Albastars

Sorry for taking a while to get back to you. I've yet to use EOSUtility for an actual PA yet - clouds🙄 But, inside I've tested it as far as Sharpcap recognising and trying to solve the first image. I came across this thread on CN. A workflow is described there in the first post - didn't seem much point in me writing it out again. In that same post there is a link to setting up and troubleshooting the ASCOM Driver for DSLR which I found useful. I'll test it asap, hopefully this week. Hope it works for you. Let us know how you get on.

Just to add to this. I've discovered ASCOM is not required (my Antivirus didn't like the DSLR Camera Setup driver which is a 3rd Party offering and not provided by ASCOM). Instead, take images using EOSUtility and save to a suitable folder on your PC. Nominate that folder in Sharpcap under Camera>Folder Monitor Camera. It seems to only work with jpgs, not RAW, but that is OK for a PA.

No questions but thought my experience with PA using Sharpcap and a Canon 800D might be of help to some. Although I thought I was nailing Polar Alignment with a polar scope on my Fornax Lightrack, I could not get longer subs than 150secs. I considered buying a Polemaster but I thought was a bit pricey, so looked at a small guide scope and a webcam solution with Sharpcap which was a good bit cheaper. Researching Sharpcap and DSLRs, I read that PA might be possible with my WO ZS73 (430mm) main scope. I needed to install the ASCOM platform and then the DSLR Camera Setup for Ascom and, of course, Sharpcap. Sharpcap recognised my 800D camera and I completed an "Excellent" PA within minutes. On the first night I managed 180sec subs and experimented with 240sec - all nice round stars. How far can I go? I had done a manual PA first which was a fair bit off from the Sharpcap PA, so not as nailed on as I thought! I'd rather not be using a laptop but I can't argue against the results. I hope that might be useful for some.

I was out last night, not expecting great images because of the moon, but testing my setup - Fornax Lightrack II and Sony A7riii plus 100-400mm lens at 400mm. With my best Polar alignment yet, I managed my first reasonable 3min sub but, to be honest, I was hoping for better. When viewed at 100% there isn't much difference between the 2 and 3min subs but there is clear trailing at 4min. Can anyone comment on whether I should be able to get 4mins at 400mm? Or maybe I should refrain from pixel peeping? Its noticeable in all the subs below that the smaller stars have the appearance oh 1/2 moons with Earthshine. Can anyone explain what this is? Some kind of lens aberration I guess? My zoom lens is a quality bit of glass but it wasn't designed for AP but its all I have at the moment. My plan is to push this lens as far as I can on the Fornax and from there decide on a telescope. I went on to take 78 1min subs of the Hercules Globular Cluster (no calibration frames) just for fun but and with no great expectations.

It may be galaxy season but my 400mm zoom comes up a little too short so I was happy to discover the Iris Nebula. I managed 4hrs 40 mins on it a couple of nights ago. Sony A7riii, Sony 100-400mm @400mm ISO 800, 140 x 2min subs, F5.6 Stacking and most of the stretching done in Siril, finished in Affinity Photo. I was pleased with my first effort below until I saw this APOD - https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160506.html The bottom picture is my latest effort.

Thank you. As long as we enjoy it, I don't think we should worry about levels. I think my aim is to enjoy the learning and make the best images I can without throwing too much money at it - for now, at least! I was out last night and come up against a balancing problem. I was imaging Bode's Galaxy and hit balance problems as the camera/lens were hanging off the side - too much torque on the tripod head I think. Hopefully, the new wedge will help but I probably need a counterweight system - £££££😧

Central Scotland

Thanks everyone for your comments. Appreciated. Clear skies forecast for tonight!

Thanks. I've now added the focal length and f stop to my original post but the settings were 400mm/f5.6.

Hi everyone, My first post and one of my first DSO images - M101. I am really happy with this but realise that I have a long way to go to. I have no background astonomy experience beyond finding Polaris and recognising a couple of constellations. Any comments/advice would be welcome on how I can improve within the scope of my equipment . I seem to have settled on Siril for stacking, background extraction and stretching Mount - Fornax Lightrack II with Manfrotto 410 head acting as a wedge (about to be replaced with the Fornax wedge) Camera - Sony A7riii (42MB, full frame at 7952 x 5304 pixels) Lens - Sony 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 GM at 400mm/f5.6, ISO 800 60 x 120sec subs, plus darks, bias and flats Stacked and stretched in Siril, final tweaks in Affinity Photo. Thanks for looking.