, the tutorial mentions a chart (https://www.photonstophotos.net/Charts/RN_e.htm) and picking the ISO that marks the start of this chart "levelling off". For my camera (80D) that would be at ISO 5091. Isn't that an extremely high ISO? For this reason I used 3200, which is the same ISO used in the tutorial. The image shown here is directly after SiriL-based stacking.

It is Alpheratz and surrounding region?

From where I am located (North Yorkshire), Andromeda is still low in the sky. As we don't have full astro darkness, I have been staying away from Andromeda because the sky is too light. I think this is what your problem is.

Do you have a powerful source of light nearby?

What ISO setting do have?

Probably Starlink satellites. The often follow one after the other.

3 minutes ago, John said:

I suspect you are correct which seems to confirm my suspicion that purely visual observing is increasingly a minority pastime.

I'm happy to be part of that minority though

 

To me, there is no boundry or line between AP and visual. They are just two different ways of enjoying astronomy.

It's like the motorcycle club that I am involved with, There are sports bikers, bearded cruiser riders, guys that do track days, trike riders, those that just like to fix old motorcycles, those that go on adventure holidays. They are all members of the same club enjoying their hobby in a way that makes them happy.

I just think that the rise in popularity of AP is to do with the availability and affordability of the technology available to do it. 20 years ago, AP would have been prohibitively expensive to all but the most dedicated and fortunate amateur astronomer. Now, a second hand DSLR is within the financial reach of many, if not most. A couple of lenses, a tripod and a laptop and you can start.

Another thing is that it's in our nature to want to see more, see further. To many, myself included, AP offers this opportunity. It's really little different to the visual astronomer wanting to upgrade from a 12" to a 16" reflector. 

I would imagine most people engage in both Visual and AP to some extent.

The next thing I'm going to be getting is a decent pair of bins.

Magnificent!

Thanks guys.

@Clarkey I have bought one of the AGPTEK ones off the internet. Would you share what settings you find best for the DSLR and pad? 

Hi and welcome to SGL

I've been wondering about the nature of Black Holes. Perhaps my time would be better spent concentrating on my job or something, but there you are. 😄

Anyway Is it absolutely necessary for a Black Hole to be a singularity? Is it possible to have an intermediate stage between a massive neutron star, for example, and a singularity? Something that is massive enough to prevent light escaping but is not a singularity.

Sounds to me like they were restless and annoyed and just wanted someone to shout at. It has been impossibly muggy and uncomfortable the last few days.

A camera shutter isn't going to keep someone awake if they are tired. I live on a main road with cars and lorries going by but I sleep OK. I think they are being unreasonable. I certainly wouldn't be buying them a bottle of wine.

I have been busy. 😀

5 hours, 58 minutes of 60 second subs taken over 5 sessions. ISO 1600. 217subs with Skytech CLS filter. 141 subs with no filter.

I'm still not entirely happy with it. It's too noisy and the stars are too bloated.

Things I have learned:

I don't really like the CLS filter. It seems to kill the star colour.

I really need an astro modified camera.

I really need astro darkness.

I'm going to try some narrowband imaging at OIII next

I have attached the TIF file if anyone would like to try and draw a bit more out of it. 🙂

Autosave.tif

Hi Sean.

Orion is the tradename used by Synta for products sold in the USA and Canada, The tradename for their European products is SkyWatcher.

First Light Optics stock a wide range of SkyWatcher telescopes. Skywatcher | First Light Optics

7 minutes ago, Xilman said:

It's just coming up to midnight (22:47 UT at time of typing) and circa 21:30 solar time.

The air temperature is 30C.

The wind will almost certainly produce lousy seeing.

The air is so full of dust that Polaris is the only naked-eye visible star in UMi.

It's too hot to sleep but I am not going to open up the observatory in these conditions.

20deg here. 80% humidity. The air is still - no dust.

Ready for tonight's session.

Taken back in March with a camera lens which cost £30 off fleabay, no polar alignment and a wobbly mount with an after-market RA motor.

I wish I could say I've made huge progress since then, but this is a long journey.

I'm working on 8 hours of the western Veil. Currently on 4hrs 24 minutes taken over 4 nights, The one thing I have realised is that I really need an astro-modified camera !

Not very exciting, but useful. A tray with a bracket to mount on the vertical tube of a camera mount. Very useful for USB power brick, mobile, intervalometer etc.

I Think it is possible to assemble the counterweight bracket the opposite way round, with the long part of the bracket towards the bottom (see attached image). If you are thinking of upgrading to the William Optics Dec adaptor, having the reticule upside down may be an advantage.

Hi Laurence.

This is how the mounting bracket should look. With the central tongue to the top (My Skyguider is upside down in this image). Does yours look like this?

Personally, I find it easier to polar align with out mounting the counterweight etc.

Clear Outside Annual Darkness.