60 replies to this topic

[Farmer24]

Askar FRA400

AM5

ASI533MC

L-Extreme

 

300s x 60

 

I had some issues trying to get natural stars, alignment was off so I had to try to get rid of the green cast of the stars from the L-Extreme in PI. 

 

 

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[huggies]

Think I've posted this elsewhere here. My effort taken in November from B4 skies, elevation 4k+ ft.  I'll add more to this when I can get back to a dark site. Just under 4.75hrs, mix of 120/180 sec subs. No filter, gain 0. 

WO FLT91 

Asi2400mc

Processed via APP

 

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Edited by huggies, 14 February 2024 - 07:40 PM.

[hmrphoto]

My attempt at the Horsehead.  Not as much time as I would like, but I can only image east of the meridian...

 

 

Imaging Telescopes Or Lenses
     Celestron EdgeHD 9.25"
Imaging Cameras
     ZWO ASI2400MC Pro
Mounts
     Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro
Filters
     Optolong L-Ultimate 2"
Accessories
     ZWO ASIAIR Pro  · ZWO OAG M68
Software

     Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight · Phase One Capture One Pro

 

Dates:
Feb. 3 - 5, 2024
Frames:
Optolong L-Ultimate 2": 33×180″(1h 39′)
Integration:
1h 39′
Avg. Moon age:
23.63 days
Avg. Moon phase:

34.71%

 

PixInsight

Calibration, CC, LN

Integration MS
GraXpert
BXT
BN
Color Calibration
MLT

 

CaptureOne

Saturation noise reduction 

Edited by hmrphoto, 14 February 2024 - 09:03 PM.

[Yaz]

My first contribution to this board, I'm quite happy with it :
 

 

 

Acquisition from my balcony (Bortle 6) in December for Ha (taken from another project), and February for RGB
 
Star adventurer GTI
ASI 183MC pro
WO redcat 51
 
RGB : 220x80s
Ha : 93x180s
 
stacked in Siril, processed in PI then affinity photo

Edited by Yaz, 16 February 2024 - 04:35 PM.

[Ginnungagap42]

I ended up shooting both LRGB and narrowband. 

 

For LRGB:

• 408 x 120s Luminance
• 57 x 120s Red
• 54 x 120s Green
• 54 x 120s Blue

 

For SHO:

• 70 x 300s Hydrogen alpha
• 68 x 300s Sulfur II
• Oiii was synthesized by using the green and blue above

 

For both:

• StellaMira 90ED refractor
• ASI1600MM Pro
• Optolong filters (L,R,G,B,Ha,Sii,Oiii)
• iOptron CEM40
• ZWO Off axis guider & EFW
• Pegasus Astro FocusCube & Pocket Powerbox
• NINA, PHD2, & PixInsight software

The LRGB processing was straightforward. I ended up using the NBColourMapper script in PixInsight to get the basic color balance for the SHO. I also used a mask for Sii created in ACDRN's Lightness Mask and lots of CurvesTransformation abuse to pull out some color for the Sii.   

 

 

LRGB:

Astrobin link

 

 

Narrowband:

Astrobin link

 

 

[rkelley61]

Images
Scale = 2.00724

Bin = 1x1

129 Ha@180s
141 OIII@180s
160 SII@180s

Total 21.50 hours

Equipment

Scope: WO GT81 with 6AIII .8 reducer FL 382
Imaging Camera: QHY268
Filters: Chroma Ha, OIII, SII
Mount: home build

Processing

Pixinsight

Workflow

Linear Phase
Drizzle integration
DC
Combine Masters SHO
BX Correct Only
Channel Extract to Masters
BX
DBE
(re)Combine Masters SHO

 

Non-Linear Phase
GHS (multiple stretches to approximate final brightness)
SX
CT (masked fix of reflection around Alnilam)

SCNR
GHS (stretching limited areas in individual RGB channels)
CT (saturation)

Recombine stars

GHS (blackpoint tweak)

NX
ACDNR (Chrominance only)

CT (saturation and brightness tweaks)
UnsharpMask (slight application in brighter areas)
Resample to 50%

 

 

[Cfreerksen]

This was my first light test of new 2600MM camera and Antlia 3nm filters. Shot Christmas day during full moon.

 

Celestron EdgeHD 8"
Imaging Cameras
ZWO ASI2600MM Pro
Mounts
Software Bisque Paramount MYT GEM  ×
Filters
Antlia 3nm Narrowband H-alpha 2"  ×
Software
Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight · Stefan Berg Nighttime Imaging 'N' Astronomy (N.I.N.A. / NINA)

 

Dec. 25, 2023
Frames:
Antlia 3nm Narrowband H-alpha 2": 75×300″(6h 15′)
Integration:
6h 15′
Avg. Moon age:
13.29 days
Avg. Moon phase:
97.55%

 

High Res here. https://www.astrobin.../full/ff1t7e/0/

 

Enjoy,

 

Chris

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[Pgblack]

First image with a new camera and telescope and longest total integration ever. Just under 6hrs of OSC data over three evenings this month whilst travelling around Spain in our campervan.

 

 

https://www.cloudyni...feb-2024/large/

 

 

APM 80/480 triplet at native focal length 

AA26C (IMX 571) camera 

CEM25p mount

ASI120mc guide camera

 

Typically Bortle 4 no filters used other than UV/IR built in camera.

 

NINA for data collection etc, stacked and processed with SIRIL, graXpert and Starnet++ final tweaks with Gimp and Neat image denoise. Pretty pleased with the outcome and will probably add some more data if I get the chance in the next few weeks.

[CCD-Freak]

Here is my go at B33 / IC434

 

180" x 100 dithered every 3rd sub

ASI533MMp  Gain=100  -5C  Baader 7nm Ha filter

SS15028HNT 150mm @ F2.8  (420mm FL)    

GEM45 mount guided with a Meade 277, ASI290MM

Captured and processed with Astroart 8

Star Ranch Obs - SRO  Bortle2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[caseyz]

Gear:

Scope:  Redcat 61
Filter: ZWO DUO
Camera:  ASI2600MC Pro
Mount: ZWO AM5
Guide Scope:  ZWO 30MM
Guide Camera: ASI120MM Mini
Control: ASIAir Plus
EAF: ZWO EAF

 

Acquisition:

19H 40 min subs
From my Bortle 5 backyard

 

Processing:

PI
PS
Lightroom

 

 

Astrobin Full Ras

Edited by caseyz, 20 February 2024 - 04:31 PM.

[TelescopeGreg]

No chance now for additional time on this, so might as well post before I forget. 

 

This is just under 1 1/2 hrs through a UHC filter.  Nothing spectacular, but at least it's a bit better than the last time I imaged it when I only had 20 minutes at the end of a Star Party.  I chose to center on the nebulosity between Horsehead and Flame Nebulae, and the native 910mm focal length and APS-C camera sensor seems to frame things up about right.

 

Imaged from home (Bortle-6)  2-10-2024

Telescope:  Stellarvue SVA130 EDT (130mm f/7), no reducer or flattener

Camera:  ASI2600MC-Pro with an Astronomik UHC-II filter; 100 gain, -5C temp

Mount:  Celestron AVX

Guider:  ZWO 60mm f/4.6 scope, ASI174mm Mini camera.  CCDciel internal guider software

At-mount computing:  Raspberry Pi 4B, Astroberry distro.  CCDciel session manager, ASTAP plate solving

21 x 4 minutes Lights; 20 each Darks, Flats, Dark-flats

Stacked with ASTAP, processed in StarTools 1.7

 

 

[Chrisofweden]

 

Due to challenging weather conditions, including the forecast for the rest of the month, combined with a very short window on the object, all I have is 1 hour total integration on the Red channel.

Had I known, I would have at least used my 294MC Pro instead and been able to post a color image

Anyways, I can't get more data but don't want to miss the chance to win the lottery and pick the next target

 

Captured:
February 5 , under Bortle 4-ish sky, Outside temperature: -4 Deg C, Seeing: Good (1.9)
Scope: Askar FRA600 quintuplet refractor (600mm, F5.6)
Imaging camera: ASI 2600MM Pro @-10c, Gain 100, Bin 1
Guiding: ZWO F4 scope + ASI 120 MC Pro
Focus: ASI EAF
Filters: ASI EFW Red
Mount: EQ6R Pro
Control: NINA
Integration: 30 x 2 mins = 1 hour total Red Channel only
Calibration: Bias, Darks, Flats
Software/Processing in PixInsight:
Blink
WBPP including Auto pedestal, Cosmetic Correction, Local Normalisation & Drizzle x 2 Autocrop
GraXpert

RC NoiseXterminator
RC BlurXterminator

GHS
RC StarXterminator
Curves
Pixelmath rescreen combination for stars

/Chris

Edited by Chrisofweden, 21 February 2024 - 04:20 AM.

[phsampaio]

 

Capture date: January Jan. 6, 2024; Jan. 9, 2024
Location: Aguas da Prata, São Paulo, Brazil
Bortle class: 3-4

 

Frames: 71×300″ (Gain 0; 0°C; Bin 1×1), Calibrated with Darks and Flats

Integration: 5h 55′

 

Equipment:

Scope: Sky-Watcher Esprit 100ED
Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro
Clear Filter from IDAS
Mounts: iOptron CEM40 with Tripier
Accessories: Windows MiniPC, Pegasus Astro Pocket Powerbox, ZWO EAF

Processing in PI:

Crop

ABE
PhotometricColourCalibration
BXT
NXT
HistogramTransformation

NXT again (a little)

Curves

Dark Structure Enhance Script

[unimatrix0]

Better images of this DSO not gonna happen this season, so I'm just gonna post what I did in January/February

 

mount: EQ6r pro

camera : 533mm pro with 36mm Antlia 3nm SHO filters

Svbony SV550 triplet 80mm F7

biases and flats only : 20 each

34x 5minutes each filter 

 

[TDPerry]

Was able to add a few more hours to this months stack I'm working on of this target... bringing it to around 11 hours of narrow band.

90 second exposures

168 Ha

143 OIII

140 SII

No flats/darks/bias used

 

Equipment:

William Optics Zenithstar 103mm refractor

EQ6-R Pro mount

ASI533MM Pro usiing ZWO 7nm narrow band filters

Processing:

Fully processed in PixInSight. ColorCombination using HOO.  DBE applied then stretched with HT and then BlurXterminator and NoiseXterminator used.

 

 

And with stars removed using StarXterminator (default settings).

 

 

Have some elongation on the stars on the left side it looks like, but pretty sure that is due to having to use JB-Weld to fix the crappy assembly on the William Optics tube that allowed the optical train to fall off the telescope tube from stripped threads.  I was doubtful I could get it 100% squared but since they didn't have replacement parts I did what I could.

Edited by TDPerry, 22 February 2024 - 04:32 AM.

[Robert7980]

Well the chances for more good weather are coming to an end, I’ll be on a business trip the remainder of the month so here’s my attempt on this staple object. Would have been nice to have twice as much OIII data, still a little weak to allow further edits, but I was still happy with the balance overall. 
 

The details:

 

Skywatcher Esprit 120ED x 0.77 reduction 

ASI-2600MM /  Antlia 3nm SHO filters 

EQ6-R 

Guiding provided by ASI-174MM and a ZWO OAG-L 

 

7.5 hours of 300 second subs, 30 each SHO, processed in Pixinsight and Photoshop. Slightly modified SHO Hubble palette with custom colors created in the RGB space on grayscale data per channel then combined, final colors adjusted in photoshop. 

 

-R
 

Edited by Robert7980, 22 February 2024 - 01:23 AM.

[const]

I collected little data this month (Feb 12–14). Ha is quite clean but the RGB with stars has the infamous Alnitak flare. I was too lazy to get rid of it and decided to artistically incorporate it in the final image instead. Here is rough plan in case somebody is curious how this thing was born:

1. Remove stars from monochrome Ha. Stretch so that it is nice and bright.
2. Stretch RGB so that only stars and The Flare are clearly visible.
3. Extract L from RGB.
4. Add (screen) Ha with L.
5. Apply resulting L back into RGB chroma.

Celestron EdgeHD 9.25" with .7x reducer on a Losmandy G11T. MoonLite CHL 2.5".

ZWO EFW 7×36mm, OAG-L, ASI174MM-Mini, ASI2600MM Pro.

Astronomik MaxFR H-alpha 6nm and Deep-Sky RGB filters.

 

H 10×300s

R 17×30s

G 15×30s

B 17×30s

 

[Whalensdad]

I took the following over 3 nights; Feb 5, 6, and 20. This is my first imaging attempt at the Horsehead Nebula. I only started AP in May 2023. It consists of the following:

 

Optolong L-eNhance 2": 190×90″(4h 45′)
SVBony UV/IR Cut 2": 123×30″(1h 1′ 30″)

 

I used PI for all of my processing. 

1st: UV/IR (RGB) - WBPP, Graxpert, BlurExterminator

2nd: Ha - WBPP, Graxpert, BlurExterminator, DynamicStarAlignment

 

Once the above was done:

1. I extracted the red channels of the Ha and RGB. 

2. Linear fit the Ha red to the RGB Red

3. Star Extraction on the Ha Red

3. Boosted the Ha Red channel

4. Added the Ha Red back into the original RGB

 

Once the image was recombined:

1. NoiseExtractor

2. StarExtractor

3. GHS on both the Star and Starless images

4. Recombined Star and Starless images

5. Rotated and cropped

 

My equipment used:

Imaging Telescopes Or Lenses: Astro-Tech AT72EDII
Imaging Cameras: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro
Mounts: Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi
Filters: Optolong L-eNhance 2" · SVBony UV/IR Cut 2"
Accessories: Explore Scientific 2" Field Flattener (ES-FF2F5/F7)

 

 

[jkelly]

AT80ED

AZ-GTI

ASI533MC

Field Flattener

L-Extreme

ASIair

 

I really enjoyed this one!

I was able to image 5 evenings in the beginning of February,

for a total of 869 @ 60 second subs or 14.5 hours.

 

Not totally happy with blooming stars and overall sharpness.

I guess I am happy with the results of my "low-fi" setup using the AT80ED and AZGTI.

Of course we all tend to look at the problems more than the beauty!

 

I tried multiple stackers but settled on Siril with 2X Drizzle.

GraXpert did the background extraction.

StarnetV2 seperated the nebula from the stars.

Stretch done by hand in GIMP.

Sharpened in Deep Sky Detail.

 

Edited by jkelly, 24 February 2024 - 09:06 AM.

[unitron_man]

Hi

 

Gear

    Astrotech AT102ED Doublet Refractor
    Classic SBIG ST-8300 Mono CCD Camera

    ATR8 0.8X Field Flattener FL 571mm (F/5.6)
    Celestron CGEM mount Hypertuned
    ZWO EAF Autofocus
    DIY automated myFilterwheel
    DIY Dew Controller

 

Acquisition

   60m R

   60m G

   60m B

   3h 50m Ha

   Grand total of 6h 50m

 

Software

    APT
    PHD2
    SIRIL
    GIMP

    Adobe Photoshop Elements
    Celestron CPWI
    Teamviewer
    Topaz Denoise

 

Misc

    Bortle 5 sky in the driveway, central Massachusetts

 

 

 

 

Astrobin Link

 

[Smalone]

Long cloudy winter, very abnormal, but I finally got something captured.

 

 

 

Telescope:                 Celestron 8” non-HD
Imaging Cameras:   ZWO ASI071MC Pro
Mounts:                    Celestron CGX
Filters:                      Optolong L-eXtreme 2”
Accessories:             Celestron Focus Motor · Celestron OAG (Off-Axis Guider)
Guiding Cameras:  ZWO ASI174MM Mini    
Frames:                  288×120″ (gain: 150.00, offset 50) f/7.0 -10°C
Integration:            9Hr 36min
Software:               PixInsight, BlurXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator

[GiffS]

I am submitting this one even though it is only 4 + hours of data and shot with only a IR/UV cut filter. I have bunch more data with and without a Duo Band filter. I chose this image because it is my first  image done completely in PixInsight. Here are the details:

 

Scope:    AT72EDII w/ .8 reducer

Camera: ASI533MC Pro

Filter:      IR/UV Cut

Mount:    AVX

 

Lights: 60 sec X 265 = 4.4 hours

30 Flats

30 Darks

30 Bias

Stacked using WBPP (3 hours  ) 

Dynamic Crop, Graxpert, BlurXterminator, NoiseXterminator, StarXterminator. Then stretches and curves with and without masks.

 

Still have a lot to learn about PI.

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[dac4215]

I have been working on this for several months and this is it for this season. 

Askar fma180 pro

Asi533mc pro

Eq6r

Guided with svbony 30mm guidescope and asi120mm mini

Asiair plus and zwo eaf

 

Lights    298 x 35s Baader ir/uv      Total 16h, 2m, 50s

              198 x 60s Baader ir/uv

                37 x 300s L-Ultimate

              135 x 180s zwo duoband

Darks   120 (30 for each set of exposures)

Flats       30

Biases   150

Processed with Pixinsight, Affinity Photo and Astroflat pro

 

Astrobin Link

 

[dcaponeii]

My effort at the Horsehead

-Your Equipment - 12” Meade f/8 ACF, OPTEC 0.62x Reducer, Orion G26 cooled camera. Orion Starshoot capture software.
-Your Data, Captured This Season - Three night of capture data totaling just under 9 hours of integration. 5 hours at native f/8 and 4 hours at f/5
-Your Processing - Individual capture night data processed in APP using the default settings. The three integrations were then combined in APP using the mosaic tools. Final image processing also done in APP including the crop. The final image was rotated and reduced to fit the CN limits using Paint Shop Pro.

 

EDIT:  It would of course help to actually post the image!

 

Edited by dcaponeii, 27 February 2024 - 06:15 AM.

[Dereksc]

In the end I managed to get eight evening imaging sessions during February to complete this image:

 

 

Here is a higher resolution image on Astrobin:

 

Details:

Camera: ASI533MM
Imaging Telescope: Askar107PHQ
Mount: Skywatcher EQ6R Pro

 

Software: Starkeeper Voyager · Pixinsight, Siril

 

Frames: R=326x60”, G=295x60”, B=352x60”, Total = 16h 13’, gain: 100, temp:  -10°C bin 1x1
Dates: Feb 9,10,11,12,22,24,25. and 27th 2024
Darks: 30, Flats: 30, bias: 32
Bortle Dark-Sky Scale: 6.00

 

Pixel scale: 1.034 arcsec/pixel
Orientation: -81.5 degrees

 

Pre-processing: calibration, alignment, stacking (Siril)

 

Processing (Pixinsight):
Dynamic crop each R,G,B
Channel combine RGB (No ABE/DBE required)
SpectrophotometricColorCalibration RGB
BXT 0,50 RGB
Masked Stretch to 0.05 background RGB
GHS RGB
Extract Stars -> RGBStarless and RGBStars
BXT 0,50 RGBStarless
Slight Hue, contrast adjust Curves RGBStarless
Combine RGBStarless and RGBStars
Noise reduction RGB

 

Regards

 

Derek