Dumbell Nebula (M27)

[Quatermass]

Looking good and the winter time imaging sessions are yet to come plenty of time to get in lots of practice and learn all about processing. Just hope we get some more cloud free nights as well. I now have an astronomy group to lead and 3 neighbors who want to come round and look in my telescope so have not been doing much imaging but lots of teaching and sharing its all good fun though. Hoping to have a crack at the Helix Nebula soon if the sky allows. The doctor has but me on some new heart tablets so cant go out driving around at the moment which means no trips to the back roads of suffolk for perfect dark skies..booo

[Andyfx]

@Squeaky, yep i love spening time tinkering with stuff so am enjoying the learning process. Btw i had no idea that .png retained more data, definately handy to know!

[Andyfx]

@Quartermass, most importantly i hope you're feeling better. I'm sure we'll get some clear skies, albeit not this week apparently :-( and i am positive that you'll get just as much enjoyment even without such dark skies. Besides it gives us lot a chance to catch up with 'Mr Sky at Night' ;-) well done again on that, great achievement.

[Quatermass]

Thanks Andy

Yes I am fine, the heart tablets are to regulate the rhythm of my heart and work great so no worry's there I am pretty healthy generally but maybe all those session last winter freezing to death at 2 am in the morning imaging everything I could see was not a great idea. I remember this time last year was taken up with the Andromeda galaxy the Dumbbell and many others but watching the images come up on here is a good way to learn what ones to go for. I have been fascinated with the lagoon and Trifid nebula and the many wonderful things in the southern sky but they are all very low down so a bit hard to image unless its a very clear dark night. With winter time coming you will have loads of great stuff to image so get in all the practice you can now and do have a go at M31 its a tricky galaxy to get right but its great fun learning.

[Andyfx]

@Quartermass, yea the trifid and lagoon nebula pics i've seen look great. If i had better equipment and a heap more experience i'd love a crack at ngc6820.... But for now i might try looking for this horsehead thing that all the cool kids are talking about lol, seen some fab images lately. Btw it's really nice that you're getting such an interest in astronomy, and people that want to learn. I don't think there's much of an astronomy society/club at Southend if at all boooooooo. Glad you're ok though and think we should all head up to Starfox's and take advantage of his fancy obsy build and warm room lol!

[Chris]

Well Andy, people are welcome once its finished:). My obsy is quite meager compared to some on the DIY obsy section, take a look at Gina's thread for example:) Astronomy tinkering can be a bit addictive, my list of projects reads: Obsy Build, Parrellogram mount, Binoscope/dual imaging rig, grinding my own mirror etc:D I hate to think what I'll be working on in 10 years? theres a guy on here who's building a monster binoscope called "Hexy" I think it consists of 2x25" Newts!!

@ QM- do you have SVT therefore Betablockers?

Chris

[Andyfx]

Lol i see you've added grinding your own mirror to the list, heard it takes ages as you have to use increasingly fine compound..... Sounds too much of a 'grind' for me :-D

I've not checked your thread for a bit, have you got the roof sorted now on the obsy?

[Quatermass]

Well Andy, people are welcome once its finished:). My obsy is quite meager compared to some on the DIY obsy section, take a look at Gina's thread for example:) Astronomy tinkering can be a bit addictive, my list of projects reads: Obsy Build, Parrellogram mount, Binoscope/dual imaging rig, grinding my own mirror etc:D I hate to think what I'll be working on in 10 years? theres a guy on here who's building a monster binoscope called "Hexy" I think it consists of 2x25" Newts!!

@ QM- do you have SVT therefore Betablockers?

Chris

I have an irregular heart beat it sometimes just goes way to fast and makes me go all dizzy and faint but that might just be having my neck looking upwards all night long as well. Quite common in men my age apparently to spend far too long obsessing over astronomy equipment and spending far too much money on it.

[Gina]

Mark - look after that heart of yours - hope you can get back to driving again soon and make use of those dark back lanes But more than anything, please take care - we don't want anything bad happening to you.

[Quatermass]

No worrys Gina my heart is pretty healthy and a lot of people have this condition plus these tablets really help keep it in check. Being out there under the night skys is very relaxing as well

[Andyfx]

Relaxing until those pesky clouds turn up lol. But yea take care of yourself.

[Gina]

No worrys Gina my heart is pretty healthy and a lot of people have this condition plus these tablets really help keep it in check. Being out there under the night skys is very relaxing as well

That's a relief! Got a bit worried there. Waiting for that elusive clear night I don't find very relaxing but yes, when it IS clear and I'm imaging or popping into the scope room with the roof open and a sky full of stars and looking up in wonderment certainly is relaxing. There's something special about a shed raised off the ground a little with roof rolled away and just shoulder height walls on two sides with a view across the valley and most of the sky on the other two sides I find my obsy a haven of peace and happiness

[squeaky]

I'm green with envy.

[Chris]

Lol i see you've added grinding your own mirror to the list, heard it takes ages as you have to use increasingly fine compound..... Sounds too much of a 'grind' for me :-D

I've not checked your thread for a bit, have you got the roof sorted now on the obsy?

Well Andy in a way mirror grinding was first on the list:), I read a book on it about 8-9 years ago with the intention of doing it, like you say theres a lot to it with the different grits, tooling, and the pitch lap which is probably why I didn't have the confidence to give it a go back them, its on my bucket list though, or should I say 'light bucket' list:D

As for the Obsy, well progress is slowly creeping forward, I managed to make the pier adaptor last week, still have the roof to do which is a bit frustrating, I'm waiting for the magic combination of not being at work, not looking after my 9 month old because my wifes at work, my father in law not being at work so he can help me with the lifting, and oh yes the weather:D

[Chris]

I have an irregular heart beat it sometimes just goes way to fast and makes me go all dizzy and faint but that might just be having my neck looking upwards all night long as well. Quite common in men my age apparently to spend far too long obsessing over astronomy equipment and spending far too much money on it.

Ah it does sound like it could be superventricular tachycardia SVT, If it ever gets too bothersome I think they can do catheter ablation for SVT which is where they burn (ablate) a tiny scar along the abnormal electrical pathway through the heart, and this cures it for good:) I don't think they do it at Ipswich hospital though or at least they don't do them in he cardiac cath lab I rotate through.

Chris

[Andyfx]

Dont worry Chris you'll get there in the end, and in the cold winter months, you'll have a grin on your face as you sit in the warm room with your dslr outside snapping away!

[Andyfx]

Thanks for all of the help guys, I think I'm getting better results with my post processing now. What do you think of this compared to the attempts at the beginning of this thread? I've used the same subs etc.

[Quatermass]

looking good its just a matter of practise until you get the results your happy with but thats part of the fun.

[Quatermass]

Ah it does sound like it could be superventricular tachycardia SVT, If it ever gets too bothersome I think they can do catheter ablation for SVT which is where they burn (ablate) a tiny scar along the abnormal electrical pathway through the heart, and this cures it for good:) I don't think they do it at Ipswich hospital though or at least they don't do them in he cardiac cath lab I rotate through.

Chris

Ah it does sound like it could be superventricular tachycardia SVT, If it ever gets too bothersome I think they can do catheter ablation for SVT which is where they burn (ablate) a tiny scar along the abnormal electrical pathway through the heart, and this cures it for good:) I don't think they do it at Ipswich hospital though or at least they don't do them in he cardiac cath lab I rotate through.

Chris

Thanks for that I knew I could have that op if it got worse but at the moment the tabs are doing the trick so thats good enough for me. The nice thing about Astronomy is it does help you to relax and chill out. Astrophotography is really enjoyable as well, with that and fishing and model plane making I am pretty chilled out.

[Andyfx]

@Quartermass. Thanks very much, i am quite enjoying finding out how photoshop actually works, and seeing how much different each itteration can be depening on what you do. :-)

[Quatermass]

Yes photoshop is a lot of fun to use and I keep a notebook that over the last 2 years has become my photoshop astrophotography bible so to speak. Once you have got star selection curves levels and a hundred other things under your belt you can really bring out tons of details that you would think was impossible to get. But having said that even photoshop cant make a silk purse from a pigs ear if your picture is out of focus and rubbish to start off with. You just cant beat a really good dark site and perfect conditions if you can get them.

[Andyfx]

You're totally right, before i got into astronomy i remember seeing the night sky in the Maldives and couldn't believe what i was seeing! Sadly i dont really have dark skies anywhere nearby, will just have to wait for winter and keep the fingers crossed for cloudless nights. I think i need to really spend more time on a single object and get plenty of data, this image was only 19 subs at 2 min each.

[Quatermass]

Thats the key to success concentrating on one object and spending several nights on it if need be. I spent nearly 2 weeks hunting out the trifid and lagoon waiting for perfect conditions and putting in the hours on the back roads of suffolk to get the shot I wanted to capture. You learn after a while that you have to be patient and persistent on one subject to get the best from it. Its tempting to go buzzing off on something else we have all done that but in the end if you really want better results it pays to stick to that one subject and work at it for a few nights. I like to take my binoculars with me and a chair to sit and and just star gaze while the camera is clicking away as well.

[Andyfx]

Sounds like a plan to me, think i'll see about spending more time on this one when the skies clear again. I also want to see how far i can push my mount unguided until i can afford an off-axis guider etc. For now though i may just buy some cheap bins and do the same as you, there always seem to be bins on sale from most astronomy retailers.

[Gina]

I'm getting good guiding with an ST80 piggybacked on my ED80 using the camera mounting on the ED80 rings, then a length of dovetail and the ST80 mounted on that. The connection between the scopes is really solid and I get no flexing. I have always beeen able to see several stars to guide on using a QHY5 mono camera on the ST80 and PHD.

Here is a photo of my setup before connecting some of the cables and tidying up.