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duodenum posted:8” dob, $300 Holy hell, I finally managed to snag one!  e: now to research eye pieces... e2: added a celestron 8-24mm zoom, celestron x-cel 2x barlow, and a t-ring and slr adapter for my nikon d7000. Should be ready to do some lunar and planetary astrophotography now Enos Cabell fucked around with this message at 17:31 on May 4, 2022 |
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May 4, 2022 15:45
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Read up a little bit on collimating newts, make sure you have a cheshire or something. Maybe get a cheap wide(r) field eyepiece like maybe this at 20mm, which is $35 and gives you almost 70 degrees and about a 1 degree field of view for sky sweeping and star clusters and such. The Cel zoom is going to be like looking through a drinking straw when you back it out to 20mm, it’s best down at 12mm and under. I don’t think the DSLR will come to focus without you moving the mirror up in the tube and/or replacing the focuser. The focuser might not hold focus well with a heavy camera sitting on it. You might want a counterweight for the butt of the ota for when you’re hanging a camera on the focuser. Taking pictures is a huge can of worms. This is a visual scope, primarily.
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May 4, 2022 18:28
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duodenum posted:Maybe get a cheap wide(r) field eyepiece like maybe this at 20mm, which is $35 and gives you almost 70 degrees and about a 1 degree field of view for sky sweeping and star clusters and such. Thanks, I picked up this as well as a red laser collimator by the same company. I'm primarily planning to use this as a visual scope, but won't be able to resist trying photography on it as well.
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May 4, 2022 18:58
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Finally got out! Had 4 clearish nights and imaged on all of them. Still processing everything, but these two were the main targets. M101  I had a lot of CA with this one, had to bring it to Lightroom to clean up. My next target didn't rise for a few hours so I shot M101 to fill the gap. The moon was higher for this one too, so maybe that had something to do with it? IC5070  This one turned out really well, two nights, about 6 hours total integration. I'd have had 3 hours more but tree branches kind of smudged up the early bits. I'm putting thought into upgrading scopes, but anything I'd go to I'd want pier mounted so I'm not hauling and playing the setup game. Mak-Newts look cool, a smaller RASA, or a slightly larger refractor triplet. We'll see!
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May 8, 2022 16:08
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Everyone in here probably already knows, but just as a reminder there's a lunar eclipse next Sunday, everything in the US east of the Mississippi can view the full event. https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/2022-may-16
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May 8, 2022 16:26
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Is M101 really diffuse or something. Was freezing my rear end off last night at 3am looking for it as a last target. The coldest nights seem to be the clearest. Apparently it's brighter than M51 and M82, which I had no problems detecting. When I was looking for M101, I finally settled on a relatively large area of very subtle cloudiness, and figured that was it. Maybe I was seeing things in the blackness of space. I put down in my notes that I had spotted it, but not sure if it was legit. I was definitely scanning the right area.
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May 8, 2022 18:41
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M101 has a pretty low surface brightness, so it’s one of the more difficult Messier objects through an eyepiece.
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May 8, 2022 22:58
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Well, I pulled the trigger. Thought about my struggles and how I have limited time to do this, so I figured I'd get this set up and then use my current camera/star adventurer for easier stuff while I learned the manual side a bit better. Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi Mount Kit ZWO ASI533MC Pro USB3 Cooled Color Camera ZWO ASIAIR Plus WiFi Camera Controller ZWO ASI290MM Mini Monochrome Astronomy Camera ZWO 30mm f/4 Mini Guide Scope Already had the Radian Raptor 61. So now I guess just wait until everything gets in from being backordered, preordered, etc.
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May 13, 2022 22:21
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Moon eclipse tonight seems darker than the past recent ones. Gorgeous.
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May 16, 2022 06:13
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It was going smack through the center of the shadow while the moon was at its furthest from earth (I think, don't quote me on that). Dark eclipse, long totality. Beautiful show.
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May 16, 2022 06:43
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Man, lunar eclipses never get old. Last night was gorgeous, though it was really low on the horizon. I managed about 20 mins of totality where the Moon wasn't partially obscured by trees.
Golden-i fucked around with this message at 14:50 on May 16, 2022 |
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May 16, 2022 13:05
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I had a plan to do a relative brightness (keep the same exposure from start to finish) time lapse as it went across the sky but it was overcast last night.  Next time. It cleared up about halfway through but I had already given up and left the camera in the house.
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May 16, 2022 13:11
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duodenum posted:10” dob, $420 (nice) Someone on one of the astro Facebook groups bought one of these used dobs from B&H. It didn't come with the tension handles. Sky-Watcher nor any vendor sells the handles as spare parts. Buyer got a partial refund.
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May 16, 2022 14:53
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xzzy posted:I had a plan to do a relative brightness (keep the same exposure from start to finish) time lapse as it went across the sky but it was overcast last night. I did have a camera on a fixed tripod shooting a time lapse as well, but I've never done that before. I'll have to sort through the data when I get a chance but I'm almost positive that it didn't turn out.
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May 16, 2022 14:55
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Enos Cabell posted:Holy hell, I finally managed to snag one! Something like the ZWO ASI224MC would work well with the dob. If you're having issues getting the dslr reaching prime focus use that barlow. Otherwise like someone else said you would have to get a low profile focuser or move the mirror (latter not recommended). Today on FB..... 
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May 16, 2022 15:02
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High dew point and haze after thunderstorms passed through yesterday evening with patchy clouds made for less than ideal viewing conditions. Still got to watch it pass into totality though. The color was a washed out orange, but it was still really cool.
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May 16, 2022 15:07
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Golden-i posted:I did have a camera on a fixed tripod shooting a time lapse as well, but I've never done that before. I'll have to sort through the data when I get a chance but I'm almost positive that it didn't turn out. As long as you didn't move the camera it should assemble pretty well. I made that mistake at the last one a few years ago, figuring it would be easy to stitch a time lapse panorama together. It wasn't! Of course doing it right doesn't mean you end up with a beautiful photo, but that's how art works.
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May 16, 2022 15:48
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xzzy posted:As long as you didn't move the camera it should assemble pretty well. I made that mistake at the last one a few years ago, figuring it would be easy to stitch a time lapse panorama together. It wasn't! I didn't move it, thankfully, but I did manage to horribly miscalculate how low on the horizon the moon would be rising, so I'm pretty sure it's not in frame. On this note - what's a good program to stitch together a time lapse into a short video?
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May 16, 2022 16:38
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It sure was a beautiful show. Initial partial phases and first half of totality were intermittent due to patchy clouds, but the last part of totality and the outgoing partial phases were clear. Got some afocal shots with my phone through the 6" dob. Lovely night.
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May 16, 2022 17:30
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If you didn't get a timelapse, never fear! Twitter user advil has you covered. https://twitter.com/Advil/status/1526078917714399232
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May 16, 2022 20:45
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Finally got off my rear end and processed my DSLR's time lapse frames. The Moon was super low on the horizon at this latitude and I live in a bit of a valley, but at least we had a break in the trees for the best part. I just wish I had the software to encode the video with way less compression, but I never edit videos so this is all pretty new territory to me. https://i.imgur.com/QbmOsmN.mp4
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May 20, 2022 01:27
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holy crap that is fantastic
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May 20, 2022 02:26
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Thanks! Hopefully next time I actually set the gear up properly and frame things better... I finally did a proper process on my lunar eclipse pic as well. A Frankenstein combination of Pixinsight + Autostakkert3 + Pixinsight (again) + GIMP + Pixinsight (once more, with feeling) to get here, but it feels like an improvement over the original I posted. Still needs some work, I think.  Original: Golden-i posted:Man, lunar eclipses never get old. Last night was gorgeous, though it was really low on the horizon. I managed about 20 mins of totality where the Moon wasn't partially obscured by trees.
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May 20, 2022 06:03
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The night of the lunar eclipse was cloudy around me. But instead of cursing the heavens, I spotted some gaps in the clouds, so like a cat watching a mousehole, I waited. My patience was eventually rewarded..  Think that's Spica to the left, shot on a Timphone set to 10 seconds exposure.. Binary Badger fucked around with this message at 15:57 on May 21, 2022 |
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May 21, 2022 15:55
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Golden-i posted:Thanks! Hopefully next time I actually set the gear up properly and frame things better... Holy poo poo look at all the craters! 
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May 21, 2022 16:15
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Do you guys think that $ https://reno.craigslist.org/spo/d/dayton-orion-xt10-classic-dobsonian/7486706284.html I'd have to have them meet me somewhere. Figure for a 10" I'd have to drive my truck which gets ~12 mpg. That's like $60 in gas. e: saw this on Cloudy Nights for $350 so I am going to contact him at that price. pumped up for school fucked around with this message at 22:48 on May 27, 2022 |
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May 27, 2022 21:16
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pumped up for school posted:Do you guys think that $ If the mirror defect truly doesn't affect the view that should be fine. Ask the seller how well the focuser works. A stripped screw technically can be fixed by some at a machine shop or yourself if you have the skills. I paid $500 for a barely used 10" Classic Sky-Watcher dob which then jacked up over $900 for a new one. I guess for you it depends on how often used dobs pop up in your area. The future of new Orion XT dobs is questionable at this point due to supplier issues and the Orion/Synta relationship.
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May 28, 2022 23:56
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Bought my first astro camera. Got a lot to learn, but here is the first shots, an attempt at carina nebula  Carina Nebula by Marc, on Flickr
Raikyn fucked around with this message at 03:21 on May 29, 2022 |
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May 29, 2022 02:09
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Anyone got any hot news about the potential meteor storm tonight? All the reports I'm seeing are still in the "maybe" phase with a handful of recorded meteors over Spain where it's already dark, they got a peak brightness of -3. The current estimated peak seems to be about 1am EST so there's a lot of time left so I guess I'm curious at what point we'll start hearing whether it's a bust or not. (radiant is in Bootes, NW of Arcturus) I got clear skies most the night so I'm charging all my junk and prepping to head out.
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May 30, 2022 21:10
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Through intermittent breaks in the clouds, I've seen two after about 15 minutes of watching (Austin). One was just a quick flash, the other had a short trail. But nothing to write home about, basically not even as active as a routine Perseid or Leonid shower. Edit: my skies are quite light polluted, so I only see stuff that is relatively bright. Anything fainter than about mag 3 or 4 is practically invisible to me, naked-eye. Number_6 fucked around with this message at 06:23 on May 31, 2022 |
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May 31, 2022 06:16
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It's been a nice evening out, clear skies and enough of a wind to keep bugs away but we got the wrong side of the coin flip with this forecast. Bortle 4 here, saw a handful of faint streaks so can't be too mad.
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May 31, 2022 06:31
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This was the second target I had a go at. Lagoon nebula Pretty happy to basically get usable images on the first night out. For the first half hour couldn't even get a focus looking at the laptop, just looked like a bunch of noise. It was only when I switched to another program I figured out what was happening. With it being the first night with an astro camera I kinda went slowly, didn't try any platesolving or guiding, didn't even hook my mount up to the laptop. Just did the polar alignment and used the hand controller. First time stacking as well, so all over a start I'm fairly happy with. Camera was ZWO ASI294MC Pro, taken through a canon 600mm f4L lens 40 shots @ 15sec  Lagoon nebula by Marc, on Flickr
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May 31, 2022 13:26
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Raikyn posted:This was the second target I had a go at. Lagoon nebula That looks really great! Once you get over the initial hurdle guiding and platesolving is easy stuff to move into.
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May 31, 2022 16:10
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Someday I'll get to see a meteor storm, today was not it. I took about 390 exposures in an 1:40, this was everything I could get at 24mm on a full frame camera. There were a couple other dim ones or pinpoints that I didn't feel like including. I saw a handful more outside the camera frame, there were a couple nice bright ones that went through the big dipper. At least you can clearly see where the radiant is I guess?  I did get to sit outside and stare at stars and wonder how much is out there so still a good night. (the brightest star in the middle is Arcturus)
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May 31, 2022 17:02
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*Finally* had a clear night with good seeing so I stayed up until sunrise and got me some Veil nebula. A question: what do you all do for star removal? What I've seen basically operates on color range, but in this one I have red stars and blue stars (almost certainly due to the filter), so it's not a simple matter to delete them on that basis, and if I use the Minimum filter in Photoshop it seriously fucks with the nebula itself.
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Jun 4, 2022 05:54
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I'm not sure which is sadder: That I heard someone say a satellite was moving into Leo Minor, or that I knew what the gently caress the guy was actually talking about. I also joined an amateur astronomy organization. I get to learn how to operate their bigass telescopes after a year of good standing. I took a lovely cell phone picture of the Moon through their 22-inch reflecting telescope. 
Star Man fucked around with this message at 19:48 on Jun 4, 2022 |
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Jun 4, 2022 19:46
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Been playing around with the astro camera I bought Moons out so time for a couple of moon shots I guess  Moon Panorama by Marc, on Flickr Moon by Marc, on Flickr
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Jun 11, 2022 13:16
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Raikyn posted:Been playing around with the astro camera I bought I finally put my camera on my spotting scope the other night. I am overdoing it on the processing, I know. But for first time, the detail is insane. 
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Jun 13, 2022 01:38
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Another moon. Got home from work just after midnight, had a meal, then thought I might as well have another shot at doing some astrophography. First try at a planet, took a video then stacked. Also moon was just rising before dawn so had a go at that as well. Bit chilly standing outside (0° C ) but worth it. Setting up equipment at 2am outside isn't a whole lot of fun, then trying to figure out why I couldn't get an image and I don't think the scope really cooled down enough, but I wasn't going to get another chance to get out for a couple of weeks.  Moon - Waning Crescent by Marc, on Flickr Jupiter and moons by Marc, on Flickr
Raikyn fucked around with this message at 09:54 on Jun 24, 2022 |
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Jun 24, 2022 07:08
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Had a look at saturn on the weekend. The camera isn't ideal for planets(pixels too large, not a fast framerate) but good enough for me I took about an hour worth of carina nebula, and an hour of the running chicken nebula, both through my canon 600mmf4 lens. I just need to get around to processing them.  Saturn by Marc, on Flickr
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Jul 6, 2022 01:14
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