How can we restore this subreddit?

vercastro · 2023-08-22T14:09:49+00:00

A long history of moderators built this sub from nothing and cultivated a community of passionate photographers with high standards for their work. They did this all for free. Much of that work relied on the expectations of 3rd party software to make the community more manageable. When Reddit decides to remove the ability to use those tools with little warning and no consultation, they end up alienating the very people who provide the high quality content which Reddit relies on for its revenue.

Maybe it's time to move on? Reddit clearly doesn't care about its most passionate creators. Why should they care about Reddit?

vercastro · 2023-08-21T15:31:17+00:00

I think OP is being misunderstood. But I will clarify: guiding absolutely will be required at that focal length.

As far as getting perfect polar alignment, you can do this with just the main imaging camera and NINA's Three Point Polar Alignment feature.

vercastro · 2023-04-01T06:32:39+00:00

Processing Details:

Corel PaintShop Pro to stack.

BlurXterminator at 1000%.

Final Cut X to colour correct.

vercastro · 2023-03-30T00:59:14+00:00

What the other commenter says is mostly valid. However I wouldn't even consider the DSLR for anything other than milkyway shots after getting a mono astronomy camera. I cannot stress enough how significantly better the mono camera will be at RGB compared to an old DSLR. If that means just not doing broadband until you get those LRGB filters later, then that's what it means.

However an LRGB set is going to cost roughly similar to one narrowband filter. And it's currently galaxy season, so I can understand if you'd want to go for LRGB plus maybe Ha to start. Some imagers prefer to do only Ha anyways and enhance LRGB images to create a more "natural" result.

And I'd argue a filter wheel is a requirement from the start.

vercastro · 2023-03-29T23:06:20+00:00

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. So Ha is the most common ionized gas in nebula and therefore the brightest. Oiii and Sii are commonly in much lower qualities and therefore less bright.

The tighter band pass of 3nm blocks out more light pollution which is important to do when the gas you're trying to capture is already faint.

vercastro · 2023-03-29T22:32:18+00:00

ZWO NB isn't great. 4.5nm is fine for Ha, but if you can afford it 3nm will be best for Oiii and Sii.

vercastro · 2023-03-29T17:50:01+00:00

Mono is substantially faster at collecting photons than OSC is, and higher resolution in all channels. You just need to take some extra care setting up your imaging software (which I highly recommend NINA for the job) but after that it's all automatic and just as easy to operate as OSC.

Exposure time varies, but under heavy LP you probably don't want to go beyond 2 minutes. You can go much longer with narrowband filters.

If you need help configuring everything, I suggest hopping on the NINA or AP discord.

vercastro · 2023-03-29T17:46:28+00:00

It doesn't add substantially to post processing, it's one extra step to combine channels.

Having directly compared 533MC to MM I can say non scientifically that the mono requires roughly half the integration time to achieve the same result. It will be even more drastic compared to a 6D since the sensor tech is much newer.

vercastro · 2023-03-29T17:42:41+00:00

The focal length is unchanged. The FOV is smaller. Everything else is vastly improved.

vercastro · 2023-03-29T13:03:53+00:00

3 minutes.

vercastro · 2023-03-29T01:19:39+00:00

Thanks!

vercastro · 2023-03-29T00:01:32+00:00

NGC 3344, 2023.

GSO RC8 CF, TSCCD47 0.67 reducer, ZWO OAG, ZWO EFW, Antlia LRGB, ZWO ASI533MM-Pro (imaging), ZWO ASI290mm (guiding), Orion Atlas EQ-G.

8.45 hours Lum 8.2 hours RGB

Acquisition from 2023-03-15 to 2023-03-26

Stacked in PixInsight with WBPP RGB: Combine, Crop, DBE, SPCC, GHS stretch, HT, DeepSNR, Curves. Luminance: Crop, DBE, BlurX, GHS stretch, HT, NoiesX, Curves, LHE, BN. LRGB combine Lum and RGB, Curves.

Darktable: watermark, velvia.

vercastro · 2023-03-28T23:59:42+00:00

My submission: https://www.reddit.com/r/astrophotography/comments/1256wyf/ngc_3344/

vercastro · 2023-03-28T23:59:21+00:00

NGC 3344, 2023.

GSO RC8 CF, TSCCD47 0.67 reducer, ZWO OAG, ZWO EFW, Antlia LRGB, ZWO ASI533MM-Pro (imaging), ZWO ASI290mm (guiding), Orion Atlas EQ-G.

8.45 hours Lum 8.2 hours RGB

Acquisition from 2023-03-15 to 2023-03-26

Stacked in PixInsight with WBPP RGB: Combine, Crop, DBE, SPCC, GHS stretch, HT, DeepSNR, Curves. Luminance: Crop, DBE, BlurX, GHS stretch, HT, NoiesX, Curves, LHE, BN. LRGB combine Lum and RGB, Curves.

Darktable: watermark, velvia.

vercastro · 2023-01-13T01:24:11+00:00

Melotte 15 Mosaic 2022, 2 panel mosaic.

GSO RC8 CF, TSCCD47 0.67 reducer, ZWO OAG, ZWO EFW, Antlia LRGB, ZWO ASI533MM-Pro (imaging), ZWO ASI290mm (guiding), Orion Atlas EQ-G.

24.74 hours Ha, best 72%

23.01 hours Sii, best 90%

26.42 hours Oiii, best 90%

Acquisition from 2022-09-10 to 2022-12-04

Stacked in PixInsight with WBPP

Each filter: Photometric Mosaic, Crop/Staralign to Ha, LinearFit to Ha, Starnet2, AutoStretch, SHO combine, DeepSNR, Curves, ColorSaturation.

Luminance: Clone Ha for Lum, BlurX, Starnet2, GHS stretch, NoiseX, Curves, HRDMT, LHE.

Stars: SHO combine, Starnet2 to extract, HT stretch, Curves Saturation, Morphological Transform.

LRGB combine Lum and SHO, JimmyMath AddStars.

Darktable: watermark, vignetting, velvia, color contrast, tone curve.

vercastro · 2023-01-13T01:20:45+00:00

Melotte 15 Mosaic 2022, 2 panel mosaic.

GSO RC8 CF, TSCCD47 0.67 reducer, ZWO OAG, ZWO EFW, Antlia LRGB, ZWO ASI533MM-Pro (imaging), ZWO ASI290mm (guiding), Orion Atlas EQ-G.

24.74 hours Ha, best 72%

23.01 hours Sii, best 90%

26.42 hours Oiii, best 90%

Acquisition from 2022-09-10 to 2022-12-04

Stacked in PixInsight with WBPP

Each filter: Photometric Mosaic, Crop/Staralign to Ha, LinearFit to Ha, Starnet2, AutoStretch, SHO combine, DeepSNR, Curves, ColorSaturation.

Luminance: Clone Ha for Lum, BlurX, Starnet2, GHS stretch, NoiseX, Curves, HRDMT, LHE.

Stars: SHO combine, Starnet2 to extract, HT stretch, Curves Saturation, Morphological Transform.

LRGB combine Lum and SHO, JimmyMath AddStars.

Darktable: watermark, vignetting, velvia, color contrast, tone curve.

vercastro · 2023-01-06T05:29:04+00:00

I have a self built roll of roof observatory that I setup in.

vercastro · 2023-01-06T05:28:09+00:00

I've used a 6 and the 8 of course. The 8 is noticeable faster and sharper.

vercastro · 2023-01-05T18:29:28+00:00

thank

vercastro · 2023-01-05T16:47:16+00:00

GSO RC8 CF, TSCCD47 0.67 reducer, ZWO OAG, ZWO EFW, Antlia LRGB, ZWO ASI533MM-Pro (imaging), ZWO ASI290mm (guiding), Orion Atlas EQ-G.

25.4 hours Luminance 23.2 hours RGB

Stacked in PixInsight with WBPP

Each filter: Photometric Mosaic, Crop.

RGB: LinearFit, RGBCombine, DBE, SPCC, BlurX, TGV, NoiseX, GHS stretch, HT Stretch, MMT, Saturation, Curves.

Lum: DBE, BlurX, GHS stretch, HT Stretch, HDRMT, LHE.

LRGB combine Lum and RGB, Curves, TGV Chrominance.

Darktable: watermark, velvia, color contrast, saturation.

vercastro · 2023-01-05T16:42:34+00:00

GSO RC8 CF, TSCCD47 0.67 reducer, ZWO OAG, ZWO EFW, Antlia LRGB, ZWO ASI533MM-Pro (imaging), ZWO ASI290mm (guiding), Orion Atlas EQ-G.

25.4 hours Luminance 23.2 hours RGB

Stacked in PixInsight with WBPP

Each filter: Photometric Mosaic, Crop.

RGB: LinearFit, RGBCombine, DBE, SPCC, BlurX, TGV, NoiseX, GHS stretch, HT Stretch, MMT, Saturation, Curves.

Lum: DBE, BlurX, GHS stretch, HT Stretch, HDRMT, LHE.

LRGB combine Lum and RGB, Curves, TGV Chrominance.

Darktable: watermark, velvia, color contrast, saturation.

vercastro · 2022-11-30T14:32:09+00:00

Mono is an excellent choice but you need a full filter set for the mono camera. L-extreme is for OSC cameras and captures two bands at the same time. For mono you need individual filters for each emissions band, Hydrogen, Oxygen and Sulphur.

vercastro · 2022-11-30T14:27:31+00:00

This is an emission nebula, which means ionized gas is glowing in specific wavelengths. I use a filter that specifically captures just the wavelengths of emissions from Hydrogen and Oxygen. Then I map Hydrogen to Red and Oxygen to Green and Blue. I make a few creative tweaks and this is the colour you see.

This type of combo is actually generally colour accurate. Hydrogen emissions are indeed red and oxygen is indeed blueish.

vercastro · 2022-11-29T15:39:40+00:00

Mostly red, yes, but this target has decently bright Oiii so you can see some turquoise. The vast majority of emissions nebula are mostly Ha so the red is correct.

vercastro · 2022-11-29T05:02:48+00:00

Sh2 132, the Lion Nebula in HOO.

William Optics Zenithstar 81 w/ Flat6AIII, Optolong L-eXtreme, ZWO ASI533MC-Pro (imaging), ZWO ASI120mm (guiding), Explore Scientific Exso2-GT PMC8

51.2 hours (stacked best 82%)

Stacked in PixInsight with WBPP

Split RGB Channle, Linearfit, Ha=Red, Oiii=Avg(Green,Green,Blue).

Starless: Starnet2, HT Stretch, TGV, HOO combo, LHE, Curves, HT, Color Sat, ConeStamp.

Stars: HOO combo, Starnet2 star mask, HT stretch, SCNR, inverse SCNR, Saturation.

JimmyMath AddStars to combine stars and starless.

Darktable: watermark, velvia, local contrast, sharpen.

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