The EQ3 DSO Challenge

[Nigel G]

Finally a clear night, I topped up the M104 subs to 76x30 and cropped a bit less. I'm happy with it now.

A bonus DSO before the moon appeared was M101 directly overhead, I took 25x120s with my Canon 1200d, 150p and guided EQ3.

Both images are ISO 1600 with darks, flats and bias. DSS and ST.

Nige.

 

[Peco4321]

1 hour ago, Nigel G said:

Finally a clear night, I topped up the M104 subs to 76x30 and cropped a bit less. I'm happy with it now.

A bonus DSO before the moon appeared was M101 directly overhead, I took 25x120s with my Canon 1200d, 150p and guided EQ3.

Both images are ISO 1600 with darks, flats and bias. DSS and ST.

Nige.

 

Both are cracking images, well done, extra subs really paid off. 

You can't enter M101 though ?, otherwise we'd have no chance. 

Great images from our modest kit, it's fantastic. May have to look into guiding!!!

[Art Gecko]

This was a test run to see if my computer could handle a small jump from Normal to Fine quality jpeg (a new PC is needed before I can start shooting in RAW)... seemed to work, just took a little longer!

44x30s with darks and flats.

M106 and friends.

[Nigel G]

Very nice @Art Gecko smooth with good detail.

Impressive for jpg processing.

 

[Nigel G]

3 hours ago, Peco4321 said:

Both are cracking images, well done, extra subs really paid off. 

You can't enter M101 though ?, otherwise we'd have no chance. 

Great images from our modest kit, it's fantastic. May have to look into guiding!!!

Thanks Peter.

I was beginning to think I'd never see the stars again, there's been so much cloud cover over Essex. I nearly took up cloud observing as a hobby, that would surely push the clouds away  

I like to push limits and take on a challenge which is what this topic is all about  

There are some great images in this topic from everyone and I'm glad to be a part of it.

Keep it up guy's.

 M101 is 120s subs  

The step from non guided to guided makes a world of difference and well worth doing. Although it does mean getting another scope and camera.

The free PHD guiding software makes the process easy too.

Cheers

Nige.

[mikey2000]

I'm constanly impressed by these x30s photos!  You must have king-sized polar alignments....

I've read a few comments here with folks saying their PC can't handle raw.   How so?  Are the raws too high resolution and so DSS crashes?  If that's the case, there is a patch you can run on DSS to allow it to address more memory.  I patched my DSS .exe file and it can handle 24mpix raw with ease now.  It still takes a while though!

[Art Gecko]

1 hour ago, Nigel G said:

Very nice @Art Gecko smooth with good detail.

Impressive for jpg processing.

 

Thanks Nige, it's a lot smoother than before, so much nicer to process! One day I'd like to start guiding myself, but not much point while I'm still shooting jpeg.. got to prioritise what I spend out on first! Is yours a Goto? Or modded RA and Dec motors?

Your sombrero is looking real nice with the added data.. one of my fave galaxies!..and 120s on the Pinwheel!! Nice!! I never go above 60s! Looks like you might have clipped the background a little in processing though? I can see mottling around the galaxy edge, I've got this myself in the past when trying to push the gradient removal too hard... not that I'm any kind of authority on AP! It's all personal taste in the end, but thought I'd mention it as it improved my shots (I'd like to think at least) when someone pointed the same thing out to me .. still a fine job mate, well done! 

[Art Gecko]

13 minutes ago, mikey2000 said:

I'm constanly impressed by these x30s photos!  You must have king-sized polar alignments....

I've read a few comments here with folks saying their PC can't handle raw.   How so?  Are the raws too high resolution and so DSS crashes?  If that's the case, there is a patch you can run on DSS to allow it to address more memory.  I patched my DSS .exe file and it can handle 24mpix raw with ease now.  It still takes a while though!

My computer can't handle RAW simply cos it's a 10yr old mac-mini and that in itself is a problem for astrophotography... most computer programs written for AP are windows only... DSS is windows only... unless you patch it through wineskin, which I tried, but because the mac is so old with only 2Gb memory it literally takes days to process even jpegs... I tried it with RAW data once... about 50 subs with darks and flats, left it running while I went to work for the day.. when I got home it had an ETA of 132 hours 45minutes... so I switched it off and carried on using Lynkeos, which is mac friendly and only takes me an hour or so, but not RAW compatible... that's my reason anyway, hope that helps

Art

[Nigel G]

44 minutes ago, Art Gecko said:

Thanks Nige, it's a lot smoother than before, so much nicer to process! One day I'd like to start guiding myself, but not much point while I'm still shooting jpeg.. got to prioritise what I spend out on first! Is yours a Goto? Or modded RA and Dec motors?

Your sombrero is looking real nice with the added data.. one of my fave galaxies!..and 120s on the Pinwheel!! Nice!! I never go above 60s! Looks like you might have clipped the background a little in processing though? I can see mottling around the galaxy edge, I've got this myself in the past when trying to push the gradient removal too hard... not that I'm any kind of authority on AP! It's all personal taste in the end, but thought I'd mention it as it improved my shots (I'd like to think at least) when someone pointed the same thing out to me .. still a fine job mate, well done! 

Thanks ☺

I have the EQ3 Pro goto,  it has had an astro technology service which is supposed to improve the performance quite a bit. 

Using a 50mm guide scope and my 500mm 80ED refractor I have had perfect 6 minute exposures with 100% keepers. It's my camera that is limiting longer exposures I think. 

With the EQ3 and lighter mounts the weight and balance are most important for AP.....  2 - 3 minutes max with my bigger 750mm reflector.

M101 was quite hard to process, it needs a few more exposures, the moon had started to rise and my modded camera doesn't like moonlight. I have clipped the background as it was quite messy. More exposures with no moon will be added next available clear night ☺

Cheers 

Nige. 

[mikey2000]

Some fun from last night.  I mixed 8x5min with 10x3min (+darks, flats + bias).   I was curious to see if I could manage 5 mins with my (occasionally) wobbly guiding setup..   Seems ok!

M63 Sunflower Galaxy

 

 

And before that, having seen the previous sombrero pics, I aimed at it too!  I have a small window of opportunity for this one.  I think from about May 1st to mid Jun, I get a view of this one between my neighbours roof and their tall trees.   I only managed 4x3mins for this next one.  I actually took 45mins worth but somehow managed to slew the scope and totally miss for most of the unattended session.  Oops.  And it was a bit out of focus, so forgive the heavy processing here.   (Focusing on Jupiter doesn't mean the camera is focussed properly - I didn't use the bahtinov mask to confirm my focus.  oops again)

I couldn't resist adding some extra diffraction spikes in Startools.  A bit OTT, I think and the whole pic has a somewhat dreamy look.  I will revisit this target soon, I hope!

 

 

[Art Gecko]

1 hour ago, Nigel G said:

Thanks ☺

I have the EQ3 Pro goto,  it has had an astro technology service which is supposed to improve the performance quite a bit. 

Using a 50mm guide scope and my 500mm 80ED refractor I have had perfect 6 minute exposures with 100% keepers. It's my camera that is limiting longer exposures I think. 

With the EQ3 and lighter mounts the weight and balance are most important for AP.....  2 - 3 minutes max with my bigger 750mm reflector.

M101 was quite hard to process, it needs a few more exposures, the moon had started to rise and my modded camera doesn't like moonlight. I have clipped the background as it was quite messy. More exposures with no moon will be added next available clear night ☺

Cheers 

Nige. 

I'm afraid I've only got the basic EQ3-2 mount with motors and polar scope, but I've been looking into modding the controls so I can think about guiding... big plunge though for me with limited funds to make it all happen.. lots to buy! I do agree though, the top tip is good polar alignment and balance... I've had problems with my collimation lately, something else that's important... the problem is my focuser drifts either side of centre, whether I'm reeling in or out, and it effects the coma quite badly if I don't get it spot on... I guess that's one of the many troubles with budget AP... a better focuser will cost me the same as a better OTA

Edited May 15, 2017 by Art Gecko

[Art Gecko]

7 minutes ago, mikey2000 said:

Some fun from last night.  I mixed 8x5min with 10x3min (+darks, flats + bias).   I was curious to see if I could manage 5 mins with my (occasionally) wobbly guiding setup..   Seems ok!

M63 Sunflower Galaxy

 

 

And before that, having seen the previous sombrero pics, I aimed at it too!  I have a small window of opportunity for this one.  I think from about May 1st to mid Jun, I get a view of this one between my neighbours roof and their tall trees.   I only managed 4x3mins for this next one.  I actually took 45mins worth but somehow managed to slew the scope and totally miss for most of the unattended session.  Oops.  And it was a bit out of focus, so forgive the heavy processing here.   (Focusing on Jupiter doesn't mean the camera is focussed properly - I didn't use the bahtinov mask to confirm my focus.  oops again)

I couldn't resist adding some extra diffraction spikes in Startools.  A bit OTT, I think and the whole pic has a somewhat dreamy look.  I will revisit this target soon, I hope!

 

 

Nice job!  I do like the sombrero! It's not a target I've managed to get myself, hope to one day but it'll have to be away from home as neighbours houses block my view

[bobro]

20 minutes ago, Art Gecko said:

the problem is my focuser drifts either side of centre, whether I'm reeling in or out, and it effects the coma quite badly if I don't get it spot on

If you mean the focuser wobbles from side to side - I had the same problem and fixed it by putting self-adhesive ptfe strips on the inside of the outer focus tube. Focusing is now smooth but controlled and the camera weight doesn't make the inner tube move from side-side. The strips can be purchased from ebay for a few pounds and built up on top of each other to provide the required degree of control.

HTH

[Art Gecko]

21 minutes ago, bobro said:

If you mean the focuser wobbles from side to side - I had the same problem and fixed it by putting self-adhesive ptfe strips on the inside of the outer focus tube. Focusing is now smooth but controlled and the camera weight doesn't make the inner tube move from side-side. The strips can be purchased from ebay for a few pounds and built up on top of each other to provide the required degree of control.

HTH

That is a Top Tip!! Thanks Bob, I'll give it a try.. is there any particular reason you used ptfe? 

Art

Edited May 15, 2017 by Art Gecko

[Nigel G]

Mine has Velcro strips inside the outer focuser tube, PTFE is very slippery stuff, good idea  

Nige.

[Nigel G]

An amazing thing happened last night, Essex had a clearish spell. That's 2 in 2 weeks, what a result.

Snapping shots between thin cloud passing overhead and 1 or 2 PHD dropouts.

Between 12am and 3am I managed to gather 16 x 240s subs on NGC7000 The North American nebula. The local street lights go out at 1 am so the sub's I got were good with a lot less light pollution.

As usual I intend to take more sub's. But for only 1 hours exposure I'm very pleased with the result.

Scope: SW 80ED pro with flattener. Camera: Modified Canon 1200D. Mount: EQ3 Pro. Guiding: Orion mini guidescope & Orion SSAIO cam. Software: PHD2, DSS, & ST

16x240s @ 800 ISO, darks, flats and bias. 

To be honest, the image was very easy to process to this point, I'm looking forward to adding more sub's to this image.

Wishing you clear sky's.

Nige.

[mikey2000]

Amazing!   2 clear nights!  The forecast here is promising tonight....

 

 

The nebula looks great!    I'm wondering how much of the red is down to the modified camera (when compared to an unmodded one.)

 

i managed the rosette nebula and a hint of the horse head nebula but since then, every red neb that I've tried has come out unusably faint :-(

 

is the rosette nebula especially bright compared to other nebula or did I just get lucky with a moonless night on that occasion?     Does the moon wash out nebulae like it does with faint galaxies?  Should I be thinking about a modified camera?

[The Admiral]

I like that Nige, it's starting to take on a 3-D appearance.

One question though, do you ever sleep? . You must have some confidence in the weather forecasts to be up at that time.

Ian

[Nigel G]

1 hour ago, mikey2000 said:

The nebula looks great!    I'm wondering how much of the red is down to the modified camera (when compared to an unmodded one.)

i managed the rosette nebula and a hint of the horse head nebula but since then, every red neb that I've tried has come out unusably faint :-(

is the rosette nebula especially bright compared to other nebula or did I just get lucky with a moonless night on that occasion?     Does the moon wash out nebulae like it does with faint galaxies?  Should I be thinking about a modified camera?

Thanks  I have a comparison of all these images with modified and non modified, all are with the same camera. the difference being some are using Alt-Az

First, NGC7000 non modified Alt-AZ & 150p, second EQ3, ED80 & modified.

I don't think the rosette is particularly bright compared to NGC7000 or the Horsehead, both are more concentrated Ha I think.

The moon can wash out nebula for sure, especially with a modified camera, also CLS filter is a must with local light pollution and modified DSLR's in my opinion.

Both Alt-AZ & 150p second is modified cam.

Rosette non modified and modified, both Alt-AZ  with 210mm and 135mm lens

 

35 minutes ago, The Admiral said:

I like that Nige, it's starting to take on a 3-D appearance.

One question though, do you ever sleep? . You must have some confidence in the weather forecasts to be up at that time.

Ian

Thanks Ian.

I didn't check the forecast, no point  I took a gamble looking at the coming sky patterns and decided to wait  At 12am the sky was clear enough to start, a few gaps in the thin high cloud till mist started forming at 3am.

Cheers.

Nige.

 

 

 

Edited May 21, 2017 by Nigel G

[mikey2000]

Thanks for those side-by sides.  Very interesting!   My astro camera is also my 'normal' camera so I'm reluctant to have it modified.   I wonder how much for a second hand modded camera....

[mikey2000]

Tonight, the seeing seems good, guiding is working well  (<1arcsecond RMS in RA and DEC) so I've tried a little time on Bode's Nebula, The Great Cluster (in hercules) and a few attempts to find the Ring Nebula.

 

I was surprised to see Vega rising so soon!  It seems only recently that it dipped below the skyline.     Isn't it frustrating waiting for it to get properly dark!  (While waiting for full darkness, Jupiter is now in full view so I showed my oldest son the stripes on Jupiter.  He was suitably impressed!)

[Nigel G]

8 hours ago, mikey2000 said:

Tonight, the seeing seems good, guiding is working well  (<1arcsecond RMS in RA and DEC) so I've tried a little time on Bode's Nebula, The Great Cluster (in hercules) and a few attempts to find the Ring Nebula.

 

I was surprised to see Vega rising so soon!  It seems only recently that it dipped below the skyline.     Isn't it frustrating waiting for it to get properly dark!  (While waiting for full darkness, Jupiter is now in full view so I showed my oldest son the stripes on Jupiter.  He was suitably impressed!)

Good for you  

Frustration, there was plenty of that last night in Essex.

After aligning and start tracking, everything was working well, best guiding I have seen to date, no hitches. Start imaging 4 minute subs on NGC 7000 to top up my existing, then move on to Elephant trunk. 12.15 the first image downloaded,  a cracking one. Then the problem started, every image took the exposure time to download. In other words a 4 minute sub would take 4 minutes to download and the next doesn't start exposing until the download is complete. 

I tried a reboot which took 30 minutes to restart , recalibrate phd etc. No luck, by 2.40 I was starting to pick up  skyglow from the Sun on its way.

I  got 16 x NGC 7000 subs, just 1 hour 4 minutes exposure  in 2h 40m because of this darn problem,  never had it before,  doing nothing different. I checked all cables and connections and found nothing wrong,  I wonder if it's the capture software causing the problem.  Canon EOS utility. Might try and reinstall. 

Question to all- what capture software are you using and do you get any problems with it, also is it free ☺

Cheers 

Nige. 

[Filroden]

22 minutes ago, Nigel G said:

Question to all- what capture software are you using and do you get any problems with it, also is it free ☺

Now you're using an EQ mount and have PHD working I would recommend trialling SGPro. It will platesolve out of the box allowing you to precisely centre on a frame taken on a previous night. It will also work if you move to a mono camera with filter wheel. It also will manage focusing if you ever decide to automate.

Its interface and terminology can take a while to figure out but there is logic in its apparent madness! It's definitely made imaging easier.

I fire up SGPro, connect camera, filter wheel, focused and mount. Fire up PHD and connect guide camera. Then I'm ready to start.

i previously used BackyardEOS which was easier to use but is Canon specific.

The only free capture software I've used were Sharpcap and Firecapture but these were more designed for short exposures.

PixInsight is starting to implement image capture but I don't think it will ever catch up with dedicated capture software.

[bobro]

Until recently I used EOS Utility, but moved to APT (19 Euro) to allow dithering. In my limited experience I didn't have any problems with EOS Utility. A thought : enabling in-camera noise reduction results in an exposure doubling effect - could this be the problem?

Bob

[Nigel G]

25 minutes ago, bobro said:

Until recently I used EOS Utility, but moved to APT (19 Euro) to allow dithering. In my limited experience I didn't have any problems with EOS Utility. A thought : enabling in-camera noise reduction results in an exposure doubling effect - could this be the problem?

Bob

I'll check that out, although I haven't purposely changed any settings, but there is a chance I accidently changed a camera setting.

Cheers

Nige.