Light pollution problem

[Cosmic]

Hi all,

So I just made a cooler for my d610, not bad hangs around 10' (30' room temp) Noise is kind of sorted...check :thumbsup:

Telescope pier moved and waterproof marine ply box made..check :thumbsup:

The hardest one to beat, light pollution. A street light sits around 30m away..just want to shoot it out. Question is, has anyone used the Astronomilk CLS filters on a unmodified dslr. How much will it change the color balance as stated, captures welcome.

Many thanks :D

http://www.bintel.com.au/Accessories/Filters/Astronomik-CLS--2--/859/productview.aspx

[Cosmic]

I also dont like that word "budget" so if anyone can point me in the Nikon light pollution solution path..that would be great :)

[skysurfer]

Do not use this. It destroys the colors and can hardly be recovered by manipulating the white balance with PS or Darktable. Shades of orange become red.
You can better use the Astronomik UHC-S or Baader UHC-E. Hutech LPS-P1 does color balance better, but filters out sodium light poorly.

And about the streetlamp, what kind of lamp is it ?

- LPS: Very easy to filter out with any astronomical filter.
- HPS: Easy to filter out, but leaves a bit more other wavelengths.
- LED: Tough, but using UHC, Halpha or OIII does help as the white LED spectrum has a strong dip around OIII and Halpha output is also considerably lower.
- Fluorescent: Can be filtered out as it has strong peaks at the green Hg 546 and blue 435nm which are blocked by most filters.

Consult your town council.

[glend]

Daniel what 'kind' of street light is it? The CLS filters only block some of the common older style of urban lighting bandwidths. Many local government areas are moving to replace older lights with LEDS. LED streetlights, while saving money for government, are terrible for astronomy as they are broad spectrum white lights. If it is a LED street light then a CLS will do almost nothing. You could try narrowband imaging, which only allows through Ha, OIII, SII, etc but it requires longer exposures, and makes focusing and framing harder. good luck

[blink138]

maybe it is easier to block the light somehow?
pat

[glend]

You could make a spray paint drone like this one:

http://www.vice.com/read/katsu-shows-you-how-to-make-a-graffiti-drone-456

Just fly it up to the light and unload some black paint over the light shroud.

It's a great solution if the light is on someone else's property and keeps you out of sight (you just need line of sight to the light for spoting and signal to the drone).

If you can get access to the pole there are extension poles that could be turned into spray paint can holders.
Shooting out lights is a bad idea and likely to get you in trouble - even in the NT!

[blink138]

ha ha but spray painting them is fine?, i think you will find either way it is vandalism!
pat

[glend]

I think you will find discharging a gun in a built up area is considered much more seriously by the authoritues and may draw a visit by the SWAT team.

[Cosmic]

Excellent thanks for taking the time, great info there :thumbsup: Well turns out mine are HPS, so all hope isn't lost. I'll now to humm and harr about which filter to go in the chain. (8' newton)
https://goo.gl/photos/tHHV1jjL8GnoAzCH9

Thanks for the ideas team, ill let you know what I decided when it comes time. I'll leave the gun idea..more a metaphor :P The spray can idea I like :) new area here so the streets are semi quiet.

Bty this is my cold box I put together a few nights ago now. All good fun.

https://goo.gl/photos/AmcYREHBoj3uwpBi9
https://goo.gl/photos/GQ1tY1r4jugEVqUo9 300sec @1600 cropped left corner.

[Cosmic]

Thanks glend! If all else fails ill look at narrowband imaging, mind you some of these NBI look absolutely awesome!! I very happy there are no LED street lights here, makes the battle easier.

[vlazg]

Hi Dan, i have a cls filter you can try first to see what happens if you want.
George

[jenchris]

Hitachi angle grinder filter is noisy but works well.
Light pollution hah... more like heavy pollution

[Cosmic]

That sounds great George, ill get in touch with you soon :) Over the next week ill be testing all my equipment,...looks like a nice clear night tonight, just a bit of wind kicking about.

I'm on a bit of an elevation...I see disappointment in all directions haha. Hmm just one lighting up my yard...its time will come haha.

[Cosmic]

Painful sight, but I have some faith in PixInsight to help me.
https://goo.gl/photos/p2q5cTbFZxUfCHY96

[blink138]

they are still both bloody stupid ideas!
pat