horse with test guiding

[mynameiscd (Andy)]

I finally tried guiding the other night in between rain and clouds.
I tried 4 minute subs but forgot the coma corrector so there's a bit of elongation but overall it seemed to work.
Also tried Astro Pixel Processor for the first time just to make things difficult.
Looks like a good program when i get my head around it.
Its a bit over processed but shows some of the finer clouds.
Next time ill try 800 and 400 ISO.

24 x 240 sec lights
Darks flats and bias applied
Canon 450d modded
ZWO ASI120MC guide camera
Skywatcher 6 inch newt

Thanks for looking

Cheers
Andy

[raymo]

Wow!! Do it again with the coma corrector, and post it in the main forum.
raymo

[Startrek (Martin)]

Andy
That’s an excellent image worthy of posting in the main forum
Alex always said the 6” newt is a great scope for AP and you have certainly proved that with this super image
Yes stars are coma affected in the off axis areas but also very slightly elongated towards the centre as well
What guiding program did you use ?
And what was your guiding error in RA and Dec ?
Do you dither your subs ?
Well done !!!

[mynameiscd (Andy)]

Thanks Raymo and Martin for your kind words.
I was surprised as well considering the weather that night.
Martin when i get home I'll check out my log file in PHD2.
Also I did dithering in backyard Eos
There were a few firsts that night.
First time guiding.
First time using PHD,2
First time using Backyard EOS
First time using APP for processing.
Was a very long night!!!
Cheers
Andy

[Sunfish (Ray)]

Yep. Very very good image. The guiding is a bit of a curve but clearly worth the long night. That Craig Stark who gave away the original code and all the reworking developers, contributing institutes and helpers since all deserve a lot of respect.

[LostInSp_ce]

Great looking Horsey Andy seems like you had a lot to figure out with this one so well done. I don't mind the saturated look but if I'm going to be picky I think that you might have clipped the darks just a fraction. If you pull it back a tad you might be able to bring out a little more of the faint stuff. You say that you'd like to try this again with ISO 400 or 800? Maybe try 400 first since theoretically that's the 450D's sweet spot. Also I have to second Ray's words regarding PHD it's easy for us sometimes to take it for granted, the same goes for DSS and a few others. Without these programs many of us would probably not be where we are in this hobby today.

[mynameiscd (Andy)]

Thanks Ray and LostInSp_ce,
Without these programs most people would give up on astrophotography very quickly or just be satisfied with one frame. I can only imagine how hard stacking would be only using Photoshop. I've worked with a couple of layers that are a bit out and how long it takes so I can only imagine what doing 100 would involve.
And then go back to the film days and manual guiding. A real dedication would be needed.
I'm definitely going to purchase APP but have to learn levels and curves equivalent to stretch like I have been using Photoshop.
Just waiting for a clear night to get back out and try my coma corrector.
Just bought a Ha filter so I'll try something else when the moon is up.
Never enough time!!!!
Cheers
Andy