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Originally Posted by Peter Ward
Getting back to remotely acquired images....I have not problem if the remote site was also set-up by the astrophotographer. Adam Block does this, as do many others. Yet I still believe the lines get blurred if you are only gathering data and are relying on external expertise to provide instrument set-up, calibration, alignment etc.
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…but Peter, you are talking about a minority which have been set-up by the astrophotographer. Many don’t own the equipment, so I don’t know how plausible this is as a guide or to make such a judgement. Let’s take
SSRO (Star Shadows Remote Observatory) for example. A group of keen astrophotographers sharing high-end equipment in both North and Southern hemisphere skies. In the case of the Northern installation, it’s located at NMSkies, where Mike and Lynn rice would have performed the installation/setup. This is similar to Rob’s 20” RC. For their Southern installation, they utilise one of the many
PROMPT 16” RC at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, undoubtedly not set up by the SSRO group, but other professionals that are part of the PROMPT GRB service.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Ward
As software gets more sophisticated, end users may well have only to enter a RA/Dec and simpy pass over the credit card for 20 hours of data at that location. Where is the skill in that?
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What type of skill are you referring too? Is setting up the equipment such a skill? Read the manual(s), spend some quality time with the scope under clear skies? Hmmm are these skills? I'd probably call it knowledge. They do provide an excellent insight into the challenges astrophotographers face. This is going to sound blunt, but when you’ve been imaging for sometime and your system is tuned, acquiring data becomes a mundane activity especially when you’ve got automation such as focusing, pointing/platesolving - as you would know. Surely watching guide star corrections on a 5+ hour imaging run isn’t a skill. Remote imaging provides incredible imaging efficiencies. You pay a premium, and as such in return you get premium data to process. The point being however, you don’t get a great image handed to you on a silver platter. You still need to work the data to bring out the best. Image processing is still the real skill (certainly for DSO work anyway).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Ward
That said...I understand CWAS will very likely allow "rent-a scope" images...but are also likely to create a single category for them (much like semi-pro) in an effort to keep the playing field a bit more even.
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While remote imaging isn’t for everyone, it still has its place and it’s much larger than many people believe. If people think the likes of Rob Gendler monitored a guide star while acquiring data for his latest 20 panel, 60 hour mosaic, then its time for a reality check. I’m ok either way, should CWAS adopt a policy/classification in the future. Perhaps, such images should sit in the semi pro category to give you guys a run for the money, if the category was originally established for those with a hardware “advantage” as you’ve previously mentioned. This would technically allow an amateur astrophotographer who does not have a taxable income from the hobby etc, to enter all CWAS categories - I'd be happy with that. It will be an interesting exercise to police such activities as the lines becomes blurred. For example, what if I principally acquired data with the short focal length FSQ, but then added 10% luminance from a high-resolution long focal length rental scope to bring out the details thus creating a hybrid image? Tough call to make. Indeed, the years to come will provide even higher quality output. Personally, I think CWAS needs to address this to make it fair (sooner, than later). Actually, I feel it needs to also split DSLR’s to cooled CCD’s, though this margin isn’t as large.
Also, to set the scene, I’m not having a shot at you. I simply would like to ensure there is clarity around this in future at CWAS. So thought I'd voice it, despite being somewhat off topic for this thread.