The "No EQ" DSO Challenge!

[BrendanC]

So in theory I could just take some now, assuming I'm using the same settings such as exposure time and ISO? 

[happy-kat]

ISO and focus (and aperture of camera lens) would be the same with flats the difference being exposure length as you are aiming for the histogram to be in the middle which is what AV mode on a camera would sort for you.

As you've dismantled everything you can't replicate focus so the easiest thing is to do is out of focus against a plain wall as suggested higher up.

Edited January 22, 2020 by happy-kat

[BrendanC]

Nice one, thanks. I'm also going to try and get my head around this: https://www.reddit.com/r/astrophotography/comments/426yef/a_brief_guide_to_calibration_frames_darks_flats/

 

 

 

Edited January 22, 2020 by BrendanC

[happy-kat]

I've found flats and dark flats are not optional and really help with the quality of the processed image background

[Stub Mandrel]

If you set things up the same (especially camera orientation) then the flats should get rid of (or at least greatly reduce) the vignetting. They may not remove all dust spots, but they will be less intrusive.

[smisy]

I'm just amazed, what I've done for fun tonight with my Celestron Nexstar 8SE, Alt-Az mount, 0,63 reducer, Sony A7s, 90x10 sec at ISO 20.000. Deep Sky Stacker and PS.

[BrendanC]

Hot dang, I hate it when people take better photos than mine! That's really nice, great colours.

[smisy]

I don't think, it's so special, and I 'm far from good in PS edition, but yesterday I tried the comet 2017 T2 PANSTARRS too. With the same gadgets and settings (ISO 20.000 and 10 sec long exposures) 120 frames and 15 darks. 

[SteveNickolls]

Nice to re-post on this thread. I recently updated my version of StarTools to v1.6.638 beta and was quite blown away at the improvement when subsequently reprocessing some older images. This particular one heralds back to the 28th February 2016 when using the SkyWatcher Synscan Alt-Az mount, Canon 600D DSLR and StarTravel 102 refractor on M42 and M43 in Orion.

I'm amazed at the dust and the colour in M43 over the original. StarTools has certainly taken a massive leap recently, thanks Ivo. The image below was stacked in DSS and processed in StarTools using 81 thirty second light exposures plus x50 dark frames and bias frames (I wasn't using flat frames at that time).

The original rendition-

While we are entranced by the lure of new, often expensive hardware sometimes the steps forward come from improved software and time to experience using it.

Cheers,
Steve

[happy-kat]

Love comets so really good to see Panstarrs there. If using DSS have a go if not alreasdy using the comet feature and I find best stack option is to use comet and stars.

wow Steve what a difference, so much more in there. I like the HDR either tame or reveal DSO centre.

I too have found some great stuff coming out the StarTools 1.6.686 beta, this is a crop from a few nights ago with an 85mm lens, first process of a mosaic I'm building.

[smisy]

8 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

Love comets so really good to see Panstarrs there. If using DSS have a go if not alreasdy using the comet feature and I find best stack option is to use comet and stars.

wow Steve what a difference, so much more in there. I like the HDR either tame or reveal DSO centre.

I too have found some great stuff coming out the StarTools 1.6.686 beta, this is a crop from a few nights ago with an 85mm lens, first process of a mosaic I'm building.

I heared that, its possible to align on the comet, but I still didn't try that. Thanks for the idea 👍

[happy-kat]

Meant to also add Steve 1.6+ is best used coupled with DSS 4.2.3 and select no white balance processing.

This is the post I did on DSS comet function link here

[SteveNickolls]

19 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

I too have found some great stuff coming out the StarTools 1.6.686 beta

Hi happy-kat, nice to post on this thread after so long. Thanks too for the advice over updating to DSS v4.2.3, I'd held off upgrading hearing of problems when it was first released. I'm still using v 4.1.0 but do ensure, 'no white balance' is selected.

Good luck in your future imaging work.

Cheers,
Steve

[happy-kat]

It never worked prior to 4.2.3 even if selected. You'll be able to select the second option in ST and then once in colour select the matrix menu and choose your camera.

[BrendanC]

I tried Star Tools but couldn't really get to grips with it. Perhaps I'll give it another go, see what I can get out of my original M42 files having seen these great examples.

[smisy]

Thanks for that link, Happy Cat, now it's processed on the comet:

[happy-kat]

That's got great colour in it now. 

[BrendanC]

I know, I know, lots of this one taken before and I've already submitted mine, but after seeing what StarTools can do I gave it another go, properly this time, by actually following an actual tutorial. I have to say, I'm very impressed and have bought a license. So much detail revealed that I didn't know existed. This is with my setup as per my signature, bringing together frames from two separate shoots which total around 250, plus 50 darks and biases, no flats. I had to crop out more than I wanted because of stacking artefacts but managed to keep the Running Man nebula in (one lot of frames was portrait, the other landscape, hence the double diffraction spikes on some stars) and I added a luminosity layer in Photoshop just to finish it off (which might have pushed it over the edge, not decided yet), but I'm pleased with this one. I wanted to get M42 as good as possible as it's really my first proper stab at a DSO, and now I feel a bit more confident moving ahead to others. Total inspiration from this forum I have to say.

Post-edit: And now, having watched the StarTools demo by Ivo Jager who developed it, I can already see that I've overdone the deconvolution because I have those dark rings around my stars... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqm4mB2TKN0&t=6s  Oh well, I'll try again and do it better! (but don't worry, I won't repost here)

 

Edited February 4, 2020 by BrendanC

[The Admiral]

Ian

[happy-kat]

That is well on it's way to be a super image. Depending on which version of startools using you could repeat the good steps and stop before deconvolution and do it by hand differently then carry on if you play with STReplay.

[Nerf_Caching]

Here's just a reprocess of my Orion Nebula which was taken with an alt-az mount. It was a Nexstar 5se mount using an SW evostar 72ed and unmodded 650d dslr. One and a half hours of integration under a Bortle 8 sky with 30-second subs at iso 1600. A broadband light pollution filter was used also.

Edited February 8, 2020 by Nerf_Caching

[The Admiral]

Nice detail and colour. Curious about the diffraction spikes though, any idea where they could have come for.

Ian

Edited February 8, 2020 by The Admiral

[Nerf_Caching]

26 minutes ago, The Admiral said:

Nice detail and colour. Curious about the diffraction spikes though, any idea where they could have come for.

Ian

I was shooting through the grating on my window sill, that's why they are there.😁

[happy-kat]

Whilst waiting for the cloud to go thought I would follow Steve and revisit old data to reprocess.

This was the version of the data only 18 minutes 54 lights a mix of 30 seconds 20 seconds 10 and 5, bias, flats and dark flats. Virtuoso mount, Q200mm lens f4 Canon 1100d

A restack of the same file list in DSS selecting no white balance, setting a reference frame and making sure other settings were correct.

New process using bleeding edge StarTools 1.6.386, I decided to leave the stars quite neutral and omitted them from my colour process. Both images binned 50% though I chose a different crop position.

Original process in Feb 2016

 

[SteveNickolls]

Hi happy-kat, that's a massive difference using the latest StarTools, very well done.

Cheers,

Steve

Edited February 13, 2020 by SteveNickolls