What comes after galaxy season?

[Ags]

For me, Galaxy Season is followed by Solar Season. 

[TiffsAndAstro]

13 hours ago, Sunshine said:

What does galaxy season even mean? i see galaxies all year round, do they hibernate? 😅

The only one that matters is headed right for us.

And I can't see it again until maybe late July

Edited May 13 by TiffsAndAstro

[TiffsAndAstro]

Ty everyone for the tips/suggestions, even the chocolate.

I've had another play in stellarium and there is potential stuff for me.

Eagle nebula may never rise high enough, can't quite tell.

I read it's best to only shoot stuff that is 45d up or higher anyway?

[Elp]

56 minutes ago, TiffsAndAstro said:

I read it's best to only shoot stuff that is 45d up or higher anyway?

Depends on what your local LP and skyglow effect is, as well as seeing on the night. At a dark site I've done 15 degrees, though that's narrowband, one of the benefits of it.

[TiffsAndAstro]

11 minutes ago, Elp said:

Depends on what your local LP and skyglow effect is, as well as seeing on the night. At a dark site I've done 15 degrees, though that's narrowband, one of the benefits of it.

I think 40 is probably a safe bet for me, plenty lp and sky glow all around

even at 40d plenty targets will be available to keep me occupied until Andromeda is back. It's like 2 months and if I get 5 clear nights until then I'll be happy

[Paul M]

Not that I saw galaxy season this year, but generally it's lost to gradually encroaching twilight for me.

I won't bother setting up the toys again until August, unless something very exciting happens that is worth bother for a short period of near darkness.

No panic, the last time I set up for a session was in mid January and that got cut short by a family upset

[Xilman]

Asteroids are available all year round.  Ditto variable stars and double stars.

As are galaxies, for that matter.

[DaveS]

I normally start a run when the altitude reaches 25 degrees, but can push that to 30 degrees if the obsy walls are likely to intrude, and set the end for when the target drops below 25 degrees, again dependent on the obsy walls. I live in a nominally SQI 21.66 area, but do have areas of LP around the horizon.

Globular clusters could cut through the nautical dark if you can resolve the stars into point sources, otherwise wait until the summer NB targets become doablee.

This a (Not very good) image of the Lagoon and Trifid that i did with my old Fuji XT-1 on a Star Adventurer. back in 2020.

[ONIKKINEN]

If i have multiple targets in progress i only shoot the one that is highest at the time to ensure that i get the best possible data. I find that there is a big difference between 40 and 60 degrees in terms of sharpness, so i dont see a point in imaging a suboptimal target if a more optimal target is available. Above 60 degrees is more or less the same, although higher is still better.

This strategy is only for the patient imager, because spreading a season between 5 targets probably means that none of them are "finished" in that year (if one can call an image finished). Hoping to close my M33 project once summer fades out in late August, and its about time since the first subs were taken on 2022.

Some targets are of course always low in the sky, in which case i just pick the least worst time to image.

[TiffsAndAstro]

2 hours ago, Paul M said:

Not that I saw galaxy season this year, but generally it's lost to gradually encroaching twilight for me.

I won't bother setting up the toys again until August, unless something very exciting happens that is worth bother for a short period of near darkness.

No panic, the last time I set up for a session was in mid January and that got cut short by a family upset

Might be a new comet visible before then  might be ok to image it in non astro darkness?

[Mr Spock]

What is galaxy season? Funny little grey smudges aren't really all that interesting 

[TiffsAndAstro]

18 minutes ago, DaveS said:

I normally start a run when the altitude reaches 25 degrees, but can push that to 30 degrees if the obsy walls are likely to intrude, and set the end for when the target drops below 25 degrees, again dependent on the obsy walls. I live in a nominally SQI 21.66 area, but do have areas of LP around the horizon.

Globular clusters could cut through the nautical dark if you can resolve the stars into point sources, otherwise wait until the summer NB targets become doablee.

This a (Not very good) image of the Lagoon and Trifid that i did with my old Fuji XT-1 on a Star Adventurer. back in 2020.

Would love to try the same shot as you got a great image there, but i don't think they will be high enough for me. If they are will definitely try it. 

[Ratlet]

25-30 degrees is the magic cut off for me.  Much below that and the turbulence is just a bit too much (to be fair there is a tiny section of sky I can see below 25°.

[TiffsAndAstro]

9 minutes ago, ONIKKINEN said:

If i have multiple targets in progress i only shoot the one that is highest at the time to ensure that i get the best possible data. I find that there is a big difference between 40 and 60 degrees in terms of sharpness, so i dont see a point in imaging a suboptimal target if a more optimal target is available. Above 60 degrees is more or less the same, although higher is still better.

This strategy is only for the patient imager, because spreading a season between 5 targets probably means that none of them are "finished" in that year (if one can call an image finished). Hoping to close my M33 project once summer fades out in late August, and its about time since the first subs were taken on 2022.

Some targets are of course always low in the sky, in which case i just pick the least worst time to image.

Im sort of trying this strategy at the moment. my gear is unlikely to change in the near to medium term. m101 m51, bodes and cigar are my main fallbacks as they seem always visible and high up.

I did 3.5 hours on trio in leo but they weren't too high up and i don't like my results before or after processing. Im sure more time will help, maybe higher altitude or maybe their just more difficult that i thought  

M31 is my main aim maybe late july. Should really fill my fov.

[TiffsAndAstro]

4 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

What is galaxy season? Funny little grey smudges aren't really all that interesting 

I agree with this - with exception of m101 which is relatively big for me

[tomato]

8 minutes ago, Mr Spock said:

What is galaxy season? Funny little grey smudges aren't really all that interesting 

What is Galaxy Season? It's the time of year when all that annoying obscuring gas and dust moves out of the way so we can have access to proper Deep Sky Objects.😉

[bosun21]

I do like galaxy season and galaxies in general. I enjoy them in the eyepiece despite being underwhelming to a lot of observers. I also like them as EAA targets watching the image develop after each subsequent frame is stacked.

[Xilman]

15 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

I do like galaxy season and galaxies in general. I enjoy them in the eyepiece despite being underwhelming to a lot of observers. I also like them as EAA targets watching the image develop after each subsequent frame is stacked.

I also like some galaxies.  The Cosmic Horseshoe is a prime example --- two galaxies, one in front of the other.

[TiffsAndAstro]

17 minutes ago, Xilman said:

I also like some galaxies.  The Cosmic Horseshoe is a prime example --- two galaxies, one in front of the other.

I never heard of this, but after a quick Google I need to try myself. Even if it's tiny in my fov, just the idea of imaging an amazing example of gravitational lensing from my back garden is ridiculous

ok after a bit more research, maybe not with my gear. If I can find it in Nina, I'll still have to have a try.

Edited May 13 by TiffsAndAstro

[Xilman]

1 minute ago, TiffsAndAstro said:

I never of this, but after a quick Google I need to try myself. Even if it's tiny in my fov, just the idea of imaging an amazing example of gravitational lensing from my back garden is ridiculous

Good luck.

It is non-trivial but well within range of amateur equipment. Anyway, who is interested in trivial achievments? Depending on the size of your telescope, you may need to take subs over several nights. I managed it in under two hours.  Evidence at https://britastro.org/observations/observation.php?id=20230225_235430_a0cc7592c8804113

Perhaps I should take some more subs to improve the image.

 

[TiffsAndAstro]

32 minutes ago, Xilman said:

Good luck.

It is non-trivial but well within range of amateur equipment. Anyway, who is interested in trivial achievments? Depending on the size of your telescope, you may need to take subs over several nights. I managed it in under two hours.  Evidence at https://britastro.org/observations/observation.php?id=20230225_235430_a0cc7592c8804113

Perhaps I should take some more subs to improve the image.

 

I have a feeling my gear and my skills are Sunday league compared to your  champions league.

If I can find it and see it, I'll still have a go, but not too likely.

I still find it amazing you could get your result in like 2 hours? If you add more time, I'd love to see the results.

I don't think i can express in words just how ridiculous it is to image this.

Found this f4 12" newt 20 hours of total integration time?

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/709360-the-cosmic-horseshoe/

 

 

Edited May 13 by TiffsAndAstro