Small Can Be Beautiful ... Honest !

[badhex]

5 hours ago, Maideneer said:

The diagonal idea worked, it worked and I'm stunned!  I got a picture on my screen of some tree leaves in focus!  Wow this is liberating lol. Tonight is the last clear night for a week so Jupiter and Saturn here I come! *fingers crossed*

P.S. - all of you people are amazing and never made me feel stupid.  This is such a quality message board and I'm proud to be here.

Amazing news, glad you got it sorted! Fingers crossed you manage to get Jupiter and Saturn 😊

[Stu1smartcookie]

6 hours ago, Maideneer said:

P.S. - all of you people are amazing and never made me feel stupid.  This is such a quality message board and I'm proud to be here.

Nobody is made to look that way on here  . In fact some of the most basic questions are the most pertinent , because we ALL want to ask them . So glad the diagonal suggestion worked ... conversely , i had exactly the same problem you had , last night lol  . As @AstroNebulee wrote ... get that extension tube !

[Maideneer]

Welp, I managed my first real planetary shot from this little old starter scope and just a couple months experience.  The extender made its way to my house and after a week of nonstop rain, it cleared out last night so off I went to the yard.  Finding the target is the easy bit, it's the rest that is challenging.  I didn't even align my mount or have any sort of guiding help (I won't know how to do that until I get a better scope), I just pointed at the planet and snap snap 1000 frames here and there with Sharpcap.  I took Jupiter too but it didn't come out so good, at least not yet I haven't processed it.

Having almost no clue how to do much of anything, I processed my source file in PiPP then Autostakkert which I think I sort of understand how to use now.  I didn't do any color correction and I didn't use my ADC (forgot) so there's probably a greenish tint to this.  From this processed file, what's a good option to use to color correct?  I've seen people mention Registax.

[AstroNebulee]

16 hours ago, Maideneer said:

Welp, I managed my first real planetary shot from this little old starter scope and just a couple months experience.  The extender made its way to my house and after a week of nonstop rain, it cleared out last night so off I went to the yard.  Finding the target is the easy bit, it's the rest that is challenging.  I didn't even align my mount or have any sort of guiding help (I won't know how to do that until I get a better scope), I just pointed at the planet and snap snap 1000 frames here and there with Sharpcap.  I took Jupiter too but it didn't come out so good, at least not yet I haven't processed it.

Having almost no clue how to do much of anything, I processed my source file in PiPP then Autostakkert which I think I sort of understand how to use now.  I didn't do any color correction and I didn't use my ADC (forgot) so there's probably a greenish tint to this.  From this processed file, what's a good option to use to color correct?  I've seen people mention Registax.

Great image for your first attempts, it's all a big learning curve this processing part, I use registax to sharpen up the image using the wavelet sliders and then use photoshop and change the colour balance to less green or in the levels tab move the right hand arrow I think in a bit more but cant remember, I'm probably getting a bit tecchy there but give registax a go I expect the sharpen will give a slight more definition 

Edited July 3, 2021 by AstroNebulee

[badhex]

7 hours ago, Maideneer said:

Welp, I managed my first real planetary shot from this little old starter scope and just a couple months experience.  The extender made its way to my house and after a week of nonstop rain, it cleared out last night so off I went to the yard.  Finding the target is the easy bit, it's the rest that is challenging.  I didn't even align my mount or have any sort of guiding help (I won't know how to do that until I get a better scope), I just pointed at the planet and snap snap 1000 frames here and there with Sharpcap.  I took Jupiter too but it didn't come out so good, at least not yet I haven't processed it.

Having almost no clue how to do much of anything, I processed my source file in PiPP then Autostakkert which I think I sort of understand how to use now.  I didn't do any color correction and I didn't use my ADC (forgot) so there's probably a greenish tint to this.  From this processed file, what's a good option to use to color correct?  I've seen people mention Registax.

Great first image! Congrats!

[badhex]

Hello small scope fans!

Just wanted to give a very quick update on the ZS73 and travel kit I've been using for a while. So far it has been away on 3 trips to dark (darker, at least) skies and a few sessions at home, and honestly it's been an absolute pleasure.

There have been a few refinements to be made with the travel kit itself, but from an optical perspective it really has performed well. I've observed whole stars fields, planets (even Uranus) and nebulae with excellent results.

Although not intended for travel kit, I just tested out my new Morpheus 4.5mm and it works really well as a high/highest power EP for this scope.

Couldn't be happier!

Edited October 12, 2021 by badhex

[Stu]

3 minutes ago, badhex said:

Hello small scope fans!

Just wanted to give a very quick update on the ZS73 and travel kit I've been using for a while. So far it has been away on 3 trips to dark (darker, at least) skies and honestly it's been an absolute pleasure.

There have been a few refinements to be made with the travel kit itself, but from an optical perspective it really has performed well. I've observed whole stars fields, planets (even Uranus) and nebulae with excellent results.

Although not intended for travel kit, I just tested out my new Morpheus 4.5mm and it works really well as a high/highest power EP for this scope.

Couldn't be happier!

Great stuff! I used to have a TS 72mm, very similar to your scope and enjoyed taking it away to darker sites. Amazing what you can see with them when properly dark adapted. Get yourself an OIII filter and a widefield eyepiece (24mm 68 degree) if you haven’t already and you will get the whole Veil nebula from a dark sky. Enjoy!

[badhex]

5 minutes ago, Stu said:

Great stuff! I used to have a TS 72mm, very similar to your scope and enjoyed taking it away to darker sites. Amazing what you can see with them when properly dark adapted. Get yourself an OIII filter and a widefield eyepiece (24mm 68 degree) if you haven’t already and you will get the whole Veil nebula from a dark sky. Enjoy!

On your advice @Stu I picked up an Oiii (Astronomik) and did see a portion of the veil (NGC6992) for the very first time! Sadly I didn't really manage to pick up much more of it though. I did struggle getting used to using the filter a bit at first, and I suspect the gibbous moon was drowning out the finer details. I think as well I need to get myself a list of targets - stressful work situations prior to going away meant I didn't plan the sessions ahead of time which was definitely a mistake.

[badhex]

2 minutes ago, badhex said:

On your advice @Stu I picked up an Oiii (Astronomik) and did see a portion of the veil (NGC6992) for the very first time! Sadly I didn't really manage to pick up much more of it though. I did struggle getting used to using the filter a bit at first, and I suspect the gibbous moon was drowning out the finer details. I think as well I need to get myself a list of targets - stressful work situations prior to going away meant I didn't plan the sessions ahead of time which was definitely a mistake.

Oh and I was using it with a 35mm Aero ED which didn't help. The threads on that EP are not standard filter threads, I've been meaning to post asking about that.

Edited October 12, 2021 by badhex

[Stu1smartcookie]

4 hours ago, badhex said:

Hello small scope fans!

Just wanted to give a very quick update on the ZS73 and travel kit I've been using for a while. So far it has been away on 3 trips to dark (darker, at least) skies and a few sessions at home, and honestly it's been an absolute pleasure.

There have been a few refinements to be made with the travel kit itself, but from an optical perspective it really has performed well. I've observed whole stars fields, planets (even Uranus) and nebulae with excellent results.

Although not intended for travel kit, I just tested out my new Morpheus 4.5mm and it works really well as a high/highest power EP for this scope.

Couldn't be happier!

A fantastic scope that I let slip through my fingers , but I am on the lookout for another lol . The build quality is superb on the zs73 .

 

[badhex]

15 minutes ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

A fantastic scope that I let slip through my fingers , but I am on the lookout for another lol . The build quality is superb on the zs73 .

 

It's a great scope. Really glad that my original plan to get the TS 70ED didn't work out!