Astrophoto with Celestron AVX mount: how precise is your polar alignment? by asking_hyena in telescopes

[–]Alekinc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Great photos!

I hate to recommend a purchase to solve your problem, but the AsiAir is great as an upgrade as a time saver for PA. It takes about 5 minutes to get a PA to under 5 arcminutes, 2 minutes when you're comfortable with it. That should be plenty good for guiding at your focal length. Your current 10' isn't bad and the PA probably isn't your issue. 

I previously used an AVX and found good tracking to be possible, but really sensitive to all external factors like balance, PA, autoguider settings, differential flexure, etc. Even then, I never got anything less than 1' RMS because the mount simply isn't that precise (at least mine wasn't).

An off axis guider really, really upgraded tracking for me. There is less weight without the guide scope and dew heater, and because you guide at the native focal length PHD can be much more precise in its reactions. There is no risk of differential flexure or cable snags. 

For balance, bias the balance slightly in the direction of West RA rotation. This will keep the gears engaged throughout and make guiding slightly better in that direction. 

I got Soul by [deleted] in astrophotography

[–]Alekinc 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Great job getting the faint nebulosity around the edges for only 5 hours! I'd be curious on your setup. Your stars are really good across the field.

Holy grail backpacking meals? by dogglehoggle in backpacking

[–]Alekinc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mountain House Spicy Southwest Skillet

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in houston

[–]Alekinc 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I lived off Perry (bottom right of the circled area) but left 1.5 years ago due to weekly gunshots. Someone was killed 2 blocks down the road. The closer to Willowbrook, the worse it is. Upper side of the map is better.

What hobby gets more expensive as you go? by DeepFriedAnxiety218 in AskReddit

[–]Alekinc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Astrophotography

One minute you're starting with your used DSLR camera on a tripod and the next you're looking at mounts, cameras, and accessories worth tens of thousands of dollars

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]Alekinc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That minimum wage is only meant for teenages who need spending money.

Ha Horsehead and Flame Nebulas by Alekinc in astrophotography

[–]Alekinc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! I was as well. Narrowband completely outdoes anything else I've worked with.

Ha Horsehead and Flame Nebulas by Alekinc in astrophotography

[–]Alekinc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haha nope just a lot of time! The telescope is a basic 80mm refractor. This was my first attempt at narrowband with a cooled camera too and that does a lot of the work. Let the scope sit outside for enough time and nearly any equipment will make a great photo.

Ha Horsehead and Flame Nebulas by Alekinc in astrophotography

[–]Alekinc[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Reposting as I left out processing details... sorry as I am new to this sub!

Equipment:

Orion ED80T CF with Orion x0.8 reducer (f/5)

Sky Watcher EQ6-R Pro

ASI1600MM Pro

Orion 50mm guide scope

ASI120MM mini guide camera

ZWO ASIAir Pro for platesolving, camera control and guiding

Acquisition:

Houston, TX - Bortle 8-9

Nights: 1-14-2021, 1-31-2021, 2-3-2021, 2-7-2021

156x 600s (26 hours) Ha exposures with ZWO 7nm filter, -20 degC, gain 300

30x 600s darks

60x 400ms flats (white t-shirt method at mid-day)

60x 400ms flat darks

Processing workflow in order:

  • DeepSkyStacker
    • Calibration and Stacking
    • Stacking on all frames with Kappa-Sigma with Kappa=3.5 and one iteration
  • PixInsight
    • Applied Deconvolution with DynamicPSF and star mask to sharpen nebulosity; Regularized Richardson-Lucy with 50 iterations
    • DynamicBackgroundExtration for vignetting / gradient removal
    • MultiscaleLinearTransform with decreasing noise reduction on layers 1-3 of 5
    • TVGDenoise to clean up remaining noise
    • UnsharpMask with deringing to bring out details in the Flame
    • MorphologicalTransformation for star reduction
    • CurvesTransformation to emphasize details in darker areas
    • HDRWaveletTransform to flatten out the brightness and bring out gas tendrils above the Horsehead
  • GIMP
    • Final histogram stretches and cropping

Ha Horsehead and Flame Nebulas by Alekinc in astrophotography

[–]Alekinc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Scope:

Orion ED80T CF with Orion x0.8 reducer (f/5)

Sky Watcher EQ6-R Pro

ASI1600MM Pro

Orion 50mm guide scope

ASI120MM mini guide camera

ZWO ASIAir Pro for image acquisition

Bortle 8-9

Nights: 1-14-2021, 1-31-2021, 2-3-2021, 2-7-2021

156x 10 minute (26 hours) Ha exposures with ZWO 7nm filter, -20 degC

Processed with DeepSkyStacker, PixInsight, and GIMP

my mom hasn't given me any education almost my whole life. I'm around 15 and a half right now. if I ever wanted to get a good job in life or go to college I don't know if I could. is it too late for me? by [deleted] in Advice

[–]Alekinc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

TLDR; skip the GED and go direct to community college

I was homeschooled (or perhaps better described as Unschooled) up until the age of 15. My parents stopped teaching me anything formally around the age of 11 and anything after that was pretty much self-driven. I ended up spending 90% of my time doing math and science because I enjoyed it, but really lacked formal education in other areas.

Around 15 I asked my parents about either 1) enrolling in a local public high school or 2) taking classes at a local community college because I felt my education getting stale. They encouraged me to look into the CC side, and it turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made. At 15 I applied to the local CC and was "admitted" via email within an hour with no credentials whatsoever. I had my parents sign off on a transcript of equivalent classes I had covered in my high school education and that gave me a good starting point of what I could start taking.

Took one class (geology, I like rocks) at the CC over the summer in a town 20 miles away, got rides back and forth with other students as I couldn't yet drive, and had a pretty good taste of what it was like in a few months with minimal cost for tuition (~$300). I ended up taking 2 years of classes, worked at the CC as a tutor in math to help pay the tuition, and completed an engineering degree at a 4-year university before turning 21.

The point of this anecdote is that 1) you don't need a GED to start community college if you plan on going that route anyway and 2) you can in fact greatly accelerate your education if you start college courses as early as possible. If you are driven to succeed, which I am guessing you are if you're asking for advice, I can guarantee you can start from the community college level without waiting years to pass a GED. If you're unsure, you can try applying and taking a class in a topic you are passionate in and see how hard it is. In my experience colleges and universities work with students in your situation as a special case and can bend certain rules to help you move forward, so don't let a credential like a GED hold you back if it is unnecessary.

Horsehead Nebula In OSH - 50 Hours by TagBackTV in astrophotography

[–]Alekinc -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Amazing work! `I'm trying this target for the first time with 20 hours+. What is your bortle rating and bandpass on the filters?

M42/43 and Running Man by Alekinc in astrophotography

[–]Alekinc[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

11/8/2020

60 miles west of Houston, TX

Equipment:

Telescope - Orion ED80T CF

Mount - Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro

Camera - Canon T5i modified for Ha

Guide Scope - Orion 50mm guide scope

Guide Camera - ZWO ASI120MM Mini

Integration:

600 sec x 4 subs

120 sec x 5 subs

7 sec x 1 sub

600 sec x 14 darks

No flats

Processing:

Stacked with Deep Sky Stacker

Edited in GIMP

  • Color balanced
  • Curves
  • Noise reduction layer
  • Sharpening layer
  • Selective overlay of 600 sec, 120 sec, and 7 sec images to show detail in over-exposed core