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Imaging with a Star Adventurer


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On 24/05/2020 at 20:23, Snooze said:

I jumped on the 72ED train and ordered one. I hope it get's there soon ^^ For those who own one, is there a filter thread at the front of the lens? My DSLR is fully modded and I only have a 72mm UV IR for DSLR. 

Maybe a clip in filter would do the job - there’s a couple of multi band ones out there now.

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  • 4 weeks later...

M101 The Pinwheel Galaxy, imaged using the Star adventurer pro mount.

Capture information

Star adventurer pro
ASIAIR pro
Skywatcher 72ed refractor
Canon 200D modified
CLS light Pollution filter
ZWO ASI120mm mini guide scope

Bortle 8 Skies

Stacked in DSS and processed in GIMP

ISO 800
EXP 120s
Lights 61
Darks 0
Flats 40
Bias 40

Moon percentage 0%
Half way through image session moon angular distance Below horizon 

Total exposure time 2 hr 2 minutes 

First time imaging the Pinwheel Galaxy.  Thought it was a good time to try as it was a new moon and no cloud!

Uncropped

M101.thumb.png.c6e815354b2fe05910e3d1d677f7c773.png

 

Cropped

1085236023_M101cropped.thumb.png.95d30378966bb2de2c2dced2dbdfc94d.png

 

Edited by Chefgage
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M13 Hercules Cluster

Capture information

Star adventurer pro
ASIAIR pro
Skywatcher 72ed refractor
Canon 200D modified
CLS light Pollution filter
ZWO ASI120mm mini guide scope

ISO 800
EXP 150s
Lights 59
Darks 0
Flats 40
Bias 40

Moon percentage 40%
Half way through image session moon angular distance : 104° 43' 57.5"
Bortle 8 skies

Total exposure time 2 hr 27 minutes 

Seem to be struggling with focus, cannot seem to get pin point stars.  I think maybe this is the best I can get with my camera/scope combination.  Still waiting on a bahtinov mask to compare that to my current method.

M13_1.thumb.png.dee370bc962013fbde86dcaed37a6833.png

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3 hours ago, johnst said:

How do you find the ASAIR? I haven't got one but need some advice on it as to if it's worth the money etc, got similar equipment to you as well!

I enjoy using the asiair. I don't use it to its full potential but I am getting there. I now use it to locate targets which is really handy as I only have an star adventurer mount so I do not have goto. I use the plate solve function within the asiair and then type the RA and DEC values into sky safari on my phone which shows where the scope/camera is pointing. Move the mount about and then repeat. This makes finding targets a lot easier and basically lets me image targets I would not really be able to find as I live in a bortle 8 sky. Star hopping when you cannot see the stars is quite difficult!

So at present I use my asiair to :

plate solve to a target

Guiding using a zwo120mm mini camera

I use my guide scope to polar align (this is the main reason I bought the asiair to make polar aligning a more pleasant task).

There are many more functions that I am building up to. Fairly soon I am going to get a dedicated astro camera so I will use the asiair to control that.

 

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Took this one back in March, but just re-processed and more pleased with the result. This is an 60x 1 min subs on an AA183c, with a 50mm f1.8 Canon "Nifty Fifty" and a Baader Ha filter, getting a good chunk of Monoceros.

412188215_MonocerosHa210228.thumb.jpg.a6269689363991f8194cd7bf0851dbcd.jpg

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NGC 7000 North America Nebula

Capture information

Star Adventurer pro
ASIAIR Pro
Samyang 135mm lens (at F3)
Canon 200D (modified)
Astronomik Ha filter (12nm)
ZWO ASI120mm mini guidscope

ISO 800
EXP 300s
Lights 34
Darks 0
Flats 20
Bias 20

Moon percentage 21% Moon below horizon

Posted also in the deep sky imaging section

 2016829107_NGC7000_1.thumb.png.64b4106c6cb38fa9bca8badac3b0fa28.png

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  • 1 year later...

There are some amazing pics here! 

I've had a couple of chances to use my SA, taking out and polar aligning it with the camera on is a breeze compared to the HEQ5 (which is still in post-move storage). Orion with my Canon 1300D and 18-55 @f5.6.
Second, Mars, Auriga and Taurus using someone's Sony A73 and Zeiss 50mm @f2.2!
Unfortunately the focus went out on the second due to the dew strip, so we lost 1/2 the subs. It would have made an awesome pic, the Zeiss is out of this world!

OrionFinal_new_A.png

mars  21-01-2023_ST_FinC_A.png

Edited by Shaun_Astro
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Having spent an interesting couple of hours reading this thread I am in a bit of a quandary,  I was looking to get an adventurer Pro, when they are available,  but do I need to spend that much, the images in this thread would suggest, maybe the 2i is all I need. 

Edited by GeoffM54
Typo
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11 hours ago, Shaun_Astro said:

The 2i is just the pro minus the wedge and dec bar?

I wasn't very clear about my thoughts, I was referring to the new star adventurer GTI vs the star adventurer 2i pro.

So you'd need to get the wedge at a minimum also. The Dec bar does help, but you kind of need a ball head otherwise one always has a portrait view. 

 

Edited by GeoffM54
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The Gti is nice, and it's massively useful it's goto and DEC guiding, but I bought this as a <100mm FL star stacker to take camping and to dark sky sites. It can weigh 4kg with the camera.

The Gti is another beast, stainless steel tripod, 3x heavier in total, requires laptop, guide scope, guide camera, big battery bank etc.

Not something I can hike up a hill with at night!

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11 minutes ago, Shaun_Astro said:

The Gti is nice, and it's massively useful it's goto and DEC guiding, but I bought this as a <100mm FL star stacker to take camping and to dark sky sites. It can weigh 4kg with the camera.

The Gti is another beast, stainless steel tripod, 3x heavier in total, requires laptop, guide scope, guide camera, big battery bank etc.

Not something I can hike up a hill with at night!

I would challenge this to a point.  I traded in my star tracker for a GTi and use it on the light star adventure tripod with good results.  Like the 2i pro it can be used as a tracker in the field with AA batteries and controlled using the mobile phone app but has the versatility to be a full goto tracking mount in the right circumstances. 

The mount itself is certainly heavier than its predecessors but it is definitely still portable.  I have a full guided setup with an ASIAIR that fits in a camera rucksack, with the exception of the above tripod entirely.  My personal setup is designed around access to mains power but I think there are ways and means to still use this effectively in the field.  

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On 25/01/2023 at 22:10, Snoani said:

I would challenge this to a point.  I traded in my star tracker for a GTi and use it on the light star adventure tripod with good results.  Like the 2i pro it can be used as a tracker in the field with AA batteries and controlled using the mobile phone app but has the versatility to be a full goto tracking mount in the right circumstances. 

The mount itself is certainly heavier than its predecessors but it is definitely still portable.  I have a full guided setup with an ASIAIR that fits in a camera rucksack, with the exception of the above tripod entirely.  My personal setup is designed around access to mains power but I think there are ways and means to still use this effectively in the field.  

I see, a powerbank with 12v would work great with that. I probably would have gotten the GTi, but it's all of out stock atm!

 

Here a quick peek of marks and the Hyades last night. 

 

I tried using by Canon le'Crap 75-300mm zoom @ 75mm f4.

Unfortunately the 75mm zoom, despite being f4 vs the f5.6 of my 18-55mm @55mm has horrific flaring and CA of ALL the stars at 75mm. I thought it was tracking error, but I'm not sure if it's lens flex or sensor alignment from the weight of the lens, or just bad flaring from poor optics.

Also, with the DSLR body on the Dec Bracket, the lens makes the whole SA very hard to balance, depending on which side the lens is pointing at. I was considering a Sigma 85 f1.4, but that is 1.1kg! Without a lens bracket to mount and balance (of which I think there are none for that lens) it would be a nightmare to balance. Does anyone have any suggestions for balancing heavy lenses without a lens mounting bracket?

 

 

 

Mars27Jan2023_STfin_FinaA.png

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6 hours ago, Shaun_Astro said:

Unfortunately the 75mm zoom, despite being f4 vs the f5.6 of my 18-55mm @55mm has horrific flaring and CA

If you drop the aperture a couple of stops it should improve the CA a bit. It will still be pretty bad though.

My version of that lens was quite wobbly and probably had a fair amount of tilt in the optics. 

As for getting balance, you could try mounting the camera on a dove tail so you can set it further back. You would also need a dovetail clamp on the Dec bracket. 

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7 hours ago, Shaun_Astro said:

Does anyone have any suggestions for balancing heavy lenses without a lens mounting bracket?

You could mount it onto a dovetail bar, and on the rear make some sort of counterweight solution. At least this way if you change lenses you can always adjust the position on the dovetail bar whereas rings fit different to different lenses.

My multi lens setup is like two dovetails in a cross pattern, Dec is balanced by positioning the lenses evenly across the horizontal. I'm using it with an azgti though.

It all adds to the payload though.

Edited by Elp
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All taken with a Rokinon 135mm at f2.8, mostly 30 sec at ISO800, total integration between 30sec (Orion) and 30-60 minutes on a astromodified (full spectrum) canon eos 550D with either CLS clip-in filter or CLS-CCD clip-in filter, in a Bortle 5 zone.E4DD7ED4-6667-4B31-81EF-72E738770401.jpeg.a9a5cb656e9bbcccb410ccc0c767ca16.jpeg FD13862C-98EB-4D81-A9D7-CFDF7255211A.jpeg.64b099ac4de27211690137b1128da00a.jpeg69E1C119-5AAC-4495-B794-9067BD5A5871.jpeg.c46ccdbcd41fd0a1acdc1af11533764f.jpeg6FA993B6-BCCD-4815-970F-CB174A8B588A.jpeg.4b60984848ffd9a32e38203ec0a1ba0b.jpegA59F6DFF-A067-4071-A0EA-2A70A655262F.thumb.jpeg.393aee2f184e082ca011b5531c72f2e3.jpeg

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Finally bit the bullet and bought an SA 2i, got a bargain on a nearly new used one.  After much research I have settled on an Evolux 62ED for my wide field scope.  My pentax dslr is matched to a very nice asahi takumar 135mm f2.5 lens, which is a nice combination of options. I think I've covered all the bases, so just need to sit on my hands and wait for the mount and ota to arrive.

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Well, stacking comets with a slow lens is difficult, the star trails pass through the faint tail and the final image has too much detail lost from the final stack because of them.

I read to batch the comet stacks to remove the quantity of stars going through the tail, I'll try that. Also doesn't help the moon was so bright last night, and the closest approach is coinciding with the full moon.

Here's what I have so far, my first comet image! Canon 75-300mm at 75mm f4.5.

FinStacked_Stars_ST_FinB.jpg

Edited by Shaun_Astro
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I bought a used Sigma 105mm f2.8 lens, it's not amazing, but noticeably better than the Cannon 75-300mm @ f4. Once the moon is out the way at the weekend I hope to use it at around F3.5 and get some deeper pics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

StackedStars_STE.png

Edited by Shaun_Astro
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