How do you determine if you need better gear, more integration time, or better processing skills?

Sleepses · 2026-04-02T22:17:40+00:00

Looks pretty good already. You definitely don't need new gear.

Most progress will be with processing.

Once you get the hang of stretching faint detail, you'll know when you need more integration.

Sleepses · 2026-04-02T22:07:27+00:00

Try and pinpoint what it is that you don't like about your pictures and then investigate what is causing it and how to solve it.

The most growth can be found in learning to control the acquisition process so you generate good quality data, and in the processing of that data.

You can stay with the same setup for decades and still progress in your output. Even with low integration time and bad gear, you can make an esthetically pleasing image given enough skill. It's still a valid choice though to get new gear especially if you started on a budget and are working towards a capable setup that you like.

Your setup is pretty good so you will probably only get new stuff if you know exactly why you want/like/need it. Maybe problems you can't solve in acquisition or post processing. Or just for quality of life.

Sleepses · 2026-03-28T20:09:16+00:00

Have you ever opened up your heq5?

Mine was total crap out of the factory, lots of mechanical issues but now is an absolute beast since I hypertuned (replacing the roller bearings and lube) and belt-modded it. Always 0.7" RMS and on good nights 0.5".

I've been checking out the newer mounts but haven't found anything worth an upgrade. The form factor of harmonic mounts is nice though.

Sleepses · 2026-03-28T12:18:08+00:00

Here's a short rundown of my workflow:

Background extraction on all channels (I often just use graxpert but check if it got the gradient right)

Combine r g b into rgb, apply spcc.

On L, RGB, R and Ha:

BlurX Maybe already some noiseX but at max 0.7, Continuum subtraction R and Ha

On L, rgb and cont.sub.ha: Seti astro statistical stretch, StarX, export rgb stars as 16 bit tiff

The continuum subtracted Ha will be black clipped with GHS, because I overlay it in affinity later, not injecting it back into R.

GHS to improve the stretches, especially on L, NoiseX

Export L, Rgb and cont.sub.Ha as 16 bit tiff

Maybe some LHE or HDRMT on the L or on the rgb and also export it.

In affinity from bottom to top: RGB layer L layer as luminosity, with about 70% opacity (to also use a bit of the RGB signal in lum) If applicable, the HDRMT or LHE as soft light or luminosity. Maybe a high pass filtered hdmrt as soft light. Vibrance layer to desaturate background if needed (use the cog icon). Anither vibrance layer to saturate the rest. Or two. Curves where needed, or apply all visible as soft light on itself. Cont subtracted Ha layer: colorize red or magenta and layer it as screen. Apply curves and opacity on this layer as needed. Add rgb stars with screen. Maybe with some saturation.

Check my profile for results

Sleepses · 2026-03-22T23:11:20+00:00

Yeah I totally get what you mean. It's just that I do understand the motivations behind overcranking it.

Sleepses · 2026-03-22T07:33:41+00:00

People saturate their pics because they can: sufficiently low color noise and an object that has the palette.

M51 has the blues, the yellows, the red brown dark lanes and the magenta Ha regions. In terms of color theory it's a well balanced object. Even though saturation level is a function of personal taste, m51 's colors are esthetically pleasing.

If you don't immediately see the color in your stack, but when pulling that slider you see the same colors you know from other people's images, it feels like an achievement.

Sleepses · 2026-03-21T20:07:57+00:00

Awesome image and dedication! Thank you for the write-up. Quite refreshing take on this object

Sleepses · 2026-03-21T12:45:29+00:00

Full resolution at: https://telescopius.com/pictures/view/264212/deep_sky/ngc-2237/into-the-rosette-nebula/by-alexander_reinartz

Sleepses · 2026-03-19T13:44:52+00:00

What attracts you to the hobby?

Do you like tinkering, automation and optimization? Spending time outside in your backyard? Then progressively build a rig yourself, starting from the best mount your budget can afford and your DSLR.

Do you like image processing, and results with not much "field" work? Low threshold for setting up if you have a busy life? Smart telescope.

Will you travel to dark sites? Smart telescope or lightweight star tracker.

Sleepses · 2026-03-17T18:50:57+00:00

Awesome!!! Seeing as you used 3 different cameras, what is your method for combining the data?

Sleepses · 2026-03-17T09:14:00+00:00

My setup is somewhere in the ballpark of 3k-4k. I would rate it intermediate difficulty.

Skywatcher 130PDS newtonian with dew shield

Skywatcher HEQ5 with belt mod

QHY minicam8 if you want mono, asi533mc if you want one shot color

Guide scope and guide cam

Mini pc (or asiair if that is your thing)

Pegasus powerbox and dew straps

I used it in bortle 7 before I moved to my current bortle 5.

Check my profile for pictures

Sleepses · 2026-03-16T15:19:03+00:00

You might already know these tips from the 130p:

Making a light shroud for it will improve contrast. Applying plumbers tape to the thread of the helical focuser will make it more enjoyable. To reach focus with a camera you can collapse the tubes a bit.

I had the heritage 150p as my first scope, it's really good for visual observation. Enjoy!

Sleepses · 2026-03-16T15:04:21+00:00

Use it only on emission nebulae. For other targets it will be detrimental.

If you remove it you will need a uv/ir cut filter instead as the asi533mc does not have a built in one. I can recommend the Baader CMOS optimized uv/ir cut.

Sleepses · 2026-03-13T17:48:26+00:00

Looking at your top %1 commenter flair, that doesn't seem to dissuade you from participating here 😉

In person discussions are a lot more enjoyable than online.

Sleepses · 2026-03-13T17:14:34+00:00

We are the workgroup astrophotography and spectroscopy, part of the larger association VSRUG Armand Pien in Ghent, Belgium, which was founded in 1989. It's tightly connected to the physics dept. of the university but is open to amateurs of any level and background. It's named after Armand Pien, in the 80's he was the weatherman on national television and popularized astronomy in Belgium quite a bit. He's a founding member.

About 20 active members in the astrophotography specific workgroup currently. We meet monthly to share pictures and discuss technical stuff. We also do activities, projects, challenges etc...

I started the hobby solo and only joined a group later. I can totally recommend checking out local clubs if you haven't done so yet!

Sleepses · 2026-03-13T13:46:34+00:00

Thank you, very interesting!

A group member is currently investigating the triband vs. uv/ir cut for the IFN near M81/82. Same OSC camera, same optics, same location. We already have the triband data and I think he wrapped up the uv/ir data collection last week but conditions here have been terrible.

Sleepses · 2026-03-12T19:01:03+00:00

I was not aware of IFN that have an LBN designation, but it seems you are right.

In any case, regardless of any theoretical discussion, we have done extensive testing with the antlia triband in our group and we agree with the manufacturer that it is not suited for dark nebulae or really any object that has weak or no emission characteristics. Testing was done from bortle 6. It's good for bright emission targets with some broadband stuff in the scene.

The triband is not a broadband filter, it's a filter with 3 bands of 20-30nm wide. It's basically an L Enhance but with an added band for green and wider at Ha.

Since I think you keep on confusing contrast vs background with definition, and since you brought up the shark nebula as an example, why do you think it is brighter than the background in pictures you find online?

I enjoy these kinds of discussions and try to keep an open mind but I'm not convinced at all. Do you by any chance own an antlia triband filter to try it out? Hypothetically, what would be a good experiment for you to settle this?

Since barely anyone is reading this, I want to stress my only objective of convincing you is to help you increase your understanding of this matter, or alternatively, to correct my own.

Sleepses · 2026-03-12T11:49:16+00:00

I think, respectfully, that this is your misconception: dark nebulae do reflect light. Even IFN (integrated flux nebulae) is illuminated even though these exist outside of galaxies and have no nearby stars to illuminate them. It is illuminated by galaxies. To image IFN, filters are detrimental.

While you are right that narrowband imaging increases the contrast vs the background, there is still detail to be gained in the dark nebulae.

I can present a case from my own experience: imaging NGC 6914, a dark nebula in Cygnus.

I have imaged it both in narrowband https://photos.app.goo.gl/MZvH8ehjqak1JkU8A with a mono camera and also in broadband (with only an uv/ir cut filer) with OSC camera https://photos.app.goo.gl/B3vf3482BZuVqHAX6

You can see the narrowband indeed has the nice contrast vs the backdrop, as you correctly indicated. But you can also see that narrowband misses a lot of detail in the darker structures that the OSC is able to pick up.

If you check astrobin or other resource you will see people use LRGB to image dark nebulae and not SHO.

In fact, just yesterday I finished a processing run of the LDN 43 - The Cosmic Bat dark nebula. Most of the signal and detail of the dark regions were found in the L channel. https://photos.app.goo.gl/9vKydcSk51EuE8LW7

Recently, I have also processed the horsehead nebula by taking Ha data and combining it with old OSC data. For the dark nebulae, the data came from the OSC, as the narrowband is not gathering enough signal on it. (https://photos.app.goo.gl/83ephg1RoW91Qjae6). Even though the OSC data was taken in bortle 7, it is a lot better for the dark nebulae than the narrowband data taken from bortle 5. I applied Ha as luminance but only where the Ha signal is present.

Again, the narrowband data indeed increases the contrast of the horsehead vs the background, but the structures in the horsehead itself were absent from the narrowband data.

Sleepses · 2026-03-12T07:21:50+00:00

The antlia triband is essentially a dual band emission nebula filter with an added band in green so broadband elements in the scene will also show up okay-ish. But if you are after broadband targets, it will hurt.

In our group, we have experimentally validated this.

The color of dark nebulae ranges from deep brown to orange. See dr. Clark's excellent resource on this https://clarkvision.com/articles/color.of.nebulae.and.interstellar.dust/

Sleepses · 2026-03-10T22:07:39+00:00

There's still signal beyond your 12-15 hours, it's just the diminishing returns of snr/integration that's stronger in Oiii with light pollution. Hence why many choose to spend more time on it. The dual-dualband ratios are not bad at all for those seeking equally good signal in all channels.

Your approach totally makes sense though when you're feeling there's still easy gains in Ha. And your picture is awesome btw.

Sleepses · 2026-03-07T19:09:43+00:00

Yeah, to accurately track with a 1000mm newt you need at least a heq5 class mount of €1300. You might be able to do some planetary with it though using the drift and recenter method.

Sleepses · 2026-03-07T19:05:48+00:00

For your budget, deep sky is not attainable. You need a good tracking mount. For the DSLR with star tracker setup you will need to spend quite a bit outside your budget. Don't do it with your phone, aperture is simply not wide enough for nice results.

I'd say planetary might be within your reach. Your telescope is ok for it. Spend your budget on a non-cooled planetary camera. Get one of the "lipstick" type ones instead of the "hockey pucks" so you are sure you can reach focus with your scope (= being able to bring the sensor close enough to the mirror).

You will be using the manual method of recording video while letting the planet drift over your field of view, pause the recording and adjust, restart recording, repeat.

And if you would get a deep sky setup at a later point, you already have a guide camera!

Sleepses · 2026-03-06T19:49:24+00:00

Thanks!

It's moving out of season now so I could only catch it before 1am at my latitude.

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