Ritchey–Chrétien enjoyers thread

[vapid patio]

wait maybe i missread

sorta?

[harsh matrix]

nah it didnt win IOTD through the formal voting process

sometimes they feature images on their media

they were just featuring that one

[vapid patio]

ah ok well thats good

its still cool framing tho

you should try

[harsh matrix]

i was going to but everyone else was shooting it too

i didnt want to feel like i was going along with a trend or something

[vapid patio]

fair but like its in season

you could image it and gate keep for awhile

[harsh matrix]

True

[tight lodge]

If plan to shoot it, please shoot it like this
#1404131296061423728 message

[vapid patio]

That way looks… odd

HHO?

[tight lodge]

Not the pallette, I mean the framing

[vapid patio]

Oh 😭 yeah no that looks great

[copper saffron]

Would a 585 be a good match for the carbonstar RC6?

[runic violet]

Tiny pixels and small sensor on a slow scope isn't the best idea

[tight lodge]

i think @vapid patio has this exact setup

[runic violet]

ok?

[vapid patio]

I have it

But I have the ccdt67 reducer

[harsh matrix]

I'd argue a reducer is necessary with the 585

Not only to make the scope faster but to mitigate guiding error as much as possible because those tiny pixels are going to exaggerate any kind of movement error much more than other cameras will.

[oblique sun]

imx715 on a rc😼

[harsh matrix]

No

[runic violet]

i'd argue that a reducer is necessary with any cmos cam because f/8 is ungodly slow

I would rather recommend a 130/150pds tbh

[vapid patio]

@harsh matrix

RC6 with a reducer has little to no problems tbh

i usd to run 533 with rc6 nothing on it just stright up

havent collimated in a year lol

[runic violet]

If you run at f/9 with a small sensor you're very insensitive to collimation, but you also collect very little light

You're also unlikely to have the seeing to make use of that sampling

[vapid patio]

Binning?

Then drizzling back

@tight lodge says it’s a good idea

[vapid patio]

But yes lol we all agree it is not a good idea native with 585. Only with reducer

[tight lodge]

It's eeeeeehhhh... drizzling reverses the increased SNR of binning 😅

[vapid patio]

Oh ok so just binning

I wanna try it but some other day as I wonder if I can see a difference in I guess “resolution?”

[pine path]

The other way around is probably a better idea

But then you could also just drizzle without increasing the scale and get the same benefit. Drizzle is nice if you have enough well dithered data because you get less issues with interpolation

[vapid patio]

Interpolation?

Big word

[tight lodge]

The resolution in px × px, would be the same (3856*2180)
The FWHM that would be affected by binning, depending how oversampled you are, binning can actually make your image sharper.

[copper saffron]

Isn't it pretty oversampled, its like 0.6arc/px

[runic violet]

Binning is an ineffective use of pixels

Reducing or using a faster scope allows you to get more fov + less read noise per pixel

[tight lodge]

Tom doesn't care about more FOV 😂

[runic violet]

Everyone ignores fov until they don't

You can always crop fov but you can't uncrop it

Mosaics are pain

[tight lodge]

The thing about FOV is that it's good to have a choice between a tight FOV and a wide FOV, each has it's own advantage.

[runic violet]

Exactly, a choice

A wide fov can be turned into a tight one, but not the other way around

[tight lodge]

yeah, but sometimes i don't care to fit the whole NGC7000 in one frame, sometimes, i want a closer look at the cygnus wall. i want that option as well

That's why i'm using an IMX585 with 2" filters. my path is fully open for an APS-C sensor. financially i can't afford it, but the hardware can.
My rig is planned for the future and the 585 was the best option at the time

[runic violet]

Don't you use a newt

[tight lodge]

yes

[tight lodge]

But the 130mm aperture is kinda small. so i want a bigger aperture

[runic violet]

Regardless you run fast so idk what you're arguing

[tight lodge]

I'm not arguing... i just want a bigger aperture

[vapid patio]

0.7 yeah not horrible for my seeing

[harsh matrix]

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/715790825417605151/1274541901395132456/buhflipexplode.gif

[vapid patio]

@harsh matrix https://app.astrobin.com/i/ofvm7w

[vapid patio]

Is it bad?

[harsh matrix]

I can already tell by the thumbnail that its not great

[harsh matrix]

it very mid

it is lacking integration, super soft, over denoised

they did a good job of hiding it but I can see red splotches from undercooked Sii everywhere

there's some residual vertical banding as well which tells me they pushed the data way farther than it could handle

so yeah, original thought was correct

[runic violet]

imagine how easy AP would be without astronomical standards

[tall summit]

I discovered that modded Canon dslr aps-c size I just got is like 1000x1000 smaller then stock Nikon aps-c it replaces((

[tight lodge]

Bigger pixels. But the APS-C is a standard format 😅

[tall summit]

yep, but like you said, fov is being cut(

[crisp flower]

Its still not perfectly collimated and i think i still got the best lunar data i ever took
Im so mad i took so long to get this scope rn (oh god i think i uploaded the wrong file, this is embarassing)

There

[blissful marlin]

Does it slightly suffer from chromatic aberration??

[crisp flower]

I think its astigmatism

But yea it has something

[blissful marlin]

:/

[crisp flower]

Tbh i dont even mind it that much, its still my sharpest moon data

[frosty shard]

Are you using a reducer? There shouldn't be any appreciable chromatic aberration with an RC

Or are you shooting with a mono cam and you have alignment artifacts

[crisp flower]

i am not

could be alignment arifacts also tbh

[frosty shard]

I was gonna say, your field looks similar to mine

This is pretty trash though

Just wanted to shoot the moon in SHO for the memes

[crisp flower]

also alignment issues i assume

lol

looks nice tho

[frosty shard]

and it was at an extremely low declination so seeing effects were amplified + long exposures + incorrect tracking settings

(my mount was still on sidereal speed)

[crisp flower]

oh daaaaamn

[frosty shard]

I will try this again when the moon is more favorably positioned

[crisp flower]

ill do the same once my scope properly set up

[frosty shard]

Probably also get some IR while I'm at it

IR/R/G mineral moon

[crisp flower]

that sounds fun tbh

[frosty shard]

You can shoot IR too right?

[crisp flower]

jup

[frosty shard]

On a totally unrelated note: @harsh matrix you were thinking of doing an Andromeda mosaic right?

[harsh matrix]

Possibly

[frosty shard]

I know we're shooting at different FLs, but I kinda want to organize a collaboration across the RC users here

I might be biting off more than I can chew, but we could get an incredible image all together

Hmm are there any framing tools that let you plan a mosaic with multiple telescopes...

[harsh matrix]

dont believe so

id argue we need to match more than just framing though

gradients, seeing, pixel scale

any amount of tilt or miscollimation will cause weird distortions to the field, making accurate field alignment impossible

[runic violet]

gradients - MSGR

seeing - blurx

tilt/miscollimation - just don't have it

pixel scale - you have to do some resampling

[frosty shard]

Also undistortion when registering using the platesolve data

[runic violet]

That only helps somewhat, it can't interpolate any kind of distortion

But RCs are generally flat so if you aren't miscollimated it's probably fine

[harsh matrix]

@frosty shard MY FOCUSER GOT PACKAGED

IM SO EXCITED

[frosty shard]

SAME HERE

[harsh matrix]

hell yeah

[harsh matrix]

it's already in transit

[frosty shard]

I will probably get mine Monday

[harsh matrix]

mine says sunday

[frosty shard]

I should still get an EAF but that's relatively low on the priority list when I have to be with my scope to shoot all the time

[harsh matrix]

[shut egret]

Based

[frosty shard]

@vapid patio were you planning on upgrading your focuser?

[vapid patio]

Yep

[frosty shard]

If you didn't catch it the rack and pinion focusers are back in stock

[vapid patio]

Appreciate it

[vapid patio]

@veloren

Weird

Your name doesn’t pop up

[vapid patio]

@evalys

Dang ok

[oblique sun]

He left

[vapid patio]

Why

[oblique sun]

dm him he'll tell you

[tight lodge]

Damn... this place went quiet

[oblique sun]

bc no veloren

[frosty shard]

Hey I'm still here

[tight lodge]

Someone will have to take his spot then

[frosty shard]

It's a tough and dirty job but I'll do it

Hopefully tomorrow or sometime this week I'll finally get around to shooting again

[tight lodge]

Well, I can't take his spot because I'm an impostor here

[frosty shard]

You can if you fork over enough cash

[tight lodge]

That's what I'm struggling to do

I just payed 570€ for car insurance... that's ⅓ of the RC8 price

[frosty shard]

Just be like me and don't have a car bro

Or be like my friend and don't insure your car bro

(I say as I struggle to get to Bortle 3 skies without others' help lmao)

[crisp flower]

Mood

I got my scope collimated fairly okay now i guess guys!

[tight lodge]

But hear me out. If I don't have a car, I don't have a job.
If I don't have a job, I starve
So I need a car to have a job so I don't starve... plus it comes with the benefit of being able to buy astro gear once in a while

[versed roost]

i work remote

but i also make minimum wage so not a good example

[tight lodge]

It's impossible for me to work remote

[frosty shard]

Took the new rack and pinion focuser out for its first test (visual only)

The Crayford is nicer to use for visual IMO

But the R&P will be much better for imaging

[tight lodge]

@frosty shard have you ever tried to image with the laser turn on?

[frosty shard]

I have, but it only matters if I use the L or G filters

[tight lodge]

How does it show up in the subs?

[frosty shard]

I don't have any offhand to share but it's just a cone of light pointing at the target

[tight lodge]

Interesting. I'm assuming you could aim it slightly out of the frame

[frosty shard]

Yup! Just using the set screws on the laser holder

Looks like my rotator just got delivered

[sonic portal]

Is the carbonstar RC8 any different from StellaLyra's Carbon RC8 or are they the same scope just different branding?

[frosty shard]

The CarbonStar now comes with a rack and pinion focuser, not sure about the StellaLyra. But optically it's all GSO.

[sonic portal]

So it seems the StellaLyra carbon 8" comes with a crayford style focuser.

I can see that this is better for visual, I'll maybe have to replace that then, as importing a carbonstar might not be worth it with taxes, it does seem like the better choice though.

[tall summit]

Anybody went from RC6 to RC8? Anything you regretted? Was it worth it?

I keep telling myself that 6 is a perfect overall size, but the GAS is strong)

[frosty shard]

Veloren had an RC6 and recently upgraded to an RC8, though he left the server.

[tall summit]

@frosty shard what did he have to say about it at the time?

[frosty shard]

I can tell you that the RC8 is likely the better choice if you have the mount capacity:

• Better resolution/light gathering
• It's easier to reach into the tube in case something falls in
• The central obstruction is a smaller fraction of the objective, so you have better contrast (and this makes it better for visual observing if you plan to do any)

[tall summit]

Should not be harder to guide, right? Plus I already own a 0.67 reducer

[frosty shard]

I have no trouble with mine. I think the main limitation is your guide cam

I also shoot at native FL

[tall summit]

ever since I got rc6, I've been salivating at rc8)

[tight lodge]

Depends on your pixelscale and most importantly, your mount.

[tight lodge]

How many people in this server own your type of mount? 😂

[frosty shard]

Doesn't everyone else here own a GEM lmao

[tight lodge]

I was referring to the WAVE

[crisp flower]

@frosty shard u there? I am in need of rcistence

[frosty shard]

Now I am

[crisp flower]

So basically i wanted to look for any kind of advice u have to get the scope collimated correctly
Ive been trying for abt 2 weeks now using a cheshire eyepiece as well as a collimation laser
But i alway end up in a situation somewhat like this

Plus i wanted to ask if u managed the astigmatism u mentioned before with collimation alone or if u use sime kind of corrector lens or smth

[frosty shard]

Do not use a laser. You cannot trust a laser collimator with an RC. You must use the DSI method.

[crisp flower]

Daaamn i thought the laser would help tbh
Ill look into dsi then

[frosty shard]

The issue is that your focuser may not be perfectly aligned with the optical axis of your scope

And your laser itself might be miscollimated

[crisp flower]

Thats a good point

So i kinda have to wait to do it under the starsto do it properly right?

[frosty shard]

Yeah, that's the best way to handle collimation. I know, you're going to lose some imaging time, but it gets you the best results by far

[crisp flower]

Okok
I kind of wanted to avoid it not because of the lost imagining time, but more bc of the risk of me losing my tools in the grass😅

[tight lodge]

If you have the space you can make yourself an artificial star

[frosty shard]

One important caveat with an artificial star is that you shouldn't use one to check or set your mirror spacing, but doing that is pretty straighforward with real stars

[tall summit]

@crisp flower What I settled on is using a cheshire (I actually built myself an OCAL collimator clone, sort of an electronic cheshire) to get things mechanically alligned. That gets me like 85% there, usually within one or two DSI iterations.

[crisp flower]

Yea im getting somewhat okay myself, using tge cheshire but its not quite there yet

Im having the luck of a clear sky tho tonight so i think ill go and try on stars

[crisp flower]

That also might be worth a try, tho i doupht i have the space to make it work

[shut egret]

Ritzy

[sonic portal]

Rizzy Christian

[frosty shard]

I'm gonna be shooting so much IRG...

[crisp flower]

Do it, this looks nuts!

[ripe crystal]

No B?

[safe bison]

that nebula in green looks fire

[frosty shard]

I might shoot blue data for some targets (IRG doesn't seem to bring a ton of value for globulars, it seems) but it's really good on galaxies since all the star forming regions end up green

It's also useful for obscured galaxies on the galactic plane since you have less dust to deal with

[frosty shard]

Replaced the RG data in the M13 image. Stars are too blue, I guess

But the noise is better

[ripe crystal]

Dunno

I like it

[frosty shard]

It is a false color image after all. I just wish I could properly calibrate the channels

[versed roost]

how pronounce ritchy chretien

[tight lodge]

I pronounce it Rit-cheey Kret-ceen

[frosty shard]

Easily the best data I've ever gotten, and that's under three hours

[frosty shard]

Okay this looks a lot better. I guess globs aren't too different in IRG as opposed to RGB, though the two stars on the bottom right are distinct in this image when they seem to be relatively similar in color in RGB images

But wildly enough, I got the faraway galaxy LEDA 3501401 at far left of the image, just over halfway down

That tiny little thing

I wish I knew how far away it was, because that's definitely in the billions of light years

[tall summit]

I thought there was a website where you submit your pic and it annotates it?

I've caught some pretty small galaxies around my m13 shot, also curious how far they are

Siril has detected IC 4617, which is about 550mil ly, but there is smaller stuff on a shot

[ripe crystal]

Ooooooo ywah

That looks good

[tight lodge]

. @frosty shard Should we shoot Barnard's star every time we have the opportunity?

[frosty shard]

Did you take the blink comparison?

[tight lodge]

not both. there's one from 2024 that i found on the internet and i blinked it with mine in order to identify the star. Most of the catalogues do no track the star position

[frosty shard]

This is my first attempt at continuum subtraction...

This galaxy is filled with H-II regions...

[sonic portal]

Are RCs really as "slow" as people say, I've never shot at F8 (F6 I believe with reducer) so I have no idea.

[tight lodge]

Faster than Maks and SCTs and also sharper than Maks and SCTs

[tall summit]

F6 is not that slow already

Ofcourse there are rasas and hyperstars, but..

[sonic portal]

I want that sweet sweet FL, I'd get a RASA but I don't have enough cash for the 11 or the 14, and thats where they really shine iirc

[frosty shard]

375 minutes of sweet sweet broadband data

[crisp flower]

Sick!

[frosty shard]

The stars tell me I need more RG data, but that's to be expected

I have much more blue data at the moment

[runic violet]

Those aren't for imaging tiny targets anyways

The real competition for RCs is newts which is very much situation dependent

[frosty shard]

I will point out that slower can be an advantage if you're like me and want a OTA that can do imaging and visual. You can cheap out on eyepieces

[runic violet]

RCs are not inexpensive though

And fast eyepieces having been getting cheaper as china catches up with the likes of televue

You can get ethos like performance these days with 1/5th the cost

In your use case tbh the main advantages of a RC is that a 8" f/5 newt is annoying to carry around and is less mechanically stable

[frosty shard]

I don't think an 8" Newt is bus friendly but my 8" RC certainly is

Speaking of which

[runic violet]

something's up with your focus routine it looks out of focus

or its processing hmm

[frosty shard]

I manually focus but I am certain that everything is in focus

[frosty shard]

Yeah the processing is not great yet

I'm just taking a quick look at the data

Raw data available here: https://discord.com/channels/794642864218439681/1412336598032453753

[tight lodge]

Are you challenging my 5" newt?

[frosty shard]

Buddy you're not in my weight class

https://tenor.com/view/betty-white-dab-gif-10456705

[tight lodge]

Oh really?

[tight lodge]

[high aspen]

rc

[high aspen]

🤤

[frosty shard]

huh

is that my image or

Or that's yours

[tight lodge]

Unfortunately... that's mine

[frosty shard]

REEEEEEEEEEE LEAVE NEWT USER

Nah jk that's a good image...IR?

[tight lodge]

Luminance

i didn't get to shoot IR

it is coming

[tight lodge]

For real, i pushed the telescope to its absolute maximum

[frosty shard]

What's the integration time?

[tight lodge]

2h

i'm planning on a lot more

[high aspen]

do you also shoot ir?

[tight lodge]

Hey! Atleast we are in the 1% that managed to resolve individual stars in the M31 arms

[high aspen]

i think i did that too

these don't look like they from us

theres also that dimer one above the three to the right

and the really dim one between the 2

idk if they actually are

but i believe they could be

[tight lodge]

@frosty shard Opinions?

This is your data combined with the B and L channels from mine

[frosty shard]

You have my blessing to post this in #1127675764356173885 if you like

[tight lodge]

IR is included

[frosty shard]

Here's my 2 hours of IR data, just stretched, no other processing

[tight lodge]

So the palette is L,IR, R, G,B

your IR data looked really good ngl

[frosty shard]

And I took it in a Bortle 7-8 site during a waxing gibbous moon

[tight lodge]

I took my Luminance under full moon

[high aspen]

very sharp stars

[tight lodge]

@frosty shard good enough?

i didn't had much Ha, but i added what i had. so right now the palette is HaNIRLRGB

[high aspen]

starfeild

[tight lodge]

Don't forget this is in another galaxy😂

[high aspen]

its a starfeild

is based tho

[frosty shard]

This goes hard

[tight lodge]

the blue was definitely needed

[tight lodge]

I mean... it's 50/50😅

[frosty shard]

My data is CC-BY so you can do whatever you want with it as long as you credit me, but this goes so hard

[tight lodge]

My data is also CC-BY😂

[frosty shard]

Nice I'm posting it on my Instagram story then

[tall summit]

This is sharp

[tight lodge]

@frosty shard

Have you seen who complimented our image?

[frosty shard]

Wait no who

Now this is a palette I'll be shooting in more

[tight lodge]

Lux

[frosty shard]

@tight lodge got some H-alpha data

wait why the hell is it washed out

[tight lodge]

Because you need more

[oblique sun]

scnr it

[frosty shard]

No SIRIL's preview of the data is totally different

[frosty shard]

get out.

[tight lodge]

Why did you left it green tho😭

[frosty shard]

leave what green?

The nebulae?

I blended them into the R channel

Better

[tight lodge]

This is what happens when you apply the Ha to the red channel😅

[frosty shard]

Sorry, *R filter data channel, which is the green image channel

[tight lodge]

💀

[frosty shard]

It's an IRG image

It would be weird to blend it into the red channel

[tight lodge]

Ok... try this. Use LRGB combination and add the Ha directly into the R channel

Or shift the G to B, R to G Ha to R and IR to Red as well

[ripe crystal]

https://tenor.com/view/psp1g-what-gif-23713811

Misinformation!!

Also maks are waaay sharper than RCs

Ok maybe not waaay but they are sharper

[tight lodge]

For planetary

[ripe crystal]

Well if its sharper for planetary, then it’s sharper for dsos

PNs especially

Small galaxies

[tight lodge]

But is it able to image DSO in the same manner as planets?

An RC is f8, a Mak is f12. So an RC is twice as fast as a mak... thus better for DSO

[ripe crystal]

The philosophy of telescopes

Hehe

[ripe crystal]

Yeah I agree

However f12 mak so sharper

[quartz meadow]

Sharper but really takes it's time to develop a nice result

[tight lodge]

@frosty shard welcome to the club buddy🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉

[runic violet]

Define sharpness

[tight lodge]

The sharpness is when an image is so sharp, you cut your finger on the scroll wheel while zooming in

[fringe delta]

chat do i get an RC8 or a f/5 200mm newt

i feel like this chat is gonna be biased

[tight lodge]

What camera do you have?

[fringe delta]

585m rn

i kinda wanna go to a 533m tho, i had the 533mc pro before and i like the square sensor a bit better, also it would give me slightly bigger pixels which would be better for tracking at long focal lengths yeah?

[fringe delta]

i would probably get an OAG over my 32mm guidescope which would also probably help guiding, so im not sure

[tight lodge]

585 is a bit of a no-go with the RC. and an OAG is a must

you might get away with the 585 on the 8" Newtonian

[fringe delta]

why is it a no go

[tight lodge]

Oversampled, and you won't be able to take advantage of the RC

[fringe delta]

533 is better with the bigger pixels? and what do you mean wont be able to take advantage

[tight lodge]

With an IMX585 at 1630mm you will have a pixelscale of 0.37"/px. which is gonna be ruined by the seeing.
Meanwhile with an 8" Newtonian you will have a pixel scale of 0.6"/px with an IMX585 so you have a better chance of taking advantage of the focal length and the resolving power of your telescope

[fringe delta]

yeah i was thinking to stay above 0.7"/pix since my tracking is about that or better usually, and yeah seeing is bad. i was planning to image with the RC8 and a 0.67x reducers so it would put it about 1100mm which is about f/5.4 or the 8" newt is just a hair faster but 1000mm

i would probably only use the full focal length of the RC8 for visual, so at that point i would think the newt would be better

[tight lodge]

you can consider an 8" quattro

f4

For example, my 5" newtonian can get pretty darn close to an 8" RC sometimes

[fringe delta]

yeah i saw that, or they have the new f4 carbonstar 200

[tight lodge]

you want Apertura?

[fringe delta]

well i already have the 150 lol, so i was curious how the new one is gonna compare to the quattro

quattro is probably cheaper i think, but heavier

a newt would be easier to collimate too, i dont want more headaches lol

[tight lodge]

an f5 is just the perfect balance imo

[fringe delta]

yeah that was kinda what i was thinking. maybe a 200pds or something?

[tight lodge]

i'm currently scoping 2 OTAs so far

https://www.astroshop.eu/telescopes/omegon-telescope-pro-astrograph-carbon-203-800-ota/p,85247?_gl=1*1wu20v6*_gcl_aw*R0NMLjE3NTc0MzcxMjAuQ2owS0NRandvUF9GQmhERkFSSXNBTlBHMjRPNjQweGRPMGtPZjNQZjZMcnpNNnZpMVBseldfTGFRcVZiRzFlQWVlZ2VFY2ppejdnc0ZJd2FBcnFLRUFMd193Y0I.*_gcl_au*MTM0NTA0MzQ2LjE3NTA5NTA4MDc.*_ga*MjEwNjYzMDgzMi4xNzI3MTEwMDU3*_ga_CG05FXP3L8*czE3NTc0MzcwNzQkbzY2JGcxJHQxNzU3NDM3MTI1JGo5JGwwJGg0NDkwODkwMDk.

this

https://www.astroshop.eu/telescopes/skywatcher-telescope-n-205-800-quattro-200p-ota/p,22199

And this

[fringe delta]

you just really want the f4?

[tight lodge]

i just hope it won't shift my filters too badly 😂

[fringe delta]

lol hopefully not

[high aspen]

what club?

[high aspen]

rc 8?

[tight lodge]

8" newtonians

[high aspen]

but rct :<

[tight lodge]

Oh, I will be able to compete with the RC gang, don't worry

[high aspen]

ik, but rct :<

[ripe crystal]

Agreed

[ripe crystal]

Most resolving power for the same seeing

[high aspen]

jokes on you both will perform the same for me as im seeing limited

[fringe delta]

this all black carbon fiber looks nicee

[sonic portal]

Looks smoooooooth

[runic violet]

Then that's solely a function of aperture for a diffraction limited optic

RCs and maks have the same "resolving power"

What you're more likely looking for is that maks have lower central obstruction generally which leads to higher contrast at larger spatial scales but that's fairly irrelevant for imaging

And is a separate issue from how much detail can be resolved

[frosty shard]

I'd also agree, with a 585, the RC isn't as good of a choice. I mean it'll work (especially if you want to image IR) but it's a tiny, tiny field (you cannot fit M81 in it)

[ripe crystal]

Meeeeeee too!! Averaging at 3" seeing

[oblique sun]

why did you get a edgehd 💔

[ripe crystal]

Shush

[oblique sun]

when you get ass seeing thats when you go rasa or fast noot

[ripe crystal]

Rasa 🤢

[oblique sun]

expensive as shit but theyre good

but its basically the same price as a sct

[ripe crystal]

I can hyperstar my edgehd

And it will perform better than rasa

[high aspen]

ew

don't even talk about that abomination

[ripe crystal]

Well spoken

[oblique sun]

no

[ripe crystal]

yes

also i live for long focal lengths

[oblique sun]

long focal length and ass seeing just doesnt go together

i do too but i held back on the rct because of my seeing

[ripe crystal]

sometimes its fine during the winter

[oblique sun]

tho idk wtf going on rn

ive been getting excellent seeing

every clear night

[ripe crystal]

silly billy

[oblique sun]

it just decided to stop being shit

[ripe crystal]

but look at this fov 🥰

so cool

[oblique sun]

i am not a fan of not fitting the whole galaxy

unless its andromeda when u have no choice

i have a perfect triangulum fov

[ripe crystal]

Same

[oblique sun]

not even ngc 604 💔

[ripe crystal]

i know hehe at this point I might as well center onto ngc604

[undone sedge]

jeez what camera/scope combo?

[ripe crystal]

Edgehd 9.25" and imx533

[undone sedge]

damn

legitimately smaller than our cdk + aps-h cam

[frosty shard]

One of the reason I got the RC is because I wanted something that I could do visual with as well as image

Probably a suboptimal choice in terms of sampling and central obstruction, but every scope is a compromise and I'm okay with the ones I've made

I guess it would be better if I could get a mono APS-C sensor that had large pixels (or at least bin with an IMX571)

[runic violet]

But they can all do visual?

[runic violet]

But why

[frosty shard]

Well a RASA can't

[runic violet]

not with that attitude

[ripe crystal]

May i have your cdk pwease?

[undone sedge]

gonna need to get through the university board on that one

[tight lodge]

Are you sure about that? Don't question the people in this server😂

[frosty shard]

I mean I think CO issues are overrated (at least for DSOs) but that doesn't mean I think head obstruction is overrated

[tight lodge]

hold on... that's an OAG

[fringe delta]

just dont stand infront

[tight lodge]

i bet a Diagonal is more beneficial than an OAG prism

[frosty shard]

That should be in #1087219932900638720 if it hasn't been posted yet

[tight lodge]

Im On it!

[high aspen]

i hate this

[frosty shard]

clouds prevented me from getting the fourth panel sadly

[tight lodge]

Where's the rest?

[tight lodge]

Oh...

[frosty shard]

That's over 45 minutes in each panel, NIR, 3 minute exposures

Some were ruined by clouds

[quartz meadow]

I ate it, sorry

And is that uhhhhhh M101?

[frosty shard]

IC 342

Also downsampled 2x

[tight lodge]

The pannels are seamless... holy!🔥

[frosty shard]

I can still see the seams

[tight lodge]

I can't. Not at this moment

[quartz meadow]

I'm just actively ignoring them

[frosty shard]

I'm doing a collab with one of my friends so I'm doing a 2x2 mosaic of just IR data

He has an Askar 120 APO so 840 mm FL, we both use an IMX533

[high aspen]

chomp

[frosty shard]

I also just realized this looks like a WFPC2 image, and it would look even more like that if I could get a panel of just the center area and add that in

Similar kind of framing

[high aspen]

circle :3

[frosty shard]

My flats appear to be overcorrecting in each panel, hence the strange gradients

[tight lodge]

hmmmm.. IR microlensing

[high aspen]

oofies

[frosty shard]

[frosty shard]

IRG BABY

[crisp flower]

Awesome!

[high aspen]

🤤

i like the little cute bits of geem in it

[bleak tapir]

Is that a juwei 17? How's ur experience w it?
Always wondered if it was worth the risk to buy it instead of other brand harmonics

[vapid patio]

Yep yep it’s not bad at all I usually get 0.40-.70 on a good night

It uses onstep it’s kinda a annoying way to connect but you get used to it

Overall it’s amazing I have really no complaints

[fringe delta]

Gso rc6 for sale on astromart for $275 lol

[fringe delta]

or apertura i guess. i thought about getting it just to see how annoying RCs are to collimate

[sonic portal]

You can't use lasers right?

Love that OTA look

[oblique sun]

You shouldn't use one anyways

[sonic portal]

Understandable

[high aspen]

get it, its a cute little scope

[sonic portal]

Chunk

[high aspen]

smol

[frosty shard]

Lasers are a terrible idea, but if you are absolutely certain about their collimation (lasers must be collimated too!) they can help you get the focuser alignment correct I thnk

[frosty shard]

Is that an RC or a classical Cassegrain?

[sonic portal]

Wittle baby

[fringe delta]

Rc

[frosty shard]

Oh I guess they did have a steel tube RC.

The CCs are cream color

[stiff mason]

This place makes me regret buying a newt

[tight lodge]

What newtonian did you get?😅

[stiff mason]

I got a quattro 150p

[tight lodge]

Then you're using it wrong. I got comparable resolution with @frosty shard using a 130PDS 😅

[high aspen]

ur seeing is on steroids

[stiff mason]

Originally i was going to buy a ioptron 6 inch rc telescope but the high f stop and long focal lenght pushed me off

[high aspen]

it scares me

[frosty shard]

I'm usually limited by seeing anyway

[high aspen]

i honestly wonder how bad my seeing would be with an rc8 without a reducer

[tight lodge]

2.2" in the night that I imaged andromeda
Thats average

[stiff mason]

Yeah same pretty much guess which is which one is mine ones an rc scope

[tight lodge]

Yours is the one on the right.

[frosty shard]

I personally think upgrading to the 8" RC is absolutely worth it over the 6"

[stiff mason]

Correct

[frosty shard]

My seeing is usually around 2" to 2.5"

[stiff mason]

Bro how

[high aspen]

how do u check before imaging?

[frosty shard]

Well the nice thing is that with an RC, your pixel scale might be overkill for an average night, but you can really take advantage of the good ones

[high aspen]

i see

[frosty shard]

I haven't really checked beforehand, but I could just open the FITS files in SIRIL on my mini PC

[high aspen]

o oke

[tight lodge]

Oh shit. I actually had 2.1" average seeing

[tight lodge]

You can get really good results with the quattro.
What's your pixel scale and mount?

[stiff mason]

1arc and ive got a belt modded eqm35 which I'm planing on upgrading the motors of which to a nema 17 also its only belt modded in the ra

[tight lodge]

The mount is struggling a bit, not the telescope 😅

[stiff mason]

Yeah it certainly is but oddly enough my current bottle necks are actually my focuser before it used to slip but ive messed around with the screws and now it can support a lot more weight without hopefully slipping

[tight lodge]

I did the same with my focuser. Now it can hold the whole wheight of the OTA without slipping

[oblique sun]

Belt mod on the eqm35?

How

[stiff mason]

Easy you'll need a 3d printer tho

[oblique sun]

I have one

Can't do abs tho

[stiff mason]

Thats fine

[stiff mason]

Here just follow everything in this

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/408724-eqm35-low-cost-belt-mod/

The stl files are on page 2

[oblique sun]

How much did it help yours

[stiff mason]

A lot went from like 3 arc to sub arcseconds albiet i did tune it as well

[oblique sun]

Did you tune before

If not that's probably where 90% of your improvements came from

Mine was a similar 3arcsec unusable before tuning, after tuning it became easily sub arcsec and sometimes shows under 0.3"

[stiff mason]

Yeah i did everything at once its not that hard to tune its like 3 screws you just gotta make sure to not make too stiff and also make it have the least amount of play you'll also want to spinn it thru a full worm cycle by hand to make sure there are no stiff spots

[oblique sun]

Yea ik I've tuned mine already

I meant did you tune it before the mod

[stiff mason]

No Also by the way i still havent ran PEC yet

So I'm getting sub arc without PEC also my tuning job was mediocre at best since there were a lot of stiff spots which i fixed but never got the chance to test

[oblique sun]

Why not

[stiff mason]

Idk never got to it also idk how 💀

[oblique sun]

also mine too i just left it as slightly too stiff lmao

there's some spots where it makes some grinding noises kinda

definitely not good for the mount but oh well just another reason to get a ragdoll17

[stiff mason]

I mean the biggest upgrade from my belt mod if not for the better guiding is that its extremely quiet now like 10-20db reduction

[oblique sun]

yea but i control my rig from my room

can't hear it anyways

[stiff mason]

Oh

Well then idk you could try it if you want

It takes like 10 minutes to assemble everything

You can buy the parts from aliexpress

[oblique sun]

I don't have any pulleys or belts

[stiff mason]

Youll need to buy it

On aliexpress

Its not that expensive

Like maybe 20 bucks on the high end 30 if you want to upgrade the motor as well

For the RA btw

[high aspen]

geem :3

[high aspen]

@frosty shard i can use my homemade reducer but only in ir

its the channel that focuses best

ha + ir, ir is cyan and ha is magenta

its some old data i didnt want to touch

the stars are really nice in the center tho

[high aspen]

brainandforce, do you use an osc or mono?

[frosty shard]

IC 10 doesn't have a popular name but I'm calling in the Chicken Nugget Galaxy now. Unfortunately I have made it moldy

[frosty shard]

Mono, always

[high aspen]

moldy nugget

[tight lodge]

Gorgonzola galaxy😂

[brisk swift]

Itchy creatine

[high aspen]

no

[versed roost]

itch cream?

[high aspen]

hewwo :3

[scenic mango]

i have a newt and a barlow is that good enough for yall

basically the same thing functionally

[sonic portal]

God id kill for a decoupled RC8

Teleskop better hurry up and restock

[high aspen]

tfym decoupled rc

[high aspen]

theres glass tho

glass is scary

[scenic mango]

discounted?

[sonic portal]

Smaller RC have a major problem, all your imaging train weight is coupled to the focuser iirc, a decouple mod fixes this and distributes the weight onto the OTA instead

Truss RC don't have this issue

[high aspen]

ohh

i see

[sonic portal]

Problem is they sold out instantly on the decouple kits

[high aspen]

make own

[sonic portal]

I plan on paying them to install it, I am the least handy person ever

[tight lodge]

Master Vel has resurrected

[quartz meadow]

thats cool

[oblique sun]

rc people, attack

[high aspen]

fighting a useless battle just lowers morale

why do that when we can know we are right

[harsh matrix]

[tall summit]

@harsh matrix Hi there!

[brisk swift]

@harsh matrix Hallo

[quartz meadow]

@harsh matrix wb

[harsh matrix]

[frosty shard]

Now is this biting off more than I can chew

[tight lodge]

Not if you roll the filters and do the whole thing at once

[stiff mason]

I need this so bad a 4.5 inch RC telescope

[frosty shard]

It's a classical Cassegrain but I still want one

If they made a 4.5" RC I'd lose my mind and buy one immediately

[stiff mason]

Nooooooo

[tight lodge]

Ok... help me understand the difference.
What's the difference between a classical Cassegrain and RC?

Everywhere I searched I got the same design for both

[oblique sun]

mirror shape i think

[tight lodge]

Sooo... instead of a parabolic and a hyperbolic mirror you gave a spherical and a hyperbolic?

[brisk swift]

cc has alotta coma i think?

rcs are better

[tight lodge]

So the classical cassegrain is the equivalent of "We got Ritchey-Chrétien at home"?

[brisk swift]

yes

and ccs are slow too

[runic violet]

this thing is extremely useless

and y'all don't want a 4.5" RC, RCs scale better with aperture

[tight lodge]

It is useful to spy on you neighbors

[runic violet]

get a mak it won't have a fat central obstruction

[brisk swift]

get a frac

no co

[runic violet]

if you want a really really long stick

4.5" f/12 frac is quite gigantic

[brisk swift]

20" frac

[tight lodge]

Nope

[tight lodge]

20" newtonian

[brisk swift]

20" Paul baker

20" CDK

[tight lodge]

20" TMA

[brisk swift]

ouch

[tight lodge]

Checkmate

[brisk swift]

20" Schmidt lens

[tight lodge]

20 x 20" Herschel Relfectors

[brisk swift]

20 x 20" Riccardi Honders

[tight lodge]

20 x20" prime focus newtonians

Shiii... I'm running out of ideas

[brisk swift]

20x20" Off axis mirror scope ( uses just one mirror i think? I don't remember it's name clearly)

[tight lodge]

Already mentioned.

20 x 20" dodeca-schiefspiegler telescope

[brisk swift]

Where

[tight lodge]

Herschel reflector

[brisk swift]

Ah

20 x 20" RIDK

[tall summit]

@harsh matrix I've been trying to keep representing the RCs in your absence))

[tight lodge]

Ok... explain that one.

[stiff mason]

One uses a parabolic mirror and the other uses hyperbolic for both mirrors

The ladder being the RC and benifts of it are no aberrations while classical Cassgrain suffer from some minor aberrations

[tight lodge]

Hyperbolic mirror for the primary mirror?

[stiff mason]

Yeah

[tight lodge]

The geometry of such design doesn't make sense

[stiff mason]

We also have hyperbolic newt with the same benifts as RC albiet not as high as a f stop

[stiff mason]

Its just a more intense parabolic mirror like it has a greater curvature and has two foci

[brisk swift]

rIDK reflectors search it on google

[tight lodge]

I did. Looks like a fancier version of a CDK

[brisk swift]

yup

Theres also RILA i think?

man i haven't looked at astro stuff since ages

[high aspen]

ha, i can do it in 4 >:3

[silver ibex]

More intense parabolic mirror doesn't mean anything, if it has two foci it's an elipse, not a parabola

[high aspen]

dont mind the video im watching

[silver ibex]

I did mind

[stiff mason]

I was simplifying but yes

[high aspen]

im watching something about why theres not many good paths in the us

turns out the government dgaf about them

[sonic portal]

drive everywhere 🦅

[brisk swift]

rubo

Protostar premium

What is that

[high aspen]

you get it for donating 50p

[brisk swift]

nah I'm fine with the broke protostar

[high aspen]

i was doing a silly

its for protostars that aren't bad people

[brisk swift]

imma convert u from tea to chai

[silver ibex]

You get image perms

[high aspen]

чаи

or is it чай

[brisk swift]

ouch

[high aspen]

awawawa

[brisk swift]

whats that

[high aspen]

who here knows Russian

[silver ibex]

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1141222490597757025/1299147718484164678/maximum-tension.gif

[tall summit]

I can speak it, why?

[high aspen]

which spelling of tea was correct

[tall summit]

this чай

[high aspen]

a oki

i thought so

[tall summit]

its a blanket word for all kind of teas

[brisk swift]

Rubo are u still making the dob @silver ibex

[silver ibex]

Yes

[brisk swift]

bros working on it since 1933

[silver ibex]

It's been a while since I last touched it, uni had me quite busy

[brisk swift]

ouch

[stiff mason]

Ok even im like struggling to imagine how it works

[silver ibex]

Understand what?

[stiff mason]

What shape a Hyperbolic mirror has

[high aspen]

like how tea is

[silver ibex]

It's in the name, a hyperbole

[high aspen]

tea is just a gereal term for all teas afaik

[silver ibex]

"Formula" for an hyperbole and an ellipse respectively

[brisk swift]

@silver ibex mac and cheese

[silver ibex]

I did Calc 2 exam yesterday

I think I got everything right except a silly mistake

I basically forgot to include a condition when integrating so the result is wrong, but the actual calculations are correct. Hopefully my prof is nice and doesn't count it as zero points lol

[brisk swift]

dumdum.

[silver ibex]

It was like 0<x/2<y<2x but I just forgot about the y<2x part lol

[brisk swift]

ew.

[frosty shard]

I still want one

[brisk swift]

@silver ibex cute.

[tight lodge]

This is the only way i can see a telescope working with to hyperbolic mirrors

[frosty shard]

The RC's primary has a conic constant that's just barely less than –1

[brisk swift]

There should be ray diagrams online for rcs and ccs

[brisk swift]

Conic constant means eccentricity?

[frosty shard]

Negative square of eccentricity

don't ask me why this is standard, but it is

[brisk swift]

man

why can't they use eccentricity

[brisk swift]

yea

[high aspen]

itta cone

[tight lodge]

Guess what's the design for an RC

[high aspen]

rct designed probably

[brisk swift]

send.

[high aspen]

this is almost an rc i think

[tight lodge]

yeah

[high aspen]

i think this mor accurat

[tall summit]

https://youtu.be/nHuLrYe-oik?si=4rW4QB7QlFILH9pi

From 55sec

Something I had to deal with btw with RC6

[brisk swift]

Newer version don't have this (idk actually but that's what Ive heard)

[tight lodge]

how did you make the primary mirror? i can't figure out a way to make them symetrical

[brisk swift]

make em symmetrical

it's that easy.

[tight lodge]

https://tenor.com/view/skeleton-gif-2813086212540319582

[harsh matrix]

Incorrect

The new RC6's were never fixed to compensate for the findings in the video

[brisk swift]

the truss rcs were fixed tho? Or am I mistaken

[harsh matrix]

The Truss RC's are fixed yes

[frosty shard]

And the RC8 is fine AFAIK

this is so scuffed and noisy but

[high aspen]

its easy 😭

[tight lodge]

well... tell me

[high aspen]

i use a parabolic mirror as a template then slowly ajust the halfs to make them focus correctly

[tight lodge]

i thought you could just erase parts that you don't want

[high aspen]

to put it shrimply

[high aspen]

idk how you do that

[tight lodge]

I thought that you did... that's why i asked XD

[high aspen]

i dont think theres a way tbf

my silly way i think is the only way to do it

[harsh matrix]

Oh yeah for those who dont know, I cleaned the mirror of my RC8 when I decouple modded it

It turned simple kitchen lights into lights so bright it was like staring into the sun 💀

[frosty shard]

How did you clean the mirror? There's a guy at MAS who really needs to disassemble his RC and clean the mirrors

[harsh matrix]

Maffei 1 first light after decoupling, this was at native focal length.

[harsh matrix]

I filled my kitchen sink with water, warm water, near room temp but a little warmer, then put a few drops of isopropyl alcohol and dish soap into it, mixed it up, and then submerged the mirror in the water

After that, I got some cotton swabs, cotton balls would be better, and did long streaks across each part of the mirror

Making sure I only used one side of the swap thingy per streak

Once doing a full top to bottom sweep, and then again left to right.

That should be enough but if it isnt like in my case, you drain the sink, and repeat the process until clean.

[frosty shard]

He has been hesitant to because he's afraid of scratching the surfaces, but at the same time, considering the amount of bug poop that's accumulated on it, I'd take many scratches over its current state if I were in his place.

[harsh matrix]

Once you are ready to dry it off, you rinse it with distilled water and use a dust blower to blow off any remaining large droplets to avoid water spots.

[frosty shard]

(It's been kept in a dilapidated observatory dome that's only now seeing the extensive maintenance it needs)

[harsh matrix]

Its not that scary

Pressure does matter

Typically want to use light pressure

But medium pressure can be used for particularly stubborn stuff

[frosty shard]

Huge progress though! The RC may become part of the club's official imaging setup (it's a 12" GSO solid tube)

[harsh matrix]

Holy

I didnt know GSO ever made solid tubes that big

Is it decoupled?

[frosty shard]

I think it's the biggest they've ever made, and I was just thinking about that

It certainly isn't

But I don't know if there's a suitable decoupler. Maybe that would be nateman's domain

I am certain the owner would invest in a decoupler for it

[harsh matrix]

quattro doing work

[frosty shard]

I didn't realize there is a cluster right there

[high aspen]

m1?!

[high aspen]

spiral nebula and open cluster

[harsh matrix]

That would be the Crab Nebula 💀

[tight lodge]

Did I accidentally made a new design? Or it already exists?

[frosty shard]

Isn't that a Gregorian?

[tight lodge]

Ah yes

[frosty shard]

An ordinary Gregorian (maybe we can call it a "classical Gregorian" analogously to a classical Cassegrain) has a paraboloidal primary and ellipsoidal secondary, where the paraboloid and the ellipsoid share one focus and the other focus of the ellipsoid is at the focal plane

But like an RC, you can make an aplanatic version of the Gregorian (which has no special name)

But in that case, the mirrors are both going to be ellipsoidal!

The Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope is an aplanatic Gregorian

[tight lodge]

And still... I can't picture how a telescope with 2 hyperbolic mirrors would work

The only telescope designs that I found and have hyperbolic primary mirrors, are X-ray telescopes

[frosty shard]

8 hours of just H-alpha on IC 10.

Stretch only

[silver ibex]

The distances are way off, you basically built a collimator that turns the beam smaller lol

[silver ibex]

Interesting little guy

[frosty shard]

With 3 hours IR

[tight lodge]

Yes I know😂 . I forgot to make the secondary mirror a bit more concave so it focuses the beam. Eh... whatever

[brisk swift]

eq6r?

ayo

[high aspen]

your halfs aren't focused correctly

[tight lodge]

I know... did you forget what I asked you after I sent that picture?

[high aspen]

o yea

also, that would work as long as you have a corrector

also, test 2 of the home made coma corrector is coming soon

and that is a new design

bc its 2 mirrors of the same direction

instead of having an inverse secondary

or convex idk

[tight lodge]

@harsh matrix Time to say good bye to the noodle tripod

[fringe delta]

thats one thicc boy

[tight lodge]

For maximum stiffness

[quartz meadow]

that thing will not flex

[tight lodge]

Angeleyes have very high quality accessories. I got my doevetail from them, CW shaft and all for super cheap

[high aspen]

it will if we get bender

[tight lodge]

My current issue is that the carbon fiber tripod is flexing

[fringe delta]

get ya a steel one

i used my carbon fiber one with my AM3 like for a month lol, then i used my steel tripod from my eqm 35 pro with a pier extension PE200 and its nice

much sturdier for sure

[quartz meadow]

easy fix then

[tight lodge]

yep. time for the old steel tripod

[quartz meadow]

You're moving everything with the car, right?

[tight lodge]

yep

[harsh matrix]

Yaaaay

[frosty shard]

Weird flex but OK

[fringe delta]

not anymore

[undone sedge]

anything can flex if you put your mind to it

well, heat to it ig

[stiff mason]

Anything can flex if you put enough weight on it

[tight lodge]

Thing is, min is not even at its max payload.

[stiff mason]

Well how much weight is on it

[tight lodge]

Around 16kg

[stiff mason]

And what is the diameter of the legs

[tight lodge]

Shiii... idk... I'd say around 2 inches

[stiff mason]

Also one thing to note is that carbon fiber is less stiff than steel

[tight lodge]

I know. But I wanted to give it a shot and see just how bad it is

Answer. Is baaad

Eeeh. It couldn't hold the maximum payload that the mount can handle anyways.

[stiff mason]

I mean there could be a variety of reasons as to why its flexing also how do you know its flexing

[tight lodge]

Because I can see it in the guiding. Smallest gust of wind and the tripod is bending like a banana

[stiff mason]

What if its the mount

[tight lodge]

Highly doubt that😅

[harsh matrix]

guys

with the help of Whooptie and some handiwork from me, the EQ6R Pro is now performing at what could become peak performance

the best part is that this is probably only going to get better once my PEC curve is done recording

not a pinch of backlash or slop visible in the graph

[tight lodge]

Tonight the forecast says that it should be clear.
Jet stream at about 22m/s
Is it worth risking and trying to image something, or is it better to stay at home and rot?

[frosty shard]

It's always worth it

[harsh matrix]

if it is clear, shoot

[tight lodge]

I'm expecting a FWHM of over 3" with 22m/s jet stream. Worth shooting IR tho?

[stiff mason]

Do IR

[tight lodge]

I mean, I want to save the best conditions for Luminance and Color dara

Data

[harsh matrix]

daytar

[tight lodge]

😂

[stiff mason]

Seriously why is there a lack of people doing IR its like so good i genuinely dont see any downsides to it

Other than worst QE

But the benefit significantly outweight the downsides

[tight lodge]

Vel, what's your average FWHM in IR vs Broadband?

[harsh matrix]

[tight lodge]

I use a 585. I have more QE in IR than I need. Plus I also own a IMX462M which is considered a SWIR sensor from what I've read

[harsh matrix]

havent been able to check since decoupling this scope lol

normally my NIR FWHM is just about the same as broadband

or sometimes slightly better

[stiff mason]

Same

[tight lodge]

For me it feels like IR is a hair more bloated than Broadband. Maybe your sensor cuts out into IR much earlier than the 585

[stiff mason]

Still tho the benifts are better transparency lower light pollution including the light from the moon you also get to capture some protostars in nebulas which is also cool

The first one is really good for me because where i live is very humid so better transparency will help significantly

[tight lodge]

The moon absolutely nukes IR

[stiff mason]

It does

Huh

Ig i read wrong

[harsh matrix]

for smaller scopes NIR will be bloated

that is because the diffraction limit of NIR is wayyyyy higher on smaller scopes

[stiff mason]

How small are we talking

[harsh matrix]

with my RC8, i can push beyond what even my RC6 could do

[harsh matrix]

<6"

or <= 6

my RC6 was pretty bloated in NIR, and a lot of that i think had to do with me running a reducer

oh and @tight lodge your coma corrector will contribute to NIR bloat too

diffraction + CC

I was seeing some silly small FWHM when I had my 533 on the scope and no reducer

like 1.8", 1.7" FWHM

in both narrowband and NIR

[harsh matrix]

if you shoot near it, it does

otherwise it has virtually no effect on the image

at least in my experience

maybe the QE of a 585 vs a 533 has some bearing on the impact of the moon

[stiff mason]

Nooooo 😭

[tight lodge]

The CC might actually help reduce the bloat since it blocks longer wavelengths

[frosty shard]

yeah that is why I went for an RC...none of this "refraction" crap around these parts

One of my friends is shooting IR with a refractor and getting decent results though

Not incredible, but better than I expected

UV is where refractors come to die

[harsh matrix]

https://tenor.com/view/monster-versus-vs-alien-monster-vs-alien-gif-16037253809360562033

[tight lodge]

Well, the 462M definitely did not enjoy the moon. Not one bit

[frosty shard]

...how are you getting an HFR that low

are you binning 2x or something??

[harsh matrix]

[harsh matrix]

no

bin 1x1

[tight lodge]

What was the difraction limit formula?

[harsh matrix]

look at my guide graph

[frosty shard]

I have never seen an HFR below 3.5 in my imaging ever

and that's with a guiding RMS of 0.25" to 0.30"

[harsh matrix]

the 450 x 10 in the numerator all the way on the left is the wavelength in nanometers

the aperture diameter is on the bottom in mm

[harsh matrix]

reducer

although it gives you the illusion of sharper images

[frosty shard]

Ohhhh you have the reducer on I thought you were shooting native

[harsh matrix]

my HFR without the reducer was like 2.5, 2.7 and they measured with FWHM of like 1.8" and 1.9"

[harsh matrix]

no not rn

I am tempted to though

[frosty shard]

Still, way better than I ever manage...your seeing is insane

[harsh matrix]

tell that to Whooptie

[tight lodge]

λ = 800nm I get 1.5"

[harsh matrix]

yeah that's pretty large

that's ignoring CO as well

which means it's actually bigger than that

random accidental Ha sub, NGC 604

[tight lodge]

Until I get the 8" RC, this would do

[harsh matrix]

ye

also your sampling is going to limit how sharp your NIR can get

just ignoring diffraction alone

[tight lodge]

Well, I want the NIR to be more like a heat map in my image rather than sharp data

[harsh matrix]

that will do then

it doesnt have to be good in that case

[tight lodge]

That's why I'm reserving the best conditions for luminance and color data

[harsh matrix]

in general, the longer wavelength nature of NIR photons leads to more bloat than in broadband

as you go up the ladder in wavelength, you trade off resolution

NGC 604 has so many hecking stars in it

@frosty shard look at the HFR's

[stiff mason]

Ok so not only does the moon reflect more NIR but the sun also emits more NIR

[tight lodge]

I mean... my radiotelescope has an angular resolution of 15°

And that's at λ = 21cm

[harsh matrix]

bingo

[tight lodge]

Buuuuut... even at, let's say 1.7" difraction limit, the image is sharper than the average frac around here 😂

[harsh matrix]

probably

guys the EQ6R had a mini heart attack

it stopped and died after the meridian flip

it got stuck on some low level binding, not enough to be detectable by slewing the mount manually

it actually got hung up and stopped tracking

I had to run outside and do some emergency open heart surgery

I got it behaving again

[tight lodge]

@harsh matrix Wanna see something cursed that kinda works? LHαGB

[ripe crystal]

Me a bit

Cause why not

[ripe crystal]

yipeeeeeee

[quartz meadow]

the reds are.... red

[tight lodge]

Those reds are just that one single poor 600s Hα sub that I took the same night

[crisp flower]

Thats a cute caterpillar

[tight lodge]

Only the finest space worms

[tight lodge]

Why I'm always nervous before going out imaging?

[sonic portal]

So many things can go right, so many things can go wrong

[tight lodge]

I think it's like in aviation. A million things have to go right, but if one thing goes wrong, then is a disaster

[frosty shard]

Like me dropping my focuser (oof)

[tight lodge]

[frosty shard]

My visual focuser, and it seems mostly okay, except I think the fine focus knob gearing is a little messed up

[quartz meadow]

[tight lodge]

Aaah. Not a big deal the

[high aspen]

maybe the focuser likes to lay on the floor

[harsh matrix]

@frosty shard how do you take flats?

[frosty shard]

With a tracing panel I bought off Amazon.

[harsh matrix]

Do you use any shirts to diffuse the light?

If not, how bright do you set it?

[frosty shard]

I just set it to max brightness and roll, no T-shirt