First of the Year

[mightymonoped]

Actually managed to dig out some of my astro gear now that I’m in lockdown. Not much good in the flat but at least the Supermoon gave me something worth practising on.

Didn’t actually do the whole movie capture and Registax stacking this time round but grabbed about 11 frames and manually stacked them.

Here’s me trying to remember how to capture simple planetary images for when I do it properly.

End result image of last nights Supermoon. Image size and quality is limited by Tapatalk account unfortunately.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200408/fdfa660b461a9af8e57e8df701b4cbf7.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200408/a49fddd9debef27c303cb652d43ee02c.jpg


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[struth]

Very decent. I liked a bit of astronomy too but could never afford good gear. The wife, who was chair bound, and I would go out in middle of might for all the interesting stuff. Binoculars were actually fairly good if you don't have the fancy stuff

[Made in 1968]

I used to like sitting outside at evening watching the Bats going around in circles..

[Alex_UK]

Daughter expressed an interest when she was about 8 and asked for a telescope. Was pretty useless when we lived in the town, but now out in the sticks we've had it out a couple of times including on Sunday when it was a very mild evening. Never realised how "jaggedy" the moon actually is with all its craters! Fascinating stuff.

[Alex_UK]

Very decent. I liked a bit of astronomy too but could never afford good gear. The wife, who was chair bound, and I would go out in middle of might for all the interesting stuff. Binoculars were actually fairly good if you don't have the fancy stuff

Yes, a decent pair of binoculars is a good place to start they say.

[Made in 1968]

You should be able to get some shots of the International Space Station when it comes over?

[mightymonoped]

Very decent. I liked a bit of astronomy too but could never afford good gear. The wife, who was chair bound, and I would go out in middle of might for all the interesting stuff. Binoculars were actually fairly good if you don't have the fancy stuff

I used to do the same myself back in the old house. A decent pair of binoculars and a reclining chair is the best introduction to the night sky. I spent the better part of a year doing that before I bought my telescope. By that time, I was pretty much familiar with the night sky and had already seen a lot of Messier objects through the bins.


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[mightymonoped]

You should be able to get some shots of the International Space Station when it comes over?

It is possible but requires some fancy gear if you want to do it properly. I remember way back when, there was a guy in France who specialised in ISS photography.


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[Audio Al]

Blimey , You can see a TV aerial on the moon :eek: amazing :)

[Pigmy Pony]

Blimey , You can see a TV aerial on the moon :eek: amazing :)

Commander Koenig put that up years ago, still going strong :)

Tony, why has your telescope got camouflage on it? Is it so the Clangers don't know they're being watched?

[mightymonoped]

Commander Koenig put that up years ago, still going strong :)

Tony, why has your telescope got camouflage on it? Is it so the Clangers don't know they're being watched?

[emoji4] I had a brief stint when I was using it for nature/bird photography, just made the scope a little less obvious when waiting for les oiseaux.


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[mightymonoped]

..and. The Clangers know everything we’re up to anyway.


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[Pigmy Pony]

[emoji4] I had a brief stint when I was using it for nature/bird photography, just made the scope a little less obvious when waiting for les oiseaux.


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So what's the difference between a spotting scope and a telescope? Is a spotting scope just a more compact, more portable, less powerful version?

[mightymonoped]

So what's the difference between a spotting scope and a telescope? Is a spotting scope just a more compact, more portable, less powerful version?

Pretty much. I was using this scope as it’s a bloody peach, the optics are really good. At the time I bought it the quality of ED80 optics from China was a bit of a lottery.

I struck lucky with this one as it’s proven it’s worth for both Planetary and Deep Sky stuff. Never ever felt the need to change scopes as it’s always been me, not the scope that’s the limiting factor.

I’ve sold all my Deep Sky rig for now but kept the scope as I can’t bear to part with it and it will serve me well once I get back to having a garden/astrophotography site again.


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[mightymonoped]

Looking to do some deep-sky stuff hopefully (once I get hold of a new light pollution filter). Reckon I can get something worthwhile from my balcony as I can polar align the wide-field camera rig.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200419/4f88d77381986efbd84f3a4b03b02c76.jpg

In the meantime, I’ve been reacquainting myself with the processing side by reworking some old captures I had never really processed properly.

I combined two separate capture sessions for this image of the Double Cluster in Perseus. (Low quality version for posting here).

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200419/c37dc40fa85568692139f1d64f124317.jpg

Then reworked s capture of M51 (The Whirlpool Galaxy) to bring out more detail in the arms and address the colour balance. (Crop from centre of the wide-field image)

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200419/8f92beb059ac76955d300cbc99acc659.jpg


Wont be able to get images of objects this scale, will go for slightly larger targets but the processing will be similar.



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[struth]

My scope had a spotter on it, so u could get in the zone. Course it wasn't computerised. Wasn't very good either but was fun

[mightymonoped]

Here’s the deep sky rig that I used to have..

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200419/076bc62a471acd4c11ee778bcf2f8931.jpg


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[struth]

That's the dogs Bollocks Tony

[mightymonoped]

That's the dogs Bollocks Tony

Certainly was! [emoji4]. Hoping to put another together before too long.


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[mightymonoped]

Well, have been able to get out and image with the ‘nifty fifty’ for the last two nights.

Practising for a new lens that’s due here soon.

Using the great little Skywatcher Star Adventurer, I have been able to grab some images even in the light-polluted environment of my balcony.

Quite pleased with this. I may even be starting to get the hang of it again. [emoji4]

The North America Nebula region in Cygnus.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200515/d24c228b000e125ec3ea09fb986bc903.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200515/c3a94443e1e27e32cd7845d9c1e8994b.jpg


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[Barry]

Here’s the deep sky rig that I used to have..

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200419/076bc62a471acd4c11ee778bcf2f8931.jpg

Wow - that was some serious 'star gazing' kit you used to have Tony! :eek: :youtheman:

[mightymonoped]

Well, the new lens arrived and I was out there with it last night trying my first ‘serious’ lockdown capture [emoji4]

This is about 55mins worth of light using a Canon 60d (unmodded) and a Samyang 135mm, stopped down to f2.8. All mounted on a Skywatcher Star Adventurer tracking mount.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200525/a92d69dbeb731fff2e4faca2964b889c.jpg


https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200525/666d470ca34da79208443f71e21a421e.plist

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200525/ae4b37d5085be9bc1dc8923e142e1535.jpg


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[brian2957]

That's an astonishing image Tony :eek:

[Wakefield Turntables]

Here’s the deep sky rig that I used to have..

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200419/076bc62a471acd4c11ee778bcf2f8931.jpg


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That looks very very bloody expensive!

[mightymonoped]

That looks very very bloody expensive!

Not compared to hifi gear it isn’t [emoji23]


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[mightymonoped]

That's an astonishing image Tony :eek:

Thanks, I’m quite pleased with it tbh as I’ve been out of it for a while. Peddling furiously to play catchup with what’s been going on in the last few years.

Will be a little while before I catchup with the while ‘narrowband imaging’ thing though.


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[Audio Al]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200525/ae4b37d5085be9bc1dc8923e142e1535.jpg

Don't think I have seen a censor with that much dust on it , Blimey :eek:
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Sorry couldn't resist . Nice image

I had a Meade LX90 SCT set up at one time , Done the star party rounds for some years , great fun

[mightymonoped]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200525/ae4b37d5085be9bc1dc8923e142e1535.jpg

Don't think I have seen a censor with that much dust on it , Blimey :eek:
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Sorry couldn't resist . Nice image

I had a Meade LX90 SCT set up at one time , Done the star party rounds for some years , great fun

Still haven’t managed to clean the dust off yet [emoji13]


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[mightymonoped]

Here’s one from just of to the right a bit in the Sadr region of Cygnus.

Same setup, about 1.4hrs worth of light.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200606/277ab9035f83dbf3b6f13e1a18fb6a43.jpg


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[mightymonoped]

Yesterday, I tried a reprocess on an old capture of M31 The Andromeda Galaxy, wanted to try to pull out as much detail in the dust lanes as I could. It’s a little overblown in places but I’m quite pleased.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200606/ef54cc23becb2f46fd8894561f059114.jpg


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