ZWO Seestar 50

[Giles_B]

@Ande, if you do want to dive a bit deeper I've been following this guide from Deep Space Astro, which uses Siril and Photoshop to process the images:

 

Should you wish to stack in Siril you can either the OSC_preprocessing_withoutDBF script (downloadable from the Siril website https://gitlab.com/free-astro/siril-scripts/-/tree/main/preprocessing?ref_type=heads) or Sirilic (https://gitlab.com/free-astro/sirilic/-/releases)

This made the learning curve much more shallow for me, and produces very satisfying results for me.

 

Edited October 31, 2023 by Giles_B

[MalcolmP]

1 hour ago, Ande said:

Just trying to cling onto my £68 a bit longer if I can 😂

Very wise

Afternoon all,
Gimp (freeware, Windows and lots of other OS) will open fits and do PS similar things. Opens very dark (linear) so needs a tweak first * to reveal all !
ASTAP will open them as well, with the benefit of plate solving if you are trying to point manually at a target not in the S50 database, but (I think, - I am a bit new to it) it does not do gimp/ps type manipulations.

Gimp has some opening options (on my  windows7) I need to select one of the non-default option, else it opens three views one each for R,G and B.  * So it is not a quick viewer.

 

Edited October 31, 2023 by MalcolmP

[baggywrinkle]

I go for 'Scenery' and raise it a bit and put in the filter. Seestar seems to fall over (not literally) when trying to find the Moon or Sun...why? when it is so good at finding DSO...maybe its plates olving could be converted to small fluffy cloud solving for the Sun...😁

[MalcolmP]

3 hours ago, MalcolmP said:

ASTAP will ,

I forgot to say : ASTAP freeware will also stack,   with lots of advanced options that I do not yet understand. A complex an intimidating UI, I am just a bear of little brain, but once sussed can do lightning fast local plate solve without need of internet conx.
 

Edited October 31, 2023 by MalcolmP

[Stu1smartcookie]

Question ... Is there anyone left that just uses the seestars to display the image it produces rather than  the extra processing ?Apart from me that is ...lol . I am sure i will get drawn into the (tedious, in my view)  enhancing the image, eventually .... its probably unavoidable a "do it once and you're hooked"  thing 😂

 

Edited October 31, 2023 by Stu1smartcookie

[Ande]

If I ever get the hang of post-processing the DSO’s , then the next thing will be trying to get my head around .avi for the solar and lunar stuff. But I’m definitely putting that on the back burner for a while as my squirrel brain only takes in so much at any one time. 

[LDW1]

21 minutes ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

Question ... Is there anyone left that just uses the seestars to display the image it produces rather than  the extra processing ?Apart from me that is ...lol . I am sure i will get drawn into the (tedious, in my view)  enhancing the image, eventually .... its probably unavoidable a "do it once and you're hooked"  thing 😂

 

I do but with a little touch up with my ipads editor and now a bit with Lightroom, you couldn't get much better with my eyes but then again I am not real fussy.  I bought it to have some fun as an alternative to my refractors and ha work, its a great, new field of astronomy !  The amazing thing is that the SS is so simple to learn, to use !

Edited October 31, 2023 by LDW1

[LDW1]

2 minutes ago, Ande said:

If I ever get the hang of post-processing the DSO’s , then the next thing will be trying to get my head around .avi for the solar and lunar stuff. But I’m definitely putting that on the back burner for a while as my squirrel brain only takes in so much at any one time. 

You'll get it and it won't take you as long as you think !  Its basically a version of plug n play, really !

[Stu1smartcookie]

6 minutes ago, LDW1 said:

I do but with a little touch up with my ipads editor and now a bit with Lightroom, you couldn't get much better with my eyes but then again I am not real fussy.  I bought it to have some fun as an alternative to my refractors and ha work, its a great, new field of astronomy !  The amazing thing is that the SS is so simple to learn, to use !

Agree entirely . 

[Cosmic Geoff]

1 hour ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

Question ... Is there anyone left that just uses the seestars to display the image it produces rather than  the extra processing ?Apart from me that is ...lol . I am sure i will get drawn into the (tedious, in my view)  enhancing the image, eventually .... its probably unavoidable a "do it once and you're hooked"  thing 😂

Me.  The jpg images that appear on the iphone are basically what I want.  I have done little about trying to process the .fits images. I tried with some of my first (stacked) ones and that wasn't really worth the effort.  I never got into serious deep sky imaging with my other kit as I did not have an ideal setup and all that post-processing seemed too much like hard work.  But with the Seestar, I just have to stand around a bit and it produces a cool nebula image.

For the enlightenment of other newbies, the unstacked fits files only appear if you select that option in the Advanced settings in the phone app.

When I tried it, the Sun finding worked just fine - magic! and the Moon finding was a bit more involved, as I had to follow the instructions to set the compass, and then give it some help by setting it manually to point somewhere near the moon, so it would go find it rather than a streetlamp.

[MalcolmP]

2 hours ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

(tedious, in my view) 

but what else is there to do when its cloudy  , , , , , , 

[Ags]

1 hour ago, MalcolmP said:

but what else is there to do when its cloudy  , , , , , , 

Shopping, surely?

[M40]

Just now, Ags said:

Shopping, surely?

What, for more astro stuff? 🤣

[Ags]

Need you ask? 😆

[M40]

+1 for the "I don't do processing" list. I have a boy for that ( he's 43 and strangely loves it). I might brighten it a bit but thats about it, I like the idea of the simpler the better so eeva is my thing. And with my squirrel brain, I am dreading a run of clear nights when I have to try and remember how the asiair works 🤔

[M40]

4 hours ago, baggywrinkle said:

I go for 'Scenery' and raise it a bit and put in the filter.

Yep me too

4 hours ago, baggywrinkle said:

Seestar seems to fall over (not literally) when trying to find the Moon or Sun...why? when it is so good at finding DSO...

I've found that when it struggles to find either the sun or the moon, it's not level. So if it says to try manually, go back to the main page and see if it has the level alert.

[LDW1]

2 hours ago, MalcolmP said:

but what else is there to do when its cloudy  , , , , , , 

Watch an episode or two of ' Suits ', lol !

Edited October 31, 2023 by LDW1

[Giles_B]

4 hours ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

Question ... Is there anyone left that just uses the seestars to display the image it produces rather than  the extra processing ?Apart from me that is ...lol . I am sure i will get drawn into the (tedious, in my view)  enhancing the image, eventually .... its probably unavoidable a "do it once and you're hooked"  thing 😂

 

yes, I've definitely got a bit hooked - I've always assumed that imaging was a bit boring, but now I've started trying to do multiple sessions on the same objects.

I think I have a natural tendency to get into the geeky stuff.

[cimh]

9 minutes ago, Giles_B said:

I think I have a natural tendency to get into the geeky stuff.

+1 here. What normal person would want to spend hours standing around in the dark, perhaps cold staring at distant bits of fuzz in the sky. - and that was just the start after that came the masses of kit, spending lots of money, partners wondering why he or she is more attracted to fuzz than me. 🙂

 

[Stu1smartcookie]

2 hours ago, MalcolmP said:

but what else is there to do when its cloudy  , , , , , , 

Malcolm , lol I won't show my wife your comment 😂

[M40]

Latest addition landed this morning, so using one of powerlords adapters, I now have my dewshield

It's a clear focusing filter with a 16mm extension. Plan is to stop any dew from getting on the lens plus a small lightshield. Interesting thing is how a clear focusing filter affects the picture...

The picture on the left is without the filter and on the right with. It only takes a few seconds to fit so the way it affected the picture was quite surprising so it will be interesting to compare puctures at night. You might also note the change in the colour of the sky, in the space of about 5 minutes it went from ok ish to get it all indoors quick :D. The latest storm has landed so it's game over for a few days. 

 

Edited November 1, 2023 by M40

[M40]

Question on the focusing, I set the software switch to show focusing panel, then I couldn't find the focusing panel, could someone point me in the right direction or does it not work in scenery mode? Ta much 

[Jim Smith]

Has anybody got stuck on the "Activation failed" message? I tried the app on both my Pixel 7 Pro and my iPad and neither could complete the activation.

[powerlord]

2 hours ago, M40 said:

Question on the focusing, I set the software switch to show focusing panel, then I couldn't find the focusing panel, could someone point me in the right direction or does it not work in scenery mode? Ta much 

Doesn't do anything in scenery mode I don't think. There you just tap to focus.

[powerlord]

2 hours ago, M40 said:

Latest addition landed this morning, so using one of powerlords adapters, I now have my dewshield

It's a clear focusing filter with a 16mm extension. Plan is to stop any dew from getting on the lens plus a small lightshield. Interesting thing is how a clear focusing filter affects the picture...

The picture on the left is without the filter and on the right with. It only takes a few seconds to fit so the way it affected the picture was quite surprising so it will be interesting to compare puctures at night. You might also note the change in the colour of the sky, in the space of about 5 minutes it went from ok ish to get it all indoors quick :D. The latest storm has landed so it's game over for a few days. 

 

Yeh, minus the focusing filter, that's what I do. Just pop a 48mm ext on adapter. Can't hurt. I do it more to avoid stray light from neighbours gardens.