Our Beautiful Universe - Photos and Videos

[bruha]

But I found in standard phone camera (Huawei P30 lite) with mode PRO is possible this adjusting as well..

 

[Devin-M]

I found when uploading the last 1080p video of the moon to youtube at 1080p, a lot of compression was added by youtube. I’ve found compression drops considerably if you first upscale the 1080p to 4k and then upload (but it can take youtube more than a day to process the 4k version), which I’ve done here:

1080p -> 4k (less youtube compression):


1080p original (more youtube compression):

 

[Devin-M]

I should be receiving a 2x teleconverter + equatorial mount in a few days.

Definitely going to be cloudy on that fine day!

my equatorial mount comes on the 25th which happens to coincide with the only suitable day for observing this week (according to clearoutside.com )...

 

[davenn]

my equatorial mount comes on the 25th which happens to coincide with the only suitable day for observing this week (according to clearoutside.com )...

yeah but the Moon is very bright washing out the rest of the sky

 

[Devin-M]

 

[chemisttree]

Looks like 6 more weeks of winter...

 

[Devin-M]

finally some results... about 33 mins of exposure time... flame nebula...

55x focal 600mm f/9 (nikon 300mm f/4.5 + tc-301 2x teleconverter, image cropped) 30 sec 1600iso + 80 flats + 40 darks on nikon d800 full frame dslr w/ sky watcher star adventurer 2i pro pack equatorial mount, bortle 5

 

[chemisttree]

finally some results... about 33 mins of exposure time... flame nebula...

55x focal 600mm f/9 (nikon 300mm f/4.5 + tc-301 2x teleconverter, image cropped) 30 sec 1600iso + 80 flats + 40 darks on nikon d800 full frame dslr w/ sky watcher star adventurer 2i pro pack equatorial mount, bortle 5

View attachment 276904

Horsehead is in there too! Use a narrowband LP filter and the contrast will go up nicely. Very impressive!

 

[Devin-M]

Almost a throwaway pic since I was aiming for a different (missed) target, it was only 300mm focal, and had a street light shining directly onto the lens so the overall pic is ruined from artifacts, and only 11 total minutes and only 30 sec per shot, but still it's a galaxy 131 million light years away...

ngc 3549 - spiral galaxy - 131 million light years

cropped 22x 30sec 250iso f/4.5 300mm nikon on nikon d800 full frame dslr, bortle 5, equatorial mount + 40 darks + 40 flats

 

[Devin-M]

another galaxy cropped from the same image frame, ngc 3448, amorphous galaxy, 75 million light years:

 

[Devin-M]

another from the last session... 17.5 minutes / 30 sec per shot, also overall full frame mostly ruined by a street lamp shining on the lens

messier 101 - pinwheel galaxy - 21 million light years

cropped 35x 30sec 250iso f/4.5 300mm nikon on nikon d800 full frame dslr, bortle 5, equatorial mount + 40 darks + 40 flats

 

[davenn]

finally some results...

Seems you didnt have too much difficulty getting it polar aligned
It's a nightmare here in the southern hemisphere, something I have yet to achieve well

 

[Devin-M]

Tue, Wed & Fri are expected to be clear moonless nights in Northern California so I’ll be heading to a bortle 2 area and aiming to get a few dozen 2-4 min exposures instead of 30 sec and upping the focal length to 1000mm f/10.

 

[chemisttree]

Seems you didnt have too much difficulty getting it polar aligned
It's a nightmare here in the southern hemisphere, something I have yet to achieve well

30 s subs are pretty straightforward. 2-4 minute subs without guiding will be more of a challenge.

I’ve been using this with some success but even with the software to help polar align, 2 minute subs are a challenge!

With this I don’t need a computer to take pics with the Astro camera (ASI290MC). I use my iPhone!
Still figuring out how to use it...Here’s a single sub from my Astrotech 80ED, 30s.

 

[bruha]

Hello, can I ask you if this device is working just with mount with engine drive or you can use it without as well? Thank you...

 

[chemisttree]

It just controls the camera. It is separate from the mount.

 

[collinsmark]

It just controls the camera. It is separate from the mount.

Just to avoid confusion, the ASIAIR Pro can control the mount, depending on the mount (even if @chemisttree isn't using that feature). It also has the ability to control an electronic focuser, if you happen to have an electronic focuser (and depending on the focuser [it may only support the ZWO EAF, presently]).

------------------------

My solution is a little different. It's not as graceful, but a bit more flexible. It's based around a mini-PC.

It also functions to some degree as a counterweight.

 

[bruha]

Thanks, still question--if connected to mount and a I (handy) move its, it can display azimuthal position and polar aligment.. ?

 

[collinsmark]

Thanks, still question--if connected to mount and a I (handy) move its, it can display azimuthal position and polar aligment.. ?

I'm not quite sure what you are asking. But I'll take a stab at an answer.

If you ever adjust your mount using manual controls, then no. Neither the mount or the device that is controlling the mount will know what the azimuth, altitude, declination, or right ascension are, once you change anything with the physical, manual controls. All bets are off, and you'll need to re-align your mount.

If you have a mount that is capable of being controlled electronically (such as a GoTo mount), you'll first need to align your mount. Then lock down the manual controls (if you haven't already). Once the mount is aligned (and the manual controls locked down), the mount and/or the device controlling the mount should be able to keep track of the azimuth, altitude, declination, and right ascension so long as they are only adjusted electronically by "slewing," tracking, and/or autoguiding, assuming the mount is capable of such things.

That said, a device such as the ASIAIR Pro, or something like my setup (a mini-PC running Windows 10 and such programs as SharpCap, N.I.N.A., Stellarium, etc.) can* aid in both polar alignment and stellar alignment. But once aligned, you can't touch the manual controls or move your mount/tripod. If you do, you'll need to start over.

*perhaps a better word is "may": The mount and device controlling it need to be compatible.

[Edit: Modern controllers (ASIAIR Pro included) have capabilities that make alignment much quicker and easier such as "plate solving" tools. If you ever loose alignment, they can help get you back aligned in a jiffy. My original point though is that if you ever adjust anything manually, you'll lose alignment and you'll need to re-align, whether that involves plate solving or not.]

 

[chemisttree]

I haven’t used it it with my Atlas. Mine is too old! It works with the new EQ-6 mount, though.
So I only use it to control the camera. A new EQ-6 is on my bucket list!

 

[DennisN]

My solution is a little different. It's not as graceful, but a bit more flexible. It's based around a mini-PC.

It's so nice to see that I am not the only one who likes to build stuff.
What kind of mini-PC is it`? And what OS is it running on?
Edit: Ah, I saw in your next post it uses Windows 10.

 

[collinsmark]

It's so nice to see that I am not the only one who likes to build stuff.
What kind of mini-PC is it`? And what OS is it running on?
Edit: Ah, I saw in your next post it uses Windows 10.

The mini-PC is from a company called "Minis Forum" (weird name, right?). I bought the one I got because it's small, light, powered by a 12 V jack, has USB3.0 ports, supports WiFi, and comes installed with Windows 10 Pro. There might be other mini-PCs or PC sticks that do just as well or better these days.

The Windows 10 Pro, combined with the WiFi support, allows me to Remote Desktop into the scope from a indoor, comfortable location.

It's also fits neatly atop the Pegasus Astro Ultimate Power Box V2 which provides power to the mini-PC, telescope, electronic focuser, camera cooler, and dew heaters; and also has USB 3.0 hub with plenty of ports.

I'm still waiting on some other astronomical equipment, and working on some other projects, which is why you haven't seen any deep-sky images from me recently. Hopefully in the coming months I'll have something to post.

 

[bruha]

Hello, and thank you for answer . (I understand that this device is not as useful for not electronically controlled mounth.)..

 

[Devin-M]

Last night I drove 40 miles into the mountains to my bortle 2 site, got polar aligned and began trying to focus. That’s when I realized the motor in my “star watcher star adventurer 2i pro pack” equatorial mount was randomly stopping every minute or so and also disconnecting from the phone app until I restarted it (even though the lights remained on). This kept happening so I wasn’t able to get a good focus with the Bahtinov mask. After pulling my hair out for over an hour in the 32f temps, I finally decided to try switching the AA batteries. To my relief, it began working normally. The batteries had been fresh but stored them in the mount for a week so I suspect some sort of trickle discharge over that time occurred. As soon as I got it working the clouds rolled in so I wasn’t able to take any pretty pictures. Later back at my house I did some more testing and found out the behavior will also happen if the camera isn’t very well balanced after pointing it at the target. I’ll post a couple test pics later which sort of illustrate the tracking quality. I was able to do a few 2 minute exposures of nothing in particular.

 

[chemisttree]

Last night I drove 40 miles into the mountains to my bortle 2 site, got polar aligned and began trying to focus. That’s when I realized the motor in my “star watcher star adventurer 2i pro pack” equatorial mount was randomly stopping every minute or so and also disconnecting from the phone app until I restarted it (even though the lights remained on). This kept happening so I wasn’t able to get a good focus with the Bahtinov mask. After pulling my hair out for over an hour in the 32f temps, I finally decided to try switching the AA batteries. To my relief, it began working normally. The batteries had been fresh but stored them in the mount for a week so I suspect some sort of trickle discharge over that time occurred. As soon as I got it working the clouds rolled in so I wasn’t able to take any pretty pictures. Later back at my house I did some more testing and found out the behavior will also happen if the camera isn’t very well balanced after pointing it at the target. I’ll post a couple test pics later which sort of illustrate the tracking quality. I was able to do a few 2 minute exposures of nothing in particular.

Does the mount’s app have a polar align function?

 

[Devin-M]

It let's me control taking the pictures (exposure length, count) from my phone through an intervalometer cable from the mount to the camera.

It’s also got another mode called astro timelapse where it tracks during the photo and then resets to the original position for the next photo for astro landscape timelapses.

I have to do the polar alignment by looking through the scope in the mount and adjusting the alt/az knobs.

 

[Devin-M]

Just got light pollution filter for my Nikon 300mm f/4.5...

 

[Devin-M]

single 2min exposure, 1000mm f/10 (500mm f/5 + tc-201 2x teleconverter), bortle 6, 1600iso, sky watcher star adventurer 2i pro pack equatorial mount, d800 full frame dslr, slightly cropped:

 

[chemisttree]

Have you tried drift alignment?

 

[Devin-M]

I'll look into giving that a try.

I did manage to get this 2 minute one also before I left the bortle 2 area which seems to have better tracking (though it's out of focus). It also shows how tantalizingly close I was to reaching my target...

single 2min exposure, 1000mm f/10 (500mm f/5 + tc-201 2x teleconverter), bortle 2, 12800iso, sky watcher star adventurer 2i pro pack equatorial mount, d800 full frame dslr (this is exactly how it looked straight out of the camera, no cropping or adjustments.) this was also the very last pic I took before the clouds rolled over:

 

[chemisttree]

That’s great tracking! It might be just seeing instead of focus. Twinkling stars look like they’re out of focus when you use longer acquisition times. The fact that this pic was obtained just before the clouds rolled in suggests to me that seeing was poor just before they showed up. That’s happened many times for me. The atmosphere is really unstable just before the clouds start to condense and your focus was probably as good as it could be.

 

[Devin-M]

Here we go... set up next to the dumpster in a bortle 5/6...

2min x 62 exposures (124 minutes total exposure time), 600mm f/9 (300mm f/4.5 + tc-301 2x teleconverter), bortle 5-6, rollei astroklar 72mm light pollution filter, 1600iso, sky watcher star adventurer 2i pro pack equatorial mount, d800 full frame dslr (slight cropping), 40 darks + 40 flats:

 

[chemisttree]

Very nice!

 

[Devin-M]

thanks! a couple of full-res crops...

 

[collinsmark]

I did some more testing and found out the behavior will also happen if the camera isn’t very well balanced after pointing it at the target.

This isn't too surprising to me. If the scope is not well balanced, the motors will have to work against gravity (and resulting friction) to move the scope. Simply put: a well balanced scope makes your mount's batteries last longer.

But there is the possibility of too much of a good thing here. Having a "perfectly" balanced scope can be bad. If the scope is "too" well balanced it can wobble back and forth on the gears, even if a tiny amount. This is called backlash. It will make your stars elongated along the right ascension axis.

The solution is to balance your scope almost, but not quite perfectly. That, and bias the imbalance such that the scope ever-so-gently wants to rotate toward celestial West. Balancing the bias to the West, instead of East, is preferred because your right ascension motor works toward pushing the scope to the west anyway, so this direction is the least stressful on the motor (theoretically). [But if it's slightly biased to toward the East instead, don't sweat it too much: this West vs. East thing isn't really a big deal. Just ensure it's not dead-center.]

[Edit: cleared up some east/west confusion.]