i was testing out Guiding during the new moon and while doing that snapped this. the full moon made the sky glow really bad and i also still have to resolve my tracking issues but hey, i thought i would post this anyway
Hi Aidan,
Was this taken during the full or a new moon?
The stars are slightly elongated but all in all looking good, the new equipment , i
( if still in one piece ) is coming along nicely.
How did you process it ?
I'm guessing that some time very soon we'll be saying goodbye as you
disappear onto the main section of this forum.
raymo
Thanks Ray. I like this part of the forum, less judgemental and I feel like I can post anything without having to wait for optimal conditions and process it to death
Quote:
Originally Posted by vlazg
Hi Aidan,
Was this taken during the full or a new moon?
The stars are slightly elongated but all in all looking good, the new equipment , i
( if still in one piece ) is coming along nicely.
How did you process it ?
Sorry yes full moon, don't know why I wrote new, maybe wishful thinking.
This was stacked in ccd stacker and processed in Photoshop. The guiding issue might have been resolved as of tonight, a combination of guide settings and pec training look to have done the job
By the looks of the heavily compressed image you have picked up quite a bit of detail in the spiral arms, even with some tracking errors it has done well. Just reduces sharpness, this can always be covered up with 200kb uploads
Thanks for the comments guys. I thought I would post an image to show the extent of the issue I am dealing with. The axis of the issue is aligned with RA perfectly. This plot was taken with 3 second exposures, I have tried a range of tracking rates including .5 of a second and there is no improvement, in fact it makes the dec tracking a lot worse. The issue is persistent no matter where in the sky I am pointing. I ran PEC and it still has the same issue. The only thing I can think of is that it is caused by the addition of my counter weight extension bar but surely it shouldn't cause that much of an issue.
great effort under moonlit skies.
some really nice resolution showing in the galaxy too, the setup is going to be great when it starts singing.
rusty
Thanks Russell. i was really pleased with the detail, and it does look like if i can get this tracing issue sorted i will pull out a lot more detail in the new moon.
i just had a thought that might be consistent with the issues i am seeing and the fact that it is not corrected by PEC, could it be that the gears are not properly lubricated? this comes to mind because a few times when i haven't used the mount for a while, the first time i start it up it squeaks a little as it slews, it goes away quickly but if the RA worm is sticking then that could cause the issue ...
I don't know enough to be helpful, but have you tried balancing east heavy? That way the mount should always be having to pulse west
That is a little difficult in a remote observatory because the side changes and I can't rebalance . Besides, the pmx is not supposed to have backlash issues as it is belt driven. But thanks for the input, I will take any suggestions right now. This appears to be my final hurdle in getting great images so I am keen to sort it out.
HAHA, i am sure you have more knowledge than me Dunk, i consider myself a complete hack
I might set up a new thread, a new addition in the "help Aidan sort out his issues" series, a series i am sure a few people are getting annoyed with. and take the discussion out of the astrophotography section
Before you go labeling yourself as a "complete hack" I thought I'd remind you of what an ACTUAL complete hack's image M83 looks like... I can barely drift align at 510mm! If you're a complete hack I'd hate to think what label I deserve..!
Dude even with the issues you're battling, you're killing it. I'm quite sure you'll sort them out in time. I can't wait to see what you put up next.
Before you go labeling yourself as a "complete hack" I thought I'd remind you of what an ACTUAL complete hack's image M83 looks like... I can barely drift align at 510mm! If you're a complete hack I'd hate to think what label I deserve..!
Dude even with the issues you're battling, you're killing it. I'm quite sure you'll sort them out in time. I can't wait to see what you put up next.
Thanks Chris, I guess it is a case of the more you learn the more you realise there is still a long way to go. There is always a better image and we all notice the issues in ours more than in others because we spent the time on them. Next image is m104 with no moon glow and hopefully tracking issues resolved
Haha tell me about it , the majority of the issues I have had have related to my mount surprisingly enough. Come to think about it, almost all of them.
) is coming along nicely.
eek, fancy 
ah well, I was true to my word 
