DSO blitz in 10sec exposures!

[nytecam]

Skies cleared Saturday night about 10pm but cloud returned on the dot at midnight but 20+ DSOs captured in that interval.  Started on M95/96 gx in Leo in exposures of 30s- 45s using LodestarLive s/ware and my obsy Meade 30cm f/3.4 SCT+SX Lodestar-Mx2 mono CCD camera. 

When I switched to GC M3 the core was burnt out at these exposures so dropped to 10s exp for  good resolved 'core' and stayed with 10s exp for the rest of the session - it's amazing what the new mono cam will record in these brief exposures typically to mag 16.5 -17!  Below are my shots cropped full-size in sets of globulars + M57 with two stars within the ring itself.and galaxies - the latter include the magnificant Whirlpool, Sunflower and Sombrero gxs and even the quasar jet in M87 + other gxs in the "Markarian's Chain" - LodestarLive is a dream to work with  

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Very nice collection

[mitchelln]

A busy night!

[DoctorD]

Hi Maurice

Incredible for such short exposures, I wonder what the colour version is like?

Glad you're liking Lodestar Live too Paul81 has done a great job on developing this and thee more to come!!

CS

Paul

[allcart]

Good job Maurice, this new Lodestar looks impressive. I wish they did a colour version.

[Nibor]

Maurice,

Very impressive indeed!! - the Whirlpool is a real treat!!

[Paul81]

Wow! That is an amazing set of captures. The X2 is really hoovering the photons! I echo other peoples response and wish SX did a colour version. Maybe we could all email them registering interest.

There are lots of nice subtly features in the galaxies, and the globs have come out really well. I tend to over saturate the cores.

Glad you are getting on well with Lodestar Live, it was always my aim to make it nice and easy and ensure video astronomy is kept fun and rewarding but push to the next level of what is achievable with simple(ish) and relatively in-expensive (!!) kit and without spending an eternity processing images rather than enjoy them (I always get the impression with AP you spend more time getting frustrated at your mount, computer and guiding for me to consider AP fun... Each to their own of course..).

[nytecam]

Hi Paul - glad you liked the DSO blitz images - more last night, if less frantic with slightly longer exposures, posted on Deep Sky Imaging Forum [they need to know there's other forms of AP!] with link http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/215432-whirlpool-needle-captured-by-lodestarlive/   As a SN hunter [got SN2011az!] I'm wondering if this could be seriously done on-the-fly with LodestarLive with a reference like Wikisky running in the background - I'm doing it casual at the moment at the telescope!

I'm sure a colour Lodestar-Cx2 will come in summer - Starlight team just back from NEAF in States promoting Lodestar-Mx2 [prime autoguide] and Trius cameras - OSC are a small market for them.  

I've struggled a bit the my Lodestar-C and LodestarLive getting some decent colour in DSOs - for future s/ware updates perhaps a strong "colour saturation" slider and "histogram colour balance" button like Starlight use which removes my orange LP 'glow' - unless you imaged from London I don't think you can know what LP really is

Keep up the fantastic work on LodestarLive - it's brilliant

[Paul81]

Nice work with the cross post to the AP forum, always good to raise the awareness of this style of video assisted astronomy! 

I think if SX release a Cx2 I'll end up getting one, being a bit of a sucker for the planetary nebulae I am missing out by having a mono camera (but the mono is superb for galaxies, which are also a firm favourite).

I have been thinking in the background about colour correction, and also a slightly different twist to the display processing. My intention is to look further into it after stacking is working as that does have quite an effect on the resulting histogram. You are right, colour enhancement is definitely required. The current CYGM to RGB conversion is based on values which give a good conversion when the Lodestar-C is pointed at a colour chart, but it doesn't seem to quite work out for astronomical objects. I think ultimately there will be colour enhancements, plus a settings box where you can set colour adjustments that are always applied to suit taste (or balance colour when a filter is used etc). I am also thinking of simplifying the gamma, brightness and contrast to just a stretch (but allowing more extreme stretch) and shift (which is brightness). I do not think there is a case for histogram compression (??) so may as well just make it histogram expansion.

Perhaps at some point I could grab a series of exposures from you (perhaps at least 10 or so of the same object, with separate darks ideally) to run through my stacking test harness, as it will be good to check it all works in the presence of strong LP etc.

[Pete Presland]

what a cracking collection of DSO's!

[nytecam]

Thanks Michael, Mitch, [Dr] Paul, Allan, Robin and Pete for your interest and support

Paul81 - your development plans for LodestarLive are amazing - I don't know where you find the time but please do

[jam1e1]

Great selection of images!

[Paul81]

Thanks Michael, Mitch, [Dr] Paul, Allan, Robin and Pete for your interest and support

Paul81 - your development plans for LodestarLive are amazing - I don't know where you find the time but please do

Neither do I! Lol!