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Hi guys Is this the place to talk basic astrophotography ? I like viewing the night sky, and also trying to shoot it if possible. I'm mainly just using an EQ6 mount and using my dslr and lenses on it, but have just bought an Orion 6" CCG scope to try and get some views of the planets if possible. Shot from last night of the moon using an old skywatcher telescope. Best viewing I've seen for ages of the moon  Moon by Marc, on FlickrI should really check out if my scopes are aligned up alright, and still need to properly figure out guiding (and balance, polar alignment just the usual)
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Jul 27, 2020 10:29
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| # ¿ May 3, 2024 07:11 |
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I don't really know what I'm doing yet, but I took a couple of nebula shots tonight, just single shots Canon 5dmk4 on a eq6-r mount  
Raikyn fucked around with this message at 13:01 on May 1, 2022 |
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May 1, 2022 12:58
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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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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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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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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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Cloudy , windy weekend, so only a moon shot was really available 2 shot panorama, each shot a 60sec video with 50% stacked  Moon 09 July by Marc, on Flickr
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Jul 9, 2022 12:34
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Carina from last weekend. Trying to start to get my head around the processing side. Unguided at the moment, so a bit of work to do to get better stars  Carina Nebula by Marc, on Flickr
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Jul 10, 2022 16:54
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Using my canon lenses at the moment, but a 300mm focal length telescope is in the mail  It'll be interesting to see what the difference is between it and my 'L' lenses Bit of a messy setup 
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Jul 26, 2022 11:34
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I do like that area of the sky, I was imaging the same part a few weeks ago. I was just using my canon 50mm and 100mm macro. I did try with my fra300 but I was getting some weird halo around Antares, it's a bit of a mystery, don't get it with anything else. gst to NZ is annoying now they look out for it 
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Aug 24, 2022 05:17
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Is there any good local places to get new/used gear? Don't get much of a range of gear available here. I've just been looking at facebook for NZ Astro classified as well. Mainly use the aussie shops though. My last couple of purchases were overnight from syd to hastings, faster than buying locally.
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Aug 24, 2022 06:15
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My attempt from last weekend of the Eagle nebula
Raikyn fucked around with this message at 06:49 on Aug 24, 2022 |
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Aug 24, 2022 06:47
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At a guess, the biggest difference would be that your using a standard dslr vs using either a modified dslr/astro camera. I would have thought you would get a bit more colour though? Although I'm not familiar with the target being in NZ. It might be more a processing issue to get a bit more out of the data.
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Sep 5, 2022 06:42
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I went from DSLR on 1 May this year of carina nebula , single shot  to asi294mc a couple of weeks ago of carina, stacked 1hr  But if I had to guess it was probably 40% camera, 60% everything else (technique/processing) Raikyn fucked around with this message at 09:12 on Sep 5, 2022 |
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Sep 5, 2022 08:39
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I thought that was my next target which was a little strange, but then I looked it up and it is the lobster nebula which may be next. While scouting targets I found 2 lobster nebulas , but I'm going to try the one next to the cats paw. If I've setup my FOV right I should be able to get both the cats paw and lobster in the same frame comfortably, so I'll try that and see if I've all the right settings
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Sep 17, 2022 23:51
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PerniciousKnid posted:Jupiter is creeping on earth tonight, if anyone missed the memo. From Hastings, NZ  Jupiter by Marc, on Flickr
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Sep 27, 2022 11:54
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I used an Orion cc6 , 2x Barlow , zwo asi294mc camera. It was cloudy here as well, but I had a look outside as I was going to bed and it had cleared up.
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Sep 27, 2022 12:05
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Saturn still looks alright Between the clouds the conditions were alright for viewing the planets, but I haven't been able to look at any DSO since early August due to weather
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Oct 1, 2022 04:31
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First time I've put more than a hour into a target. It looks like it turned out decent enough Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud Still adding bits and pieces to the process, last couple of nights it was trying to get the dither to work, and last night just more time on a single target About 2 1/2 hours  tarantula nebula by Marc, on Flickr
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Oct 17, 2022 07:16
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Golden-i posted:Something that some folks here might find interesting - While I was messing around with figuring out a new post-processing workflow I ended up also seeing how much of a difference image calibration makes. I was reworking my integration/color calibration/noise reduction process and decided to skip my calibration process at first (which is unchanged) so I could get right to figuring out the new stuff. I've the same camera and darks fix any amp glow I have. I just made a darks library one afternoon of various exposure times and gains. I did about 30 darks(or at least 30 min) for each setting I use. So I've darks for 125 gain (30,60,120) and 200 gain(15,30,60,120,180) all at 0ºC One of my last ones , Cat's Paw and Lobster Nebulas About 1hr40min with 60sec exposures with the Askar FRA300 
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Oct 30, 2022 09:07
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Nice eclipse night. Cloudy but patchy leading up it. Cleared up a bit about an hour before totality, then cloud came back about 3/4 of the way through the total eclipse period. So many eclipse pics on facebook haha Here is mine  Blood Moon by Marc, on Flickr
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Nov 8, 2022 13:25
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xzzy posted:I really wanted the track to go all the way out of frame, but clouds developing on the horizon and dawn interfered (that's why the last two are so blurry, I kinda wanted to omit them but it threw everything off balance). Maybe next time. Thats really cool , I like that. I was thinking of doing a wide angle composition, but too much cloud 
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Nov 9, 2022 01:02
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NebulaPhotos did a quick review/comparison between the gti and the benro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fj3carj27ag Basically both seemed to be good as a portable setup, but the gti can go a bit further as it can be computer controlled so can do the whole setup(platesolve/guiding etc.) Also there are software solutions for polar alignment where you don't need to see the poles, which use platesolving, which should help out for your setup at home.
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Nov 9, 2022 11:52
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pumped up for school posted:
Using fuji is going to hinder your options going forward a bit, I'm not sure there is any easy way to connect the fuji to most astro programs to capture/platesolve? But you can definately use a cheap guidescope/camera to platesolve and guide and use your camera normally if you had something like the gti mount.
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Nov 15, 2022 06:32
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I did a 2 panel mosaic. One half was taken about a month ago. Then clouds happened. The other half I did last night Still trying to figure out processing, I guess a work in progress. Anyway, the orion area 
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Nov 26, 2022 11:45
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Dmitri-9 posted:Orion's Belt and Nebula Some nice images there. Hope you don't mind but I had a quick play with pleiades to see if there was any more in it. Even from the jpg there is still more dust/nebula that can be extracted out of it. 
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Dec 31, 2022 23:08
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Dmitri-9 posted:Thank you so much, the bottom picture is my best so far, journey of a thousand miles etc. I'm having a lot of trouble with image processing, color temperature and vignetting. Part of my problem is I'm too lazy to collect flats, I am calibrating with darks and biases. The youtube experts have videos showing 30 second exposures of the Maia Nebula better than my 2 hours. The fact that you did better with a jpeg than I did with a tif speaks volumes. I know how to manipulate the levels and curves to some degree to bring our structure but I might need more powerful image software. Of the free options it looks like SIRIL might be the best as a purpose astro processing thing. There will be a bit of a learning curve but I've seen heaps of great images from people using it. I haven't used it myself though. From the images you posted there should be lots of good data there. Just by looking at your settings and integration I was thinking there must be a lot more in those images. If you want you could post up the unedited tiff somewhere and I could have a look, I'm just learning myself though.
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Dec 31, 2022 23:47
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A recent image. ASI294MC + Canon 100mm macro lens set to f5 40 x 180sec Vela Supernova Remnant 
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Jan 1, 2023 00:10
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Achmed Jones posted:yeah it's a newtonian - celestron starsense explorer 130az. this is the t-ring adapter i have: https://a.co/d/9SIHsXZ You shouldn't be using the eyepiece at all, with mine I just take the piece that holds the eyepiece off, then screw the adapter straight to that. Depending on the scope you may or may not need extenders  
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Jan 2, 2023 04:49
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Achmed Jones posted:hmm, that's what i tried the first time and I wasn't able to get a picture of anything other than mirror itself. maybe i need to futz around with extenders and such more Having a look around it seems you need to get closer to the mirror. Or if you have a barlow you can use that but the FOV will be quite a bit smaller https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/808497-difficulty-focusing-with-nikon-d7500-and-celestron-starsense-explorer-130az-used-as-prime-lens/
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Jan 2, 2023 05:52
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Dmitri-9 posted:SIRIL was a good lead. I will post some new photos so I don't spam the thread with reprocessed images. Those look a bit better It's a good start, looks like you now have a bit of work to do reprocessing images haha
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Jan 2, 2023 12:14
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My last one was Barnard's Loop, using a canon 50f1.4 set to f4.
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Jan 30, 2023 06:12
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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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I had a local to reach out to me with their setup for visual with a new scope , as he was just getting a blurry mess. I did warn him I probably wouldn't able to help that much since I don't do any visual and don't know anything about dobs and haven't been doing this long. I started to go through a basic checklist, and also getting him him to lower expectations a little, but said he should at least see bands on jupiter and it's moons, rings of saturn. Went through a little on the atmosphere, seeing, and getting the scope to ambient. Worked through focus, collimation. He was getting a little out of it , but nowhere near enough, and I directed him to a local dealer and dob group to see what issues he might be having as I couldn't really figure anymore out. It was then he told me he was viewing from his living room through the window and if that would be any issue.
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Feb 20, 2023 00:15
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I added a couple more hours to the vela supernova remnant that I had taken earlier. I think the sky was slightly darker this time round as well which helped. So put it all together 79x180sec ASI294MC + canon 100mm macro lens set to f5 + antlia alp-t filter 
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Feb 20, 2023 12:23
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I managed to get a whole 40 min on the witch head before clouds came in. Was hopeful to try and get 2-3hrs , but ... nope And I took a shot of the moon at midday, not a cloud in the sky haha 
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Mar 17, 2023 12:15
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Dmitri-9 posted:Free advertising for neodymium filters It's probably an advert for more integration, better optics and easier processing than anything else. You'll need to do slightly different processing depending on your filters, but if the light pollution doesn't over power your target you can probably get similar results. I played around a bit with your first image, probably overdid it a bit though  
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Apr 2, 2023 07:19
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I bought a new mount, ZWO AM5 So far so good, light weight, good guiding, easy to use First night out with it on Sunday, did a shot of the rho ophiuchi region  
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Apr 3, 2023 13:35
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| # ¿ May 3, 2024 07:11 |
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Jewmanji posted:I’m so envious. Questions for you (and anyone else in the thread with experience): how long have you been in the hobby? Did you come at it from a particular direction (prior experience with astronomy, photography, etc)? Has it been mostly a solo-adventure or have you had mentors/clubs? I had some previous photography experience, but always had an interest in space stuff. I had a telescope for a while but didn't use it too much, mainly just pics of the moon with a DSLR. Got more into it about a year ago, all totally solo, mostly reading forums. Starting out it's hard to sort out good relevant info from the bad stuff. Some astro forums get into technical explanations really quickly and can be quite set in their ways about how things should be done. Starting
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Apr 3, 2023 14:46
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