New Rig for Astro Imaging

[mightymonoped]

As well as listening to choons and making sourdough during these strange lockdown times I’ve taken the opportunity, while limited to my balcony, of refining a new ultra-portable imaging rig for Astro Imaging.

Not unlike my hifi, there’s a Raspberry Pi at the core, controlling everything via bluetooth to my phone.

The telescope has been confined to storage until I have a permanent, garden-based observatory. In the meantime, I have a slick new rig that’s even colour coordinated. [emoji13]

I have used this opportunity (not helped by having a slipped disc) to refine the setup using 3 great photographic lenses to cover everything that the telescope can’t in terms of wide-field imaging.

A Samyang 14mm for ultra widefield
A Canon ‘nifty fifty’ 50mm f1.8 for widefield
And the star of the show, the ultra sharp Samyang 135mm f2 for large deep space objects like Orion Nebula, Andromeda Galaxy and Cygnus area.

Still getting to grips with all of this but here’s some shots I’ve been taking while I’ve been quiet on the forum...

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200914/df6f478f2a607ae701fc96aec4f1dbfb.plist
The new rig with Samyang 135mm and custom built fine focus.


https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200914/2909d5d09b0d435c0857752aa5f260ae.jpg
Heart & Soul Nebula


https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200914/9b7530cd7d75c71c37e10894b737c54d.plist
The Andromeda Galaxy

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200914/6a4a14edc486a423eb8c14351813fa23.plist
The Veil Nebula Complex

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200914/e78b8c76f393a18be2d3b78032bf1bed.plist
The North America Nebula


https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200914/a96108dfdf7bce23a0f7a1e944533411.plist

The Sadr region of constellation Cygnus


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[gninnam]

Brilliant :)

[dave2010]

Very good. I've been hoping to get into this, and one of my friends keeps suggesting it to me. The big problem is the general weather round here - it's so often cloudy - not to mention cold and raining.

I'd consider one of those fibre glass observatory "sheds", plus at least one decent mount etc. if the weather was more reliable, but mostly it isn't, so probably not sensible for these parts.

Celestial bodies are a bit off this year. Doesn't look as though we'll get to see the eclipse in December now, either.

How long were your exposures? Did you have to stack up a lot of images to get those results? Did you use any filters?

Very good, anyway!

[mightymonoped]

Very good. I've been hoping to get into this, and one of my friends keeps suggesting it to me. The big problem is the general weather round here - it's so often cloudy - not to mention cold and raining.

I'd consider one of those fibre glass observatory "sheds", plus at least one decent mount etc. if the weather was more reliable, but mostly it isn't, so probably not sensible for these parts.

Celestial bodies are a bit off this year. Doesn't look as though we'll get to see the eclipse in December now, either.

How long were your exposures? Did you have to stack up a lot of images to get those results? Did you use any filters?

Very good, anyway!

Thanks guys!

The first shot (Heart & Soul) is my first foray into ‘narrowband’ imaging (i.e using a filter that restricts light to certain frequencies). In this case, I used an Optolong L-eNhance filter, which only lets through Hydrogen Alpha, Hydrogen Beta and Oxygen III frequencies. The advantage of this kind of imaging is that to a large extend it ignores light pollution or unwanted nuisances such as Moonlight.

Generally, the more image time you capture, the better. This increases signal to noise ratio and gives cleaner images.

The Deep Sky process is roughly the following process.

1. Capture lights, darks, flats and bias images.
2. Calibrate the lights - use the darks, flats and bias to remove any unwanted elements such as hot pixels, vignetting and light gradients.
3. Align/Stack the calibrated lights.
4. Process - stretch and refine the stacked image.

In the case of the Heart & Soul image, I captured:-

34 x 180s lights plus about 15 darks, 20 flats and 40 bias. (The flats and bias can be captured anytime though).

You’re right about the weather, that and light pollution are two critical factors. Narrowband imaging is starting to help with one, but the British weather will alway be the biggest challenge (hence me shifting to a more mobile setup at the moment, I can fit it all into a single holdall).


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[dave2010]

You’re right about the weather, that and light pollution are two critical factors. Narrowband imaging is starting to help with one, but the British weather will alway be the biggest challenge (hence me shifting to a more mobile setup at the moment, I can fit it all into a single holdall).
Do you move it about a lot?

My enthusiast friend suggested the following factors, which are not complementary.

Strong and stable mount. Acceptable ones are maybe 10 kgs, but better ones may be 15kgs or more. I suppose to get some shots having a mobile mount is helpful, but lugging heavy kit around might not be fun.

On top of the weight of the mount, there is also the extra kit.

Also, can we ask roughly what the cost of your rig is? Mon ami has relocated his to France for the time being, but unfortunately that is now effectively out of reach for the foreseeable future. I don’t want to spend £10-£20k on kit which won’t give any good results because of the British weather.

Some of us might do better to buy time on a remote telescope.

I’m not ruling out this kind of activity in the future, but the weather has been a very significant deterrent factor for me. However, in some parts of the UK - even in light polluted cities in the Midlands, it is surprising that it is possible to get really quite good results, with filters etc.

[mightymonoped]

It’s all about acceptable compromise really. Most people who do it quite seriously have both a permanent rig and a ‘grab and go’ rig.

I sold my permanent rig when I moved accommodation but will be looking to get another in the near future.

The key item in all of this is always the ‘mount’.
In a permanent setup, this would preferably be set on a pillar or effectively unmovable fixture.

For grab and go (such as mine) you are looking for something that will be easily movable but still have a good load weight once setup. Star Trackers such as the Skywatcher Star Adventurer (£269) and iOptron Skyguider Pro (£375) have dominated this market recently.

Good permanent mounts start roughly from about £800 - £20k+ This is were the sensible compromise needs to rear it’s head. Are you really going to get a return on £20k given UK weather and seeing. IMHO, I wouldn’t do it (unless I won the lottery).

Being in this position myself I would recommend what I consider to be the best and most helpful online Shops available to the UK astronomer, in no particular order...

Modern Astronomy
First Light Optics
Rother Valley Optics

They will all give sound advice, once they know the context and your requirements.

The standard recommendations (which coincide with my own preferences) would usually be:-

Good mount with wide scope for growth from beginner to more advanced.

Skywatcher HEQ5 - £789
Skywatcher EQ6-R - £1,229 (My choice)
IOptron CEM40 - £1,440

Scope - to big a choice to go into here but I would recommend a flavour of ED80 apochromatic refractor to cover the widest range from visual to photography.

I would say s good mid-range permanent rig would cost roughly -

Mount £1,200 approx
Scope £1,200 approx
Camera £1,500 approx (with filters)

Then, like hifi, you can throw as much money as you want at tweakery [emoji4]


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[mightymonoped]

Forgot to answer your first question....
Yes I do move it around. I have to be able to move this rig with one hand as I use crutches, so portability is the biggest factor in my grab and go setup.


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[mightymonoped]

Another one, this one is a crop I rescued from a huge mosaic that went disastrously wrong.
Liked the cloud details too much to chuck it away [emoji4]

The North America Nebula & The Pelican Nebula.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200920/8ef40b27981adf630342d4246928e62b.jpg


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[User211]

Pretty amazing Tony.

Can you get a good Saturn or Jupiter with that rig? Be really curious to see that.

[mightymonoped]

Pretty amazing Tony.

Can you get a good Saturn or Jupiter with that rig? Be really curious to see that.

Deep Sky and Planetary are completely different beasts really Justin.

The emphasis with Deep Sky is on accuracy of tracking and gathering lots of light. Optics with fast focal ratios (e.g f4 or f5) are ideal for this as they gather lots of light very quickly. The size of the optics just determines the field of view and the resolution.

My setup is great for wide field views of objects such as nebulas but doesn’t really have the resolution for smaller objects such as galaxies etc. To capture them well, I would need to use a bigger scope and therefore a heftier mount.

Planetary is a completely different emphasis. You generally need longer focal length to get the magnification/resolution. You are actually capturing many frames and selecting the ones which are best. You then stack the best together and pull out the details. Effectively, you capture a short film and weed out all the bad frames.

The bad frames are down to ‘bad seeing’, the effects of atmospheric distortion, clouds and the position of the object in the night sky. The lower the planet is, the more atmosphere it’s light has to pass through and therefore the greater the chance of distortion.

I haven’t done any planetary for years really. When I did, I only had an ED80 refractor to image with. It’s not bad, but not ideal. The preferred beast for planetary used to be a 9.25” Cassegrain variant.

I used to capture planetary with my ED80 on a basic alt-azimuth mount on a photographic tripod and using a modified £30 webcam [emoji4]

Here’s a couple of examples of what you can get with the old-school stuff, the new kit is much better I imagine.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200921/c9a3a3eecec06f63e978b000af4176e3.jpeg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200921/669cf4da6fab873cac8d60e56e8d2f5c.jpeg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200921/e00febe9ba62644d1c3d12a3b0ec8b2b.jpeg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200921/8f44d097fd24025b00c57941122c0c9c.png


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[User211]

I don't know much about optics but I know enough to have had an inkling that was the sort of answer I would get.

I always look at such images with the Fermi Paradox in mind. Where are those little alien critters FFS?

You have to wonder...

[mightymonoped]

Update to rig:-

Phase 1 - addition of William Optics Redcat 51

Reputedly one of the sharpest lenses in the world.
A four element Petzval apochromatic lens.

Phase 2 - will be the addition of a cooled, one shot colour (OSC) astronomy camera.

Phase 3 - will be the addition of a cooled mono astronomy camera.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20201007/fb118a7503c058a68c4106ae5090b7cc.plist
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20201007/1e48a35692965d0baada191557c63a7e.plist
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20201007/f2bc3df373063c2881d387e6af62b8c5.plist
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20201007/24d881f7692878a28d8e414ea4ed7bcc.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20201007/b4faa76fe0429b2d67f83b1dc65bbfed.plist
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20201007/0aebeb34b94cfd8ecbe8a03f8ef850e4.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20201007/4f65e08854b6e14b00cb6960e5ecdc87.jpg


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[struth]

that looks expensive:eyebrows:

[mightymonoped]

that looks expensive:eyebrows:

Astro imaging is not as expensive as hifi [emoji4]

The WO Redcat 51 is £699, which IS considered expensive compared to some of the smaller ED or apochromatic scopes bit it is already a completely flat field lens so doesn’t need additional reducers or flat field adaptors in order to use it with any camera.

The cameras are actually the expensive items. The ones I want start at around £900 [emoji33]


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[struth]

i see there is a Draconid meteor shower this week...

[mightymonoped]

i see there is a Draconid meteor shower this week...

Pretty limited field of view from my balcony unfortunately [emoji853]


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[Barry]

Interesting post Tony. I was aware of the Petzval lens used for portraiture, but I had to look up the difference between 'achromatic' and 'apochromatic' lenses.

As a photographer (strictly analogue) I was aware of the work of Voigtlander and of Steinheil and of the subsequent manufacturers bearing their names (and who's lenses I use, along with those by Zeiss), but didn't know the Petzval lens was used in astrophotograpy.

Since all of the objects are 'at infinity', you are not interested in depth of field - is this what you mean by "flat field", and why would you need an adapter?

[mightymonoped]

Interesting post Tony. I was aware of the Petzval lens used for portraiture, but I had to look up the difference between 'achromatic' and 'apochromatic' lenses.

As a photographer (strictly analogue) I was aware of the work of Voigtlander and of Steinheil and of the subsequent manufacturers bearing their names (and who's lenses I use, along with those by Zeiss), but didn't know the Petzval lens was used in astrophotograpy.

Since all of the objects are 'at infinity', you are not interested in depth of field - is this what you mean by "flat field", and why would you need an adapter?

Hi Barry!

There are two uses of ‘flat’ in Astroimaging really.

One relates to vignetting and distortion at the edges in the optical field that require correction via a field-flattener lens.

That’s what I’m referring to as far as the Redcat is concerned. It doesn’t need any correction to fill a full-field camera without vignetting or distortion.

The other use of ‘flat’ is when imaging. You calibrate the image by using darks, bias and flats.

The darks are subtracted to remove any hot pixels.
The bias is to remove any inherent faults in the CMOS/CCD chip used by the camera.
The flats is to produce an even illumination over the field, to remove any vignetting and also any ‘dust bunnies’.

Tony


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[Pigmy Pony]

Hi Tony, time is 6.50 am, and looking southwest(ish) there is the crescent moon, and to the right and up a bit, at about 45 degrees to the moon there is one really bright star - what is it? Mrs. P has been wondering for some time, as have I :)

[Haselsh1]

I bought a Samyang 14mm f2.8 lens back in 2017 to use for my coastal photography but sold it a few months back to concentrate on my Nikon 20mm. I also bought at that same time a Samyang 85mm f1.4. That lens is quite simply stunning.

[dave2010]

Hi Tony, time is 6.50 am, and looking southwest(ish) there is the crescent moon, and to the right and up a bit, at about 45 degrees to the moon there is one really bright star - what is it? Mrs. P has been wondering for some time, as have I :)I think you have got the directions wrong. You were probably looking in an easterly direction. You would have seen Venus about 45 degrees and up a bit as you say. There's a nice tool called Stellarium which you can download to see what the sky might have looked like at different times. If you'd been looking westerly you might have seeen Mars - which is what I thought you meant at first, but it was not in the same region of the sky as the moon.

http://stellarium.org/en_GB/

[mightymonoped]

I think you have got the directions wrong. You were probably looking in an easterly direction. You would have seen Venus about 45 degrees and up a bit as you say. There's a nice tool called Stellarium which you can download to see what the sky might have looked like at different times. If you'd been looking westerly you might have seeen Mars - which is what I thought you meant at first, but it was not in the same region of the sky as the moon.

http://stellarium.org/en_GB/

What Dave said....

Another great tool is Sky Safari. If you use it in your phone, you can point it at the night sky and it will show you what you are looking at ( using GPS/compass). It’s very good.


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[mightymonoped]

I bought a Samyang 14mm f2.8 lens back in 2017 to use for my coastal photography but sold it a few months back to concentrate on my Nikon 20mm. I also bought at that same time a Samyang 85mm f1.4. That lens is quite simply stunning.

They are producing some of the best value lenses in the world at the moment. The 135mm f2 is astounding, a definite keeper.


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[Haselsh1]

They are producing some of the best value lenses in the world at the moment. The 135mm f2 is astounding, a definite keeper.


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The only thing that stopped me using the 14mm was the amazing lack of sharpness around the edges and in the corners. The images required so much cropping that I was better off using my 20mm but that 85mm f1.4 is one of the sharpest optics I have ever owned. In fact the only thing I have owned that was as sharp was a Zenzanon 75mm f2.8 E lens. Bloody lovely lenses, both of them.

[mightymonoped]

The only thing that stopped me using the 14mm was the amazing lack of sharpness around the edges and in the corners. The images required so much cropping that I was better off using my 20mm but that 85mm f1.4 is one of the sharpest optics I have ever owned. In fact the only thing I have owned that was as sharp was a Zenzanon 75mm f2.8 E lens. Bloody lovely lenses, both of them.

I haven’t used the 14mm much really, only a few test shots of Milky Way. I’d stoped it down quite a bit though.

It’s very popular with people who like to do Milky Way landscape shots.

Surprised to hear about your issues with it really. Maybe a dodgy one? If it was an early model (2014) it may not have been subject to the same QA standards? This is sometimes the case with volume Asian optics until they start to prove popular.


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[Haselsh1]

Tony, I have noticed that the 14mm lens I owned is no longer listed. It was an ED UMC model with stunning looking glass but that resolution at the edge of the frame was shocking. It was manual focus but had connections to the camera for all of the functions. Even used at f11 the corner sharpness was dreadful. I'm sure the new models must be good given the massive hike in price.

It was this one:

https://www.parkcameras.com/shop/samyang-14mm-f28-ed-as-if-umc-ultra-wide-angle-lens-canon-ef_9245140c?of_tid=MFRWG5B5GM3TMJTGMVSWISLEHUYSM4D SN5SESZB5GE3TOOI&adGroupId=97999866184&device=c&gclid=CjwKCAjw5p_8BRBUEiwAPpJO6xxru1VsFNtrs5ailWSr OG9tDo_RT-SGX8JF_ynjOgjyucjHV7EJ0BoC_-0QAvD_BwE

[Pigmy Pony]

What Dave said....

Another great tool is Sky Safari. If you use it in your phone, you can point it at the night sky and it will show you what you are looking at ( using GPS/compass). It’s very good.


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Yes, thinking about it, I think I got the direction wrong. More like southeast. Cheers guys for the suggestions. That Sky Safari sounds handy.

[mightymonoped]

Things have moved on a bit in the last few months. I wasn’t prepared to lose another imaging season (Winter) so treated myself to a new mount for my 60th. It’s an updated version of the one I sold when I moved to the flat, not realising I could actually get some half-decent images.

Now I can get the trusty old 80ED scope out of mothballs and go in a bit deeper.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220131/0ea93364b5707087d933e940c5093357.jpg

All of this now means that I can pretty much control everything from the sofa using my phone, once the covers are off.

Here’s a few examples of recent captures..

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220131/ea238cf7247ac72996ee32c32fc19786.jpg

M31 The Andromeda Galaxy

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220131/53d5508a4948ba4a48bf76bd6e279908.jpg

The Rosette Nebula

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220131/6cce936c18c6a8b0ef1c0ae63cb6dc21.jpg

M42 The Orion Nebula

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220131/fc65ae14cb3b4d4694011e3a7df9d3f8.jpg

The Horsehead & Flame Nebulae in Orion

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220131/4152d2ae32a78d2f65e2af4646542b9c.jpg

M45 The Pleiades or Seven Sisters


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[Gazjam]

:eek:

Kudos Tony.
Appreciate the final result, admired images like these since I was a Kid, but never thought about what goes in to making it.

Outstanding.
Wow.

[Barry]

Absolutely stunning images Tony. Do you print them off and frame them? They are certainly good enough.

And to think the original photograph of the Horsehead nebula taken at Mount Palomar required an exposure of 7 hours.

[mightymonoped]

Thanks guys! [emoji4]

I have printed quite a few things as gifts for friends and family. Happy to say, they’ve gone down really well.

I did a 2022 Calendar of images captured in lockdown, themed as “Locked in Space” (groan)

My favourite print medium is Acrylic Prints, they bring out the colour and depth really well.

The actual capture time of my images is generally somewhere between 1.5 - 4 hours.


https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220201/cb7672f69da9bc48e96f0dbee1b80966.jpg


https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220201/c994f0312263a0e6f6e452cfcf5bd709.jpg


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[guy]

Brilliant images, and cool title :thumbsup:

[mightymonoped]

Brilliant images, and cool title :thumbsup:

Thanks Guy! (I quite like the title tbh [emoji4])


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[mightymonoped]

Absolutely stunning images Tony. Do you print them off and frame them? They are certainly good enough.

And to think the original photograph of the Horsehead nebula taken at Mount Palomar required an exposure of 7 hours.

Here’s an example of my recent M42 Orion Nebula printed onto the back of an Acrylic block.

It’s not ‘gallery’ standard (that would be be a photographic print sandwiched in Acrylic) but it’s pretty good for the money. RRP is around £94 but can be had for around £64.

Tony

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220413/24a8bfe3776361b14d9edcbfcfa0b884.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220413/5a503118916cad843b660ca1e824c672.jpg


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[struth]

pretty smart for size. looks great

[Pepperamip]

Those Samyang lenses also go under the name of Rokinon so worth keeping an eye on both in the clasifieds.

You had a go at the milkyway core yet? Need a decent foreground for that I think but some of those you see online are amazing.

Don't even need need hours of data either it seems. Half hour to an hour of say 2min exposures seems to give excellent results. Obv a nice wide angled lense seems best.

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[mightymonoped]

Those Samyang lenses also go under the name of Rokinon so worth keeping an eye on both in the clasifieds.

You had a go at the milkyway core yet? Need a decent foreground for that I think but some of those you see online are amazing.

Don't even need need hours of data either it seems. Half hour to an hour of say 2min exposures seems to give excellent results. Obv a nice wide angled lense seems best.

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I’m planning on having a go in late May, with the portable setup on a trip to Somerset.

The Milky Way shots are generally done as a composite of a foreground and milky way capture, as the foreground blurs due to the tracking over time.

If I get any clear skies, I’ll definitely be having a go. Will probably try to get a widefield mosaic using the 14mm with both RGB and Hydrogen Alpha/Oxygen III filter composite.

It’s Galaxy Season now though, and I’m itching for a bigger to scope for capturing those puppies. [emoji4][emoji13]


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[struth]

yeah capturing big puppies is great fun:eyebrows::D

[mightymonoped]

yeah capturing big puppies is great fun:eyebrows::D

There’s always one, isn’t there! [emoji13]


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[struth]

There’s always one, isn’t there! [emoji13]


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:o


;)

[mightymonoped]

This setup is not ideal for galaxies but this old Skywatcher 80ED punches well above it’s weight.

Bought this just before the real mass production started, the quality assurance did a good job, I still use this scope twenty years later.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220423/998d420018773018f5f869b517b5f9fb.jpg

M101 - The Pinwheel Galaxy

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220423/038ecbdbb96e02f3a29d6b7bd7974762.jpg

M27 - The Dumbbell Nebula

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220423/e43c7b95f3fbcb1289656d3b8de7e39d.jpg

The Sunflower Galaxy

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220423/0e1104c805a7e439326327a64b46cd1c.jpg

The Sombrero Galaxy

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220423/e9ef217f857153f0774847f5ea58d1ee.jpg

M13 - The Great Globular Cluster in Hercules

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220423/09c48c817fe92c8e9b331cb12e39c232.jpg

The Needle Galaxy

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220423/939ccec9252487b6fbb3b729e1524550.jpg

Thor’s Helmet Nebula

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220423/692553e08a682ac131373b4a25ddbf25.jpg

M51 - The Whirlpool Galaxy

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[mightymonoped]

I forgot a few of my faves…

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220423/59283778af961a79113c531fed2f4f96.jpg

The Crescent Nebula

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220423/f8862d99a5ed5ec652e53d16ac727b85.jpg

The Leo Triplet (or the Hamburger and Two Spirals) [emoji4]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220423/ab4c99bc04efee7edbe4c78251b4d34d.jpg

Markarian’s Chain (part of the Virgo Cluster)

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[guy]

This setup is not ideal for galaxies but this old Skywatcher 80ED punches well above it’s weight.

Bought this just before the real mass production started, the quality assurance did a good job, I still use this scope twenty years later.



https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220423/038ecbdbb96e02f3a29d6b7bd7974762.jpg



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Intrigued - what is it?

[Lawrence001]

Intrigued - what is it?I think it's a highly intelligent nebulous creature from the original Star Trek.

[guy]

I think it's a highly intelligent nebulous creature from the original Star Trek.

Evil intent or benign?

[mightymonoped]

Intrigued - what is it?

That’s M27 - The Dumbbell Nebula in the constellation Vulpecula.

It’s classed as a planetary nebula because of it’s shape.


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[mightymonoped]

Evil intent or benign?

Entirely apathetic! [emoji13]


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[mightymonoped]

I’ve labelled them all up! [emoji4]


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[Barry]

Fantastic images Tony! :eek:

How long does a typical exposure take?

[mightymonoped]

Fantastic images Tony! :eek:

How long does a typical exposure take?

As long as you want really Barry. The camera I’m using is cooled to -10 from ambient temperature.

This helps with noise reduction. The biggest factors are really noise and signal to noise ratio.

The more data you capture, the better the signal to noise and the therefore, the cleaner the image.

The camera I’m using is a CMOS chip, which unlike CCD chips benefits from lots of shorter exposures (120 or 180 seconds) rather than a few long exposures (300 seconds or more).

Typically, I’ll try to capture at least 2 hours worth on any target (60 x 120s) but for a good image, I’ll usually try to capture at least 3 or 4 hours in multiple sessions.

It’s a game of two halves, capture and integration. The trick is getting competent at both of these very different skills.




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[struth]

take it its the sensor thats cooled?

[mightymonoped]

take it its the sensor thats cooled?

Yes Grant, the camera uses a Peltier cooling system for the chip.


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[Pepperamip]

It's the processing part afterwards that has put me off so far. Do you use deep sky stacker or another software package?

I see some 'fiddle' with the image before stacking and others saying the manipulation should only be done afterwards. I get the how and why you stack it's just the know how to get to the final image that seems the difficult part?!

How long do you spend on the PC after collecting all the images you want?

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[mightymonoped]

It's definitely a game of two halves Paul. The processing is just as big a source of frustration and learning as the capture.

I have used Deep Sky Stacker before but my preference is Astro Pixel Processor, which IMHO give much better control over the process and better results, albeit with a quite intimidating user interface. Having said that, it is set up so that it's defaults give good results and there are plenty of video tutorials available.

After stacking or integration, the processing side is generally split into two camps, Pixinsight and Photoshop, although some imagers use both to some extent. Pixinsight is designed by and for astroimagers but has a steep learning curve, Photoshop, some would argue, has more a more comprehensive toolset and flexibility. It's entirely subjective in my view, use the tools you are most comfortable with. I'm under no delusion that what I am doing is scientific, I'm (hopefully) making pretty pictures and will use whatever assists in that endeavour. :-)

Generally it will take me between 1/2 to 1 full day to process an image, depending on the complexity (single image or combined integration).

There are a lot of similarities with Hifi, I've found. Objectivists and Subjectivists, the constant need to purchase more kit, the constant disatisfaction with the end result. :doh:

Tony

[Barry]

Have you ever thought of selling some of your astrophotographs as prints? I'm sure there would be some who would love to have them up on the walls.

[mightymonoped]

Have you ever thought of selling some of your astrophotographs as prints? I'm sure there would be some who would love to have them up on the walls.

I’d given it some superficial thought Barry but wasn’t really sure how much of a pain it would be right now. Certainly happy to provide the odd prints (preferably acrylic as they’re the best value I think) at a nominal admin cost if anyone is interested?

Tony


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[mightymonoped]

Latest images…

This is The Wall (to be said in a Danny Dyer voice) in Cygnus, processed in the SHO (Hubble palette).

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220428/c6d75a03dc2a36b6c52170ef0c1d2690.jpg


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[struth]

looks like a cloud lol.. great image tho

[Pepperamip]

Excellent pic. How much data collected for that one?

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[mightymonoped]

Cheers!

This is actually a composite of a two hour 'narrowband' image capturing Hydorgen Alpha and Oxygen III, together with the stars extracted from a normal 1 hour RGB capture.

I still haven't sorted it properly yet, as I went 'snowblind' processing it last night :-)

Tony

[struth]

you ever got a picture of the iss yet tony?

[Lawrence001]

Can you set the motor to follow it?

[mightymonoped]

It’s pretty fast moving so you need to set up especially if you want a decent shot.

My setup is a bit too widefield in current configuration.

In principle, I could probably have a go but it’s a lot of effort for something that isnt really on my target list at the mo’. [emoji4]


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[mightymonoped]

Have been concentrating on the newly appearing targets in Cygnus.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220514/4f562f184144b8020eaa841efd2c5c27.png

Veil Nebula

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220514/4f8175066877eb03aab0ae68248962ee.jpg

The Dumbbell Nebula

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220514/0286061f53d8bbc9f5b7b1decaa929dc.jpg

The Butterfly

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220514/84698732d12c44046454d93ad91e7d2a.png

The Crescent Nebula


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[struth]

impressive..:)

[dave2010]

Some great images here. Well done. One of my friends does things like this, though for some reason he's taken a branch line into spectrometry/spectroscopy.

I had thought of getting kit myself, but mosly the weather in the UK is not favourable, though my friend had some good images taken from within Sheffield boundaries - with filters, stacking etc. Now I hear that the kit has been relocated to France, and he may be able to access it via t'Internet! Last time I heard he'd more or less given up going out into the cold, but rather controlled the telescopes, sensors etc. from the much warmer indoors.

[mightymonoped]

Thanks!

The biggest issue in the UK is definitely the weather. You have to be setup and ready to go at a minute’s notice.

My setup is limited in it’s view hut I can be up and imaging from the comfort of my sofa pretty much from the time it takes to to switch on the power and take the cover off the scope.

The cover I use is a Telegizmo 365, proven in extreme climates worldwide.


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[mightymonoped]

As I’m completely happy with my system these days, I’m left with no option but to post here! [emoji1787]

Here’s a couple of recent captures.

To be honest, I do feel my processing has matured a bit over the last year. I’m now starting to explore techniques like combining broadband (RGB) stars with Narrowband nebula images, using separate Star Layers (stripped out with a neural-network type program called starnet++)

Haven’t gone over to the dark side (Pixinsight) yet, I still prefer to use ‘arty-farty’ Photoshop.

Here’s an example of a two-session image (Narrowband for the nebula, RGB for the stars).
This technique gives a ‘best of both worlds’, combined rich nebula colours with natural star colours.

The Elephant Trunk Nebula.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220612/c217cc3108b3e0f310bd18db47e4e898.png


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[struth]

its like a woman appearing from a smokescreen, and a few evil guys running to right:eek: i know, i must get out more :doh:

very good anyway, i love it.

[mightymonoped]

its like a woman appearing from a smokescreen, and a few evil guys running to right:eek: i know, i must get out more :doh:

very good anyway, i love it.

Ha ha! Seek help Grant! [emoji1787]
Cheers! T


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