Ritchey–Chrétien enjoyers thread

[oblique sun]

I don't think imma get one anyways

[frosty shard]

Well. If they are in spec (GSO shoes don't fit some stalks intended for mounting lasers...though the stalks are also out of spec lmao)

[frosty shard]

Orion one or an RC, period?

[oblique sun]

Rc

Im probably gonna buy the used orion f/4 newt or rebuild my current f/5 newt

I just don't think with my situation that an rc is best for me

[frosty shard]

well with your situation get out of here

Makes sense though

[oblique sun]

Fix my atmosphere and buy me an am5n then I'll join you guys

[frosty shard]

@harsh matrix question for you: when you disassembled/reassembled your RC6, did you adjust the mirror spacing for spherical aberration correction?

[harsh matrix]

No

@vapid patio my AM5N is going to be down for the foreseeable future

[frosty shard]

Oh did it turn out to be fine once you reassembled it?

[harsh matrix]

It will be redcat + 571 time

[harsh matrix]

I didnt use it again after that

[frosty shard]

Ah okay

[harsh matrix]

I've disassembled the RC8 twice and I've not had an issue

[frosty shard]

I star tested mine on Monday and I think there is still some residual spherical aberration, but I'm not sure if it's enough to deviate from diffraction limited

Astigmatism is within 1/10 wave from what I can tell

but I think my backfocus changed significantly (maybe about 15 mm)

I'm just not sure if I should mess with that anymore

[frosty shard]

Oh also! Do you know if the secondary mirror has markings that indicate its ideal rotation?

[harsh matrix]

I do not know

Did not appear to have any

[vapid patio]

What happend

Did it do a uh oh

[harsh matrix]

Not sure

I've talked about it with the other nerds and mega nerds and I have an idea as to what could be the fault now.

So, short run explanation, AM5/AM5N are incredibly sensitive to voltage

If the voltage drops too low, the mount gets super unhappy

[thorny path]

does it turnon ?

i had a similar issue, where my previouis power box didnt have any saftey features

[harsh matrix]

My AM5N has been exceeding expectations since I got it, up until a few days ago when I had to swap out the power strip.

[harsh matrix]

Yes

[thorny path]

and thankfully proxisky sent another pcb for free

in the meantime i connected via bluetooth no problems

[harsh matrix]

The issue I'm having is happening during mount use.

[harsh matrix]

After I swapped out the power strip, my prior one died due to rodent damage, this issue has been occurring every night.

I am highly suspicious of this new power strip now

The weirdest thing is, its the exact same power strip as the one that succumbed to rodent damage

So if this really is why, i don't understand why this one is different.

It could have something to do with the out door outlet on my house too.

In reality, I wont know until tomorrow night, or tonight if the predicted weather doesn't roll in.

[vapid patio]

@harsh matrix Honestly, that’s very strange. I wouldn’t assume that your mount is the problem I think more of just power connections. It could be the cord it could be the strip or I don’t even know if using an extension cord that could be it as well.

For you, I would try the least amount of connections if you can maybe just the mount power cord into a different power source

if you have a portable battery even maybe plug just the mount into that

[harsh matrix]

I do not, and I don't have one to test with

[harsh matrix]

I don't use an extension cord

Im thinking of doing a dry run indoors tonight to monitor the voltage because whatever this issue is is independent of guiding

I've seen the mount skip around while collimating my quattro and I do not guide while I collimate.

I'll keep it in the present configuration, and just watch for voltage skipping

I'll try to fully load the system to, to test it.

If i don't see a voltage drop, it could the that the exterior outlet i plug into is unreliable. If I do see large voltage variance, I know its the power strip most likely.

I totally forgot that the AM5 is incredibly picky about voltage, so of course the blame went straight to the mount, even if this may not be the mount after all (i will not complain if this has nothing to do with the mount )

[harsh matrix]

[frosty shard]

Ladies and gentlemen, we gottem

[tight lodge]

Time for a bigger PSU

What power supply are you using at the moment?

[harsh matrix]

the apertura 12.5V 5A PSU from HPS

[tight lodge]

I use the Baader 12.8V 5A.

[harsh matrix]

getting this rn

[tight lodge]

Is is powering anything else or just the mount?

[harsh matrix]

just the mount

[tight lodge]

Weird that your mount gets at the point of stalling with that amount of power

[harsh matrix]

not stalling

just goes on a drug trip and never comes off the high unless i intervene manually

the thing is the RA jolts around randomly

I see this happening

the fact that the stars are more like lines is because the guiding software tried to compensate

but the jump to the left and then way out to the right is the mount doing that, not PHD2

[tight lodge]

They look like S curves to me

[harsh matrix]

ive seen it happen during collimation too, when live viewing in sharpcap

[harsh matrix]

that's because of some random dec error, independent of this problem

you can see the issue is primarily in RA, left to right in my case

[tight lodge]

Ngl... I do have a similar problem ngl. That's why I'm balancing my mount. In my case the CF tripod is bending

[harsh matrix]

oscillations like that but on a WAY smaller scale used to happen with my TC40

when i went to this EQ6R tripod, i got the best guiding numbers ive ever seen by far

i wonder if this particular power strip isnt handling the heat at night well

hotter wires will have higher resistance, and lower conductivity

maybe the issue is with the mount PSU too, maybe it's getting too hot/overheating when outside

these are all questions i probably cant test by dry running indoors

[tight lodge]

That's a good point. Try to measure the PSU Temps as a well and see if the performance declines togheder with the temperature

[harsh matrix]

i have a temperature gun, well my mom does, so ill test with that alongside monitoring the voltage

[harsh matrix]

okay it's definitely not warm right now

[frosty flicker]

happy 10k messages

[harsh matrix]

https://tenor.com/view/the-universe-tim-and-eric-mind-blown-mind-blown-meme-mind-explosion-mind-explosion-meme-gif-18002878

[vapid patio]

Good old ChatGPT

[tight lodge]

[tight lodge]

Why there was a beef earlier?

[harsh matrix]

a what now?

[tight lodge]

From here down

[harsh matrix]

oh idk

i didnt pay attention to that

[tight lodge]

Shhhhh🤫

I'm still undercover

[harsh matrix]

[frosty shard]

Question for y'all: does switching your filters disrupt your guiding?

I've found my Touptek filter wheel does not

[vapid patio]

There is a setting in Nina that says “stop guiding on filter change” I have it on

[harsh matrix]

Only if if your oag is positioned behind the filter wheel in the imaging train

[vapid patio]

Oh wait yeah no duh

Ima turn the setting off 😭

[frosty shard]

ah that makes sense. I might take advantage of this for EAA/time lapsing

Or monitoring of fast variable stars

[tight lodge]

Only if I refocus after filter change. But since I use OAG and Filter Offset, it doesn't get disrupted

[harsh matrix]

i use filter offset and changing filters causes guide blips

[harsh matrix]

i did not find any issues with voltage in a dry run done indoors last night

I tried to think about the issue some more, I analyzed my guide log from the night it was really good and then really bad, and I realized the degree of drift seemed to be periodic in nature

I tried to think of how that would be possible and decided on the fact that maybe the belt tensioner had worked its way slightly loose, so I opened up the mount again, and tested the screws holding it down

2 of them were loose enough to be turned quite easily while the other 2 seemed to be torqued down

there was also a little locking screw to the side of the loose ones which was very easily turnable

I torqued all of them back down, closed it up, slewed it around for a bit and didnt hear or see anything out of the usual

in fact, something that i noticed about my AM5N after a while. which i did not hear when i first got it, was that the motor made a weird pinging sound, it was pretty inconsistent but normally the hum during slewing should be consistent.

that went away after i torqued down the screws

i could have very well fixed it, but i will not know until tonight

[harsh matrix]

No voltage anomalies outside either

[frosty shard]

It was forecast to be clear....I'm waiting...

Let's see what this laser can do to the clouds

[tight lodge]

@harsh matrix Do you have a needle indicator?

[harsh matrix]

yes

i have a voltmeter

i have no idea how to test the mount when in use though

[tight lodge]

I mean one of these. To measure if there's any mechanical backlash

[harsh matrix]

i dont have any of those no

[tight lodge]

It might come in handy to get one. It might help you narrow down what causes all that weirdness

[frosty shard]

I think I've narrowed down the astigmatism I keep seeing in my RC down to my diagonal

[harsh matrix]

I forgot I have a second power adapter i can try for the AM5

It's compatible anyway

It may risk undervolting but its worth a shot

Maybe the PSU isnt supplying a steady 12.5V?

[tight lodge]

I was digging today trough some blogs on ZWO. ZWO did mentioned that there might be the belts causing weird tracking

[tight lodge]

From what I've heard is better to go above than below

[harsh matrix]

I know that lmao

This PSU is 12V vs 12.5V of the one I use regularly

Not a big difference

[harsh matrix]

Thats what i assumed but I'm unable to find any physical evidence of that being the case

They're not loose, they don't appear to be degraded or damaged in any way

They're not displaced from where they need to be

[tight lodge]

I mean softwarewise I'd doesn't make sense to go crazy out of the blue like that

You use OAG right?

[harsh matrix]

Yes

[harsh matrix]

Ofc

Thats why I'm not focusing on software

Im looking at hardware related solutions

[harsh matrix]

@tight lodge one of my IG followers pointed this out to me and it's something I was considering as well, its what made me check the screws on the RA belt tensioner.

The oscillations, when they start, get worse over time and they have a periodic nature.

They rarely ever go in the negative direction, so I guess back to the East which was the case every night this has happened.

It only rocks West.

found somebody on CN with a similar issue with the AM5N

[harsh matrix]

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/959229-zwo-am5n-guiding-issues/?p=14191583

I made my own post on the forum to see if i can get any help

a firmware update will not fix this according to the posters

[tight lodge]

Why the AM5 is not so easy to access as the WAVE150i?😂

[frosty shard]

So after doing some reading on optical theory, I've come to realize that on-axis astigmatism in an RC actually requires extreme misalignment (most likely more than the adjustment limits of most OTAs). When coma is nulled, on-axis astigmatism is also nulled

The issue, as the DSI method illustrates, is that off-axis astigmatism becomes unbalanced throughout the field

But that leads me to a funny conclusion: for a visual RC user, the difficulty of collimation is proportional to the quality of the eyepieces you use.

So for me, with highly astigmatic Baader Hyperions, collimation is easy peasy

https://opg.optica.org/oe/fulltext.cfm?uri=oe-18-5-5282&id=196202
This paper illustrates why you can't really use on-axis astigmatism to judge collimation

[harsh matrix]

yes very much so

[frosty shard]

Well guess that means I'm best off collimating by camera, though I do want to do more tests

Mirror spacing is easier to adjust with a camera

(Well, if you know the intended mirror spacing for your scope, which I'm glad I documented)

it might be easier to do it with an eyepiece if you don't, though

spherical aberration is best judged with the Airy disk and very fine intrafocal/extrafocal details

[frosty shard]

@harsh matrix In HFW mode do you see weird anomalies in your flats around the edges?

[tight lodge]

[tight lodge]

@harsh matrix Is this good attempt for euclid pallette?😅

[harsh matrix]

No

[harsh matrix]

Needs some work

[tight lodge]

Well... yes. Also I have no clue how it's done... so I'm trying to figure it out😂

[harsh matrix]

Fair

[vapid patio]

Redcat tomorrow night

Been a solid 4 weeks

@harsh matrix You do anymore redcat and 571

[harsh matrix]

Yes

And I'm doing more rn

I got a test stack of the last 2 nights' data but MGC screwed up the green channel and now I have to start over

[vapid patio]

https://cdn.discordapp.com/emojis/1304465186845102100.gif?size=48&animated=true&name=whyvanish

[vapid patio]

Photo?

[harsh matrix]

yeah at first glance it looks alright but something looks wonky on the right side of the image

it becomes more apparent when you do an unlinked stretch

there's a huge arc of gradient removed that has a horribly uneven boundary

the square patches are from starx

[vapid patio]

A weird light leak I assume?

[harsh matrix]

first red from the night

[harsh matrix]

no

it was from MGC

[vapid patio]

oh yea yeah I remember that message

[harsh matrix]

MGC and gradient correction dont exactly pull out gradients smoothly if that makes sense

[vapid patio]

Impressive

[harsh matrix]

they pull out big arcs of increasing intensity for some reason

[vapid patio]

I always use Mars data if it’s available

[vapid patio]

Yeah, well cool so far so good

It’s nice to hop on a refractor sometimes just easy

Good lord text speech is horrible

[harsh matrix]

tractor

[harsh matrix]

i didnt have a choice in the matter

[vapid patio]

LIKE WHAT

[vapid patio]

Yeah but aye ngc7000 in sho is

Cygnus region in Hoo is sick

[harsh matrix]

i need to fix this asap

[harsh matrix]

i like it in SHO more

i got bored of HOO already

[harsh matrix]

it's super fire

[vapid patio]

I don’t understand how people make Hoo like red

It always comes out, yellow for me, even with narrow band, normalization, and pallet picker

Man, so many commas

😭

[vapid patio]

Love the purples can never beat SHO My oxygen three filter comes in Wednesday and then I’ll have all three.

Might just take them all out and just put SHO in there and have fun for a couple months

[harsh matrix]

how

what are you doing

[vapid patio]

well, I mean to sum it up. I just combine the channels obv in Hoo and it comes out yellow

I have a photo somewhere hold up

Oh, I know why

my band passes are so wide they kinda cross. Red and green makes yellow.

[harsh matrix]

was going to say

ive quite literally never encountered that

[vapid patio]

35nm in oiii haha

Never gonna buy those filters again

[tight lodge]

Ngl... i really like it

[vapid patio]

THANKS MAN I DO TOO BUT JUST MADE NO SENSE UNTIL NOW

[tight lodge]

Now that I see yours... I need an RC sooo badly

[vapid patio]

Hehe well thanks

wonder what you could crank out with an 8” or bigger

But your gonna need a bigger sensor

[tight lodge]

I can show you what I did with 5

[vapid patio]

I’m barely scraping by with a reducer on my 6”

[vapid patio]

Impressive, I like the colors

[tight lodge]

Thanks. I finally got a good night with no moon. I could only shoot it for 1h 30min

[tight lodge]

why would i want a bigger sensor?

[harsh matrix]

@vapid patio

[tight lodge]

You figured out the DBE

[harsh matrix]

I used MGC

[harsh matrix]

full processed image for now

a tad under 2 hours per channel atm

[frosty shard]

Dude. @harsh matrix your SV220 got test driven in a 16" Dobsonian

The transparency was a letdown at Yanna Research Station (my local astronomy club's dark site) so when we viewed the Lagoon through the 16" Dob we found it somewhat disappointing

[harsh matrix]

riiiiiip

[harsh matrix]

[frosty shard]

Until I offered the SV220

And the difference it made was just unbelievable

[harsh matrix]

no way

[frosty shard]

It was the first time I had ever looked at the Lagoon and seen it look like a photograph

[harsh matrix]

how would it help with bad transparency

[harsh matrix]

[frosty shard]

Massive contrast boost

[harsh matrix]

Lagoon with that Oiii + Hb filter i got looks like a photograph in my 8" dob

i cant image what a 16" is like

that must be insane

[frosty shard]

You know what else looked like a photograph? The Veil Nebula

[harsh matrix]

it sucks to a degree though, simply photographing what you saw doesnt capture what it's like to see it with your own eyes

[harsh matrix]

the Veil is one of my favorite visual objects

i cant imagine what it's like in a telescope twice the size of mine and in dark skies

im going to find out to an extent, tomorrow

oh ayo

i just remembered they have a 16" meade there

[frosty shard]

it's filled with knots and fine detail, you just pan around and see more and more

[harsh matrix]

WHAT? 😭

that's incredible

[frosty shard]

Also they had a 12" RC set up for visual

Solid tube too

[harsh matrix]

oh dear god

probably one heavy mofo

[frosty shard]

That needs to be disassembled for a mirror cleaning, the poor thing was exposed to the elements for too long

[harsh matrix]

riiiiip

[frosty shard]

It's 67 lbs of OTA

I forgot the mount but I think it was the biggest one Orion ever offered

[harsh matrix]

JEZUZ

[frosty shard]

Everybody doing visual astronomy at MAS wants to pick up an imaging O-III filter now for visual

I couldn't even get them to try the SV240 lmao

[harsh matrix]

i do not blame them

those are unbelievably good for visual for no particular reason

[frosty shard]

The SV240 probably would have done better on the Lagoon, Swan, Eagle, and Trifid

[harsh matrix]

cause of Hb?

[frosty shard]

But the 220 was absolutely the move on the Veil

[frosty shard]

Yup, especially for the Trifid

[harsh matrix]

oooooo snap

i need to try Trifid while im there

also

i packed a journal and a pencil this time

[frosty shard]

Good call, wish I did that...

I might have to do a night with some of my artist friends, I would love to see one of them sketch the Veil

[harsh matrix]

i forgot last time and that made the trip feel worse

not like it mattered, it was pretty cloudy w/ bad transparency the whole time i was there despite the forecasts saying otherwise

[harsh matrix]

[vapid patio]

Goodness

[vapid patio]

your Fov would be so narrow

[tight lodge]

that's the idea

[vapid patio]

@harsh matrix @tight lodge no way I just got scammed by svbony

I ordered it from svbony direct

They scratched out the dual

It’s a sii filter

Wait what?

[tight lodge]

Model is 227... it makes sense to be single bandpass

[vapid patio]

You see the part where it would say dual

It’s scratched out

I’m so confused 😭

[oblique sun]

i was planning on buying one

guess not

[vapid patio]

It’s the sii filter but they shipped it with dual narrowband packaging sorta

We will see tonight

[oblique sun]

what did u buy

sv220 or 227

[vapid patio]

Sii 227

[harsh matrix]

What's it look like from the front and back?

Also I'm at the bortle 3 site

[vapid patio]

Idk it’s in my filter wheel

But on the actual filter it’s correct

[harsh matrix]

I saw

They scammed you on the packaging which is the preferable outcome

[vapid patio]

Almost had a heart attack 😭

Probably just ran out of packaging

[harsh matrix]

Possibly

It could be any number of reasons why.

@vapid patio

[vapid patio]

DANG THAT FOV

[vapid patio]

You getting ready to image?

[harsh matrix]

This is going to be a bad ass image

[harsh matrix]

Yes

[vapid patio]

Hehe

[harsh matrix]

I was double checking what framing I wanted to go for before I go out and start up everything

[harsh matrix]

https://tenor.com/view/yeah-bwoi-grin-chef-gif-18525191

[vapid patio]

I feel you

[vapid patio]

finally, a clear night after maybe a month and a half

[harsh matrix]

Jesus

[frosty shard]

Here, we got a stretch of clear nights with high winds...

[vapid patio]

clear night is a clear night

[vapid patio]

That’s North Carolina weather

[frosty shard]

Well, not at 1624 mm focal length with the tripod I have...

I actually might scout out a new place to image

A tennis court near me which may provide enough protection from the wind

[vapid patio]

@harsh matrix is there a place to tell astap what my focal length is?

[vapid patio]

Haha yeHhhhh

[harsh matrix]

You feed it into Nina in the settings

Nina uses what you put in to send to ASTAP

[vapid patio]

Oh ol

It can't plate solve

🥲

Nvm got it

Astap is picky

[vapid patio]

Stock settings

@harsh matrix What settings did you use on your gti

[harsh matrix]

I don't have a GTI

[vapid patio]

Oh whoops

[vapid patio]

AHHHH

[harsh matrix]

Crazy night already

[vapid patio]

For you?

[harsh matrix]

Yes

I saw an INSANE amount of structure in the Milky Way

I let my eyes adjust far more than usual, saw so much structure naked eye, and used binos to see even more

And I saw M31 naked eye

It blew my mind because it put into perspective just how large the galaxy is.

[frosty shard]

I ended up not shooting tonight because I left my mini PC at the observing site

[harsh matrix]

Maaaaaan

Did you get it back?

[vapid patio]

What skys?

I thought you are like b6

[vapid patio]

yippe

[tight lodge]

[tight lodge]

looking good

[frosty shard]

One of the club members found it and will bring it back to me today

[harsh matrix]

Im in Bortle 3 rn

[harsh matrix]

I live in bortle 7/8

[vapid patio]

Backyard 🙏

[vapid patio]

And still be getting baller photos

[harsh matrix]

Fr

Its just complete hell most of the time

[frosty shard]

Did you do any sketching?

That reminds me I really should try to see the Veil in the city again now that I have the 7 nm filter and ~2.5x more aperture by area

[harsh matrix]

Yes actually

I tried some sketching of M17 and M8

Might do some more tonight, say on M20 or something

Id do M16 but its pretty boring visually

[frosty shard]

What kind of aperture do you have access to?

One of the things that stood out to me on the 16" Dob/SV220 was how the Swan's outer extent looks fluffy

[frosty shard]

If you have >12" of aperture the Pillars may be within reach

[harsh matrix]

Up to 16" but its in a dome which nobody here knows how to operate

I think the next biggest thing is a 10"

[oblique sun]

it's gone

[harsh matrix]

BTW @frosty shard I did take a look at M20 last night with my dob and the Hb Oiii filter and I could see the propeller dust feature pretty easily

I also looked at the veil neb for a while and I'm pretty sure i saw the Cygnus wall

I saw the cresent neb too

[vapid patio]

@tight lodge
Does the oiii filter have bad halos?

[tight lodge]

eeehm... around bright stars

[vapid patio]

What do you consider bright?

[tight lodge]

like Alnitak. mag 1.7

[vapid patio]

@harsh matrix How should I go about realigning up my image?

[vapid patio]

Oh haha ok

Do you know @tight lodge?

[harsh matrix]

Star alignment in pix?

[vapid patio]

I just eye balled it idk

[tight lodge]

Yes. In nina you go in framing
Then in the survey you select file instead of offline map, and click load image. Then you loat an image that you shot for example the previous night

[tight lodge]

You're talking about aligning images in pix or nina?

[vapid patio]

Nina haha

[vapid patio]

Ok bet

[tight lodge]

Then this

[vapid patio]

And for some reason my guiding is having a heart attack

Literally same set up as last night

Like what

I have no clue what’s wrong

I forgot to set tracking rate 😅

[harsh matrix]

@frosty shard I saw the Easter and western veil nebula in binoculars and the crescent neb and east/west veil without the Hb Oiii filter tonight

The skies were absolutely beautiful tonight.

Looking at the MW was like staring at a live photograph

I could see the dark streaks running up to Rho Ophiuchi

We hit an SQM-L of 21.38 tonight here

[frosty shard]

Wish I could visit some of the dark skies 10 degrees of latitude south lol

Sagittarius is washed out between the smoke and humidity/haze

[harsh matrix]

Maaaaaan

Sucks cause thats quite literally the brightest part

You know the glowing buldge just below and to the right of the Lagoon Nebula in Sagittarius?

That was so bright tonight that it looked like a giant glowing halo

It almost looked like a cloud but I could tell it was different

[frosty shard]

The Large Sagittarius Star Cloud?

[harsh matrix]

I could also see the various dust tendrils inside of it both naked eye and with binos

[frosty shard]

I can see it from here, but the skies have to cooperate

[harsh matrix]

This part

[frosty shard]

Yup that's it

I have seen it in southern Texas skies and it really is bright

[tight lodge]

Your mount just had a total stroke?

[harsh matrix]

alright guys, ZWO responded and said I need to RMA it

@tight lodge it is possible the RA belt is what is at fault, but not due to the tension

im thinking the belt was much lower quality and now ZWO is paying for it

[tight lodge]

low quality belts bight be a bit stiffer, and who knows how long they have been in storage, so maybe the belt has some hardspots that kinda slow down the motor

[harsh matrix]

yeah god knows

[tight lodge]

Holy! ok, mark this day as a public holyday!. ZWO responded and took responsibility!

[harsh matrix]

somebody in the CN thread i found said they RMA'd there's and ZWO said something was wrong with the RA shaft belt

[harsh matrix]

yeah no kidding

they hadnt responded for 4 days today

i was getting ready to write them again

i wrote them again yesterday

gave them the weekend to not respond, after that i was going to be annoying as hell

[tight lodge]

well, i cross my fingers and my toes for you mate. I really hope they gonna fix this

[harsh matrix]

same

[vapid patio]

@harsh matrix @tight lodge would you guys like the files to my data? It’s pretty crisp.

I really can’t get HOO to the color I want

It’s either just red or if I do narrow band normalization, it becomes yellow

[harsh matrix]

what data?

guys

this is what i shot from bortle 3

WIP ofc

👀

[vapid patio]

Hoo ngc 7000

[harsh matrix]

with redcat?

[vapid patio]

Spiffy

[vapid patio]

Yep

[harsh matrix]

sure

[vapid patio]

I can’t get the colors that nice gold blue for some reason

[tight lodge]

Are we gonna see the Embryo Nebula later this fall?

[thorny path]

Yooo that’s on my list for targets

Tho idk I’m debating on sticking to one target for a season

Massive integration

[harsh matrix]

i dont remember what that is

is it NGC 1333?

[tight lodge]

Yes

[harsh matrix]

the answer is yes in that case

[tight lodge]

Sweeet!

[harsh matrix]

ive really wanted to shoot it for a while now

[tight lodge]

Perfect FOV

[harsh matrix]

btw this is the completed first pass

i think im going to reprocess it several times this week until im sure i have the money in the bag

this one is riddled with drizzle artifacts so id like to remedy that if possible

[tight lodge]

[frosty shard]

I believe I have secured a like new rack and pinion focuser!

[harsh matrix]

Oh snap

What is it?

Id like to order one for my RC8 very soon

[frosty shard]

Apertura version, someone on CN has one they don't want

[harsh matrix]

Oh gotcha

I was going to order one of those shortly

[frosty shard]

They've been on backorder for a while. Hopefully that changes

[harsh matrix]

Rip

They still are?

I knew they were a few weeks back but didnt know they still were

[vapid patio]

@harsh matrix I see the new pfp

[harsh matrix]

[vapid patio]

Looking fresh to be honest

How many nights are you gonna be in those good skies

[harsh matrix]

im already gone

i was there for 2

planned to go for 3 but the forecast for tuesday got worse as the weekend progressed so i decided not to chance it and go home

still

that was probably the best trip so far despite the first night not being as great as i had hoped

[tight lodge]

eeeehm... could be better

[frosty shard]

@harsh matrix Bruh

[vapid patio]

Well sick

[thorny path]

least schizo rack and pinion user

no im joking

[harsh matrix]

NOOOOO

[thorny path]

I’m just made the most purchase ever

I may regret it

[tight lodge]

What did you get?

[harsh matrix]

The most purchase ever

Did you grab an RC8?

Anyone want to borrow my RC8 so it isnt sitting idle while I wait for ZWO to get their crap together?

[thorny path]

Hint: I was talking about it

And it can also be used on an RC

[harsh matrix]

You got the starizona 0.65x reducer..

Okay

Get ready to sell it to me then

[thorny path]

Fair

[harsh matrix]

[thorny path]

PUT ME IN COACH I feel like my SVX can handle it

[harsh matrix]

Said every frac user who bought one ever

[thorny path]

I returned my starnexus to them last time… (those who know, the back sorry is tragic) you think they will shoot me on sight when they see my return request

[harsh matrix]

They don't even work on esprit 120's or 150's

[harsh matrix]

Yes

[thorny path]

Sync your time guys

[thorny path]

Except I’m not an espirt…

[harsh matrix]

In theory, the image circle of those scopes would be larger than your 90 mm

So if it doesn't work on those, then it ain't gonna work at all on your 90 mm

[thorny path]

https://tenor.com/view/yamcha-yamcha-death-pose-yamcha-dead-yamcha-on-the-ground-yamcha-sleeping-gif-15816799

Me in a week*

[harsh matrix]

Yes

So get ready to sell it to me

I can't wait to receive my Apex-L

Unless you got the small one

That one might work

[thorny path]

My SVX wins no diff

[harsh matrix]

You are coping

[thorny path]

Gotta prepare my svx for the battle. 10 reps of flats and 100 reps of light frames 🙏

[frosty shard]

Looks like tomorrow and Saturday will be really good for imaging, finally

I should be able to get started on my competition entry...I hope

I'm really hoping I can manage enough integration time...

[harsh matrix]

@thorny path can your goofy 90mm SVX do this?

some of these stars look weird

i feel like my color calibration choice was not good

this is a double star?

I think im going to have to reprocess this again because im not a fan of the color calibration...

and overall color balance

I think the correction of the background itself is much better though

[harsh matrix]

Alright I fixed what was bugging me about it

[tight lodge]

that does appear to be a double star

[tight lodge]

i wonder how your RC would have resovled those

[frosty shard]

Multiscale image?

[tight lodge]

i really have to image the Shark Nebula

this would be my framing compared to Vel's image

[frosty shard]

Alright RC bros what should I shoot tonight?

I know I'll be getting data for my competition project if I go to Yanna, but in case I don't...

I do need O-III on the Pelican Nebula, but I also want to get a few subs on a variety of targets

[harsh matrix]

ZWO sent me a shipping label to send my AM5N to a US repair facility

Fortunately it doesn't look like I'll be out of a mount ALL that long.

Still. Very frustrating.

[tight lodge]

atleast they gonna fix it

And let's hope you'll never have the same issue ever again

[harsh matrix]

Frrrrr

Alright another update

Its no longer in my hands

We'll see how long they take to fix it.

I got the notice that a label was created and ready to be put on the box this morning before I went to work, and I left work about 30 minutes early to ship it ASAP.

I would not have gotten it out today if I didnt leave early

Traffic is crazy around these parts now

[tight lodge]

Dude, i cross my fingers and my toes for you.
I want you back in business with the RC ASAP and forget about the WO.

[harsh matrix]

I ain't ever ditching the cat because it is a whole lot of fun to travel with

However, I do greatly enjoy the simplicity and lack of color fringing on my reflectors

And i love the RC because of how crazy the resolution is and how sharp the scope is.

[tight lodge]

@harsh matrix I might try the Dark Shark Nebula tomorrow, what percentage of LRGB should i go for?

i have about 1h 30min to work with until hopefully next week

[harsh matrix]

People say to do a 1:3 RGB to Lum ratio

My ratio was close to 2:3 because I had limited time

[tight lodge]

so for 1h of R i would need 3h of L for a good balance

[harsh matrix]

Yes if possible ofc

You wont get a good result with less than 5 hours of data if you aren't in insanely dark skies

[tight lodge]

i'm b4

[harsh matrix]

Even in bortle 3 id say 10 hours total wasnt enough

[tight lodge]

moonless

[tight lodge]

Oh COME ON!!!

[harsh matrix]

You're going to have to go longer than 10 hours then

[tight lodge]

just L

[harsh matrix]

Also fuq u for being in bortle 4

[tight lodge]

in august i should be able to do around 5h per night

[harsh matrix]

You wanna host my rig so I can remote in to it?

[tight lodge]

[harsh matrix]

[tight lodge]

if you trust me to haul it in the back of my car, install it on the site and then take it appart in the morning XD

but you know what, tomorrow i will try to do the full 1h 30min with only L

[harsh matrix]

Good idea

Make the most of your time

[tight lodge]

color is optional XD

[harsh matrix]

B&W images are underrated fr

[tight lodge]

for real

ight, then imma charge my battery and tomorrow i shall give it a shot

this framing is gonna be nuts

i think i can force it to 300s without clipping

[harsh matrix]

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/827768-finally-made-an-rc-collimation-adapter/page-65

@runic violet Should I still think about getting one of these or do you reckon I should get one of those alternate ones from European market?

[runic violet]

Idk

[frosty shard]

Unprocessed preview

[tight lodge]

@harsh matrix

[harsh matrix]

Rip

[tight lodge]

So, the offer of you shipping your rig to me still available?

Think about it. You get b4, but only about 5/6 chances a year to image🤣 🤣 🤣

[harsh matrix]

No

[tight lodge]

[frosty shard]

Holy crap, there might be an asteroid in this image

[tight lodge]

@harsh matrix

[tight lodge]

Where?

[frosty shard]

Below Barnard 92 on the right side of the image. There's an RGB trail

[tight lodge]

This?

[frosty shard]

No one sec

[tight lodge]

Definitely asteroid

[frosty shard]

I'm not at my PC so if anyone wants to figure out which one that is please be my guest (and good luck without a plate solve)

[tight lodge]

Double star

[harsh matrix]

Okay Vera Rubin

[harsh matrix]

Wind?

[frosty shard]

Me on my way to DM them this image with the caption "EAT THIS"

[tight lodge]

Nah, I changed the camera rotation 90° and I forgot to recalibrate

[tight lodge]

They ain't gonna image the northen hemisphere anyways 🤣

It's up to us to make justice

[harsh matrix]

Whoops

I've done that

I thought thats what was going on with my AM5N too btw

The behavior i saw with my AM5N is exactly like what happens when the calibration goes bad

[tight lodge]

I hope that ain't gon a happen

[harsh matrix]

So i thought my filter wheel was loose and spinning around with the OAG on it, changing rotation

Then I went out and checked and it was completely planted

Thats what alarmed me

[frosty shard]

Made the same mistake in my M24 data, but I didn't notice because I only rotated by 10°

[harsh matrix]

Recalibrating fixed it temporarily and then it would act up again

[tight lodge]

Also, I had to cancel the dark shark nebula

[harsh matrix]

Cause of clouds?

[tight lodge]

Impossible to image a dark nebula when I ain't got no dark sky

FYI... it's 1:30am here🤣 🤣 🤣

[harsh matrix]

Rip

Yeah you're not shooting anything without astronomical dark

[frosty shard]

Do you have an IR filter?

[tight lodge]

I am, I'm shooting NB on tulip nebula

[tight lodge]

Yes

[frosty shard]

Atmospheric scatter may be low enough for that to work

[harsh matrix]

BTW apparently dark nebula are super easy to shoot in NIR

Benny got a lot of IFN in NIR too

[frosty shard]

I can verify that one.

[tight lodge]

Well... I don't have the IR filter installed in the efw

I could try to image it trough the OAG and use the main cam as guide cam

So far, NB doesn't give a damn about astro dark

[harsh matrix]

I really hope i get my am5 back soon

I miss my reflectors

I need to order some NIR filters for my 533

Fudge

[tight lodge]

How about a 585 to speedrun the IR?

[harsh matrix]

You gonna fund it?

[tight lodge]

If you're gonna help me get a 10" RC

[harsh matrix]

Exactly

[frosty shard]

Now that's what I like to see in this thread

[tight lodge]

Hey... it's difficult for a 5" newtonian to compete with some big ol' RC's

[frosty shard]

Exactly, know your place

[tight lodge]

So far... it's still in the league. Right at its limits, but still in the game

[frosty shard]

Jokes aside a 4-5" Newt is on my acquisition list in the future

[tight lodge]

I mean... they ain't bad. More compact and a lot cheaper than a 5" frac

[frosty shard]

And I can shoot plenty of NIR!

[tight lodge]

Exactly

[frosty shard]

One of my friends is gonna try shooting NIR with a 130mm apo

[tight lodge]

That's why reflectors are kings

[frosty shard]

I wonder how that's gonna turn out

[tight lodge]

Although, I would say that an RC is more suitable for NIR, since you almost have no glass in front of the camera

[tight lodge]

His optics might block most of the IR😅

[frosty shard]

That is true...I've never looked into the optical design of coma correctors

[tight lodge]

I think they have a 3 element correcting lenses

That's 3 pieces of glass more than an RC

[tight lodge]

Should i be concerned if i get these? In my bedroom?

[harsh matrix]

you will get them everywhere you go

unless its like a mile underground where you are

[tight lodge]

stuff like that makes me not want to take darks XD

[harsh matrix]

you dont need to take darks with that camera

[tight lodge]

yeah i know

BSI is king babeeehhhh

[tight lodge]

Bubble Nebula

[harsh matrix]

that's an Oiii shockwave from Cygnus X-1

[tight lodge]

i know . That was my plan

[harsh matrix]

okay good

fuggin awesome thing to observe

[tight lodge]

the Ha was easier to get than the OIII

[harsh matrix]

i need to redo it this year because doing it with OSC was hell

[tight lodge]

i'm still waiting for the night tho

[tight lodge]

oh i bet

[harsh matrix]

trying to work on MGC to get this right

[harsh matrix]

probably my best MGC correction so far?

cropped out the right side because autocrop left a portion of low signal area in the stack

[tight lodge]

Did i just resolved Cyg X1?

[harsh matrix]

you would not have but you definitely have the star itself there

the star being harassed

[tight lodge]

i found that star. HD 226868

[harsh matrix]

yuppers

[tight lodge]

Well... apparently all the red circles are Cygnus X1

[harsh matrix]

the hell

[tight lodge]

[vapid patio]

I just decided to walk outside randomly about 2 AM right now and man I did not know I could see so much Milky Way structure

Even looking straight up near cygnus, I still see Milky Way structure

And I’m just in my front yard lol

Good lord

I can see lagoon

On everything I love

[harsh matrix]

yuuuuuurp

[vapid patio]

@harsh matrix

Good lord I sound like a fly

And I had to degrade the quality I hate discord

[vapid patio]

HOLY COMPRESSION

[harsh matrix]

where'd you get NVG's?

[tight lodge]

One more month🥹

[tight lodge]

Probably dark sky as well

.
Needs a lot more data

[vapid patio]

oh you know just had them laying around

[frosty shard]

Screw imaging projects, I just took a bunch of quick snapshots last night

[frosty shard]

@tight lodge the asteroid in my M24 image is 21814 Shanawolff

[frosty shard]

M10 in IR

[tight lodge]

Finally... som good guiding

[harsh matrix]

oh snap

[tight lodge]

Imagine I manage to pull this mosaic

[harsh matrix]

okay guys

I think im going to pull the trigger on an Apex-L for my RC8

since i got my 571 way earlier than i expected to and a flattener is necessary if i want to shoot reduced

[harsh matrix]

should i do it?

asking price is $325

new price is $450

[frosty shard]

I didn't continuum subtract this, I was lazy and threw in the H-alpha with the rest of the red lmao

[frosty shard]

That seems like a good deal

Would you be able to use the Apex-L with any other OTAs?

[harsh matrix]

maybe long down the road but not right now

[frosty shard]

@harsh matrix I see your Euclid palette and raise you NIR/Ha/O-III

Obviously I need way more integration but I've been trying to see what palettes look good on different objects

[tight lodge]

Is this a nebula?

I found it.

it's called PN G070.9+02.4

[frosty shard]

Somewhere in Cygnus? If I know my galactic coordinates

Oh it's by the Tulip

[tight lodge]

@harsh matrix Do you also have a huge offset with your NIR filter?

[harsh matrix]

Yes

Thats normal

[tight lodge]

That's bad

I'll have to refocus the OAG everytime I shoot IR

[harsh matrix]

P much

[tight lodge]

I wonder if it is possible to have AF for the OAG

I need that

i didn't...

[harsh matrix]

i just got it

[tight lodge]

but i found this, and i got inspired for AF for the OAG

[harsh matrix]

that threw me for a loop

[tight lodge]

but i repeat. i want an RC not an SCT

[tight lodge]

Why the babysitting for the rig on the left?😅

[frosty shard]

Babysitting?

[tight lodge]

Well, there's a guy constantly going to it

[frosty shard]

Oh yeah my friend just wanted to be in the timelapse lol

(I didn't take this, he did)

[tight lodge]

Oh ok

[frosty shard]

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1337504396824674379/1390131982524092527/m24-rc3.jpg?ex=686724cc&is=6865d34c&hm=92875014a2a628cf567fc1c369ddd215e5a7df6155dd6dfd5ca15ba46adb7994&

Please don't tell me I have collimation issues again

[harsh matrix]

Looks quite good tbh

Im not a fan of how pulled back the stars look, the cores feel muted, but that may be more of a starnet problem than a you problem if you use starnet

[frosty shard]

I don't, but I think I deconvolved the stars a bit too aggressively

[harsh matrix]

OHHHHH

Yeah that could do it for sure

[frosty shard]

Also I just realized, do you deconvolve each layer separately? I'd think that would be better since each PSF will depend on the wavelength of light

[harsh matrix]

I have no idea how you do manual decon with mono data

[frosty shard]

Apparently SVBONY is hosting an imaging competition...I think I'll submit this image for it.

You need to use some SVBONY equipment to qualify, and I barely made it by the skin of my teeth (IR filter lmao)

[harsh matrix]

i saw that

Im going to submit my horsehead neb photo i think

the euclid palette one

both filters were by svbony

[blissful marlin]

Give the others a chance too

[tight lodge]

you decon and denoise the separate channels, DBE and StarX. then you combine the channels and the stars separately. after you process the nebula or galaxy then you combine the starless with the stars

[harsh matrix]

[blissful marlin]

@harsh matrix btw, did Dubaiastro completely disappear from this server?

After he got Browndwarf for the second time

[harsh matrix]

Thomas banned him

Woke up one day and decided to Thanos snap him from the server

[blissful marlin]

[harsh matrix]

[blissful marlin]

Why?

He didnt do so much trash….right?

[frosty shard]

sorry I don't speak Pixinsight
I'm using entirely free, non-AI tools so my workflow is pretty simple. For this image I combined the channels, performed Richardson-Lucy deconvolution on a Moffat profile PSF, stretched with GHS (first a regular GHS stretch, then a saturation stretch, then a highly protected inverse stretch to tamp down the excess brightness) and then denoised with NL-Bayes

[harsh matrix]

Iirc he did something dumb, got timed out for it

The second his time out was over, he did it again.

For whatever reason they gave it a week and Thomas only then chose to ban him for it

[tight lodge]

you just gave me flashbacks to when i was using PS to process astrophotos

[frosty shard]

I'm aiming for repeatable processes that anyone can replicate at home for free and let the image maintain any scientific value it may have

Not that I think my images will have much scientific value but a man can dream

Well maybe if I do variable star monitoring...

[tight lodge]

i have one you can try

this one is bugging me

[frosty shard]

Are you trying to do a magnitude measurement?

I've never actually done variable star photometry so I doubt I'd do any better

[tight lodge]

no, i'm trying to figure out what the hell that is. it's visible in IR and OIII

[frosty shard]

Ohhhhh

Got the coordinates?

[blissful marlin]

lol

[tight lodge]

J2000 { 20 00 43.4250800424 +35 14 37.770342792 }

[frosty shard]

That's V1360 Cygni, a Mira variable. Those are usually bright in the IR, but the O-III emission may be an indication of a symbiotic star
https://arxiv.org/abs/1512.04075

To be clear, I don't think this is actually known about V1360 Cygni. I can't really find any references to it being studied or classified as such. I might actually join you in monitoring this star

[tight lodge]

You are very much welcome

Quick mention. I did exclude any flaws in my optical train since someone did helped me and imaged the region as well and he got the same results like me

[tight lodge]

Bruuuh

Pix us stalking me

[vapid patio]

@harsh matrix HERES THE HO DATA FROM SO LONG AGO HERE YOU GO

whoosp

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/11OBXBhREBQah5zInUySRyjIZhcOHDM37?usp=sharing

[harsh matrix]

Im getting absolutely slammed at work this week so I'll get to that whenever I get a chance

[frosty shard]

What is wrong with my stars aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[frosty shard]

Oh look there's asteroid 58 Concordia

[harsh matrix]

Dafuq

Wild

[frosty shard]

Wow, seeing SUCKED last night

@harsh matrix any chance you're gonna try your hand at mosaics when you can shoot with the RC8 again?

[harsh matrix]

i probably wouldnt do it unless i was doing it under darker skies

it's too challenging to set up different panels here at home unless i shoot narrowband

then that turns into a 40/50 hour project

i think i would use the 571 instead

[frosty shard]

That's fair, I think I'll be doing narrowband mosaics for a lot of my imaging

The M24 mosaic was pretty special

Tbh I just want to have nice long strip mosaics suitable for Instagram lol

[harsh matrix]

i dunno how you upload them that way tbh

i cant figure it out

[frosty shard]

I split them manually on my PC

[undone sedge]

still hoping i can do my massive spaghetti nebula mosaic
like the fool i am...

[undone sedge]

i use an online image splitter

[harsh matrix]

Oh interesting

[harsh matrix]

I missed the prior Apex-L

one which has been listed for 2 months has just dropped the price back down to something acceptable

i jumped on this

holy @frosty shard

this is on that thread where it was discovered the center mark on the secondary was placed wrong

oh crap

they swapped the focuser from that crayford to rack and pinon

that explains the lack of stock LOL

[harsh matrix]

this Apex-L did not get snatched yet

[tight lodge]

That's not a massive mosaic
This is a massive mosaic

[undone sedge]

it’s big for not having done one before

[tight lodge]

i want to do the full Cygnus constellation. the way i planned it is to do a single frame 30s LRGB or even L if the time doesn't allow it... but counting how many panels i need, realy puts the project on halt

900 panels just to cover center section on Cygnus

actually after doing the math... i might need around 8h do do all the 900 panels with one filter

[undone sedge]

good lord

[tight lodge]

*I challenge you Vera Rubin *

[harsh matrix]

Okay I grabbed the starizona apex-l

Thats going to make my 571 usable on my RC8 and it will turn the thing into an f/5.12 light bucket beast

[tight lodge]

Can't wait to see the first image coming out of it

[frosty shard]

Finally, I posted on Astrobin
https://app.astrobin.com/i/2qn71d

[harsh matrix]

you got CO modulation too

[frosty shard]

I should be shooting my Pelican panels tonight but

https://tenor.com/view/bear-alpha-bear-roblox-roblox-freaky-lagoon-lagoon-gif-14235601098654091259

@harsh matrix would you be up for a small collab? I want to do an IR/R/G image of the Lagoon and I just realized you have 2/3 of that data

[harsh matrix]

Oh yeah sure

The framing needs to be exact or close enough though

[frosty shard]

Oh I forgot did you shoot that one reduced?

[harsh matrix]

I did

so maybe it wont be as important to get rotation right

you will just have to make sure the center of your image aligns with the center of this sub

[frosty shard]

Depending on my time I can either shoot a single stack or a 4 panel mosaic...

[vapid patio]

Hello my fellow rc users

I have problem and wound like some guidance

So after @harsh matrix Help me completely dial in my settings to fix my backlash essentially it required very short exposures from my off exes guider 0.5 to 1 second. I currently have an ASI 120 MM which is ancient and can’t really keep up that speed on every target

So what are my options guides camera wise?

Maybe there’s another fix that I’m just not seeing

[tight lodge]

Imx 462M

Touptek or Player One if you can get your hands on those

[frosty shard]

Try enabling the median filter option in PHD2, if you're using that. It may also be available in ASIAIR if you use that but I'm not familiar

Median filter also nukes hot pixels

Had to pull the rig in early due to clouds and wind

[frosty shard]

QHY also has a 585 guide cam
https://www.qhyccd.com/qhy5iii585/

[tight lodge]

Then you'll need the player one OAG

[vapid patio]

I mean I use Nina and phd2 so I will try

[vapid patio]

Can’t get anything player one in us right now

Might go asi220mm

[tight lodge]

QHY?

[vapid patio]

Nope

Nothing other than zwo

That’s why I got asi585mm

[tight lodge]

Bruh... at this point is cheaper to move out of the US.

[vapid patio]

I’m not even old enough to fly solo 😭

I think

[tight lodge]

I still can't believe that I imaged this

[frosty shard]

I flew solo at 11

[vapid patio]

Not any airline in North Carolina lets you

[frosty shard]

@harsh matrix do you think this is a thermal plume?

[harsh matrix]

Idk what you are referencing by thermal plume

From the star itself or caused by optics?

And what exactly are you looking at?

[frosty shard]

Caused by optics, the spike to the left of the star

Not as prominent as the diffraction spike

[tight lodge]

Where did you imaged this?

[harsh matrix]

hmmmmm

heat plume by tube currents?

probably

ive seen similar

tube currents are the only thing that would cause an asymmetrical spike like that

[tight lodge]

Dew on secondary mirror can cause those weird secondary spikes.

[frosty shard]

Good point, but I should ask if you've seen this with your Newt or whether it's been documented for Cassegrains

Because the humidity at night can be ridiculously high

[frosty shard]

What's this?

[tight lodge]

This is how I experienced dew on the secondary mirror. Weirdly similar 😅

[frosty shard]

Reprocessed and man I think I nailed the stars

I lightened the image up for the next time I print as well

Look at that modulation man

[harsh matrix]

that's pretty wild

[harsh matrix]

looking much nicer

I hope to use my RC8 next week

I miss imaging with it

[frosty shard]

One more edit

turns out, yes, deconvolve your channels separately for best results

[harsh matrix]

helllllll yes

you should flex that on topcode because they are a blurx hater

it almost looks blurx'd

but i know it isnt

[tight lodge]

AnyXterminator hater 😅

[tight lodge]

Wanna know another little secret about running decon on separate channels? You can run it at lowet values 😁

[frosty shard]

I found that for some reason, the green and IR channels needed more deconvolution than the red channel (which was really prone to ringing artifacts)

Actually I think it might be because of the H-alpha

[tight lodge]

Hα always has some sweet rings

[harsh matrix]

looks fantastic with the decoupler off CN

[vapid patio]

MINE HAD HORRIBLE ONES REMEBER

Good lord with the caps my bad

[tight lodge]

I need to do a cluster

[harsh matrix]

I do not remember lol

[vapid patio]

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1133160663271866409/1375929964536397887/togif-1.gif

[tight lodge]

Well, it's kinda your fault

[vapid patio]

How

[tight lodge]

You've been quite inactive around here😅

[vapid patio]

Bad skys man

[tight lodge]

We all do

Lately I ended up playing with other people's data

[frosty shard]

I need to see you try your hand at my data: #1389127538462294066

[tight lodge]

I'd love to

[frosty shard]

@harsh matrix idea for you: when you get your RC back, if you have some time at a dark site, do you think you could get about an hour of data either NGC 6603 or Barnard 92 (just the blue channel)? Neither object has a quality photo on Wikipedia.

I can get to it myself, but I'm going to be very busy this new moon cycle (traveling) so you could beat me to it. If so I'll give you my framing data

I think NGC 6603 needs it more urgently than Barnard 92

[harsh matrix]

not sure im going to make it to the dark sky site this time around

we'll see

[frosty shard]

Ah rip but hope that changes

[harsh matrix]

depends on a lot of things

[frosty shard]

Actually just letting you know I need to update the linked files

[vapid patio]

the avenged Sevenfold album is rosette hehehe

[tight lodge]

Ooo that's genius

[frosty shard]

The photo lab when I picked up my M24 print: "What kind of lens did you use?"

I had to resist the urge to reply with "I have transcended refraction, mortal."

[harsh matrix]

Lmfao

[frosty shard]

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Barnard_92_(near_infrared,_red,_green).jpg
Barnard 92 crop is now in Wikimedia Commons...maybe I'll get some proper H-alpha on this one

[vapid patio]

Why is it recommended to get a bigger oag prism for a aps-c or bigger and a normal small oag for smaller sensors

Like don’t you want more light always?

[harsh matrix]

yes

[harsh matrix]

probably depending on your budget

in general, an OAG that has a larger prism has a larger diameter so it doesn't restrict the light cone compared to an OAG of a smaller size

[frosty shard]

Yeah, I wouldn't mind getting a big chungus OAG with a dinky little sensor. After all you have less chance of light blockage from the prism.

[vapid patio]

Yeah I can’t believe everywhere I looked it was recommended smaller sensors smaller oag

Whatever

[vapid patio]

Oh ok yeah yeah

[tight lodge]

Bigger is better... always. Especially in astrophotography

[oblique sun]

tell that to frac users

[frosty shard]

I'm not, at least not for imaging (yet) lmao

[vapid patio]

I misread it I thought it meant reflectors haha

[harsh matrix]

guys

it is here