Maideneer

9 minutes ago, Don Pensack said:

Your issue is Seeing.

The magnification you seek to achieve requires exceptionally good Seeing, and a mount that can deal with such a long focal length and still track smoothly.

I regularly observe where there is excellent seeing, but even then, the planetary imagers take a hundred thousand images to get 500 good ones for stacking.

You might be better taking a video and then using software to reject the images that are too far from average focus to combine.

And that assumes your scope is cooled down, which might be the issue.

If it has sat out the entire night and you are taking images after many hours of the scope sitting outside, the optics are probably cooled.

If not, heat in the scope itself could be blurring the image.

And when was the last time you checked collimation in the scope?  A very high power star collimation might help.

 

And, were the planets being imaged still low in the atmosphere, or did you wait for Saturn to culminate (cross the meridian)?

Because getting a sharp image when the planet is below 30° altitude is iffy, and below 20° is just plain unlikely.

 

But, all that being said, try every morning for many days in a row, and you may find one of those mornings has better seeing.

Take a lot of images, then.

Probably below 20 degrees was my problem so I'm going to start there.  Collimation is perfect! I actually have my scope & mount always sitting in the garage so it's constantly used to the humidity and atmosphere of the outside world.

I do in fact take videos as you say, SER files through Sharpcap and then stack with AS3. 

Appreciate the tips, I'll work on it!

Hi gang, I'm only an intermittent year into AP so I don't have too much experience yet but I do ok with planetary imaging which is where my focus is right now. I operate a C925HD with an ASI224. On my image train, I've got my 224 going into an ADC which goes into a 2X Celestron X-Cel LX with an IR/UV Cut threaded in + a flip mirror. It's really the first time I'm using a barlow for AP so I wasn't sure if I was doing things right. It was a perfectly clear night out but Saturn kept coming out blurry, I must have focused and refocused a hundred times, even used a Bahtinov on a star and then slewed back over just to make sure. I'm guessing the seeing wasn't great as it was very humid out, but isn't that any summer night really? Of course I know barlows affect birghtness so I had to pump the gain a little bit, but focusing proved impossible.

From my understanding, you want 5 times the pixel size of the camera to get an optimal performance out of my focal ratio (native f/10). So the ASI224MC has 3.75 micron pixels, so I should be aiming to produce a focal ratio of around 5x3.75 = f/18.75. My 2x barlow basically achieves that...wonderful, great!

I just don't know if the 2X I'm using is of a good enough quality or if I was doing something else wrong. Would this famed Powermate I always hear about improve quality by a large degree? If it does, the 1.25" version they have is a 2.5X which would make my focal ratio f/25, way surpassing the 18.75 that if generally optimal for my setup, is that ok?  But they do have a 2" version with a 1.25" adapter that is 2X and not 2.5X, which would bring things down back to f/20 again which is closer to the range I need (I think).

Not sure how to proceed and I could use advice.  I'm not the most technical person on earth, so try not to get too into the weeds with technical info please.

Side note - I think I need a new IR/UV filter, the glass is loose on mine so I think it dislodged...advice on a decent one of these would help me too.

I have the same scope and cam as you. Tried Jupiter tonight as well, but it's much smaller. Are you using a 2x or 3x?

4 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Simply too far away as it will be at the L2 point.

https://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/webb-l2.html

Thanks for that link!  On a side note, the article is dated from June 2010 and the last sentence reads "...and the Webb telescope will be heading out to L2 in the near future." lol  I guess in astronomical terms, 11 years is a speck of sand.

I read somewhere that there is no chance to ever do repairs to the unit once launched.  Can someone smarter than me please explain why that is?

Thank you all.  I just registered on the Cloudy Nights forum, I didn't realize they were US Based.  I do have the photon book, I'm just not a very strong reader...retaining information that way is difficult.  I'd like to think I've made good progress over the course of about 9-10 months with some of the basics, but I haven't even touched guiding softwares or scopes or cams yet, it seems very daunting. And even though I've obtained many gadgets along the way like motor focusers and flip mirrors and an ADC and whatnot, those don't seem quite as overwhelming as effectively doubling my set-up would be by guiding. I make it seem like the roadblock here is all guiding and it certainly isn't, there's plenty other stuff to learn I just don't know where to start and in what order.

The journey continues, but advice here is very valuable to me.

What does that mean you ask?

What I mean is someone who is more experienced than me in AP and in gear knowledge that I can have live Zoom/Facetime chats with so I can learn.  Someone who is naturally a teacher at heart and doesn't mind potentially silly questions but also someone that can speak in plain English and not get too techy or down the very deep rabbit hole of numbers and equations and whatnot.

I'd like to "be with" someone as they are actually doing imaging of M31 or some other target because that's something I have zero idea how to do or where to start and it's easier than typing typing typing typing all the time.  Once one question is answered on a message board, a whole new set of questions appears, and then it's back to typing typing typing hoping for an answer and you don't know what you don't know so more than likely one isn't even sure if they are asking the right kind of questions.  As for myself, I've gotten pretty decent at planetary imaging so not a total newbie but still, I have no guiding equipment, have no knowledge of guiding software, don't have any idea where to begin. Lost but eager.

A buddy system would be amazing - the real challenge is the time zone thing.  I'm US CST based and lots of you are UK based, so while it's nighttime for you I'm still in my office working on budgets *le sigh*

I feel like a lot of hesitant newbies would benefit from something like this and I feel like it brings people closer together.  Being a natural introvert, a large group setting like an astronomy club isn't always an option and there are so many good and qualified people here anyway, I feel like the population to draw from here is a better option.

Not sure what the experienced user would get out of it though, not much knowledge really...maybe just a new friend.

Anyway, just trying to share some thoughts as we continue on through this digital age - perhaps trying to see if some of us can extend beyond the actual message board a little bit

5 minutes ago, johninderby said:

The Baader film filters are the best of the front mounted solar filters. The problem with glass filters is proper optically flat glass is so expensive it’s not used in any of the glass filters.  Funnily enough the glass filters scratch easily so not as long lasting as you might think.

Interesting you say that, the Thousand Oaks website says their filters will not break or scratch...false advertising?

Thanks, took a look.  Wow, glass ones are totally sold out.  I saw a Youtube video that mentions Thousand Oaks Astro makes these too, I'll try them.

Long ago someone told me the supplied EP's were plossls too but I don't actually know if they are.  5 pounds is cheap so it won't hurt but if I were you I would try to find a better diagonal.  The one supplied isn't great.

I think Celestron used to produce a filter for this size scope but no longer does.  Does anyone know of a manufacturer that produces a solar filter for this size aperture?

NOTE: Please, please don't tell me to DIY one.  I can barely put together IKEA furniture 😂

I know you got it pre-owned, but did your scope not come with that 10mm EP as well as a 20mm one?

5 minutes ago, inFINNity Deck said:

Difficult object, mine (taken with C11 EdgeHD)  is not much better (and over-processed): http://www.dehilster.info/astronomy/uranus.php

Nicolàs

Great pic! I have so many questions for you lol.

1) You really only captured at 35ms?  Mine was all the way up to around 800ms!
2) I'm so hesitant to use my ADC right now.  I just wish there was a smoother way.  Any adjustment or touch as you know can get the object out of view in a heartbeat. So I didn't use one here. Do you find it hard to use?
3) Do your raw files capture the planet as white in color?

I want to know why I can spend $4,000 on a tube and mount and they can't even have the decency to throw in an AC adapter.

6 minutes ago, Laurieast said:

This is my next target. Nice colour!

In truth I processed it to look this way, maybe it's just because I'm not good at what I'm doing yet the object appeared totally white to me rather than that blue with the white cap.  RGB Balance in Registax is to thank here lol.

The seeing wasn’t the greatest and I think I overprocessed this. I used a 2X barlow.

Getting the focus right is really hard and I don’t think there’s a way to get it crisp and sharp (in truth it might be my eyesight at this point as I start to get older).

I’m sure it could be a bit better but it was my first try and I can say I did it. 1.75 billion miles away and I did that, that’s such a genuinely good feeling at the end of any day forever more.

This was my first telescope and it was a good learning tool. I ditched the tripod straightaway and upgraded to this mount. If you don’t care about Go-To and want to keep things manual then I’m fairly certain any other tripod will do 😂

https://www.skywatcherusa.com/collections/mounts/products/az-gti-mount

I got this smartphone adapter and learned a lot with it as well. It’s nice because it has a Bluetooth shutter release button so it’s keeps things steady.

https://www.celestron.com/products/smartphone-adapter-dx-kit-1-25

I’m assuming you’re fine with the supplied eyepieces that come with the scope yea? If not then I’d recommend this one…it’s my favorite eyepiece still to this day.

https://www.celestron.com/products/8-24mm-zoom-eyepiece-125in?_pos=1&_sid=3f9aa5204&_ss=r

I've fallen deep into the world of "learning my stuff", which is now numerous and overwhelming.  I've been using my focus motor (operated via my HC) for a while now and I'm beginning to wonder if manual focusing is easier in the end.  It always seems to be pain to have to look through my EP, then turn away to go to the menu on the HC, find the focusing option in some sub-menu, make sure my fingers are on the right buttons to go back and forth, look back through my EP and bring it all together.  Similar pattern for AP, but at least looking at my PC monitor is slightly easier.

I know there are other ways to operate this piece such as via the PC, but it's the same idea in the end where I have to keep checking and checking back and forth through the EP.  Is there some kind of nice and easy way I can operate this thing without maneuvering in this fashion or is this the standard 'everyone does this' and I'm just overblowing some emotional response to a minor inconvenience?

Similarly, I've heard there's a way through something called a helical focuser to keep an object in focus no matter the magnification.  Would this come in handy with flip mirror usage?  Not sure how that would work or where in the image train I would connect that to.

I guess we would need to know the rest of your set-up to see if anything is even possible first. The Milky Way is probably within reach but others galaxies probably aren't going to happen as those are so far away and you need to track and capture large amounts of data and then stack it.

Even with larger consumer scopes, galaxies can appear just a gray, fuzzy spots if looking through an eyepiece.

In my part of the world, daily set time for Venus is 7:30 pm.  You should see the mad dash I make from work at 5 pm to get back to my place and set up, it's almost comical.  I attempted to do this yesterday with ridiculous results - no polar aligning, no filters, snapping 200 frames at most because of drift, processing turning out terrible, you name it.  Obviously I know I'm engaging in the world possible practices, but see...I don't have until 7:30 pm.  I have until about 6 pm as I have many trees in my way to the S/SE so I'm also fighting my way through those.

If I was to do this properly, can someone give me insight as to optimal settings based on my equipment (gain, capture speed, etc)?  What I did notice last night was that as bright as Venus is at the moment, it appears just half of Venus is visible with the other half in darkness at present.  I'm imagining a low gain as it's very bright.

My saving grace is that I do have a flip mirror but as I literally just received it the other day, I'm still figuring it out as to how to focus correctly so that when I do actually flip the mirror, the object appears focused in both my EP and on my PC screen...not sure that's possible.

Any advice helps here!

I joined sometime last year as a total know-nothing to astronomy, quite literally like "uhhh what's a telescope?".  Nobody ever treated me like I was stupid here, nobody got frustrated with me, and they actually stuck by me when I asked the same thing over and over and over again...I feel like I have my very own troubleshooting department here.

I'm still a know-nothing but I've gotten to the point that I was confident enough to build out a 'rig' if you will and have taken some great planetary shots (in my own mind at least).  I could see my own progression right before my eyes - Jupiter turned from a huge bright blob of nothing into an HD quality close-up, processed with three different programs and the whole bit.  None of that would have EVER been possible if I wasn't here.

The most important quality displayed here from users is the build-up.  You CAN do something, it's never you CAN'T do that.  Wonderful group.

27 minutes ago, Sargares said:

That’s normal. It’s much much bigger than that but unless you’ve got the right conditions the rest of it isn’t even a smudge. It’s just not even there. With my little newt in my front with even worse light pollution due to the street (south facing back garden) during the summer I can’t see ANYTHING. Not even the centre bit. If I look where andromeda is it’s just prominent stars and that’s it. 
 

the grey smudge will get bigger and bigger with better viewing. M13 which is probably the best globular cluster looks like a faint cloud to me  from my garden. Even doubling the aperture size only slightly improves it. 
 

if you can,one night with a good forecast drive out to the darkest spot you can. Bortle 3 is usually about as good as you’re gonna get unless you’re in The middle of nowhere. I guarantee you won’t be able to fit m31 into your field of view. 

So strange lol. I'm in Bortle 6 so I really need to try that.

9 minutes ago, Stu said:

Your scope is not necessarily ideal for observing M31, as it is such a big object. The outer regions are very faint, so need dark skies to observe them properly. I had similar views to you in an f20 8” Mak, just seeing the core.

I favour widefield refractors under dark skies for M31, with a 3 or 4 degree field of view and good dark adaptation, you really start to see the outer parts of the galaxy and the two satellites M32 and M110. A relatively fast big dob also does a good job though, showing you more detail but at higher mag so a smaller field of view.

So, I think you are seeing what you should see, if that helps?

I know what you're saying makes sense.  It's a big object, my scope theoretically should be zoomed in on the core and nothing else, but what I'm saying is that my reality was the total opposite.  The thing couldn't be further away, almost like the below (nevermind the specs) or even smaller than that.

I was expecting to see something up close even if just a core and what I got what something zoomed out and tiny - and I can't explain why

On 23/09/2021 at 04:57, Sargares said:

DSO’s are a tough find especially from light polluted spots. From my suburban garden on a good dark night I can just about find distinct ones like m13 etc. I can just about get those even with a 4.5” newt. If the moons out and full you’ve not got much chance. 
 

seeing really makes a difference too. I had a go last night as the cloud forecast is bad for the next couple of weeks. Full moon. Windy. Couldn’t even resolve the double double into 4 stars with a 10” dob…. Just into 2 fuzzy eggs. 

Managed to get out for an hour last night.  I'm VERY confused at something, particularly with M31.  Popping this into Astronomy Tools I get a view like the one attached which is obviously ridiculously close up.  The problem is, it doesn't match reality, like...at all.  I slewed to M31 and used this exact setup described and it looks far away...too far away.  I know it's what I was looking at because my alignments were bang on with other objects - so I saw the M31 core and the grey smudges and all that but I really don't know why it looked like it was about an eighth the size of the picture attached.  I feel like such a disparity means I'm doing something wrong and I can't identify what it might be.

On 20/08/2021 at 12:12, John said:

The UHC and O-III type filters help improve the contrast of many nebulae. There is no filter that works for galaxies though. Dark skies and observing experience are the best way to get the best views of galaxies.

 

 

I think this is my problem now, since I still haven't had any luck viewing anything other than planets, stars and the moon.  It's been a frustrating month 🤣

Looking into the Lumicon OIII and UHC narrowband filters now, I think that will help.  Is there a handy cheat sheet that shows popular targets that each filter is best used for?