PeterC65

Thinking about it, the only scopes I have that don't have dew shields are the two Newtonians, and it's these that give me problems with stray light. The secondary dew heater looks difficult to fit, and to connect to, so I will try dew shields instead. Thanks for the tip!

Stellarium has a tool for finding objects of a certain type in a way similar to what you describe, but I'm sure it isn't as sophisticated as the one in Deep Sky Planner. I will take a look at it.

Yet another EAA session last night, this time narrow field, with the 72mm refractor (1.48° FoV) paired with the Barlowed 8” Newtonian (0.38° FoV). The Moon was looking really crisp with the IR pass filter and SharpCap’s new planetary / lunar live stacking. But I spent most of the session pointing in the opposite direction, working my way down the sky through a bunch of small but (mostly) interesting shaped galaxies: M81, M82, NGC3077, NGC2976, NGC1961, NGC2403, NGC2146, NGC2336, NGC2841, NGC3079, NGC3359, NGC3185/87/89/93 (Leo Quartet), M95, M96, M100, NGC4216. By the end of the session the Newtonian’s secondary was dewed up and objects started looking a bit mushy, but the highlight of the session has to be the last object, NGC4216, a galaxy containing a supernova. SN2024gy was only discovered 15 days ago but was clearly visible and almost as bright as the galaxies centre. There’s a full report here.

Yet another EAA session last night, although this one may be the last for a while given the impending rain. This time I went for narrow field, having noticed that the Winter / Spring galaxies were starting to nudge above the horizon. So I paired the 72mm refractor (1.48° FoV) with the 8” Newtonian fitted with a x1.7 Barlow (0.38° FoV). The Newtonian can be a little troublesome. With this amount of magnification it’s hard to get the focus just right, and the small field of view sometimes means that plate solving fails. When that happens it’s handy to have the wider field view from the refractor. The Newtonian doesn’t seem to handle stray light as well as the refractor, and the Moon was about, and while I have a dew heater on the primary, I think the secondary may have been getting misted up by the end of the session. I started with Jupiter. The x1.7 Barlow doesn’t give me quite the right pixel scale but its good enough (2.9 = F8.5 / 2.9µm) for the new SharpCap planetary live stacking tool to let me see the bands. Unfortunately the GRS was not on display. Jupiter was a bit too close to the Moon really, so I moved on to that. Slightly disappointing with the UV / IR cut filter, but the IR pass filter greatly reduced the atmospheric wobble allowing the SharpCap lunar live stacking tool to show me some nice crisp views. On to M42 because, well, you have to, this time to try to split the Trapezium with the higher magnification of the Barlowed Explorer 200. While the nebula itself looks much better with the refractor, the Trapezium stars are washed out and indistinguishable, but not so with the Explorer 200. I tried for M1 but the light from the Moon was reflecting inside the Explorer 200 I think, so I slewed the scopes to point in the opposite direction to the Moon which fortuitously was where all the galaxies lay. I spent the rest of the session just working my way down the sky, taking in M81, M82, NGC3077, NGC2976, NGC1961, NGC2403, NGC2146, NGC2336, NGC2841, NGC3079, NGC3359, NGC3185/87/89/93 (Leo Quartet), M95, M96, M100, NGC4216. Some of these I hadn’t observed before and it’s always nice to see an object for the first time. They are all small but (mostly) interestingly shaped galaxies, and I could see some of that interesting shape each time. None of them was crystal clear, possibly because of the high magnification, possibly because of the Moonlight, possibly because of dew. I’m never quite sure which. I do need to get a secondary dew heater for the Explorer 200 to rule out the dew though. It’s difficult to pick out highlights from all these galaxies, but I do always like to observe M82, especially when it’s showing me some of its lovely structure and colour. An unexpected highlight, and the final object I observed during the session, was NGC4216. This is quite a nice edge on spiral galaxy that shows some structure, but what attracted me to it was the reports of a supernova. SN2024gy was clearly visible as a bright dot in the outer rim, almost as bright as the galaxies core. I love to observe these short lived objects, existing for timescales that are on a human scale when so much of the sky is eternal from our perspective.

I use Stellarium to 'plan' my EAA sessions. I say plan as I start with a rough idea of what I want to observe based on the kit setup then select objects as I go. I have a few Observation Lists set up in Stellarium for different sized objects and pick from the list that fits the FoV of the kit I'm using that night. I add objects to these lists as I come across them, so there are usually new objects there to observe. Stellarium can highlight all of the objects on a list so that you can see which are visible on the night, which are nearby, and (in the case of last night) which are out of the way on the Moon.

Another widefield EAA session last night. This time the FMA135 got the filter wheel and the 72mm refractor got its x0.6 reducer. With more closely matched fields of view, it was interesting to see how much more detail I could observe with 72mm of aperture compared with the 30mm of the FMA135. Where the FMA135 excels is for the really big nebulae, but then there are so many starts getting in the way. The L-eNhance filter did a great job of winding these down though. I mostly concentrated on a different set of emission nebulae from the previous night, so IC1805, IC1848, NGC2174, NGC7822, SH2-185 and even the supernova remnant SNR G189.1+02.9. I was also very pleased to see part of Barnards Loop alongside M78 with the FMA135. Highlights of the session were the Heart Nebula (IC1805) actually looking like a heart, framed just right by the FMA135 with the L-eNhance winding down the stars. And the Monkey Head Nebula (NGC2174) actually looking like a monkey’s head. There's a full report here.

Another widefield EAA session last night. This time the FMA135 got the filter wheel and the 72mm refractor got its x0.6 reducer. The session started badly as I couldn’t get focus with the FMA135. I wasn’t sure I’d use it before with the filter wheel so ended up changing the kit around several times outside which is something I normally avoid. After a much frustration I realised that there was nothing amiss with the kit and it was just that the SharpCap Bahtinov Focus Mask Assistant was giving me duff information. All was fine when I went back to just looking at the diffraction spikes. So after returning the kit to the intended setup the session began … I started with M42, where I had left off the previous night, but then tried to observe a different set of wide field objects. The FMA135 and the 72mm refractor with its reducer are more closely matched in terms of field of view so it was interesting to compare what the extra aperture was giving me. The California Nebula (NGC1499) was a great object to show this, nicely framed by the FMA135 but only just fitting with the 72mm refractor. When I zoomed in on the view from the FMA135 so that it matched that from the 72mm refractor the improvement in detail from that extra aperture was obvious. What did work well though was using the L-eNhance filter to reduce the impact of stars with the FMA135. It’s wide field of view means that there are usually lots of stars and they often get in the way of nebulae, not so with the filter. Here is the California Nebula with stars dimmed by the filter. I mostly concentrated on larger nebulae. To my great surprise part of Barnards Loop was visible alongside M78 with the FMA135. I could just make out some of the Witches Head Nebula (NGC1909) too, but it being a reflexion nebula I was struggling. Emission nebulae where easier to see, especially with the L-eNhance selected for the FMA135 and with the saturation increased a little in SharpCap. IC1805, IC1848, NGC2174, NGC7822, SH2-185 and even the supernova remnant SNR G189.1+02.9, all looked good with plenty of shape, detail and extent on display. Highlights from the session where two objects finally looking like their names, partly due to good visibility and partly to their fortuitous orientation. The first highlight was the Heart Nebula (IC1805) which was framed just right by the FMA135, and really stood out once the L-eNhance had minimised the stars. The second highlight was the Monkey Head Nebula (NGC2174) which doesn’t look like a monkey’s head to me even in Stellarium, but last night the similarity jumped out. It was getting late, but the Winter / Spring galaxies were nudging about the eastern horizon so I slewed right around and took my first look this season at the Leo Triplet, framed easily with the 72mm refractor. Markarian’s Chain was visible too, but still a bit too low in the sky for a really good image, but M101 was better, above the house but that meant it was higher. Tonight is looking clear again and I’m going back to narrow field. With the 8” Newtonian and x1.7 Barlow, hopefully those galaxies will look even better.

I'm hoping my new 8" Newtonian will bring new galaxies in to view this galaxy season.

Last night I paired the 72mm refractor with the FMA135 for a wide field EAA session. Thanks to the tip from @Richard N, I streamed the laptop screen to a tablet via Google Meet, then outside I could focus with the tablet in one hand and the focus knob in the other. Genius! Highlights of the evening were observing all three of Orion’s Belt stars (Cr70) while also observing the Flame and Horsehead Nebulae adjacent to Alnitak … and observing Vesta pass by M1 … There’s a full report here.

Following several recent narrow field EAA sessions with the new 8” Newtonian, last night I went wide field, pairing the 72mm refractor with the FMA135 instead. I fitted the FMA135 to the secondary saddle using an L-bracket which allowed me to align the two scopes, giving me an ultra widefield 4.8° view alongside the 1.5° of the 72mm refractor. The new 10m long active USB cable is making a huge difference, allowing me to observe from the office desk, well away from the slightly ajar patio door, but the major innovation last night was using streaming to focus. I don’t have an electronics focuser so previously I had been balancing the laptop on a garden chair, trying not to trip over the 10m USB cable, hoping I could see the screen while trying to focus. Last night, thanks to @Richard N, I tried streaming the laptop screen to the tablet via Google Meet, then outside I could focus with the tablet in one hand and the focus knob in the other. Genius! M31 was not orientated favourable for the 72mm refractor but easily fitted into the field of view of the FMA135. M33 was a better fit for the 72mm refractor. I’m favouring longer 15s exposures these days as they bring out much more detail than do 4s exposures with the same overall stacking time. Winding up the saturation control on SharpCap also brought out the colours in M33, making it the best I’ve seen. M45 was nicely framed by the FMA135, with plenty of open space around, but I still struggle to see much detail in reflection nebulae. Same with IC2167 and its neighbours. Most of the session was spent observing emission nebulae, NGC281 (Pac-Man) and IC417 & NGC1931 (Spider and Fly) looked good with the 72mm refractor. With the FMA135 I could see the Spider and Fly, together with NGC1893 (Letter Y Cluster), IC405 (Flaming Star Nebula), and M38, all in the same field of view and showing some detail. I keep trying for SNR G116.9+00.1 (Medulla Nebula) but its just too faint for EAA. More of an AP target perhaps. The FMA135 still astonishes me, only 30mm of aperture but it’s pin sharp, wide and yet detailed. I observed two of the nights highlights using it. The first was the California Nebula (NGC1499) which is big and often quite faint, but the FMA135 framed it well and picked up plenty of detail. The second was Orion’s Belt stars (Cr70), very bright but all within the field of view, and next to Alnitak I could clearly see the Flame Nebula (NGC2024), the Horsehead Nebula (IC434), and even the Lump Star (NGC2023). M42 looked good as ever. This was the first time I’d pointed the FMA135 at it and it was nice to see the familiar nebula in its surrounding context. Unfortunateley thin cloud had rolled in and so the sky looked noisy and the brighter stars ringed with light. The final highlight was observing Vesta pass by M1. They were close enough to fit into the field of view of the 72mm refractor and that also allowed me to see some detail in M1. I’ve only seen Vesta once before and then didn’t realise I’d seen it until I was checking the live stack snapshots the following day. This time I knew what I was looking for (Vesta is marked with an arrow).

This is an excellent tip. Tablet in one hand, focus knob in the other. It couldn't be easier (unless you have an electronic focuser).

I'm trying this now, but using Google Meet rather than Night Skies Network, to just allow a local link between my laptop and tablet.

Good idea! I once pulled my brand new laptop off the garden chair and watched it fall to the ground while focusing outside. The laptop survived fortunately.

The way I see it, the x1.5 Barlow makes the IMX585 look almost exactly the same as the IMX678 as far as the scope is concerned (same pixel size, same sensor size), so the image in both cases will be the same, other than for any degradation due to the Barlow, which should be minimal.

The field of view with the IMX678 natively is almost identical to that with the IMX585 and a x1.5 Barlow. That's why @bosun21 is recommending the IMX585. It's just the same as the IMX678 with the x1.5 Barlow but has a bigger sensor for DSO use (with the x0.63 reducer). You can compare the IMX678 with the IMX585 because they both have the same 4K resolution, but what @Elp says does apply to the IMX224. It has a tiny sensor but with bigger pixels than that IMX678 and IMX585 and it uses older technology which suffers from amp glow. The x1.5 Barlow may slightly degrade planetary views (depending on the choice of Barlow) so if you are wanting the best planetary performance then go for the IMX678, otherwise go for the IMX585. Personally I think you will want to observe more than just planets so I would go for the IMX585 and use a Barlow for planets, or even just use it natively. Just as when observing visually, winding up the magnification on planets doesn't necessarily allow you to see more.

The IMX585 is THE mid priced camera to get. I have one (actually I have two). I keep looking at other cameras (including the IMX678) and decide that they are not as good as the IMX585, but I mainly observe DSOs and only sometimes observe the Moon and Planets. What's good about the IMX585 is that it has a mid sixed sensor (to get anything bigger you need to pay A LOT more) and the pixel size is good for most objects and scopes (2um is on the small size, 5um would be big). Having said that, with your scope, and if you're sure you will be focusing on Lunar and Planetary, then the IMX678 is probably a better bet. While @bosun21 is right about the x1.5 Barlow, it would be better to use the scope at its native F10 for planetary observation. If you do find that you also enjoy observing DSOs then you could still use the IMX678 with a 500mm refractor.

Usually the magnification factor depends on the back focus, the distance between the reducer and the camera, so the diagonal might change that. You could maybe limit the altitude you go to and avoid using a diagonal.

Yes, me too, but the OP is using an F10 scope so the pixel size of the IMX585 is a bit big.

I would try EAA with the scope and mount that you have. The ASI678MC is a good choice of camera so you will not be wasting your money there, and you said you have a x0.63 reducer so you can have a go at lunar, planetary, and DSOs.

2x2 binning is when the software combines four pixels in a square to make one larger pixel. It doubles the pixel size but halves the resolution, so with the IMX678 you get 4um pixels at full HD resolution. Larger pixels may be needed for getting the sampling right (see this tool) and being larger they pick up more photons so increase the cameras sensitivity. And if you're using a 4K camera then halving the resolution isn't a great loss. Some cameras can do the binning but I find its more reliable to do it in software (SharpCap). You can do 3x3 and 4x4 binning too.

The IMX678 is a very good choice for planetary, and if you get a x0.63 reducer and 2x2 bin, it will be fine for DSOs too. I wouldn't rule out observing DSOs, even from a light polluted location. EAA makes all things much more visible. The downside of the IMX678, particularly when used with the NexStar 6SE, even with the reducer, is that it has a relatively small sensor which means a small field of view. So you'd be limited to the smaller DSOs, smaller than about 20' in size (M1, M51). An IMX585 would be a bit better for DSOs, but not so good for planetary, and really you'd be better with a shorter focal length scope.

You mention wanting to do EAA, so near instant results on the night, and you mention wanting to do planetary. The only software that does a good job of planetary EAA is SharpCap, because it has a brand new feature which will live stack lunar and planetary images. Live stacking normally uses stars for alignment and that's not previously been possible with lunar and planetary observation, and as far as I'm aware, still isn't possible with anything other than SharpCap. Without live stacking the best you can do is observe the live video which is no better than using an eyepiece in my opinion. Here is an example of a live video capture of Jupiter ... Jupiter Visible 28ms x210 D09_01_2024 T19_00_11_pipp.avi and here is the same footage using SharpCap live planetary stacking ... I used an 8" Newtonian and an IMX585 camera with a x2.4 Barlow to capture this. While the SharpCap live lunar and planetary stacking is a new feature, it is such a game changer that lots of us are testing it, and it works reliably, both for whole discs and partial lunar discs. As @StevieDvd has mentioned, the ASIAir can be used for AP and EAA, but I would say that ShapCap is the more popular option for EAA as it offers more EAA features and flexibility (you're not limited to ZWO products). You may think that the SharpCap software is old school, it doesn't have the cutting edge GUI look and feel, but it is very well written and is exceptionally well supported (you can actually speak with its author, and he will make bug fixes, sometimes within days). Whatever you use, you could continue to control your mount from SkySafari and just use SharpCap or ASIAir for the camera control and live stacking. With SharpCap (I don't know about ASIAir) you could still plate solve and annotate your images to show what you are looking at, but you wouldn't be able to re-sync the mount (which I do find useful). The NexStar 6SE (F10) is a good match for the ASI678MC (2um pixel size) when used for planetary, but that combination will not be good for DSOs. For observing DSOs you will want a faster scope, so maybe add the x0.63 reducer, and even with this you will be oversampling. That's not a huge problem and you could always 2x2 bin to increase your effective pixel size (the camera is 4K so you'd still be operating at full HD).

It might be possible to automate the time lapse capture process using the new planetary live stacking tool in SharpCap. I've created much shorter time lapse videos of Jupiter, just 10 minutes so far, but it's possible to record for longer and capture frames over longer intervals. As your video shows, its a great way to get real perspective on the rotation of the planet and the moon transits.

Last night was the first properly clear night I've had since the AZ-EQ5 and Explorer 200 arrived and it was worth the wait. I set up for EAA with the 72mm refractor alongside the 8" Newtonian, initially fitted with a x2.4 Barlow as I've been determined to get a good look at Jupiter. The clear night and lack of Moon made all the difference I think. Plus I'd just taken delivery of a 10m active USB 3.0 cable which meant I could sit further away from the slightly ajar patio door, and keep warn. I started on Jupiter and seem to have finally figured out the right camera settings (gain at the LCG / HCG switching point and a 10+ms exposure). With the camera settings sorted out, SharpCap's new planetary live stacking tool gave me a great view of the planet ... Just a pity he GRS wasn't on display. With galaxy season upon us I had a look at some smaller examples, NGC470, NGC520, NGC488, M74, NGC1055, M77, all of which were showing some form even though they are small and faint. The Explorer 200 seems to make quite a difference with this sort of object, even compared with the Explorer 150 which was my biggest scope prior to the mount upgrade. M1 was looking spectacular, the best I've seen it ... but then some thin cloud rolled in. I know when this is happening as the sky starts to look noisy and I start thinking I'm doing something wrong. The highlight of the session was observing Vesta. To be fair, I didn't realise I had seen it until I reviewed the snapshots this afternoon. The solar system data in Stellarium had been out of date and so I was looking in the wrong place, but in the cold light of day Vesta was obviously the big bright "star" that wasn't listed in Stellarium!

I finally managed to get a good image of Jupiter last night with the Explorer 200 and x2.4 Barlow. That gives me F12 which is x4.1 my cameras pixel size, so the recommended method. Previously I'd been using too high a gain and too short an exposure. Last night I set the gain to x210 which is my cameras LCG / HCG switching point and set the exposure just below the white clipping point at 28ms. I was using a 1000 frame stack and adjusted the fine sharpening and wavelet sharpening controls. Here is the result ... It's just a pity it wasn't from the night before when the GRS was on display and two moons were transiting!