ZWO Seestar 50

[GasGiant]

On 10/04/2024 at 15:31, Beardy30 said:

has anyone use the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 for the SeeStar i wonder how it compared technically to the Ipad 2022 model - as ive always preferred the simplisity of the Ipad/Apple devices personally

Yes

I bought the S9 specifically for use with the Seestar. Not sure how it compares with and Ipad/Apple though

[LDW1]

M106 in 25 min. several nites ago !  Even though I have some pretty competent refractors this SS is getting to be pretty enjoyable, I will say !  Its a fast set up and a fast take down, when skize vary so fast in an evening !

 

Edited April 12 by LDW1
reduce photo size

[Oortraged]

50 minutes ago, LDW1 said:

M106 in 25 min. several nites ago !  Even though I have some pretty competent refractors this SS is getting to be pretty enjoyable, I will say !  Its a fast set up and a fast take down, when skize vary so fast in an evening !

 

Really cool image! I've meant to ask before, are you using a physical mask of some sort for the diffraction spikes, or is there some electronic wizardry I'm missing to do so?!

[LDW1]

19 minutes ago, Oortraged said:

Really cool image! I've meant to ask before, are you using a physical mask of some sort for the diffraction spikes, or is there some electronic wizardry I'm missing to do so?!

I bought a 4 & 8 star spike masks but I don't like the 8. I think the spikes lend a little character to the stars !

Edited April 12 by LDW1

[Oortraged]

6 minutes ago, LDW1 said:

I bought a 4 & 8 star spike masks but I don't like the 8.

The 4 definitely looks cool, emulates that dob look, which is often how I think of the S50 - a companion dob that doesn't give me a hernia! 😁

[LDW1]

10 minutes ago, Oortraged said:

The 4 definitely looks cool, emulates that dob look, which is often how I think of the S50 - a companion dob that doesn't give me a hernia! 😁

I got rid of all my dobs years ago, now its refractors (10) only, lol !  From 60mm to 130mm, since the SS I am cutting back on them as well, plus my age (76), lol !

[Oortraged]

1 hour ago, LDW1 said:

I got rid of all my dobs years ago, now its refractors (10) only, lol !  From 60mm to 130mm, since the SS I am cutting back on them as well, plus my age (76), lol !

Now that's a Swiss army knife of a frac collection, one for every possible job! I do miss my old 8" dob, but I couldn't justify the storage space since a house move. Switched to an ED80 for visual use about 8 years ago, and it certainly shows less, but I love what it does show! The S50 has to satisfy my aperture fever through digital means for now... although I suspect Mystic Meg would probably forsee a large dob in my future at some stage! 😄

[LDW1]

M40, from the other night !  I love it, really !

 

Edited April 13 by LDW1

[Beardy30]

Some shots from last night of the moon, Pinwheel, Whirlpool and M31 

[Beardy30]

On 11/04/2024 at 21:02, GasGiant said:

Yes

I bought the S9 specifically for use with the Seestar. Not sure how it compares with and Ipad/Apple though

Thank you 

[LDW1]

Mizar and Alcor and its smaller binary star !  Skies were not very good, I shut down pretty early.  I was lucky to get what I did.  For those that wonder they are located in the bend in the handle of the Big Dipper !  Another one to add to my stars album !

Edited April 14 by LDW1
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[trailer]

Last night's moon. 28% waxing. The image on the left is a single shot whilst the second is a stacked image taken from a 25 second avi.

 

[Beardy30]

1 hour ago, trailer said:

Last night's moon. 28% waxing. The image on the left is a single shot whilst the second is a stacked image taken from a 25 second avi.

 

Nice images . Has anyone noticed how improvements kick in after any particular time /exposures time - I have certainly noticed everyone it doubles it improves 10/20/40/80 etc ..what have others experienced?

[trailer]

56 minutes ago, Beardy30 said:

Nice images . Has anyone noticed how improvements kick in after any particular time /exposures time - I have certainly noticed everyone it doubles it improves 10/20/40/80 etc ..what have others experienced?

Ta. I haven't done any longer than 25 seconds to be fair but I'm guessing that there must be a threshold depending on the subject. With the sun/moon being relatively bright compared to other targets then they wouldn't require as much time(?).

[DaveL59]

Not ready to throw this sort of money in for a filter, not yet at least, but IIRC powerlord has experimented using a L-Extreme on the S50 for some excellent results. So some here may be interested in this option

Currently just under USD160 on the long river place at the moment.

[LDW1]

1 hour ago, DaveL59 said:

Not ready to throw this sort of money in for a filter, not yet at least, but IIRC powerlord has experimented using a L-Extreme on the S50 for some excellent results. So some here may be interested in this option

Currently just under USD160 on the long river place at the moment.

With ship. & tax about $300 C on Amazon !

[Elp]

It's still cheaper than other filters... Remember the SS has one built in, it's just not as narrow a bandpass as a dedicated filter like the SV220 or L-extreme/Ultimate or any of the others out there.

Edited April 14 by Elp

[LDW1]

14 hours ago, Elp said:

It's still cheaper than other filters... Remember the SS has one built in, it's just not as narrow a bandpass as a dedicated filter like the SV220 or L-extreme/Ultimate or any of the others out there.

Before I spend the $'s I want to try the ones I have, I have a real assortment from my refractors !  I have a unique 2" Burgess X-4 that I am dying to try, first thing as the objects I want to try it with get high enough, early enough.

[Oortraged]

17 hours ago, DaveL59 said:

Not ready to throw this sort of money in for a filter, not yet at least, but IIRC powerlord has experimented using a L-Extreme on the S50 for some excellent results. So some here may be interested in this option

Currently just under USD160 on the long river place at the moment.

Interesting Dave, thanks for sharing. I think there is definitely mileage in the S50 for some more tinkering, it has a broad enough audience that some (cleverer people than me) are undoubtedly going to start doing some interesting stuff with them!

[Oortraged]

Just got done fiddling with this composition of M52 and the bubble nebula in Siril. Limited data amounting to about 25 minutes, half with the internal filter and half without. Surprised just how much of the background nebulosity the S50 managed to pull through in my Bortle 4 skies under short integration.

Edited April 15 by Oortraged

[Elp]

If you want to pull more data out of the bubble it's worth putting in a few more hours. I tested it with my main setup around 2 hours with an lextreme, definitely needs more time. It's also quite low at the moment so not in the best position.

[Oortraged]

31 minutes ago, Elp said:

If you want to pull more data out of the bubble it's worth putting in a few more hours. I tested it with my main setup around 2 hours with an lextreme, definitely needs more time. It's also quite low at the moment so not in the best position.

Definitely Elp, if we ever get a clear night here again it's top of the target list

[LDW1]

As per another site we are having no luck in taking the North Star, Polaris !  It won't centre,in my case it seems to stay located in the upper left corner, if I manually centre it it returns to the upper left, if I try to enhance it from there it won't / can't take it !  Other have the same issue.  Anyone over in your part of the world have any luck with Polaris ?

[cimh]

Last night I used my Seestar in EQ mode for the first time in my urban garden with a bright moon. Over 84 minutes Seestar saved 69 minutes worth of  20s shots. I removed 9 shots due to satellite tracks before stacking and I am pleased with the result. There was much less rotation as you can see from the uncropped image of M100 and NGC4312.  Setting it up was very easy.  I wonder if using it in eq mode would enable me to stack images from more than one session? The other advantage of using 20s rather than 10 is that stacking in Siril was much quicker presumably because there are 1/2 as many images to stack and each one must be brighter due to the longer exposure. 

WRT the discussion about seeing or imaging. For me there is room for both, While seestar is imaging objects which I have no hope of seeing thru my 200mm dob in my garden I can enjoy looking at planets the moon, clusters and the brighter DSOs or just enjoy stargazing. I have tried a more complicated imaging setup but I gave up as I do not have the patience to get them up and running.  The UK weather with its short windows of clear skies does not help either. So something that can be taking shots within 10 minutes is perfect for me.   

 

[LaurenceT]

9 minutes ago, cimh said:

Last night I used my Seestar in EQ mode for the first time in my urban garden with a bright moon. Over 84 minutes Seestar saved 69 minutes worth of  20s shots. I removed 9 shots due to satellite tracks before stacking and I am pleased with the result. There was much less rotation as you can see from the uncropped image of M100 and NGC4312.  Setting it up was very easy.  I wonder if using it in eq mode would enable me to stack images from more than one session? The other advantage of using 20s rather than 10 is that stacking in Siril was much quicker presumably because there are 1/2 as many images to stack and each one must be brighter due to the longer exposure. 

WRT the discussion about seeing or imaging. For me there is room for both, While seestar is imaging objects which I have no hope of seeing thru my 200mm dob in my garden I can enjoy looking at planets the moon, clusters and the brighter DSOs or just enjoy stargazing. I have tried a more complicated imaging setup but I gave up as I do not have the patience to get them up and running.  The UK weather with its short windows of clear ski,es does not help either. So something that can be taking shots within 10 minutes is perfect for me.   

 

Is it possible to show your Seestar in EQ mode or if not possible then a description of how you do it?

Edited April 17 by LaurenceT