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Gave SIRIL a try. 
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Feb 4, 2023 02:43
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I saw Hale Bopp at an astronomy club event through somebody's fancy scope so I definitely was ruined for other space crap for a while.Star Man posted:More than people think. A lot of the issue is that people don't even know what they're looking at or for. But I think people just don't ever look up in the first place, even where light pollution isn't bad. In the suburbs I feel like I can barely see the whole thing.
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Feb 4, 2023 03:22
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PerniciousKnid posted:I saw Hale Bopp at an astronomy club event through somebody's fancy scope so I definitely was ruined for other space crap for a while. Dark zones are amazing. My gf and I went on a vacation on South Caicos and you walk outside and look up and the Milky Way is right up in your face, you don’t even need to dark-acclimate.
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Feb 4, 2023 03:47
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I'm in a Bortle 2/3 area and I consider myself very lucky.
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Feb 4, 2023 03:49
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Growing up in central Wyoming, I'd say that my night sky was Bortle 4 or 5. Ironically, going out of town didn't make things better, because there would be some outrageously bright light on the side of the road to mark a private road always somewhere, and getting away from it required going out somewhere many many miles away or onto private property. I'm stull surprised by what I can make out where I live in Pittsburgh. I'm at the bottom of a hill in a very hilly area, so the terrain blocks a lot of the light pollution from downtown that would be north of me. On the flip side, I can't see poo poo that isn't up high because of the hills.
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Feb 4, 2023 04:05
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Star Man posted:
There’s a place up in north central PA, just a bit south of the NY border, that’s supposed to be the darkest spot east of the Mississippi. I want to get up there at some point.
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Feb 4, 2023 04:24
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Phanatic posted:There’s a place up in north central PA, just a bit south of the NY border, that’s supposed to be the darkest spot east of the Mississippi. I want to get up there at some point. I'm guessing it's Cherry Springs State Park or at least near it. I would love to go there some day. Speaking of Wyoming, the best night skies I've ever experienced were in the Snowy Range in southeastern Wyoming. Woke up in the middle of the night while camping after the moon set and wow... absolutely wonderful Milky Way experience
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Feb 4, 2023 04:46
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We just moved to the Denver area and there is bortle 1 about three hours away. When we were in Chicago I'd have to drive ten hours for that. And in the summer when the mountains are navigable there's even more options as long as I don't mind some mountains blocking the horizon. Even the darkest parts of Utah are in range now. It's nice to be spoiled for choice finally, took a lot of waiting to get here. (assuming forest fire haze cooperates)
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Feb 4, 2023 06:55
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If you haven't checked out Denver Astronomical Society (DAS), it's worth a look. They have a dark sky site an hour from Denver. Not quite Bortle 1, but nice none the less. https://www.denverastro.org/resources/dark-sky-site/
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Feb 4, 2023 07:21
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xzzy posted:We just moved to the Denver area and there is bortle 1 about three hours away. When we were in Chicago I'd have to drive ten hours for that. Greetings fellow Colorado AstroGoon. I'm down in Colorado Springs. There's tons of good sites around the state if you're willing to settle for Bortle 2. Get either a hunting or fishing license so you can have access to the "state wildlife areas" which are often excellent public observing sites. I'm lucky in that I have access to essentially a totally private Bortle 2 site outside of Walsenburg. Ninety minute drive and there's a couple acres with a trailer where I can camp and observe.
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Feb 4, 2023 22:10
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This ain't the thread for it but I'll complain anyways: land access in Colorado is a confusing mess. I figured out SWA's and state parks but access to state trust lands are incomprehensible to me and it looks like river access is 100% in favor of private owners. At least there's lots of national forest and BLM options in the mountains, those I understand. I'm fine paying for a license, just make it easy you goofs. I did find a thread on cloudynights listing a bunch of good sites and I'll definitely be working through that list once the snows melt.
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Feb 4, 2023 23:06
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Flaming Star Nebula Lens - William Optics Gran Turismo 71 APO, 0.8x Field Flattener, Optolong L-eNhance Camera - Sony A7RIII ISO 3200 Mount - iOptron Skyguider Pro Software - DeepSkyStacker, SIRIL, GIMP, Topaz Integration - 2.5 Hours, 30 second subs Bortle Scale - 5
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Feb 9, 2023 07:44
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So after 30 years of star-hopping with a manual dobsonian, I've decided to add computerized object location into the mix in the cheapest and laziest way possible. In a couple weeks I'll be getting one of those cheap Celestron Starsense 80mm refractors, and I'm going to cannibalize the Starsense dock and app unlock codes to add digital setting circles to all my scopes. Yesterday I 3D printed an adapter that will allow the dock to affix to any Synta-standard finder dovetail shoe. I thing it's pretty astonishing that I'd have had to spend hundreds on encoders and custom hardware just a few years ago to get an object location computer on my dob. I've got an old spare iphone 11 pro with a spiderwebbed back that I've set up to entirely be a plate solving machine and dedicate Starsense box. That way I can still have SkySafari running on my main phone as a reference and for organizing my observing lists and logs.
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Feb 9, 2023 18:17
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AstroZamboni posted:So after 30 years of star-hopping with a manual dobsonian, I've decided to add computerized object location into the mix in the cheapest and laziest way possible. Some random dude hit me up on CloudyNights and asked me to print an adapter for his 14" Dob. I hope Celestron eventually offers the SSE setup as a standalone, but they'll sure sell a lot of 80mm refractors in the mean time. I really enjoy the one on my 8" Dob, especially comapred to how lovely the push-to encoder setup was.
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Feb 9, 2023 18:28
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Yeah, between the alignment process, proprietary lovely keypad interfaces, and gradual encoder creep over the night, I've always HATED the experience of DSC and GOTO scopes. I'd rather star-hop than have a bureaucratic process standing between me and the sky. That thing just eliminates all the annoying poo poo. And I can just order the 80mm refractor from Costco at a decent discount. And hey, knockabout cheapo scope to boot. Not too bad for $190.
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Feb 9, 2023 19:41
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how would that 80mm refractor compare to my starsense explorer 130mm newtonian? i gather that it'd let me do prime photography where i wouldn't need an eyepiece, is that correct? even if so, though, i'm skeptical it'd let me get pictures worth looking at mostly i'm disappointed that i am having so much trouble figuring out how to hook my camera to my newt and have things generally work. the next step would probably just be buying all the pieces from baader but when then i can't tell if it'd work. i really wasn't expecting "oh that telescope can't do prime photos" i don't mind spending money on something to make it work - the big problem I have is that i can't figure out what would definitely work
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Feb 10, 2023 03:41
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Yooper posted:Some random dude hit me up on CloudyNights and asked me to print an adapter for his 14" Dob. I hope Celestron eventually offers the SSE setup as a standalone, but they'll sure sell a lot of 80mm refractors in the mean time. Quoting to ask for more details someday when my kids aren't keeping me up all night.
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Feb 10, 2023 04:44
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Achmed Jones posted:how would that 80mm refractor compare to my starsense explorer 130mm newtonian? i gather that it'd let me do prime photography where i wouldn't need an eyepiece, is that correct? even if so, though, i'm skeptical it'd let me get pictures worth looking at What 80mm refractor is it? The answer is almost certainly yes it'd be better, but whether you've got an 80mm f/11 on a spindly EQ mount or a colorful 80mm f/5 achromat, then there will be other challenges and caveats. Such is astrophotography. Here's a 130mm newt designed for photography if you want to stick to that route: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-130p-ds-ota.html (dont be afraid to buy from FLO, sometimes the UK market gets things like this that the US market doesn't get, and the lack of VAT usually balances the shipping charge) edit: Oh, I see you're talking about the Starsense 80AZ. I would say you might be able to take pictures through it as a novelty but little beyond that. I don't think the mount would be very happy with a camera hung off the end of that scope. duodenum fucked around with this message at 14:16 on Feb 10, 2023 |
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Feb 10, 2023 13:59
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PerniciousKnid posted:Quoting to ask for more details someday when my kids aren't keeping me up all night.  The inner radius of the adapter matched the outer radius of his Dob. The outer radius of the adapter matched the SSE adapter plate. The holes you see are just pilot holes so he can use a Spax or whatever. I had the 102AZ SSE, which uses a completely different style of mount than the 80AZ or 114AZ. For ease of install I'd use the 80AZ or 114AZ, the 104AZ uses a side mount that is much more challenging to adapt.
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Feb 10, 2023 15:30
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I have a 10 inch newtonian and I want to be able to use it as a dobsonian occasionally. Is there a cheap solution to do this? It seems like I should be able to buy a cradle with pegs and put it on a commercial base but googling has not revealed an easy answer.
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Feb 11, 2023 00:02
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I've got an Celestron 8SE and bought a used CGEM I saw on a local classifieds on a whim a while ago. That means I have the standard Nexstar SE mount for the 8SE. Is there a used market for anything like that?
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Feb 11, 2023 00:59
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slidebite posted:I've got an Celestron 8SE and bought a used CGEM I saw on a local classifieds on a whim a while ago. That means I have the standard Nexstar SE mount for the 8SE. Very much so. Check out the cloudy nights classified ads and you'll probably have some luck selling it.
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Feb 11, 2023 02:20
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Dmitri-9 posted:I have a 10 inch newtonian and I want to be able to use it as a dobsonian occasionally. Is there a cheap solution to do this? It seems like I should be able to buy a cradle with pegs and put it on a commercial base but googling has not revealed an easy answer. I think this guy is mostly retired, but it might get you started. http://www.dobstuff.com/RockerBoxAssemble.htm http://www.dobstuff.com/parts.htm http://www.dobstuff.com/pictures.htm He used to sell kits to rebuild your whole OTA or just rings and a rocker box. Here's a guy who made a dobsonian base for his mak newt https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/662256-convert-a-newtonian-to-a-dobsonian/?p=9384562 Those metal rings for your OTA would be probably ~$100. https://agenaastro.com/gso-telescope-tube-mounting-rings-303mm-11-93.html duodenum fucked around with this message at 04:16 on Feb 11, 2023 |
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Feb 11, 2023 04:08
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PSA: If you don't have an auto-focuser, or a scope that can't run one, make sure you lock down your focusing knobs/rings after you get set up. I got first light on my new mono camera last night and will probably have to throw out the data because the meridian flip caused a cable to drag on the focuser, which knocked the scope ever so slightly out of focus for my B and G frames.I didn't notice because I'm using an ASIAIR and my phone, so the small screen made it impossible to see unless I was looking for it. I am almost positive I forgot to tighten the focus lock once I was done setting up. At least it was a test run so I only lost ~1.5 hours of data...
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Feb 11, 2023 14:55
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Astrogoods is another small workshop that'll make custom dob bases to your specs. https://www.astrogoods.com
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Feb 11, 2023 15:24
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I went ahead and processed the data anyways since the L and R channels weren't blurry, just the B and G. The results are.... much better than I expected (just don't zoom in too far) Redcat51, ZWO ASI6200mm, LRGB 7x180sec each channel (84mins total integration plus dark/flat/bias), Bortle 8 skies This is my first mono shot/process ever so I'd greatly appreciate feedback on it (aside from not taking blurry subframes next time). Gonna re-shoot the data Monday, it's just a shame that it's so late in the season. I'm losing Orion behind trees less than two hours after sunset.
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Feb 11, 2023 16:27
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AstroZamboni posted:Very much so. Check out the cloudy nights classified ads and you'll probably have some luck selling it.
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Feb 11, 2023 17:11
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The Starsense 80 is ordered. Preemptive apologies to everybody in Colorado for the incoming clouds. I'll be sure to post pics and/or video of the bracket conversion. Weirdly enough, I'm also looking forward to having a small refractor again. It'll be a bit of a throwback to my first scope in the mid nineties, but quite a bit better quality.
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Feb 11, 2023 19:50
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Golden-i posted:I went ahead and processed the data anyways since the L and R channels weren't blurry, just the B and G. The results are.... much better than I expected (just don't zoom in too far) Most of the mono guys refocus on each filter change as the focus is usually a little different between each of them, or have an offset they use. Doesn't look too bad, apart rom the star bloat/focus, also orion is a bit blown out. It can be tricky with it being so bright. I had a quick look at orion during the last full moon. I wasn't intending to do any shots, but ended up taking about an hour or so with the scope I had setup for moon shots. I don't really use this scope for nebula but I had it out, and wasn't going to setup anything else, with it being a full moon. So yeah, the stars are a bit wonky around the edges but doesn't look too bad. I also had a peek at the tarantula nebula, since it was fairly high up and away from the moon a bit   edit: I also somehow got a few images into a LA observatory newsletter thing. My neighbour down the road who I don't know, showed a friend of his who works there some eclipse images of mine. It sounds like they were totally rained out over in the US and wanted a few images. 
Raikyn fucked around with this message at 10:26 on Feb 12, 2023 |
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Feb 12, 2023 10:12
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Raikyn posted:Most of the mono guys refocus on each filter change as the focus is usually a little different between each of them, or have an offset they use. Woah, that Orion is gorgeous! And well done on the newsletter, that's so freaking cool. Thank you for the feedback! You're right, Orion is very blown out. Thankfully I have my entire project saved at every step so I went back to the nonlinear RGB stage, masked it, and messed with the contrast in the nebula. Then I brought down the luminance very slightly across the whole image (after looking at Orion, I thought the Flame and Horsehead nebulae looked a bit overbright too) and slightly increased my L saturation and ratio at integration. Here's what I got:  First try for comparison - same data, same RGB processing up until the nonlinear state... the difference is insane: Conclusion - Little changes make a big difference in LRGB integration and I will probably poke and prod at this data for the next month or so, but bringing down the RGB contrast and letting the luminance do its thing instead made a massive difference. I still think Orion is too bright but considering the data I'm working with is a bit out-of-focus, I don't really want to spend the time needed to make a more accurate/aggresive mask to bring the core down further without looking really weird against the rest of the image. And for focusing - I had literally never considered that the different lenses might have different focuses. I'll do some testing when focusing next time and see just how different it is and will refocus between lenses as needed. Great advice!
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Feb 12, 2023 16:54
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Would I be nuts if I tried to mount a six inch dobsonian to a tripod mount?
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Feb 13, 2023 05:47
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Star Man posted:Would I be nuts if I tried to mount a six inch dobsonian to a tripod mount? If tracking is what you're looking for, best solution is an equatorial platform or an upgrade to a motorized dob.
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Feb 13, 2023 14:19
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Raikyn posted:Most of the mono guys refocus on each filter change as the focus is usually a little different between each of them, or have an offset they use. Following up on this, you were absolutely right - I got out last night and tested this out, and the focus on the filter I'm using for my L frames (Orion SkyGlow) is significantly different than my RGB lenses. Probably because the glass is a bit thicker. Thanks for the pointer, you saved me a lot of time figuring it out myself! Time to look into EAF solutions for my scopes...
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Feb 13, 2023 15:23
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Golden-i posted:Time to look into EAF solutions for my scopes... This loving hobby never ends. 
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Feb 13, 2023 17:31
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Internet Explorer posted:This loving hobby never ends. Nope! It also doesn't help when there's so many nights are crappy and you're jonesing for some observation/astrophotography time. You're denied so you get gear hungry instead. BTW...Explore Scientific eyepieces just went on sale....just saying....
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Feb 13, 2023 18:52
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Golden-i posted:Following up on this, you were absolutely right - I got out last night and tested this out, and the focus on the filter I'm using for my L frames (Orion SkyGlow) is significantly different than my RGB lenses. Probably because the glass is a bit thicker. Thanks for the pointer, you saved me a lot of time figuring it out myself! I don't know if the asiair does this, but in NINA the best way to do this is to use focuser offsets. Basically you precalculate the stepper motor positional difference between each filters optimal focus. Then when you shoot you shoot L->R->G->B->repeat with the focuser moving between each frame instead of L-L-L-R-R-R-G-G-G-B-B-B-etc. This way you get a more balanced set of exposures each night and under similar conditions.
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Feb 13, 2023 19:05
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simble posted:I don't know if the asiair does this, but in NINA the best way to do this is to use focuser offsets. Basically you precalculate the stepper motor positional difference between each filters optimal focus. Then when you shoot you shoot L->R->G->B->repeat with the focuser moving between each frame instead of L-L-L-R-R-R-G-G-G-B-B-B-etc. This way you get a more balanced set of exposures each night and under similar conditions. That would be pretty cool, though googling around it seems that ASIAIR won't do it. There's been some fairly recent requests for the feature... we'll see if that ever happens. As it stands my RGB lenses seem to have a close enough offset at the focal length I'm using that they don't require a refocus, it's the LPS filter I'm using for my luminance shots that's awful so I can probably just shoot those frames separately. It's a great idea to shoot RGBRGBRGB just in case the weather conditions change, though, I'll have to give that a shot when I'm out tonight. Internet Explorer posted:This loving hobby never ends. Right? I've had a few friends/relatives asking how to get into astrophotography and my answer is always "don't". If they press it, I tell them that it's fantastic as long as you have an incredible amount of time and an incredible amount of money.
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Feb 13, 2023 19:58
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duodenum posted:If you have a standard/common 6" f/8 dob, it would be too heavy and long to mount steady on an equatorial mount. You'd want it on rotating rings because the focuser could end up anywhere, which adds to the complexity and weight. The mirror mount isn't reall y made for rotating around either so you might have collimation problems. I realized after I made that post that I asked a pretty dumb question. I'm just a klutz and getting something like a tabletop Dobsonian was asking for me to trip or kick a leg on a table or underestimate how unstable the ground is and how the telescope fall over. I think I'm going to give in to earlier suggestions and get a Dobsonian when I can swing it. Turns out an eight inch Dobsonian is not as heavy as I thought it would be. My only other issue is that I'm a big kid, so I'm too tall to look through the eyepiece without craning over. I'll need to get a chair. I'm just going to save up for this Apertura.
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Feb 13, 2023 20:34
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Star Man posted:I'm just going to save up for this Apertura. ooo, ajustable tension altitude bearings, dual speed crayford style focuser, nice fat collimation knobs, a laser collimator, and a fan on the back of the primary mirror. Thats fancy for a first dob! Love it.
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Feb 13, 2023 22:23
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Star Man posted:I realized after I made that post that I asked a pretty dumb question. I'm just a klutz and getting something like a tabletop Dobsonian was asking for me to trip or kick a leg on a table or underestimate how unstable the ground is and how the telescope fall over. why not one of the StarSense Dobs like I’m saving for? (you’ve all convinced me to go for the 10”, btw, will probably aim to buy sometime when the nights get a bit warmer)
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Feb 14, 2023 02:07
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