Seestar S50 images

[Vroobel]

10 hours ago, TiffsAndAstro said:

i still can't find anyone who makes an eq mount with motorised alt/az adjustments

 

I thought about it several times. It shouldn't be difficult to do, but I stop my considerations every time I realise that a leveling also should be motorised which is much more difficult. 

 

Edited June 19 by Vroobel

[LaurenceT]

15 hours ago, AstroNebulee said:

Seeing these images really wants me to seriously think of buying a  seestar S50. Outstanding images everyone and much more portable than my AzGti was in EQ mode. 

I'll have to do some more research on the seestar. I find the processing of images quite easy on my old setup. It's either that or a star adventurer 2 for my Widefield astrophotography. 

Clear. Skies

 

Lee

Hi Lee, for me the great advantage of the Seestar is the rapid and easy setup time and the ability to image small and distant DSO's. I could get a similar FOV's with my existing equipment but the setup time would be very much longer although the image quality would be (hopefully) better.

With the short windows of imaging opportunity we are having at the moment the Seestar has been of great value and fun for me. 

Laurence

[Elp]

16 hours ago, TiffsAndAstro said:

still can't find anyone who makes an eq mount with motorised alt/az adjustments and i think that's a good idea

I won't take credit for this:

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/755669-motorized-alt-az-adjustments-on-eq-mounts/

 

[TiffsAndAstro]

19 minutes ago, Elp said:

I won't take credit for this:

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/755669-motorized-alt-az-adjustments-on-eq-mounts/

 

This looks cool if a bit lightweight looking. £3k isn't ridiculous in the scheme of things 

Ty gonna have a longer look

[LaurenceT]

M27 The Dumbbell Nebula last night 23.30.  208 x 10s subs. Processed in Astro Pixel Processor and MS Photos.

All those stars!😵

[Vroobel]

I was very sceptical about the Seestar S50, but I can see that stubborn imagers can get a lot out of this smartcsope. That doesn't make me buy it though.  

[Recretos]

The Wizard Nebula, NGC 7380 with 9 hours of integration over the last 3 days, so with some Moonlight in the way, but the internal LP filter does help. Stacked and processed in Pixinsight to create Hubble Palette colors.

Regards

[LaurenceT]

37 minutes ago, Recretos said:

The Wizard Nebula, NGC 7380 with 9 hours of integration over the last 3 days, so with some Moonlight in the way, but the internal LP filter does help. Stacked and processed in Pixinsight to create Hubble Palette colors.

Regards

Superb image, you've put a lot of work into that.

[Albir phil]

On 10/06/2024 at 20:57, Recretos said:

Whirpool Galaxy M51, with 22h of integration (8020*10s), stacked and processed in Pixinsight. I did not push the sharpening and denoising all the way in these images, as it does start to degrade fast, and denoise tends to remove detail and deform the galaxy. However, I must say I never dreamed of capturing such images with a small device like the Seestar. I live in Bortle 3 at 1050m (3500ft) above sea level, so the conditions likely help the outcome. One image has a bit more saturation, as I just tried two different approaches and couldn't decide which is better.

I got my Seestar S50 in mid-February, and I also bought Pixinsight at that time. So, being only 4 months into this hobby, I welcome constructive feedback and criticism from the more (or less) experienced folk, as that is probably the best way to grow your skills. Thanks for watching.

 

Just shows what this little scope can do given good location and processing 

[Cosmic Geoff]

Here are comet 13P Olbers and NGC5033, from 20 June. Images from smartphone. The NGC5033 has turned out well considering the indifferent sky conditions.  

BTW, since a recent update, the images saved to an Iphone now have a more informative filename (which you might be able to see here), rather than the previous IMG1234 format.

[astro_al]

Really enjoying my new Seestar! It compliments my high magnification visual observing nicely.

Edited June 27 by astro_al

[Recretos]

M27 the Dumbbell Nebula, with 10h of integration from Bortle 3. Stacked and processed in Pixinsight, using x2 Drizzle to stack. 

[Elp]

5 hours ago, Recretos said:

M27 the Dumbbell Nebula, with 10h of integration from Bortle 3. Stacked and processed in Pixinsight, using x2 Drizzle to stack. 

I think this is a pretty amazing result and goes to show what a difference longer imaging time on target and post processing can achieve. It's not easy capturing that second/third shell of gas, even with a dedicated equatorial telescope setup.

[Xilman]

On 18/06/2024 at 14:06, MonsterMagnet said:

I am in Bortle 9 (Zone 2 Central London) and you can see my image below.

Do I need to get my irony meter serviced again?

I couldn't see any image in your post.

[Xilman]

Crazy idea.  A Seestar is just a camera focussed at infinity.

What if you bolt it on to then end of a much bigger telescope, preferable one with a >=50mm image plane?

[Geoff Lister]

12 hours ago, Xilman said:

Crazy idea.  A Seestar is just a camera focussed at infinity.

What if you bolt it on to then end of a much bigger telescope, preferable one with a >=50mm image plane?

I, too, have wondered about this, but I'm not sure that this would work.

The S50 is more than just an OTA and camera. It's a complete mount with compass and levelling accelerometers, and perhaps more significant, each part of the assembly is controlled by its internal firmware. GoTo calibration and subsequent tracking are based on plate-solving of individual images, and, whilst imaging, if the firmware is not happy with an individual frame, it discards it.

Even assuming that the software would compensate for a different field-of-view, the motor-gear trains would have to drive the extra weight of the additional optics. My understanding is that the gears are fine for the current light-weight OTA but may not last long if overloaded.

I would be interested to know if anyone has managed to get the S50 to work with external optics.

Geoff

[MonsterMagnet]

13 hours ago, Xilman said:

Do I need to get my irony meter serviced again?

I couldn't see any image in your post.

I meant below in the thread although it may have been above.

I thought it was pretty clear given the other posts but perhaps not. 

MM

[Xilman]

1 hour ago, Geoff Lister said:

I, too, have wondered about this, but I'm not sure that this would work.

The S50 is more than just an OTA and camera. It's a complete mount with compass and levelling accelerometers, and perhaps more significant, each part of the assembly is controlled by its internal firmware. GoTo calibration and subsequent tracking are based on plate-solving of individual images, and, whilst imaging, if the firmware is not happy with an individual frame, it discards it.

Even assuming that the software would compensate for a different field-of-view, the motor-gear trains would have to drive the extra weight of the additional optics. My understanding is that the gears are fine for the current light-weight OTA but may not last long if overloaded.

I would be interested to know if anyone has managed to get the S50 to work with external optics.

Geoff

My idea was to use the telescope's mount, not the S50's which would just be dangling on the end of the large OTA. Treat it only as a (overly-complex) camera. I would hope that identical subs would still be stacked (identical because the large mount would be tracking reasonably well.

Unfortunately I don't have a S50 with which to experiment.

Edited July 13 by Xilman

[Elp]

Think it's far easier just to use a "normal" AP camera setup and scope, rather than try to entertain adapting a SS to telescope optics.

Edited July 13 by Elp

[Recretos]

Below is my Crescent Nebula NGC 6888 from last night. It is a preliminary stack of 100 minutes (600*10s frames) processed with Pixinsight using my Forax HOO Hubble palette workflow. This is no special stacking or Drizzle, just integration, so I test what is actually in the data and whether it is worth pushing for more frames. Based on the result, I will go for around 8-10 hours of data if the weather allows before the moon gets too bright.

 

[Recretos]

The Crescent Nebula NGC 6888, now with a bit more data at 5h40min, stacked an processed in Pixinsight, just integration, no Drizzle.

 

 

[Recretos]

Iris Nebula NGC 7023 with 9.5h of integration. Stacked and processed in Pixinsight with no Drizzle. This is my first edit of the data, as I added some 20s subs last night in alt-az mode with very high efficiency, which was a surprise. This workflow still needs some work as I see something like color/lens fringing. Need to get to the bottom of that as its only visible in the Iris nebula stack. Might have to try the new AutoDBE tool from Seti Astro instead of the usual Graxpert that I have been using so far.

Thanks for watching.

 

Edited July 19 by Recretos
typo

[Vroobel]

I have to admit, I'm impressed. 😲

[John_D]

Having bought a Seestar and served the required cloudy nights purgatory here's a couple of images of the Eagle and Swan nebulae from last night, straight out of the box with no additional processing ( 10min total exposure with 10s subs ). I plonked the Seestar on the (flat) shed roof and sat in the summerhouse while it did its stuff. Very civilised 😁

 

[LaurenceT]

Increase in solar activity

Sun news July 28: Cannibal CME headed our way (earthsky.org)