9.5 minutes on NGC253 - not the best quality, but recognisable

[Shiraz]

As an exercise, tried putting together the very smallest amount of data to form an image of NGC253 using the ASI1600. This was a stack of 6x60second lum plus 1x60sec R,G and 1x90 sec B for a total of 9.5 minutes - final result was software binned 2x2 and cropped to fit the 200k limit.

It certainly isn't the best possible quality, but it does demonstrate just how far the new CMOS chips have come. Thanks for looking - hope it was interesting. a real version of NGC253 is in the pipeline. regards Ray

[cometcatcher]

Blimey, that took me 4 hours to do as much detail on my 6 YO DSLR.

[gregbradley]

Sure does demonstrate it That's a crazy good result for 9.5 minutes.

Greg.

[Slawomir]

Wow, very powerful demonstration of how effective these cameras can be in capable hands :thumbsup:

[Placidus]

We're sold. :eyepop:

[alpal]

That's amazing Ray,
what telescope did you use?

cheers
Allan

[Atmos]

Very nice Ray!
Amazing for such a short time!

[RickS]

Very impressive, Ray. I'll jump on board as soon as we see large sensors with read noise that low :)

Cheers,
Rick.

[Peter Ward]

An interesting result, but I can't see any evidence of the many faint field galaxies in the background, or filigree structure within 253 itself..which I'm sure are within easy reach of your rig, but will no doubt take more than 10 minutes.

It would be nice if the lack of noise magically captured more flux :)

[SimmoW]

Nice demo for us lazy sods Ray!

Now do 3600 subs, report back results :)

[Shiraz]

Thanks Kevin. it seems that quite a bit of detail can be extracted from miniscule data - not the best way to use it, but an option if the weather gets in the way.


thanks Greg. was looking at the subs and thought - I wonder... better than I thought it would be.


thanks Suavi. maybe not a practical way to use the camera, but at least an indication of what it does.

well, maybe. will need much bigger pixels for your system though.


thanks Allan. This is with a Skywatcher 250f4 Newtonian.


thanks Colin. this winter has favoured ultra short imaging sessions:P


thanks Rick. There are quite a few large CMOS sensors around that will outperform this one - none of them are mono though. we can hope.


Thanks Peter. no, the fine detail isn't there, but I was surprised to find anything much at all. however, more detected photons would help.


don't blame me for your work ethic :lol:
a real version is in the pipeline.

regards Ray

[topheart]

Good on you Ray - I am looking forward to your promised real thing NGC253!
Cheers,
Tim

[Ken]

Hi Ray that is impressive for such short imaging time. I placed a order with Bintel two days ago for one of these cameras, looking forward to trying it out.
Clear skies Ken.

[Shiraz]

thanks Tim. the real one is on the way - the only problem with these cameras is the time needed to process half a thousand subs when going deep!


Am sure you will enjoy it Ken. If any use to you, the USB downloads are very fast, but somewhat less than bulletproof and the following may help you get going without too much pain:
use the latest available drivers and capture software (there were some early teething issues getting the various packages and camera firmware to talk ASCOM reliably),
use the supplied USB cable while getting it up and running,
in the ASCOM setup for the camera, use a gain of ~70, offset of ~20 and set the USB to 45 if your PC does not support USB3 or 75-80 if it does.
in the PC advanced power management, turn off the "USB selective suspend" - not really sure how much difference this makes, but my system seems to have been rock stable since I did this.

[Ken]

Thanks Ray for all that info, I think I will use my newer laptop for the 1600 as my old astro laptop I run my Qhy 9 from is usb2 only.
After reading all the posts on this thread you guys have had to sort through some issues but it sounds like the camera is a winner.
Clear skies Ken.