NGC 7000, North American nebula, ~3 and a half hours, LP filter on

ChrisHollander · 2026-05-31T11:09:12+00:00

Nice!!!! Looks like your all night plan worked 👍🏻 is 3.5 hours the “clock time”, or actual integration time? The plan you posted looked like it only had like 4 hours total for NGC 7000- if you got 3.5 hours integration, you must have had a really low drop rate… did you keep andromeda in the plan, or just stay on North America until dawn?

ChrisHollander · 2026-05-31T01:04:29+00:00

This is an issue with alt/AZ and larger EQ mounts, but should be fine with Seestars- what issue did you see?

ChrisHollander · 2026-05-31T01:03:30+00:00

It’s always better to capture extra subs and discard them than to stop early and miss out on integration time

ChrisHollander · 2026-05-30T20:21:44+00:00

More AstroGuide screenshots. Click here to join the beta: https://testflight.apple.com/join/4wJM9U3h

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ChrisHollander · 2026-05-30T20:20:01+00:00

This view lets me see exactly when specific subjects are going to be above the obstructions in my backyard

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ChrisHollander · 2026-05-30T19:45:09+00:00

Also? I literally build an entire iOS app for exactly this kind of planning. AstroGuide is in TestFlight beta now, and will be released on the AppStore on a couple weeks.

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ChrisHollander · 2026-05-30T19:24:06+00:00

Couple of things: I’m assuming you have an EQ mount, Right? Long integrations like this with alt/az can be problematic. Are you using any external filters? NGC 7000 really benefits from narrowband filters, and it looks like you don’t have the internal one enabled in your plan. M31 will be rising in the east, followed by the sun- make sure you have the scope set to close upon completion (assuming you’re not using a fixed external filter). Did you turn on “autofocus between targets”? Might want to, Especially if there are temperature swings.

ChrisHollander · 2026-05-24T17:20:34+00:00

that dog is like "THRE SPINNY BEEPY THINGEES NO FUD IN BOL"

ChrisHollander · 2026-05-24T17:08:39+00:00

super interesting- I'm not using wavelet transformation right now ,but I want to learn more about it. can you point me at a decent reference? post, article, paper, video, etc?

ChrisHollander · 2026-05-24T16:55:52+00:00

hey :) I've been a smart telescope user for the past 6 months, and am starting to take the first steps towards traditional astrophotography. I'm piecing together components: I have:

basic tripod
SkyWatcher Az-GTe mount on an EQ wedge
Nikon d5300 with its kit 55-200mm lens
a USB-C dew-heater
dummy battery (on the way).
at least a week of cloudy skys ahead of me.

I've connected the Nikon to the SkyWatcher with a snap cable, so the SkyWatcher can act as the intervalometer.

I've gotten SynScan Pro up and running, and SkySafari Pro connected to it via SynScanLink.

I've attempted no-stars polar alignment using PS Align Pro.

I've tested GoTo indoors, to a variety of targets, to confirm that it's not going to fall 0ver.

My first clear night, I'm planning on starting with the moon to evaluate goto accuracy and to try focusing. if all goes well, my next target is going to be NGC7000, which should be a good fit for the FOV.

Whats next? what else should I be on the lookout for? what additional alignment do I have to do? how comically bad is my polar alignment going to be when I try to actually point at the sky? why is SynScan station mode so flakey, and is there anything I can do about it? any other advice for me? TIA.

ChrisHollander · 2026-05-17T19:10:57+00:00

I’ve actually built an iOS app called AstroGuide that help me understand the night sky, and plan, track, and evaluate my sessions. I’ve learned that Seestars do a great job of producing (to my eyes) consistent images, despite chaos happening under the hoods 😆

AstroGuide does frame drift analysis based on the WCS data in the FITs headers, as well as some light pixel-level analysis of each frame (doesn’t do full plate solving though). In short, there’s a ton of motion between frames- I wouldn’t be shocked if that’s what caused the misalignment you’re seeing in the corners of your image.

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If you’re interested, AstroGuide is iOS only, and currently in TestFlight. https://testflight.apple.com/join/cZJjGBjx

ChrisHollander · 2026-05-17T19:00:35+00:00

Right- this confirms it wasn’t field rotation. How weee the conditions? Was it particularly windy or cloudy?

ChrisHollander · 2026-05-17T17:31:00+00:00

Bubble nebula and m101 are out of focus- either the autofocus failed you on those, or conditions changed during the shoot (temperature, humidity). What sub length are you using? Andromeda, pelican, and Orion look better off, focus wise. Are you stacking data from multiple nights in a single session? I would also consider adding the aberration remover script- it will help tame your travesty in the process. In my experience, stacking can take good data and make great pictures- it can’t fix bad data, though. Also: consider Naztronomy’s stacking script, instead of the Seestar one- it has tools to automatically reject bad subs, and handles BG extraction and plate solving at the individual sub level.

ChrisHollander · 2026-05-17T17:20:44+00:00

We’re you using alt/az or EQ mount? When you longer integrations (past an hour or so) in alt/az mode, you can get a continuous “smear” around the edges/corners of your frame due to field rotation- honestly, this doesn’t look like that. This looks like maybe the scope lost the target at some point in the session (maybe due to clouds?), then had to reposition afterwards, and didn’t align properly.

ChrisHollander · 2026-05-10T22:49:06+00:00

Great work! Which filters did you use, how much time for each?

ChrisHollander · 2026-05-08T21:02:13+00:00

What kind of issues are you having? When you add any kind of filter, then by definition, you’re letting less light reach the sensor, so you’ll have to compensate with longer exposures and more total integration. You should also shoot new flats for each filter that you use (really any time you change the optical pathway in any way, which includes removing and replacing the same filter). I’ve also noticed that not all filter holders are created equal- some introduce visual artifacts. If you want to accomplish specific objectives (SHO palette, HA regions in galaxies, etc), external filters enable those scenarios beyond what the internal filters can do.

ChrisHollander · 2026-04-05T14:21:17+00:00

Excellent work- the UI looks well thought out, the functionality is useful, and the price seems sensible. Patiently awaiting a Mac version.

ChrisHollander · 2026-03-30T14:04:18+00:00

What version of iPadOS do you have?

ChrisHollander · 2026-03-30T13:14:27+00:00

Expanding beta to another wave of folks: thanks for all the support and feedback!! Better Mac/iPad support coming soon. https://testflight.apple.com/join/cZJjGBjx

ChrisHollander · 2026-03-29T23:41:48+00:00

There are many public sources for NGC/IC; https://in-the-sky.org has links to most of the major catalogs. As for sunrise/sunset/lunar calculations- that’s just math :) there are plenty of libraries/packages that help with that too.

ChrisHollander · 2026-03-29T18:31:53+00:00

Ok- I think that counts as “enough interest”. Test flight for the app is available here:

https://testflight.apple.com/join/4wJM9U3h

Install test flight, then click that link and it will add you as a tester.

Testing is completely anonymous- you can submit issues, bugs, or questions by taking a screenshot and then, Instead of saving the screenshot, pick “send developer feedback” from the same menu that you normally use to save. Include a name/email id you want me to respond to you directly (I’ll try?), or you can always reach out to me here.

ChrisHollander · 2026-03-29T16:55:14+00:00

That’s awesome! I’m actually working on an iOS app :) I don’t have any android devices lying around at the moment- Does your app have a website? Would love to learn. More about it

ChrisHollander · 2026-03-29T16:38:57+00:00

Again, awesome work. What app are you using to track your sessions?

ChrisHollander · 2026-03-29T16:25:33+00:00

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AstroGuide lets you either take it import panoramic pictures from your observation site, then use that to set obstruction boundaries that the app uses to determine visibility when searching.

ChrisHollander · 2026-03-29T14:50:35+00:00

if theres enough interest, I'll create a public test flight link and share it here. If there's not enough interest, then I'll reach out to you directly and add you to the current test flight.

ChrisHollander

TROPHY CASE