Astro Noodles

Just now, IB20 said:

I quite like seeing satellites bomb through the eyepiece. I imagine they must be infuriating for imagers though. 

Not at all. Software processes them out.

When I'm doing visual it's a bit like - ooh a starlink, and there's another, and another, and another etc.... and then all I'm looking at is Starlink and not even looking at anything else.

No one has mentioned Starlink yet.

This is an incredibly rewarding and frustrating hobby.

What are your major frustrations?

I'll kick off - UK weather makes this very frustrating. I can go for weeks without getting a break in the clouds. 

I don't really do a lot of observing. Mainly AP. What I have found I enjoy the most is imaging transient objects.

36 minutes ago, ONIKKINEN said:

Periodic error is there regardless of payload weight, could it be that you are just now noticing it?

Maybe. But I didn't notice it before.

On 02/05/2022 at 12:37, 900SL said:

Wind acting on a bigger 'windage' or projected scope area can also cause directional drift. Not usually periodic however

It's definitely periodic.

I like Askar products - got a 200mm lens on order. I like Nico Carver too, I think his opinion is worth a lot.

When I run through the subs on the camera, I can see a slight oscillation on the RA access which takes about 10 frames to complete (10 minutes). It appears to be regular.

Noticed a periodic error on my iOptron Skyguider Pro.

Never had it before, but I think I might be getting close to the weight limit the mount can cope with.

Would using a mount close to it's weight limit cause periodic error to be more pronounced?

Welcome to SGL.

Sounds like it was very busy out there last night.  People firing rockets all over the sky.

Unfortunately I missed it as I was indoors for a few minutes. 🙄

A bit more colour in this one.

.... And more importantly, how I can justify one.

So, my mum and stepfather came for a visit last weekend.

My stepfather Dale has always had an interest in astronomy, from when he was a lad. He even ground his own lenses/mirrors.

The weather was perfect for astro. I was hoping to use my newtonian for some moon and planet viewing but that was off the cards, so I decided to go supernova hunting in Virgo. We had a pleasant evening. I showed him all my kit and how it worked. Captured an image of a supernova at 63 million light years from my back yard in Selby.

Just found out that he has been out and bought himself a second hand Canon 1300d.

So I will send him my Tamron 200mm so he can get started and replace it with an Askar 200mm which I have been lusting after for months. Everyone's a winner. 😄

39x60 with WO61 Canon600d iso800 no filters

3 hours ago, michael8554 said:

Hi Noodles

Gather those cables into a loose loop and attach to the mount.

You'd be surprised how tracking can be affected by cables dragging on the ground.

Michael

Thank Michael.

I was getting a pronounced periodical error during last night's session. Maybe the cables were contributing to it. 

16 minutes ago, callisto said:

Looking the bizz 

Thanks.

Nice, quality, easy to use beginner kit.

Think I'll go after M13 tonight.

Just waiting for darkness now.

23:00- 23:20 25/04/2022  19x60sec with ZS61

Nudging towards mag 12.

Just been out for the first time for ages. Spent loads of time setting up. Want to try out my new L-Enhance filter.

Took a 90sec frame to check focusing. Star trails. Drat. So I tinkered around with the balance a bit and tried again. Same result.

iOptron out of battery.

Probably didn't matter too much though because as I was taking down the rig I noticed that the Bahtinov mask was still on.

It should have two little 'arms' on the bottom of the filter which can be carefully bent either in or out to ensure a secure fit.

Thanks Chris. That was very interesting. I am in the market for a filter to help me with imaging in moonlight. It seems from @iantaylor2uk is saying that the l-extreme requires a longer exposure time. I am limited at the moment to sub 2 minute exposures so would an l-enhance be a better option for me?

Welcome to SGL. I would agree with the others, you have some really good kit for getting started. I have an Askar 135mm and I really love it.

9 hours ago, Swillis said:

Hi,

Thanks for the nice comments.

@alacant sorry if my description wasn't clear, I used the bias frames for bias and dark. I think this is what was recommended for Canon DSLRs?  Although I could have misunderstood. 

I will try the banding reduction in Siril, but might be a few days before I get chance to have a go.  Also 500 subs takes a long time to stack. 

I don't have guiding so don't think I can dither?  Although I probably have a fair amount of 'natural' dither from a fairly poor polar alignment due to no direct line of sight to Polaris.

@Sterrenland it's great when these objects start to come out of the dark. The reaction from my wife when she saw the stacked image on the computer was 'its amazing what you can see that from our garden'.

@RoloFanatic they are from the way the aperture closes is a camera lens. The 'classic' 4 spikes are from the secondary mirror supports on a newtonian reflector. 

@Astro Noodles it think it was the 4,5,7th Jan. That run of decent night's after all the cloud. No mods just stock. 

@Elp yes liking the wide field, might go a bit wider next time. I guess that's why the samyang 135 is so popular, and I'm very tempted to invest in one. 

Thanks again

Considering the equipment you used, you should be very pleased with this.

That's really good. When did you take it? The full moon at the moment makes deep sky imaging very difficult. Is your camera astro-modified?

Astro Backyard's video https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=astrobackyard+starting+astrophotography&docid=608029805808614165&mid=5A5B86466AB43D69E1375A5B86466AB43D69E137&view=detail&FORM=VIRE was very important for me in determining what sort of setup a beginner should go for without bankrupting themself.

Nico Carver for his processing tutorials

Dylan O'Donnell for a laugh

I also like Science and Futurism with Isaac Arthur  and Event Horizon with John Micheal Godier for futurism, sci fi, space philosophy etc. Good fun and quite thought provoking.