3941 replies to this topic

[rimcrazy]

Busy with my Seestar last night.  I'm up in Overgaard Az where my skies are Bortle 1-2.  Got some nice images last night.

 

Let's start out with the big kahuna, M31.  I will post the raw finished unedited Seestar photo and then my reprocessed image.

 

M31 from my Seestar

M31 reprocessed

 

M33 from my Seestar

M33 reprocessed

 

IC434 (Horsehead Nebula) from my Seestar

IC434 reprocessed.  I actually re-stacked the entire series using PI on this one.

 

IC417 from my Seestar

IC417 reprocessed

 

[Blueox4]

Had my Seestar out taking solar pics today. Must have caught a plane in one of the images. Here’s two pics seconds apart. 

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[Astro Sky]

Went to camping by the lake first time. 

Eagle nebula

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[Astro Sky]

#2

Bubble nebula

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[Astro Sky]

#3

M13 Hercules Cluster

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[Astro Sky]

#4

M17 Swan nebula

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[KenF9000]

2nd ever shot with the S50, only managed 40 mins before clouds shut me down.

M101, post processing in Siril.

[jprideaux]

46 minutes with the SeeStar on M33 (Triangulum galaxy) from a bortle 3.5 location just before the moon came up.

 

For each, click for a larger version.

 

First up is the unedited JPG right from the SeeStar as saved to my iPhone photo directory.

 

 

Then that same JPG edited in Affinity Photo. 

All I used was the Tone-mapping Persona interface to tweak some things.  

No other plugins used.

 

[Psion]

Yesterday morning RAW video 30 seconds and processed in asiSTUDIO.

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[rimcrazy]

Nice night again in Overgaard.  Finding I really get MUCH better results when I re-stack and process the subs myself.  A few FYI's here.  There is a new release of the app that also updates your firmware.  One feature of the new firmware you will see when you mount your Seestar on your PC, they now have a folder that contains the master dark .fit file they are using so you now do have a dark you can use.  I assume this dark changes every time you image as it is probably made when the Seestar initially goes off and says it is refining your image.  Another thing I have found and I will demonstrate below is I see lots of longer exposed images other users are posting, more on FB than here, that have a wide, large diagonal bright band going across the final image.  I have see these in a few of my longer exposed images and one I am posting in this post.  This is NOT stray light.  This is caused by the fact that the Seestar does NOT derotate the images.  I thought that it actually did but obviously it does not.   I have posted a screenshot from PI when I post processed some other images.  This is a screenshot of the low rejection images PI makes when it stacks things.  You can see the crazy alignment some of the subs have.  If you restack your own images, you should not have any of these bands.  In the future I will not image anything over 15' real Seestar time.  The rotation becomes too much of an issue past that.  15' might even be too long but I will see.  If I want a long exposure then I will just do multiple 15' sessions.

 

Here is SH2-162 the bubble nebula

 

 

Here is NGC7380 the Wizard Nebula.  Posted after this is the Seestar version.  If you open the picture up you should see one of those bright bands going diagonally across this image.  On my reprocessed image I had to crop about 1/4 to 1/3 of the image off the top because the misalignment made the top of the picture quite bad.  But....crop is a wonderful tool!

 

My reprocessed image

 

The Seestar processed image

 

The PI Screenshot showing the gross misalignment of some subs.

 

A nice shot of the open cluster M52

 

 

 

 

Edited by rimcrazy, 05 November 2023 - 06:28 PM.

[eyeoftexas]

Short stack of NGC 457. Black point and sharpness adjusted in iPad Photos and downsized to upload. Lots of fun under B2 skies last night. The S50 is great for clusters. 
 

 

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[Jethro7]

Hello Cners,

Tried out the Seestar on M45, not too bad but I learned that the Seestar does not like imaging near the Zenith.

 

HAPPY SKIES AND KEEP LOOKING UP Jethro

Before and after post processing.

 

[Psion]

This morning, the sky was cloudless for a while, so I tried a 16-minute shot of Horse Head and was pleasantly surprised at how the scope handled the exposure and the relatively large field rotation.

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[Jethro7]

Hello Cners,

Another cool night. I set up my scope and the seestar and let it do its thing and did my thing. 

 

HAPPY SKIES AND KEEP LOOKING UP Jethro

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Jethro7, 06 November 2023 - 08:08 AM.

[Psion]

Today, morning at sunrise, 6 minutes.

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[JAB37]

I'm expecting my Seestar to arrive in late November from High Point.  Weather will be bad here for several months in the PNW but I may find a few clear nights especially out in the eastern deserts.

 

Some of these images are pretty impressive in terms of the framing/size of the DSOs generated.  I currently use a RedCat 51 with an ASI183MC pro and can barely get any decent galaxy images beyond big ones like Andromeda.  Even my planetary nebula images show up as a tiny colored objects that needs a healthy amount cropping to become interesting enough to view in the wide field.

 

The Seestar is a 250mm FL scope like the RedCat.  Is the Seestar's image sensor size that much smaller than the ASI183?  Or are some of these galaxy and planetary nebula images cropped or zoomed in?

 

Does the Seestar let you rotate the sensor to frame the target to one's liking?  Or is it fixed in that regard?

 

Thanks!

[jprideaux]

I'm expecting my Seestar to arrive in late November from High Point.  Weather will be bad here for several months in the PNW but I may find a few clear nights especially out in the eastern deserts.

 

Some of these images are pretty impressive in terms of the framing/size of the DSOs generated.  I currently use a RedCat 51 with an ASI183MC pro and can barely get any decent galaxy images beyond big ones like Andromeda.  Even my planetary nebula images show up as a tiny colored objects that needs a healthy amount cropping to become interesting enough to view in the wide field.

 

The Seestar is a 250mm FL scope like the RedCat.  Is the Seestar's image sensor size that much smaller than the ASI183?  Or are some of these galaxy and planetary nebula images cropped or zoomed in?

 

Does the Seestar let you rotate the sensor to frame the target to one's liking?  Or is it fixed in that regard?

 

Thanks!

 

The SeeStar uses the IMX462 OSC sensor with dimensions  5.6 x 3.2mm (6.46mm diagonal) and pixel size is 2.9µm.  it is smaller than the IMX183MM  which has a diagonal of 15.86mm and a pixel size of 2.4µm. 

 

Comparing the SeeStar and the Redcat each with the sensors you mentioned:

 

 

The Seestar does not have the ability to rotate the sensor to frame the object.

[Psion]

It was stacked and processed in Siril and PixInsight, 6 minutes exposure. Now, you can compare it with the Seestar output in my top post.

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[JAB37]

The SeeStar uses the IMX462 OSC sensor with dimensions  5.6 x 3.2mm (6.46mm diagonal) and pixel size is 2.9µm.  it is smaller than the IMX183MM  which has a diagonal of 15.86mm and a pixel size of 2.4µm. 

 

Comparing the SeeStar and the Redcat each with the sensors you mentioned:

 

astronomy_tools_fov (1).png

 

The Seestar does not have the ability to rotate the sensor to frame the object.

Thanks for that quick summary and visual comparing the two sensors!

[John Rogers]

Here is M27 30 minute out of the box exposure.  The SeeStar-stacked FITS file processed in Pixinsight (BlurXT, NoiseXT), Photoshop 2024 (Crop and stretching) and Topaz (upscaling).

 

It may be overprocessed but shows the potential of this instrument.

 

[Psion]

The details seem almost unbelievable for such a small lens. You can't see that detail in a 250-300mm Newtonian. Isn't that interspersed with a bit of Hubble photography?

[John Rogers]

The details seem almost unbelievable for such a small lens. You can't see that detail in a 250-300mm Newtonian. Isn't that interspersed with a bit of Hubble photography?

I don't know what is "under the hood" of BlurXT, but it is AI technology.  If it is taking other photographs and integrating the results within the process, I would be very reluctant to use it in the future.

[psandelle]

I don't know what is "under the hood" of BlurXT, but it is AI technology.  If it is taking other photographs and integrating the results within the process, I would be very reluctant to use it in the future.

That's not how it works, so you don't have to worry about using it.

 

Paul

[Psion]

I tried an interesting thing today. While shooting IC434, It happened to start shading the Orion awning on the terrace. I stopped shooting after 18 minutes. I took the Seestar and moved it about 30 cm to another place. I started searching for the subject and started shooting again. Seestar offered to Continue, and the shooting continued, I didn't know this option. Moreover, when you look at the original output without editing, you can't see the rotation of the field. The new software version handled this perfectly, I applaud the authors at ZWO.

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[Tony Bonanno]

My first attempt at the Horsehead with the Seestar S50.  31 minutes, Bortle 4 clear sky, Screenshot (JPEG) with some post in Lightroom and Photoshop.  LP/Duoband filter activated.  I was happy with the results.

 

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