So I got my ASIair Plus on Tuesday & ASI294MC Pro, so this is a first light/attempt with the two.
Had a 2hr opening last night (9pm-11pm) so I thought I would give the units a test run to understand how they all work. WOW! Setup with the ASIair is soooo easy I cant get over it! Did some basic EAA to show the wife then had hr spare and decided to find a target high in the sky and shoot what I could. No planning and no intention to attempt, but the system was that easy... I just had too.
Wasn't expecting anything much for 40mins of time, but I was very impressed with the camera and whole eco-system. Now just have to refine my workflow to get those round stars.
Capture details:
Date: 17/11/21
Location: Officer, VIC.
Mount: nEQ6 Pro
OTA: Celestron C8 XLT with x.63 reducer
Guide: ZWO 60280 w/ ASI120MM mini
Camera: ZWO ASI294MC Pro
Filter: Baader Moon & Skyglow
Gain: 120
Cam Temp: -10
Lights: 61 @ 30sec (30mins)
Darks: 20
Flats: 20
Bias: 30
Bortle: class 6 (clear outside app)
Lunar: 98% Full
Post work: DSS & PS
Good effort there for a mag 8 galaxy under moon glare with limited data
As your probably aware, Galaxies are best imaged with your OSC during the new moon period with just a UV/IR cut filter. The moon is your enemy when it comes to galaxy imaging , plays havoc with detail and colour
Also imaging a mag 8 galaxy with a OSC you need plenty of data to improve your SNR together with your calibration, at least 2 or 3 hours of data or more
Nice camera by the way
Well done !!
I can echo Alex’s advice about Startools, I’ve been an advocate for years with this software and it keeps improving with every version
@Alex - I will look into Startools & Pixinsight for post works once the learning curve with the gear slows down.... I still have a lot to learn and I want to take my time and do it somewhat right.
@Martin - Melb weather has been crap for the last 3-4 weeks, so I was just lucky to get 2hrs of clear skies to play around with the new gear. I wasn't planning on imaging, but thought why not! moon or no moon I just needed to get out
@Alex - I will look into Startools & Pixinsight for post works once the learning curve with the gear slows down.... I still have a lot to learn and I want to take my time and do it somewhat right.
@Martin - Melb weather has been crap for the last 3-4 weeks, so I was just lucky to get 2hrs of clear skies to play around with the new gear. I wasn't planning on imaging, but thought why not! moon or no moon I just needed to get out
Melbourne only 3 to 4 weeks crap weather ?
Sydney’s been crap for 10 weeks ( I’ve only had 2 full clear stable nights during that period and next week has cloud and rain ) So November is a wash out
Maybe December might break this drought ( Forecasters have put it down to La Niña , higher than average rainfall and cloud across eastern Australia)
Crap weather is part of the deal unfortunately
I also noticed a couple of hours of good weather last night and was so tempted to attempt an unguided target (haven’t yet received my guidescope). I am such a beginner though, it would have taken me 1-2 hours just to set up, glad I didn’t as the weather didn’t hold.
I also noticed a couple of hours of good weather last night and was so tempted to attempt an unguided target (haven’t yet received my guidescope). I am such a beginner though, it would have taken me 1-2 hours just to set up, glad I didn’t as the weather didn’t hold.
Dont worry, I was just in the same boat until now with ASIair. It used to take me 30-45min to do the H/ware setup, then once it gets dark I was spending anything between 1-2hr with Star Align, PA, focusing, Plate Solving, exposure & framing, Guiding setup and then kicking off the Plan for the night.
Now I dont have to be outside in the cold and my setup time is cut by 60-70%. Dont get me wrong, I'm a tech/application junkie, but sometimes nature just doesn't give you the time.
Very nicely done Wayne. You possibly could stretch the data a little more without burning the stars using the raw file as what you have captured is pretty good.
Dont worry, I was just in the same boat until now with ASIair. It used to take me 30-45min to do the H/ware setup, then once it gets dark I was spending anything between 1-2hr with Star Align, PA, focusing, Plate Solving, exposure & framing, Guiding setup and then kicking off the Plan for the night.
Now I dont have to be outside in the cold and my setup time is cut by 60-70%. Dont get me wrong, I'm a tech/application junkie, but sometimes nature just doesn't give you the time.
Thanks Wayne, I am also thinking of getting the ASI air plus down the track. For now though, I think it's important for me to get used to all those processes you mentioned. I might give it a few months or year before I get the ASI air. Maybe by then, there might be a new gadget, or I might be really enjoying setting everything up "the old-fashioned way" lol.
Really nice picture. I hope that I can post my first ever deep sky capture of the great Orion nebula in the coming weeks.
Very nicely done Wayne. You possibly could stretch the data a little more without burning the stars using the raw file as what you have captured is pretty good.
surly thats not my image! If so, what did you do and what software you use? I tend to be very conservative to my images to retain its most natural state and scared of blowing out stars
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stephane
Thanks Wayne, I am also thinking of getting the ASI air plus down the track. For now though, I think it's important for me to get used to all those processes you mentioned. I might give it a few months or year before I get the ASI air. Maybe by then, there might be a new gadget, or I might be really enjoying setting everything up "the old-fashioned way" lol.
Really nice picture. I hope that I can post my first ever deep sky capture of the great Orion nebula in the coming weeks.
Cheers & it will come and when it does you will be hooked! Yep and thats what I did. During Covid I was very fortunate to put more time than usual into learning etc I say take as long as it takes to learn the fundamentals (not saying I know them all) which will give you a solid base knowledge moving forward.
surly thats not my image! If so, what did you do and what software you use? I tend to be very conservative to my images to retain its most natural state and scared of blowing out stars.
I just had a look at the JPEG in Photoshop and tweaked the levels a bit. I'm sure you can get a much better result stretching the raw file. If you want to dropbox the original (raw linear 16bit FIT or TIFF) we could have a look and a go at it.
surly thats not my image! If so, what did you do and what software you use? I tend to be very conservative to my images to retain its most natural state and scared of blowing out stars
I say take as long as it takes to learn the fundamentals (not saying I know them all) which will give you a solid base knowledge moving forward.
