M83

[peter_4059]

Finally getting back to some processing after a very long break. I'm having to re-learn Pixinsight. For the past few months I've been setting up my gear for all night unattended imaging and now have that working pretty well. I only have a narrow piece of sky visible at home so rely on multiple nights to capture enough data and multiple targets each night.

This image was collected over 22 nights from March through to late May, all up 459 LRGB subs spanning 24 hours total integration :eyepop: using my trusty SN10, QSI683 and EQ8 from inner city Brisbane.

The big version is here: https://astrob.in/full/v5kosw/0/

Comments and advice always welcome...

[strongmanmike]

After what sounds like a bit of effort, that's a very nice outcome there Pete and congratulations on setting up to be automated, must be quite satisfying, onwards and upwards from here mate :thumbsup:...can't wait to eventually be in that position myself...I'm lagging behind a few of you guys in that department now :doh:.:sadeyes:

Mike

[gregbradley]

That's a solid image and a good amount of exposure time.

What software do you use to control the evenings' imaging? I run my rig from inside the house so it would not be hard to take it to the next level with some automated all night imaging. Plate solving is working as well.

Greg.

[peter_4059]

It made so much sense for me as I was getting so little use out of it when I had to sit there watching it. Basically wouldn't set things up on a week night and between moon and clouds, a lot of weekends were no good. This way I let it run if I'm confident it won't rain. If clouds pass over it sits and waits till it is clear. For the next couple of weeks while the moon is hanging around I'll start to process the backlog of data.



Hi Greg, I've moved to Voyager to control things. I've found it to be very robust such that I don't need to keep an eye on it and it also allows quite a large degree of customisation through its scripting language. I've also set up a Python routine that selects my targets based on criteria I can select. Everything is running on an old laptop in the obs and I can keep an eye on things via Teamviewer or via Voyager's web dashboard.

[Robert_T]

wow peter 22 nights...that's amazing. Great result as well.:thumbsup:

[peter_4059]

Thanks Robert. I've really changed my approach to capturing data now. I used to target a certain number of subs for each filter but now I just let it keep collecting data. I've got a 1-2 hour window for most targets each night so it takes multiple nights to get enough LRGB subs for a target. I figure I might as well have the scope capture data if it can so it will keep going back to priority targets each night until I change the priority or that target is no longer visible.

[h0ughy]

Epic, just epic.

Awesome result from a inspiring effort

[Geoff45]

Good result, but I would tweak it further. HDRMultiscaleTransform with the default parameters, followed by an S-tweak in Curves.
Geoff

[DavidTrap]

Looks a touch “bright” on my monitor - I agree with an S tweak on curves. Nice detail nonetheless.

Great to see you reaping the rewards of your automation journey. I’m really enjoying Voyager. It’s robust - tries again if it chooses the wrong focus star and handles meridian flips well in my experience. Nice to finally have some favourable weather in SEQld.

DT

[RobF]

Nice going Peter

[peter_4059]

Cheers Dave. I'm collecting data at a great rate now so expect this will be the way to go from here.



Thanks for the feedback Geoff. I'll give that a try later.



Thanks David. I must admit it took a little while to get used to the UI however with the dragscript now set up I don't need to interact with it much and rarely use the On-the-fly functionality. I've got a bit more to do on the automation front but the hard part is done.



Cheers Rob. Did you put in those engineering hours?

[RobF]

Nope :)

:fishing: :drink:

[peter_4059]

Well that's ok if you can combine fishing with the mb instead.

[RobF]

Actually you're right - I couldn't catch a fish if my life depended on it.
Will stick to the MB astro method.....

[astro-smart]

Very nice target for 1250mm scope setups...It can be tricky to process in pixinsight... Need to make sure the dynamic background extraction tool does not pull out stars. Better to pick grid manually.

[peter_4059]

Repro day today. Went back to this target and added a bit more recent data and discarded some of the old stuff. Also took on board the feedback so hopefully the processing is a bit better this time around.

The big version is here:
https://astrob.in/full/v5kosw/B/

[xelasnave]

To me the repro is the more pleasing of the two.
Well done.
Alex

[ozstronomer]

Great shot Peter, nice details and excellent results taming the sky glow

Cheers Geoff

[RobF]

Like that processing work on the repro version, but wondering if the blues are a bit strong in the end Peter? :question: :scared3:

[peter_4059]

Thanks for the feedback. Looking at it with fresh eyes always reveals opportunities for improvement. More work to do on the blues.