Thoughts on which imaging rigs to concentrate on

[Gina]

Trying to locate the gap between IC405 and Simeis147...

[Gina]

Now capturing OIII 60s subs for IC405 and IC410.  Seeing is excellent tonight - about 1 or 2 pixels.  IC410 is also known as the Tadpoles.

[Gina]

OIII subs captured and run through Blink - 186 passed - just over 3 hours of data   Now taking OIII flats to go with them.

[Gina]

Flats capture finished and checked with Blink and now onto BPP for the full works on the OIII lights for IC405/IC410.  Almost nothing in IC406 but good in IC410 (Tadpoles).

[Gina]

BPP finished - simply saved in PixInsight as PNG.  Not as many subs as the Ha but here it is.  Nothing like as clean as the Ha but might add to the Ha to give a reasonable colour result.  OTOH more OIII subs would probably help.  Forecast no good for tonight but tomorrow looks like it might be clear.

Edited December 2, 2016 by Gina

[Gina]

Still plenty of data on other DSOs to process but I think I feel like a change...

[Gina]

I can't stand this - every time I go to post what I've written it disappears!!!   I'll try a bit at a time...

It might be me - I'm tired from a run of late nights. 

After IC405/410, Simeis 147 and maybe a linking frame, there are things that would want a wider FOV.  As I've said before I'm keen to capture Barnard's Loop in Orion and most appropriate for this is the 45mm f2.8 medium format camera lens as this screenshot of CdC shows.

Edited December 2, 2016 by Gina

[Gina]

I have adapters to connect this big lens to the ZWO filter wheel with T2 thread so all it will need is 3D printed mounting bracket and focus segment gear.

[Filroden]

If you lowered the frame down could you also capture the Witch's Head Nebula?

*Edit* Nevermind, didn't see that it already did - the image was upside down to how I'd normally see Orion!! Nonetheless, framing it a little lower would include Alpha Orion so you'd have his full body.

Edited December 2, 2016 by Filroden

[mapstar]

Hi Gina

Just been reading the thread and should this now be in the imaging section/discussion instead of diy section? 

Maybe the mods could move this to the appropriate place. 

[Gina]

When I get what I consider appropriate images I do post them in the Imaging Deep Sky forum.  Otherwise I don't know where else to post this stuff.

[cosmojaydee]

If you are still contemplating on which rig to use , leave it here ,and re name the section Gina's corner 

[mapstar]

4 minutes ago, Gina said:

When I get what I consider appropriate images I do post them in the Imaging Deep Sky forum.  Otherwise I don't know where else to post this stuff.

Maybe you could start a blog Gina as people will be able to follow your progress easier and maybe make suggestions and help?

A better place for it maybe in the Imaging-tips/tricks and techniques as there are probably more people with the relevant experience to help in there as they probably don't look in the diy section?

 

 

[Gina]

I like the idea of "Gina's corner"

19 minutes ago, mapstar said:

Maybe you could start a blog Gina as people will be able to follow your progress easier and maybe make suggestions and help?

A better place for it maybe in the Imaging-tips/tricks and techniques as there are probably more people with the relevant experience to help in there as they probably don't look in the diy section?

Never written a blog   "Imaging-tips/tricks and techniques" sounds like a possibility

[Gina]

Been designing the 3D printed parts for the 45mm lens.  Mounting bracket and focussing gear.

Edited December 2, 2016 by Gina

[Gina]

Clear skies forecast for tonight - after that it looks dire.  I want more Ha for Simeis 147 - not sure whether to bother with OIII or SII as there seems to be very little image to capture in those wavelengths - probably better to go for other objects.  Simeis 147 is in a clear direction almost down to the horizon so I should be able to start imaging soon after it rises in the east.  Lots of atmosphere to see through though.  Just have to play it by err... eye!

[Filroden]

I hit a snag. My new lens is a fly by wire focus so it's not compatible with the ZWO. I have to decide whether to take it back or use it with the DSLR. It's supposed to be clear tonight so I might test it.

[Gina]

Yes, give it a try - nothing to lose.  Maybe it will sit at infinity focus if not controlled which is what you want, though you'd have to find another way of focussing it.

[Gina]

Was that a zoom lens?  My memory isn't what it was...  A zoom lens would be good if it had a decent aperture.  Trouble is they usually have a rather small aperture.  I have a Vivitar zoom lens from way back when I had a Pentax Spotmatic SLR film camera.  Quite a decent lens actually as I recall, so might give it a go for imaging.  35-105mm focal length and f3.5.  Something to look into later.  Maybe two stepper motors for control - one for focus and the other for zoom - that would be a nice versatile imaging rig

Before that I have Simeis 147 to capture more Ha and I'd like more OIII for IC405/410 I think.  Not sure about SII.  But I will have to find Simeis 147 first   I could do with a wider field finder camera but it would have to be at least as sensitive as the ASI1600.  A nice setup would be to have two ASI1600MM-Cool cameras with different FL lenses   Guess I should sell one of my 460EXs to pay for another 1600  

Of course, I'm assuming the 1600 is the more sensitive as seems the case but is it really?  I need to find out!  Only sure way would be to have both set up to look at the same area of night sky at the same time with matching filters and lenses of same aperture.  I have two of some of the lenses but not filters.

[Filroden]

I don't think the 1600 is particularly sensitive, just blessed with low read noise so better at short exposures.

Does your mount not have accurate goto ? I just plug in my cords and it's bang on. It's even easier with the wide field as it would be almost impossible to miss. I then fine tune manually based on where SkySafari tells me various brighter stars should appear in the frame. Usually a minor tweak to the left is enough.

And my lens was a Canon 85mm f1.8. It had an ideal field of view for me and was fast enough. However, with no mechanical focus I'd need to power it with the DSLR. Not a big issue but I will have to deal with all the issues that drive me to the 1600 such as the noise! Hopefully at f1.8 tat might not be such an issue. 

[Gina]

I guess I need to do a three star alignment of the mount then it should be right.  Do you know, I've never done that - relied on AstroTortilla in the past.  Should be simple enough

As for comparing cameras, I still have the Astrodon 5nm Ha filter which should give an idea when looking at a hydrogen rich nebula.  I don't need a matching lens exactly - a faster lens stopped down would do.  eg. I could use a 55mm f1.8 lens on the Atik with 135mm f2.5 on the ZWO.  When opened up to f1.8 it could act as an electronic finder if the Atik camera is sensitive enough and will work at around an exposure of a minute or two.

[Filroden]

Why use a filter for a finder? Just go with a full luminance and you could probably exposure for a fraction of a second. I get a good enough frame shot in 0.5s using the L filter. I occasionally have to drop to 1s if the field has nothing above mag 8, but given your much wider field of view that won't be an issue.

[Gina]

I guess wideband would be fine for finding stars and if you know the location of the DSO with respect to a star (or stars) within the field then this would be a perfectly viable method   Thank you   I don't seem to be thinking straight ATM!   I could simply swap out the Ha filter for a WB one for finding using the current rig.

EQASCOM Alignment  Clear as mud

[Filroden]

6 minutes ago, Gina said:

I guess wideband would be fine for finding stars and if you know the location of the DSO with respect to a star (or stars) within the field then this would be a perfectly viable method   Thank you   I don't seem to be thinking straight ATM!   I could simply swap out the Ha filter for a WB one for finding using the current rig.

EQASCOM Alignment  Clear as mud

Indeed! I just use the mount's handset and align on three bright stars surrounding my imaging area of interest, e.g. Capella, Mirflak and Procyon. It doesn't give an accurate model for other parts of the sky but within that quadrant it's spot on. Of course, that's what I used to do. Now I have a gadget that does it all automatically (StarSense). Just aim it at any three parts of the sky and it solves the three plates to model the sky. I guess that's what your software is trying to do.

[Gina]

I see.

Set up my all sky cam ready for dark to see when/if the clouds go away - no sign yet - I think it could be 8 or 9pm but we'll see...

The grey area is solid cloud the rest is very dark nimbus.