View Full Version here: : Another WINDY night at the dam
that_guy
18-06-2018, 01:26 PM
After a cloudy debacle on Saturday night, I went back on sunday with absolutely pristine clouds with absolutely dry condition that I didn't even turn on my dew heaters. BUT it was windy as all heck. It would come in gales that would knock things off the table and make guiding impossible. Luckily it died down in increments, enough to at least get something done. Also, it was BLOODY cold! Around 5C at coldest. Also being alone in an open field like this is super spooky, would not recommend.
Tried something different by imaging Barnard 72 (Snake Nebula) and surrounding dark nebulas. Intentionally short exposures to try and bring out the star colours which I managed to do with some success but I feel like it's too soft(?)
20x 120sec RGB each Astrobin Link here! (https://www.astrobin.com/351679/?nc=user)
Just as my laptop was reaching 30% battery, I managed to grab some data on Dumbell, something I haven't done since this time last year. Very short integration, I was hoping to get helix as well but laptop died mid capture for the dumbell. Need another battery!
10x180sec L, 120sec RGB each (6x for blue since laptop died) Astrobin Link here! (https://www.astrobin.com/351680/?nc=user)
Thanks for viewing! :hi: Feedback is always appreciated.
10 out of 10 for effort Tony.
The result is pretty good as well :thumbsup:
gaseous
19-06-2018, 06:59 PM
Nice images Tony, and I can vouch for the spooky factor if it's Wyaralong you're talking about. I reckon I aged about 15 years after a night of solitary viewing there once.
mynameiscd
19-06-2018, 07:20 PM
Great images Tony.
I know what you mean by being spooked.
When i used to set up on our bush block i would always hear something moving about. I know it was only animals but in the dark and by yourself it sure gets the mind racing.
Some nights the roos would come really close and then start snorting at me.
This would absolutely scare the crap out of me!
Keep up the good work.
Cheers
Andy
that_guy
19-06-2018, 07:47 PM
Didn't help I was listening to a stephen king audio book ;)
xelasnave
21-06-2018, 09:31 AM
Excellent images Tony.
Up here there are two horses and the other night one of them scared me with a very odd sound...I knew it must have been one of the horses but then I was not so sure.
Finally I could see him by the fence so all was good.
I have been up every night until 3 am and have so much data I cant get it all stacked.
Had auto guiding working and camt control and happy to report that the batteries worked until I was ready to finish.
Again great images and worth the effort.
Alex
Next time watch Alien before heading outside in the dark and try to NOT think about something large uncurling from the trees behind you :)
Nice shots btw :) I know the temptation to just grab a few quicks subs of extra targets is always strong, but I find it less stressful now to have a capture plan and to stick to it. Get all the subs you need on one or two targets rather than get distracted. But note the distractions (theres always more than one extra thing to just grab isnt there??) and dedicate a session to those, especially if they are fainter new targets for you, aim to grab a small set on each with your settings and later you can process and decide on likely settings changes for those targets and try those specifically next outing. Just a matter of patience as these things will be there next night etc to get. If its a location you have limited time on you'll have to plan if you want to get one or two good data sets for a couple of targets or devote the session to getting smaller sets of everything you can in the time (maybe you're on holiday somewhere and wont easily get another chance at them in the future. Planning and compromising is important for me to avoid disappointments plus I find I feel more satisfied after an imaging session when I know I got a ton of good data on what I was going after. I also switch capture settings slightly to limited video sizes or individual frames saved once I've done my main target captures and just want to run the laptop battery flat with extras/randoms/experiments. task 1: capture, task 2: worry about it all later.
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