After many months of bad luck I finally had everything working, and a night off to boot. It was a night of firsts. First use of the sysnscan Polar alignment feature for long exposure, First use of my new slimline OAG, First time use of My new lodestar and last but not least the first time I've taken and Processed a Ha Picture. All was not uneventful and I discovered far into the picture taking that the prism from the OAG is too close to the edge of the chip so that there was a small shadow on one edge of the pic. But the OAG guiding with the lodestar was magnificent! (pic attached) best thing I ever bought!!
NorthGroup ED127mm APO, QHY10, OAG and Lodestar Guiding. MaximDL, Processed in CCDStack v2, Post in CS6. 13 X 600 sec RGB (OSC), and 6 X 900 sec Ha Bin 2X2.
Image was assembled as a HaRRGB.
Suggestions and advice very welcome, thanks for looking.
I'm no expert on astronomy or astrophotography, but that is an amazing photo - if anything it is certainly giving me inspiration to really get started on this as a somewhat serious hobby...
I'm no expert on astronomy or astrophotography, but that is an amazing photo - if anything it is certainly giving me inspiration to really get started on this as a somewhat serious hobby...
Thank you Kate, I wish you the best in this fascinating hobby. You have much to look forward too as the challenges never stop.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Larryp
Great image, Paul!
Thank you Laurie for your kind wishes as usual.
Typically everything is set up perfectly and I have to go in to work tonight I just had to pack things away and wont have another chance for 4 days. Good that I can do some Ha now as the moon will be pretty bright.
That looks pretty cool.
The fact that you can see the DSO in your guider image is crazy.
is it field rotation at the top left and right? that is possibly to do with PA, not sure what the synscan method is.
Also, I'm no expert, but mono imagers usually get luminosity as 1x1 bin and RGB as 2x2 as 1x1 provides more finer details.
So shouldn't the Ha be 1x1 as that's going to add to the fine details?
Did you rescale it to 1x1 while stacking?
what if you scale the RGB to 2x2 and then stack with Ha as a test?
I'm looking at stacking an OSC Ha with OSC RGB as well, hence the question.
That looks pretty cool.
The fact that you can see the DSO in your guider image is crazy.
is it field rotation at the top left and right? that is possibly to do with PA, not sure what the synscan method is.
Also, I'm no expert, but mono imagers usually get luminosity as 1x1 bin and RGB as 2x2 as 1x1 provides more finer details.
So shouldn't the Ha be 1x1 as that's going to add to the fine details?
Did you rescale it to 1x1 while stacking?
what if you scale the RGB to 2x2 and then stack with Ha as a test?
I'm looking at stacking an OSC Ha with OSC RGB as well, hence the question.
Cheers
The Image is actually the main camera (QHY10) the small black square with the 'Dot' is the lodestar guiding on a star. Setting it up this way allows me to see the capture as I tend to set up the run and monitor it remotely from a laptop in bed!
I was running the ED127 without a field flattener so I think the "rotation" that your seeing is from that or as you said from PA. When I stacked the subs in CCDStack normally over 2 hours or so I can see some slight rotation but with these subs they were rock steady! The Synscan is the Hand controller for the EQ6.
Yes the process is a little reversed as I initially was doing a LRGB and the Idea to do Ha came afterward, so the OSC was at 1X1. When you have the Ha filter in I am led to believe that the only channel that the image will be available to you in a OSC camera is the red channel. When you bin the OSC at 2X2 you loose the Bayer matrix so the colour is not there any more. This increases sensitivity but reduces resolution. The Ha was upscaled to the same size as the 1X1 and was used as a HaR to provide Luminance (@70%) to the RGB image. it's an interesting idea and I may see about down sizing the RGB to match the Ha rather than vice versa.
When you have the Ha filter in I am led to believe that the only channel that the image will be available to you in a OSC camera is the red channel. When you bin the OSC at 2X2 you loose the Bayer matrix so the colour is not there any more. This increases sensitivity but reduces resolution.
Paul
Hi Paul,
I've taken a Ha sub with an OSC at 2x2 and found it a lot softer. as you mention, yes, Ha data will only be present in the red channel, so if you take it at 1x1, you'll need to extract the Red and use that as Lum. Atleast that's what I've read and tried.
It'll be interesting to compare a Ha frame at 1x1 from the Red channel and a Ha at 2x2. I guess you could decide after that.
Cheers
I've taken a Ha sub with an OSC at 2x2 and found it a lot softer. as you mention, yes, Ha data will only be present in the red channel, so if you take it at 1x1, you'll need to extract the Red and use that as Lum. Atleast that's what I've read and tried.
It'll be interesting to compare a Ha frame at 1x1 from the Red channel and a Ha at 2x2. I guess you could decide after that.
Cheers
I'll definitely be trying that. One more night and then I have 3 off so hope is in the air
Quote:
Originally Posted by LewisM
Nice image indeed, but I think your Northgroup suffers the same CA and "softness" of focus mine did.
Wish I could guide at the moment, let alone take any pictures.
I haven't been able to take too many Pictures with the ED127 up till now and when I did the original focuser was terrible. I have since replaced it with a 2.5" moonlight and it is miles ahead. I'll get new pics over the next couple of months and I'll keep a look out for the softness that you metion.
I just had to pack things away and wont have another chance for 4 days. Good that I can do some Ha now as the moon will be pretty bright.
