Ekos framing?

[Dazzyt66]

Hi all,

What is the best way to adjust the framing of an image in Ekos. I can get subjects centered using plate solving but if i want to rotate the camera slightly for better framing do I just do this using the EQMOD controls in Kstars? If I then image over multiple nights using the scheduler will it re-orientate to what I used before if I provide a sample fits image in the scheduler?

Alas, google has failed me on this detail...

Cheers

Daz

[wornish]

If you have an electronic rotator Ekos will allow you to adjust the rotation.  If you don't then the only way is to physically rotate the camera in its mount or the whole scope by hand. Failing that you can rotate the image in post processing.

[Dazzyt66]

5 minutes ago, wornish said:

If you have an electronic rotator Ekos will allow you to adjust the rotation.  If you don't then the only way is to physically rotate the camera in its mount or the whole scope by hand. Failing that you can rotate the image in post processing.

Thanks for this - I was just going to do it by hand but thought I'd check in case I was missing an automated trick. I don't have a rotator. 🙂

[AstroMuni]

On 10/10/2021 at 06:56, Dazzyt66 said:

I can get subjects centered using plate solving but if i want to rotate the camera slightly for better framing do I just do this using the EQMOD controls in Kstars?

Everytime you platesolve, the frame is rotated on screen to reflect the correct orientation. So after you rotate the camera just do a platesolve to get an updated display.

Does that answer your question? If not I can elaborate.

If you know the orientation beforehand you can also set the rotation in the configuration so the sensor shows the approximate framing of your object without a platesolve.

Edited October 12, 2021 by AstroMuni

[Dazzyt66]

1 hour ago, AstroMuni said:

Everytime you platesolve, the frame is rotated on screen to reflect the correct orientation. So after you rotate the camera just do a platesolve to get an updated display.

Does that answer your question? If not I can elaborate.

If you know the orientation beforehand you can also set the rotation in the configuration so the sensor shows the approximate framing of your object without a platesolve.

That’s how I understand it. Thanks 🙏 

[Shimonu]

What about if you want some custom framing that doesn't just match the center position of some object? I recently shot NGC7000 and if you want to get the cygnus wall and the pelican for example, there's not just some point you can slew to, you would have to guess and take a lot of test exposures while slewing aimlessly. I don't feel that the planetarium is very helpful as it doesn't show the nebulae outlines or have any pictures.

[Ouroboros]

22 minutes ago, Shimonu said:

What about if you want some custom framing that doesn't just match the center position of some object? I recently shot NGC7000 and if you want to get the cygnus wall and the pelican for example, there's not just some point you can slew to, you would have to guess and take a lot of test exposures while slewing aimlessly. I don't feel that the planetarium is very helpful as it doesn't show the nebulae outlines or have any pictures.

Perhaps there’s a clever way to do this but the way I have done it is by trial and error. I slew to roughly the area I want to image. Plate solve and sync. Then I take short exposures and look at the image as I adjust the pointing in KStars until I’m happy with the framing. Once happy it’s a good idea to write down the coordinates in case I need to get back to them at some point. Note that if you’ve already acquired an image you can re-load and slew in ekos to that same position on a later session. 

I haven’t watched it all but this video looks like it might help to guide you in how to do this. 

 

Edited October 19, 2021 by Ouroboros

[teoria_del_big_bang]

56 minutes ago, Shimonu said:

What about if you want some custom framing that doesn't just match the center position of some object? 

I know exactly what you mean and whether its the right way or not I have been slewing to the target and plate solving to sync the mount to where it is on the planetarium and then taking say a 30 sec frame in Ha enough to see the nebula and then 1st rotate the camera (originally by hand but now I have a rotator 🙂 ) to get my desired angle, then take another image and then if I think I need to move over a bit then just select a star somewhere near where I want the centre to be and slew there. Usually doing this I get my framing 1st time (unless my OCD kicks in and I want a little bit more then I can end up fiddling about for ages till I slap myself 🙂 ). Then copy and store one frame somewhere that I know is my best framing for the setup I have and rename it appropriately so I can use that in future. Once I have this frame for a target you then do not even have to look at the planetarium just tell EKOS to slew to the saved image and it will first platesolve the stored image then slew to that target and do its usual plate-solving and further small slews till its pointing at the same place in the sky as the image (within a tolerance set in EKOS).
Normally plenty of stars to pick but if it's an area lacking in stars then more of an issue.

56 minutes ago, Shimonu said:

I don't feel that the planetarium is very helpful as it doesn't show the nebulae outlines or have any pictures.

I assume you are talking about the KStars planetarium ?
You can have pictures of most of the nebulas but you have to select them under View/HiPS All Sky Overlay

I admit that some of the pictures aren't the quality of Stellarium but they are good enough to get you pointing where you want pretty quickly.

 

Steve

Edited October 19, 2021 by teoria_del_big_bang

[Shimonu]

14 minutes ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

I know exactly what you mean and whether its the right way or not I have been slewing to the target and plate solving to sync the mount to where it is on the planetarium and then taking say a 30 sec frame in Ha enough to see the nebula and then 1st rotate the camera (originally by hand but now I have a rotator 🙂 ) to get my desired angle, then take another image and then if I think I need to move over a bit then just select a star somewhere near where I want the centre to be and slew there. Usually doing this I get my framing 1st time (unless my OCD kicks in and I want a little bit more then I can end up fiddling about for ages till I slap myself 🙂 ). Then copy and store one frame somewhere that I know is my best framing for the setup I have and rename it appropriately so I can use that in future. Once I have this frame for a target you then do not even have to look at the planetarium just tell EKOS to slew to the saved image and it will first platesolve the stored image then slew to that target and do its usual plate-solving and further small slews till its pointing at the same place in the sky as the image (within a tolerance set in EKOS).
Normally plenty of stars to pick but if it's an area lacking in stars then more of an issue.

I assume you are talking about the KStars planetarium ?
You can have pictures of most of the nebulas but you have to select them under View/HiPS All Sky Overlay

I admit that some of the pictures aren't the quality of Stellarium but they are good enough to get you pointing where you want pretty quickly.

 

Steve

Oh wow! That's more than sufficient for framing! It's not some plugin or extension you have to download that I've missed? I'll have to check that out!

[teoria_del_big_bang]

11 minutes ago, Shimonu said:

Oh wow! That's more than sufficient for framing! It's not some plugin or extension you have to download that I've missed? I'll have to check that out!

I think most at least should all be there (I think) with just installing KStars.
There are some other extras to download that may contain other images, to be honest not sure but if you need them:-

 

If you go through this wizard one frame says Download Extra Data, click on that and they should all be there if you have not already downloaded them.

HTH

Steve

[alacant]

1 hour ago, Shimonu said:

there's not just some point you can slew to, you would have to guess and take a lot of test exposures while slewing aimlessly. I don't feel that the planetarium is very helpful as it doesn't show the nebulae outlines or have any pictures.

Hi

Really? Kstars has the best graphics I've found on any planetarium. maybe you don't have any overlay set? You can use the NSEW mount controls to centre your camera accurately anywhere in the sky. 

Instead of 'Slew to Target',  centre your desired field of view then in the Align module, check 'Sync' instead. It will show you exactly where you are aiming and the camera's field of view no matter which orientation you set.

Cheers and HTH

[Dazzyt66]

This was the way I thought it could be done in my OP. Thanks @alacant for the info 😀

[Shimonu]

52 minutes ago, alacant said:

Hi

Really? Kstars has the best graphics I've found on any planetarium. maybe you don't have any overlay set? You can use the NSEW mount controls to centre your camera accurately anywhere in the sky. 

Instead of 'Slew to Target',  centre your desired field of view then in the Align module, check 'Sync' instead. It will show you exactly where you are aiming and the camera's field of view no matter which orientation you set.

Cheers and HTH

Yes, I'm realizing I don't have the overlay now. I don't understand why it isn't enabled by default? I know I've downloaded the images but then I could just never find how they are actually used. That's certainly going to make it easier.

[alacant]

31 minutes ago, Shimonu said:

I don't understand why it isn't enabled by default? I know I've downloaded the images

The image(s) download is the old way of visualising it. With the overlay, you don't need them. Use one or the other; if you're short on graphics memory, go for the downloaded thumbnails. If not, just use the overlay; it's far prettier.

If you like to search using ngc and ic numbers, maybe go for the catalogues too? These can also be found at Kstars -> Data -> Download New Data 

Cheers