19 replies to this topic

[galacticinsomnia]

Heat and smoke...  Doesn't make for good imaging weather, but managed to get a few hours in..


Sharpstar EDPHII 61ED Triplet with Orion Flattener for Small Refractors +8mm Spacer (a total of 81mm measured back focus).
58@2min iso800 Canon M6ii-FullSpectrum Modified, Moon and Skyglow for Star Color, UV/IR Block Filter up front, NO Calibration Frames, Dithered Every 4th
Svbony 305pro guidecam and Svbony 106, 60mm guidescope.
Platesolved, PHD2 multistar, APT, Stellarium on iOptron CEM25p Mount.
Run remotely on a $120 mini PC running windows10.
Stacked and Lightly Processed in Siril and PS.

Andromeda M31

 

 

Clear Skies !!

[DaveD]

Nice image!

 

Is it M31 time already? Where did summer go?

[robbieg147]

Very nice, you are the exact opposite to me, I don't usually dither but always take calibration frames.

[galacticinsomnia]

Very nice, you are the exact opposite to me, I don't usually dither but always take calibration frames.

Thank you..  !
I really love dithering !!  I go as much as every 5th frame, which seems to give me what I need as far as a balance.
Calibration frames, well, I still take them if I need them, I'm just not at the point where I want to be more concerned with tempetures, and processes of calibration frames, when most of what we do with them, can be replaced, but not in all situations for sure.

Really wish more software was straight forward and would not even ask for calibration frames because its kind of an old school approach for very specific outcomes  that really should be done via software methodology, not to over simplify or understate the good calibration frames can do, just would like to see better methods for removing noise, and removing gradients, without negatively effecting the cost of ownership for almost any camera.  More frames taken to calibrate, means less camera life to take light frames.

Anyway that is my drive for no calibration frames, but am continually impressed by many images people produce while utilizing them.

Thanks for the comments..

Clear Skies !!

 

[vidrazor]

Nice. Two hours is when things start looking good with M31 I think. Three hours will probably get everything one needs for this target.

[asanmax]

Well, you nailed your framing again! Looks great! What's your Bortle class?

[Hypoxic]

Nice image!

 

Is it M31 time already? Where did summer go?

Never saw summer here. It's been October for the past few months.

[galacticinsomnia]

Well, you nailed your framing again! Looks great! What's your Bortle class?

Bortle 6 or 7 depending.  Honestly, I'm surprised I can capture anything here the glow is horrible..  More and more neighbors have been turning their outside lights off.  Can't complain though, I know a lot of folks do amazing work in worse skies than me, just have to figure out a way, like narrowband, to get past it.

At F2.8 Was keeping exposures as quick as I could.

Thank you so much..

Clear Skies !!

 

[vidrazor]

Bortle 6 or 7 depending.  Honestly, I'm surprised I can capture anything here the glow is horrible..  More and more neighbors have been turning their outside lights off.  Can't complain though, I know a lot of folks do amazing work in worse skies than me, just have to figure out a way, like narrowband, to get past it.

Some guy shot this from Manhattan(!). Dude shot 15 hour's worth. Unmodded, I believe.

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Edited by vidrazor, 18 August 2021 - 10:36 PM.

[galacticinsomnia]

Yeah, that looks great.. ! 

I had a bunch that didn't look nearly as good do to my processing, but the subs were good..  Had a Drive and Backup failure not too long ago, sad and catestrophic, but moving forward shooting them all again and just eating the data loss, but tastes worse than brocholi.

Clear Skies !!

[senya123]

In my opinion - tiny galaxies are easy to image. Since their brightness is spread across very few pixels - their suface brightness is high. They are a bit easy to image from Light Polluted skies. 

Also, we need good background extraction program - to image from light polluted skies (like Siril - it's a must).

 

I could not get a decent image of Andromeda galaxy from Bortle 5 skies -  I got decent images from M51 with just 1 hour of integration.

[galacticinsomnia]

I decided to combine all my frames and make an updated image.  I like them both, but I did process them differently in PS.. So with that...

 

 

Sharpstar EDPHII 61ED Triplet with Orion Flattener for Small Refractors +8mm Spacer (a total of 81mm measured back focus).
112@2min iso800 Canon M6ii-FullSpectrum Modified, Moon and Skyglow for Star Color, UV/IR Block Filter up front, NO Calibration Frames, Dithered Every 4th

220@2min iso1600 Canon M6ii-FullSpectrum Modified, Lenhance, NO Calibration Frames, Dithered Every 4th
Svbony 305pro guidecam and Svbony 106, 60mm guidescope.
Platesolved, PHD2 multistar, APT, Stellarium on iOptron CEM25p Mount.
Run remotely on a $120 mini PC running windows10.
Stacked and Lightly Processed in Siril and PS.

 

 

Clear Skies !!

[vidrazor]

I mostly liked your first render more, although there were aspects of the second one that were nice too. I took your renders here and dropped the second one over the first one and blended the luminosity in at 50%, stretched it out some more, and added a little color in. I kept the blacks in the densities you prefer. Granted, I only had the highly compressed data here to work with. What do you think?

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Edited by vidrazor, 26 September 2021 - 10:47 PM.

[galacticinsomnia]

I don't think my images come out twice the same way.. lol 
Even though I follow some of the steps some things change.  Like baking a home made pizza, no matter how many times you do it, each one is similiar if you make it the same but with all the variations that occur they are never quite the same...

With all that, I dig on what you did.  I'm sure I will keep adding to the data so I can continue to choose only the best subs..

Thanks for the run though..

I like it. 

Clear Skies !!

[vidrazor]

I don't think my images come out twice the same way.. lol 
Even though I follow some of the steps some things change.  Like baking a home made pizza, no matter how many times you do it, each one is similiar if you make it the same but with all the variations that occur they are never quite the same...
With all that, I dig on what you did.  I'm sure I will keep adding to the data so I can continue to choose only the best subs..
Thanks for the run though..
I like it. 
Clear Skies !!

I don't think anyone's run-thru will ever come out the same way twice, unless they're following some formula or macros which, unless you're doing some kind of scientific research at an observatory or NASA, would be pretty boring.

 

I've been desperately/comically testing my CEM26 in Bortle 9 on the Cygnus Loop and keep getting cut off by clouds and moon to compound things, but I did notice that running full frame I could use a 1 or 2 mm extension on my back focus, do you know where to find 48mm (and 42mm) thin rings like that?

 

I may be wrong, but I think more than 3-4 hours worth of M31 is going to reach a point of diminishing returns, unless you're in Bortle 9 LOL.

Edited by vidrazor, 26 September 2021 - 11:44 PM.

[galacticinsomnia]

For one MM or 2MM you could just cut circles of plastic and use like Shims or Washers..

I usually cut with my laser or a compass with an exacto blade.

The outer dimension of 54, and the inner dimension of 48.5.

If you need to get extension tube rings, I just get them from amazon or whatever is cheapest. 
Depending on your T-ring, if it is 42 or 48, I would make everything you have a standard of 48. 

I'm sure I have enough data on Andromeda, but sometimes, I just slew to one location and shoot while waiting for another target.  This has helped me a lot.
There is dimished returns over exposure time, but, the law of averages, the more data that is collected, or the better I get at collecting it, then limiting to the best subs can be improved.. While my processing isn't really the greatest, the data was definitely better, so its kind of what I am trying to do. 

What is going on with your CEM26 ?  What seems to be the issue ?  beside crappy skies

Clear Skies !!

 

[vidrazor]

If you need to get extension tube rings, I just get them from amazon or whatever is cheapest. 
Depending on your T-ring, if it is 42 or 48, I would make everything you have a standard of 48. 

I'm sure I have enough data on Andromeda, but sometimes, I just slew to one location and shoot while waiting for another target.  This has helped me a lot.
There is dimished returns over exposure time, but, the law of averages, the more data that is collected, or the better I get at collecting it, then limiting to the best subs can be improved.. While my processing isn't really the greatest, the data was definitely better, so its kind of what I am trying to do. 

What is going on with your CEM26 ?  What seems to be the issue ?  beside crappy skies

Clear Skies !!

Well I would need to find an 11 or 12 mm extension tube, right now there's a 10 mm extension tube that came with the AstroTech field flattener. It's perfect for APS-C and smaller sensors, but I'm seeing a little curvature on my full frame body, as you can see below. The right side was cropped, so it's not as pronounced in this comp. Overall I'm not too worried about this, the Loop fits centrally in the live area of my full frame sensor and and AT60ED, so these edges will be lopped off anyway. For other targets I would like a more accurate back focus distance.

 

As for the CEM26, the chart below is what I'm dealing with. I think there was too much vehicular traffic where I tested this, as I was just pushing shooting conditions to the max. I think that's what may be going on here. I'll wait and see when I get to a more secluded spot to see what kind of numbers I wind up with.
 

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[galacticinsomnia]

Before making changes to your mount, definitely go through some diagnostic trial and error stuff.  Make sure your mount is level ! 
Fix any wobble in your guide scope and cam.  Make sure the focus is set and stable.

Your field curvature is present but doesn't seem too bad. 

Clear Skies !!

[vidrazor]

Before making changes to your mount, definitely go through some diagnostic trial and error stuff.  Make sure your mount is level ! 
Fix any wobble in your guide scope and cam.  Make sure the focus is set and stable.
Your field curvature is present but doesn't seem too bad. 
Clear Skies !!

Yeah everything is solid. Level, properly mounted, and focused. I'll see how things are after I set up in in a better location.

 

Yeah I'm not worrying too much about the curvature for the moment, but it's something I'd like to to address if I should shoot more with my full frame sensor camera.
 

Edited by vidrazor, 28 September 2021 - 05:58 PM.

[vidrazor]

BTW, if you're feeling real ASCOM savvy, have a look at this thread I posted over in mounts.   Not really detrimental to my ASCOM setup, but certainly a nuisance!