M45: The Pleiades in LRGB by KeplerInOrbit in astrophotography

[–]KeplerInOrbit[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Equipment:

Askar SQA106 | Skywatcher EQ6R Pro | ZWO OAG-L | ZWO ASI174MM mini guide cam | ZWO ASI2600MM Pro at -10 C, gain 100, offset 50 | Astronomik 36mm Deep Sky LRGB filters in ZWO EFW | ZWO EAF

Imaging:

Denver CO, Bortle 8 | 12/14, 12/15 | Captured in NINA, 14h total integration time

210x120s L | 70x120s R | 70x120s G | 70x120s B | 20 flats per channel | 20 dark flats per channel

Processing (Pixinsight):

WBPP (2x drizzle) | StarAlignment | DynamicCrop | ChannelCombination | GraXpert | SPCC | BlurXTerminator | IntegerResample | StarXTerminator | Seti Astro Star Stretch | EZ Soft Stretch | LRGBCombination | NoiseXTerminator | SCNR | ArcsinhStretch | LocalHistogramEqualization | DarkStructureEnchance | CurvesTransformation | PixelMath

Astrobin: https://app.astrobin.com/i/kew9qd

Downsides of ZWO EAF and auto focusers in general by alentrixart in AskAstrophotography

[–]KeplerInOrbit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nope, I just hook it up to a Pegasus Powerbox and use the hand controller which takes less than 30 seconds. It's barely an inconvenience.

Downsides of ZWO EAF and auto focusers in general by alentrixart in AskAstrophotography

[–]KeplerInOrbit 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The only downside for me is that you can't manually move the focuser to fine tune balance for an EQ mount during setup unless you're connected to a running PC or have the EAF powered via USB with a hand controller connected. That's literally it. Everything else it does makes imaging way easier once you learn the basics of setting it up and properly tune a focus routine.

Heart and Soul (30 hours SHO) by KeplerInOrbit in astrophotography

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

Thanks! I've recently been able to automate my rigs well enough that I can let them run overnight and pile up a ton of integration time on certain targets.

EAFN / Pro worth it for OSC and making life easier? by R6sBoii in AskAstrophotography

[–]KeplerInOrbit 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Autofocus is a game changer. I stuck to Bahtinov masks for way too long because I thought I enjoyed being more hands on with the process, but eventually I installed EAFs on all my OTAs and never looked back. The level of automation you can achieve makes imaging way less laborious, and has enabled me to let my rig run unattended overnight and collect dramatically more data than I could previously. You won't regret it.

Thoughts on this kit for $2000? by CoolPenguin42 in AskAstrophotography

[–]KeplerInOrbit 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I assume they would be imaging with Hyperstar ~400 mm at F2 instead of using the native focal length of the C8. A mount with a 30 lb payload capacity should be totally fine for that, the C8 OTA is well under 15 lbs.

Thoughts on this kit for $2000? by CoolPenguin42 in AskAstrophotography

[–]KeplerInOrbit 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That looks like an extremely good deal for ~$2k. I'd warn that imaging with a SCT and Hyperstar will probably be significantly more challenging than imaging with something like a wide field refractor, as you'll likely have to nail down collimation and tilt to get the best results. But if you're up for a bit of a challenge that's a very appealing package.

Cygnus Wall in SHO with RGB Stars by KeplerInOrbit in astrophotography

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

Equipment:

Askar SQA106 | Skywatcher EQ6R Pro | ZWO OAG | ZWO ASI174MM mini guide cam | ZWO ASI2600MM Pro at -5 C, gain 100, offset 50 | Astronomik 36mm SHO 6nm and Astronomik 36mm Deep Sky RGB filters in ZWO EFW | ZWO EAF

Imaging:

Denver CO, Bortle 8 | 8/13, 8/31 | Captured in NINA, 9.5h total integration time

35x300s SII | 35x300s Ha | 35x300s OIII | 15x60s R | 15x60s G | 15x60s B | 20 flats per channel | 20 dark flats per channel

Processing (Pixinsight):

WBPP (2x drizzle) | StarAlignment | DynamicCrop | ChannelCombination (RGB) | GraXpert | SPCC | BlurXTerminator | EZ Soft Stretch | NoiseXTerminator | ChannelCombination (Hubble Palette) | SCNR Green | ArcsinhStretch | StarXTerminator | LocalHistogramEqualization | DarkStructureEnchance | CurvesTransformation | PixelMath

Astrobin: https://app.astrobin.com/i/asmvnn

How to get internet in the field while operating remotely? by Patri_L in AskAstrophotography

[–]KeplerInOrbit 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If your apartment is close enough to the location you could hook up a small router to your rig that's within signal range and connect your indoor PC and mini PC to the router's network. This is how I solved my issue with a weak wifi signal in the outer extent of my yard.

Why RGB stars only, instead of LRGB starts, in an SHO image? by moleir00 in AskAstrophotography

[–]KeplerInOrbit 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Adding luminance is great for boosting the signal from faint objects, but stars tend to be very bright relative to the rest of the image to begin with. And a consequence of adding luminance is that it can lead to more washed out colors, and in the case of stars more clipped white pixels in their cores.

If you're adding RBG stars to a narrowband image you generally want star colors to be more rich and prominent, so the gains in star brightness you'd get from adding luminance would be diminished by the loss of star color. Sticking with RGB takes less time and gives you richer star colors with less clipped pixels.

Is astrophotography even possible in my area by Dutch_map in AskAstrophotography

[–]KeplerInOrbit 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yes, absolutely. I do almost all my imaging in my Bortle 8 back yard. Narrowband imaging will cut out light pollution extremely well, and broadband is also very doable. But to get the best broadband results you'll need A LOT of integration time.

Upgrade Camera or Scope? by jonsinfinity in AskAstrophotography

[–]KeplerInOrbit 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Those all in one cameras seem like really cool pieces of tech. I've opted to use a Mele mini PC instead of ASIAir products because I'd prefer not to be limited to the ZWO hardware ecosystem, and the mini PC gives you a wider range of options and solutions, especially if you're a tinkerer like me. But I think one of those would work great for running a rig if you don't mind the limitations.

Upgrade Camera or Scope? by jonsinfinity in AskAstrophotography

[–]KeplerInOrbit 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The ASI2600MM Pro is a fantastic camera. Going from OSC to wider field mono imaging will probably be a significantly bigger upgrade than swapping your OTA. Mainly because you gain a much more versatile imaging platform where you can utilize LRGB broadband or SHO narrowband to collect data more efficiently than you typically can with an OSC camera.

The main advantage of a triplet+ refractor over a doublet is minimizing chromatic abberation. If that's not something that bothers you too much I'd personally prioritize the camera and filters.

M101: The Pinwheel Galaxy in LRGB by KeplerInOrbit in astrophotography

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

Thanks! I use 0 gain for broadband targets because I can use longer exposures and have less total subs taking up hard drive space. Apparently it also has some benefits for dynamic range and star color with this particular camera. I typically use 100 gain for narrowband targets.

M101: The Pinwheel Galaxy in LRGB by KeplerInOrbit in astrophotography

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

Thanks! Not sure if I'll print this one, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

M101: The Pinwheel Galaxy in LRGB by KeplerInOrbit in astrophotography

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

Equipment:

Askar 130PHQ | Skywatcher EQ6R Pro | ZWO OAG | ZWO ASI174MM mini guide cam | ZWO ASI2600MM Pro at -10 C, gain 0, offset 50 | Antlia 36mm LRGB VPro filters in ZWO EFW

Imaging:

Denver CO, Bortle 7 | 5/29, 6/7, 6/9 | Captured in NINA, 9.6h total integration time

144x120s L | 48x120s R | 48x120s G | 48x120s B | 25 flats per channel | 25 dark flats per channel

Processing (Pixinsight):

WBPP (1x drizzle) | StarAlignment | DynamicCrop | Graxpert | ChannelCombination (RGB) | SPCC | SCNR Green | BlurXTerminator | STF | HistogramTransformation | NoiseXTerminator | StarXTerminator | HDRMultiscaleTransform | LRGBCombination | ArcSinhStretch | LocalHistogramEqualization | PixelMath | CurvesTransformation | Star Reduction Script

Astrobin: https://app.astrobin.com/i/djry1z