LDW1 Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 (edited) 14 minutes ago, glafnazur said: Whilst I understand people want to jump straight in with goto I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed my time learning the sky, using binoculars and then star hopping with an 8" newt. For me it isn't just looking through an eyepiece or taking an image, it is seeing the whole beauty of the sky. Just looking up and seeing the constellations and greeting them like old friends as the seasons change, giving an 'ooh' as the odd sporadic meteor shoots overhead, enjoying the different colours of stars with the naked eye and thinking how amazing and magical it must have seemed to our ancestors all those thousands of years ago. There was / is that challenge, in the search, in the find but today its all in the on switch and back to texting or the tv or ........ ! But how many today know any different and if we that do say anything ie Ed T its game over, sad really but not surprising ! PS: Last nite about 4-5am I took, with my SeeStar, M4 and beside it the red star Antares, both in Scorpius, they were very low in the S but I knew where to look after learning in the old school not by throwing a dart ! Edited March 29 by LDW1 reduce photo size 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDW1 Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 26 minutes ago, Bazz said: I think a certain amount of snobbery and purchase cost justification of high end equipment versus this brilliant little scope comes into play here. Thats a great opinion when you don't really know ...... ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulastro Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 (edited) I'm really getting fed up with how this thread has been hijacked by pages and pages from traditional imagers moaning that people actual have the temerity to buy an S50 and even enjoy using it! Shock/horror we don't all want to do what they are doing instead! As Seestar users we shouldn't feel we have to justify what we are doing and why. It used to be a forum for exchanges of information, images and developments in the software etc for Seestars users. Where users could encourage each other and enhance their own skills and knowledge. Where someone new comes and looks at the forum now they must wonder what on earth is going on and probably look elsewhere if they actually want to have some encouragement and help. I'm considering 'unfollowing' the forum as almost every time I open a post it's not what I want to read about. I'm surprised that the moderators haven't taken a look at it. Edited March 29 by paulastro Typo 9 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard N Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 I’m looking forward to Ed Ting’s next video! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glafnazur Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 From what I've seen and read here I must admit that if I had a spare £500 I'd be hitting the buy button right now. I think with this rubbish weather I'd have got way more sessions in if I had a Seestar. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDW1 Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 36 minutes ago, paulastro said: I'm really getting fed up with how this thread has been hijacked by pages and pages from traditional imagers moaning that people actual have the temerity to buy an S50 and even enjoy using it! Shock/horror we don't all want to do what they are doing instead! As Seestar users we shouldn't feel we have to justify what we are doing and why. It used to be a forum for exchanges of information, images and developments in the software etc for Seestars users. Where users could encourage each other and enhance their own skills and knowledge. Where someone new comes and looks at the forum now they must wonder what on earth is going on and probably look elsewhere if they actually want to have some encouragement and help. I'm considering 'unfollowing' the forum as almost every time I open a post it's not what I want to read about. I'm surprised that the moderators haven't taken a look at it. We are all adults, talking adult talk, we aren't here to coddle you or anyone, incl myself ! For those that can't handle it there is always CN and watch those fireworks for a while ! Have a look at some of your own posts before pointing any fingers ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elp Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 46 minutes ago, glafnazur said: I think with this rubbish weather I'd have got way more sessions in if I had a Seestar. I'm thinking exactly the same. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trailer Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 Easter midday Sun-day. 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WiltsStarGazer Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 3 minutes ago, trailer said: Easter midday Sun-day. Wow, nice close up, is it a stacked and processed video? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trailer Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 (edited) 10 minutes ago, WiltsStarGazer said: Wow, nice close up, is it a stacked and processed video? The first is a single RAW exposure. The second one is a video stack using the 4x zoom in the app 👍🏼 Edited March 31 by trailer Correcting myself Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beardy30 Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 The Seestar is a class bit of kit. Video of the sun ☀️taken this morning 15125379564929483542.mp4 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WiltsStarGazer Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 33 minutes ago, trailer said: The first is a single RAW exposure. The second one is a video stack using the 4x zoom in the app 👍🏼 Wow. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaurenceT Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 (edited) Apologies if this has been posted already but there is a new Siril script for Seestar: Siril - New ZWO Seestar script and tutorial Amongst of my many astro weak points processing is one but I ran this M42 a second time through the new script with some post processing and I was quite surprised at some of the detail. #1 is the first attempt , processed in the Seestar and tweaked in DXo and Topaz, #2 is the one run through the Siril script and followed by some processing in Siril, DXo Photolab3 and Topaz I'm aware that both are poor by non-Seestar standards. Edited April 1 by LaurenceT 8 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonsterMagnet Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 On 28/03/2024 at 16:41, MonsterMagnet said: I think the travel point is overlooked a bit. I am off on holiday tomorrow and for 4 nights of that we are on an island that is going to be Bortle 2. All the other nights we are in cities so there is no way I would consider taking a proper rig but for the off-chance that I get clear skies in such a remote location I am tempted to take the SS. It's so small that if I end up not using it then it's not really a massive deal. I think this is the issue here, the use cases are different to a normal rig but are being compared as if they are the same. MM Following on from this post, the Seestar did make it to the island in the South China sea and I have access to targets that I don't see in London. It's obviously not as good as a full rig, we are all in agreement about that, but I simply couldn't bring that on a mainly city based holiday in Asia. The skies are dark though and I think the Seestar did pretty well. Here is 1 hour of 20 second exposures on a section of the Carina nebula (processed in PI), clearly something I wouldn't get to image with my main rig at home. MM 17 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu1smartcookie Posted April 6 Share Posted April 6 40 minutes ago, MonsterMagnet said: Following on from this post, the Seestar did make it to the island in the South China sea and I have access to targets that I don't see in London. It's obviously not as good as a full rig, we are all in agreement about that, but I simply couldn't bring that on a mainly city based holiday in Asia. The skies are dark though and I think the Seestar did pretty well. Here is 1 hour of 20 second exposures on a section of the Carina nebula (processed in PI), clearly something I wouldn't get to image with my main rig at home. MM A good point well made . I had a Seestars but sold it as I didn't feel a connection to the night sky when using it( after the initial euphoria of seeing things that I had only seen before in magazines) as I am a visual astronomer... But the portability is one of its, and the Dwarfs main strengths. I actually still have a Dwarf 2 . These smart scopes have their place in astronomy and are here to stay and will only get better. I think we all should embrace things that promote astronomy and being it to people who are put off by the hobbies formerly stuffy image . 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDW1 Posted April 7 Share Posted April 7 Arcturus last nite, Bortle 5-6 ! At some point I will have an album of just stars. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beardy30 Posted April 7 Share Posted April 7 Has anyone been able to compare the Seestar to the Unistellar eVscope eQuinox ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDW1 Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 16 hours ago, Beardy30 said: Has anyone been able to compare the Seestar to the Unistellar eVscope eQuinox ? Google around there have been several on these forums incl CN / YouTube, I think SS won out based on cost vs capabilities and ease of use ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu1smartcookie Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 On 29/03/2024 at 17:54, paulastro said: I'm really getting fed up with how this thread has been hijacked by pages and pages from traditional imagers moaning that people actual have the temerity to buy an S50 and even enjoy using it! Shock/horror we don't all want to do what they are doing instead! As Seestar users we shouldn't feel we have to justify what we are doing and why. It used to be a forum for exchanges of information, images and developments in the software etc for Seestars users. Where users could encourage each other and enhance their own skills and knowledge. Where someone new comes and looks at the forum now they must wonder what on earth is going on and probably look elsewhere if they actually want to have some encouragement and help. I'm considering 'unfollowing' the forum as almost every time I open a post it's not what I want to read about. I'm surprised that the moderators haven't taken a look at it. Well said sir. No Need for me to add any comments really except to say that people i believe get a little frightened of anything that remotely undermimes what thay are doing . IE , someone who has spent thousands putting together a rig which basically does what a little smart scope can do for a fraction of the price . The real problem isnt the tech , its the people who cannot embrace someone with little knowledge who is able to "produce" an image without hours of painstaking processing through a little black magic box . And these scopes will only get better and better . Maybe the astro photography fraternity can't handle it ? One prominent YouTuber actually described the SeeStars as "cheating"!!!!!!! That was enough for me to unsubscribe from his channel . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carbon Brush Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 Agree absolutely with @Stu1smartcookie Around 15/16 years ago I had set up a really good tracking mount in the observatory. Visually it was a great setup and I spent many cold nights there. I decided to try out this astrophoto lark. At the time astro cameras were less capable and more expensive (in real terms). I opted for a DSLR. It all went very well. Except... Spending all night getting poor images was very frustrating and took away enjoying the hobby. Standing around waiting for the shutter to close and glancing up to make sure the sky was still there was boring. Automating so I could sit indoors was going to take a lot more organising. My solution was to plant a second scope outside and just look. I could change magnification or target object every minute if I wanted. I could even swap scopes on the mount given 5 minutes. Pop back into the observatory every so often to mak sure everything was still running. Move forward to 2024. Plant the Seestar outside and leave it to get on with building pictures. Use a second scope on any mount to enjoy the views. The hobby is again enjoyable. Except.....The clouds and increased light pollution. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saac Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 (edited) Wow, who would have thought such rivalry of philosophy exists within astronomy. Maybe it's the engineer in me but it's just a bit of kit, like any other tool it has a purpose. This one seems to do its job pretty well. I'd certainly give one a go, I'd use it to explore while my other permanently mounted kit is tied up with other tasks like, whisper it, photography! I don't feel threatened by it, it doesn't prompt any existential crisis of thought of what I'm doing with my other rig and cameras. It is just another tool giving a different opportunity to explore the night sky - there's no compulsion to buy one and it won't come and steal your babies from their beds at night! I hope to see more of these smart scopes being developed with the price dropping and capability improving. And as for that Smart Eyepiece by Pegasus, I'd give that a go too without feeling threatened by a lump of metal. Yep, definitely an engineers view Jim Edited April 8 by saac 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Lister Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 11 minutes ago, saac said: Maybe it's the engineer in me but it's just a bit of kit, like any other tool it has a purpose. This one seems to do its job pretty well. As a 3rd generation engineer, I agree 100%. I could not decide between the S50 and Dwarf II, so I bought both. No regrets on either purchase - I now have 2 sizes of hammer. Geoff 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saac Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 Just now, Geoff Lister said: As a 3rd generation engineer, I agree 100%. I could not decide between the S50 and Dwarf II, so I bought both. No regrets on either purchase - I now have 2 sizes of hammer. Geoff Well you are now in the fortunate position to sell me one Jim 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDW1 Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 8 minutes ago, saac said: Well you are now in the fortunate position to sell me one Jim Make sure its the SS and not the D2 unless you want to use your engineering skills, lol ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
900SL Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 1 hour ago, Stu1smartcookie said: Well said sir. No Need for me to add any comments really except to say that people i believe get a little frightened of anything that remotely undermimes what thay are doing . IE , someone who has spent thousands putting together a rig which basically does what a little smart scope can do for a fraction of the price . The real problem isnt the tech , its the people who cannot embrace someone with little knowledge who is able to "produce" an image without hours of painstaking processing through a little black magic box . And these scopes will only get better and better . Maybe the astro photography fraternity can't handle it ? One prominent YouTuber actually described the SeeStars as "cheating"!!!!!!! That was enough for me to unsubscribe from his channel . You may choose to think that, but I don't consider that to be correct. I'm pretty certain that most astro-imagers don't feel threatened or undermined by the Seestar. Many seem to find it quite cute, like a little nodding dog doing tricks and cartwheels It has been designed to provide a quick n dirty grab and go / point and shoot experience, and appeals to many who either lack the ability or ambition to bang their heads against the wall that is astrophotography, which ultimately produces far superior results Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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