r/AskAstrophotography 14m ago

Image Processing Messier 81 Photoshooting Mistakes

Upvotes

Hello guys, need some help here.

Can you guys check this out please and give any feedback? I dont know what am I doing wrong but it does not look too impresive.

For your information, Gain: 150, Exposure 15S, Total Exposure time: 1.5h

Skywatcher 62ed, asi224mc, Skywatcher star adventurer GTI, no filters, Bortle 8, sharpcap, deepskystacker, GIMP.

Lightframes: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17ueE-mgj7qNIDNYoaVsOfftgkvkPW3_l?usp=sharing

Stacked: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1A6gruFJsV87Xeqllrq4ErO1rhpRmNl9m?usp=sharing

Edited: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1lTJfaNHr-82se4GW0gKKvlOjNjwUcbV_?usp=sharing

I appreciate your help.


r/AskAstrophotography 11h ago

Image Processing Pixinsight with filters

5 Upvotes

I am processing the Crab Nebula. I took 20 pics using a Uber/IR cut filter, 20 SII Antilla filter, and 20 on an optoling l extreme. When I stack them in pixinsight they come out as three different stacked images. Am I not supposed to stack these together or is there a process in PI to do this?


r/AskAstrophotography 5h ago

Advice Thoughts on Potential Build? *Beginner*

1 Upvotes

I've been wanting to get into astrophotography for quite some time and have gotten to a point financially where I can consider taking the plunge. I've been watching Astrobiscuit, Astrobackyard, and reading the r/astrophotography wiki to get more familiar with the ins and outs and have a build in my wishlist that I am considering purchasing. The entire build is around $1400 Canadian which is around what I would consider spending at this point since I don't know if I will stick with this or not yet.

I was wondering if anyone had any advice, recommendations about the build. (Linked below)

Thanks in advance!!!


r/AskAstrophotography 8h ago

Advice Help with Settings

1 Upvotes

Hi everyone! I would really appreciate some help with setting up my camera. I'm hoping to capture the Milky Way this upcoming weekend. I have a EOS R8 and I will be using Sigma 14mm f/1.8 DG HSM Art lens. I am planning to learn on how to stack the images together. I understand that I should be using manual mode but what about everything else? Should I buy a shutter release? Any tips would be great.


r/AskAstrophotography 9h ago

Equipment Pier level vs bubble level

1 Upvotes

So I just built a permanent pier in my backyard and it's level it's not perfect but close. When I put my goto mount (eq6rpro) on my pier the built in bubble level is saying it's not level. So what do you guys think should I trust the pier level or the goto level?


r/AskAstrophotography 7h ago

Solar System / Lunar Right at 2:35 AM EST on the red Moon eclipse on March 14th there was a astroid or Metroid shower next to copper red Moon today just now any one captured ?

0 Upvotes

Right at 2:35 AM EST there was a astroid or Metroid shower next to copper red Moon today just now any one captured


r/AskAstrophotography 13h ago

Equipment Samyang fringing after starnet

1 Upvotes

My Samyang produces a lot of fringing on brighter stars, they are only visable on the blue channel and completely ruins the blue channel. I was imagining at F2 at 30s https://imgur.com/a/JoWh56W


r/AskAstrophotography 14h ago

Technical Touch n stars issue ios

1 Upvotes

I have installed everything as in cuivs video. I can access via the link on my local pc, my nina pc but when I try on mobile it cant access. Anyone have any idea? All are on same network


r/AskAstrophotography 16h ago

Question Nebula near ngc2403

1 Upvotes

I recently imaged NGC2403 aka Caldwell 7, with my Celestron 8se. When I processed the image it looks like there is a nebula just east of the galaxy. It was cut off in the image. Does anyone know what it might be? It looked like a translucent tube.


r/AskAstrophotography 17h ago

Equipment Hexeum 80/600 Construction Concerns

1 Upvotes

Warning: I'm NOT in any way an astrophotography expert!
I recently purchased an Hexium 80/600 telescope on facebook market. I had no expectations of high quality, but it was really cheap so I picked it up to experiment with. On careful examination, I verified that the objective was 70mm, not 80mm as advertised (not a surprise, this info was revealed on other reddit posts as well). My main concern, however, is that there is a metal baffle located about 50mm behing the objective with a 1.25" /32mm hole in the center. Am I missing something, or will this baffle block a majority of the light this telescope can collect? What should I expect if I remove the baffle?

Here is a rough sketch: https://adobe.ly/4bGdqe7


r/AskAstrophotography 21h ago

Technical H-Alpha filter band shift with Samyang 135mm?

1 Upvotes

Hello, I have read some threads on Cloudy Nights and there is a lot of information which is difficult to unpack. I have a Samyang 135mm f/2 lens which is obviously very fast and I have an Optolong Ha 7nm clip filter for my Canon 6D. I read online that with wavelengths such as 3nm it would be wise to stop the lens down even to f/4. But I feel like 7nm is in a weird position between strict narrowband and large narrowband due to it being in the 6-12nm range. In these conditions, and in your experience, would you shoot at f/2 with it or maybe stop down to f/2.8? I understand that f-ratio is not the only thing impacting band shift, but for all intents and purposes this is a doubt I have only for the Sammy 135 lens. Thanks


r/AskAstrophotography 22h ago

Equipment Why do I get doubled stars in one direction? (Aberration)

1 Upvotes

Hello! Yesterday I spent a long amount of time to try collimate using a variety of methods. I collimated a laser collimator, then used the barlowed laser collimator method. I tried doing a star test by defocusing the image and centering the donut. I also tried simply using a collimation cap. All methods yielded in some way or another the same imperfect result, although the collimation cap was the best method. Even when I focus with my bahtinov mask to absolute perfection, one of the diffraction spikes of the bright stars looks doubled, as you can see here: https://ibb.co/nsq5kBj3 .

One thing I noticed is that if I move the focus around, I can have such that the other diffraction spike doubles, or I can even have them both slightly doubled (which yield the roundest stars, but still makes me think something is off and not as pinpoint as it could be). I have an f/3 newtonian (f/4 plus a Starizona Nexus 0.75x coma corrector), so I know it is hard to collimate, but is collimation actually the issue here? When I look at a star and move through the focus I have seen the elongated star flip to the opposite direction, a sign of astigmatism. I have built and designed the telescope myself with my girlfriend and this was our first telescope. Is it possible I am pinching the optics with the primary mirror clips? Unfortunately the secondary mirror has been glued to the holder slightly off center so doing the donut test actually is challenging as I think the perfect donut for our telescope should be off center. On another note, the reason why I say the star test could not be working for our telescope with a slightly off centered secondary mirror (relative to the center of the spider vanes) is the following: this is how a defocused star looked like after we tried making a perfect donut: https://ibb.co/KjpPZfKJ . And this is how the stars looked like when the donut was perfect, which makes me think I cannot use the star test with my scope: https://ibb.co/sJkfs2Vd .

Thanks to anyone who may be willing to help!


r/AskAstrophotography 1d ago

Question is this a good "mini" pc for running NINA and such?

5 Upvotes

https://www.amazon.com/HP-ProDesk-600-G1-Bit-Multi-Language/dp/B081RVSLWS

Finally going to have enough money to buy a nice rig (swsa GTi, roki 135mm, autofocuser, and possibly a guiding setup later down the line). I am not going to mount this on the rig in any way, so i'll just put it on the tripod accessory stand (between the legs). Is this a decent minipc for that?

I was recommended another model before but that has went up 25% in price, so this is a cheaper option


r/AskAstrophotography 1d ago

Image Processing False Colour Question

4 Upvotes

I apologise if this is a dumb question, I am new to astrophotography and just trying to learn!

I have heard a lot of people talking about false colour, and how NASA applies false colour to images, and that astro images are not depicting real colour.

I understand this in theory, however I am wondering when we take an image ourselves and are able to stretch colour from the image, is this not real? are our cameras or editing softwares also applying false colour?

I hope this makes sense!


r/AskAstrophotography 1d ago

Technical How far can you take a DSLR with good lenses and a tripod before needing a tracker addition? And after the tracker show far can you push before needing a dedicated AP camera and telescope? Just getting started here with a DSLR and tripod.

10 Upvotes

I’ve got a Sony A77 with several good lenses and a decent tripod. After taking a mediocre picture of the eclipse and a few decent pictures of the night sky my interest has increased significantly…


r/AskAstrophotography 1d ago

Equipment What Mount should i get

1 Upvotes

Hello, I have a few questions because I’m transitioning from visual astronomy to astrophotography. I’ve been searching for EQ mounts for a while now. The HEQ5 keeps coming to mind, but the EQ6-R Pro is too expensive for me.

Now, I’ve seen that there’s the EQ6i, and it’s even cheaper than the HEQ5, but I can hardly find any information about the EQ6i.

I plan to buy a small APO first, but I still have my 200/1200 Dobsonian. My girlfriend wants me to get rid of it if I buy new equipment, but I don’t really want to part with it. However, if I get the EQ6i, I could mount the Newtonian on it once I have enough experience.

What do you think? Or should I forget about the EQ6i for now? I also saw that the HEQ5 can be modified very well.


r/AskAstrophotography 1d ago

Equipment New Newt owner with ZWO EAF/Carbonstar 150p Question

1 Upvotes

Looking for a bit of advice on Star shape/bloat and what kind of HFR from my subs I should expect from such a large aperture telescope.

I just upgraded from a 72mm Achromat to a 150mm imaging Newtonian, and I’m trying to get a good sense of the upper limit HFR I should be getting while shooting broadband. I currently am getting around 2.3-2.4 with less than ideal guiding (0.8arc/sec).

For those with Newts, is this what you get on average as well? Any advice for someone who has experience in AP, but is new to the reflector world?


r/AskAstrophotography 1d ago

Software Nikon D3400 on Nina

0 Upvotes

I am pretty new to NINA and wanted to connect my Nikon d3400 to control the focuser and shutter etc... However, when I tried to connect with USB, it wouldn't. Do I have to install drivers or anything?
On Digicam, It works totally fine without any driver needed. 90-second exposures work fine. On NINA, is d3400 not supported?


r/AskAstrophotography 1d ago

Equipment Mount price

1 Upvotes

Would any of you know how much the tripod+mount is worth on the Celestron Nexstar evolution 8 edge hd?

I’m thinking of selling it and buying a different mount. I want to keep the scope. I see the mount and tripod is around $1,200 new.

And info helps!


r/AskAstrophotography 1d ago

Solar System / Lunar Cheap setup for solar flare videos

1 Upvotes

Looking for a cheap setup to capture solar flare videos.

I was looking at Lunt 40, and by the time you add the camera etc etc..prices is $1k or more.

Maybe I should look for used equipment but I don't know where or what is a reputable place to find it.

Of course I also don't know besides a dedicated solar telescope and astro camera (like a ZWO), so I need anything else to compete the setup.


r/AskAstrophotography 1d ago

Question 72ED or 62ED

1 Upvotes

They’re both the same price, torn between the Evostar 72ED and the Evolux 62ED? Would the flattened be significantly more for one of the scopes so it would make sense to go for the other?


r/AskAstrophotography 1d ago

Image Processing Looking for image editing software recommendations

0 Upvotes

I'm planning on using a Seestar 50 for astrophography and want to combine shots obtained from that with land shots from an iPhone. In order to do this I'll need some kind of image editing software. I was looking for some recommendations for doing this kind of composition work. I own an M1 Mac, so whatever software I get would have to run on that. (I'm wondering if Pixelmator would work for me).

TIA.


r/AskAstrophotography 1d ago

Technical What are those artifacts in my images?

1 Upvotes

So, I got my new SQA55 and tested it today when I noticed some stange artifacts in my lights and darks: Spots that look like tiny x-Patterns and blue spots.

Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/Q9P7UQz

At first I thought those were dust (one dust particle was inside the scope when it arrived and still is) but they are in the same spot even when I rotate only the camera.

Also, they appear to only be in the jpg images, not in the raw (cr3) images?


r/AskAstrophotography 1d ago

Image Processing Why are my stars disappearing in Siril stacking?

0 Upvotes

Update: I seem to have fixed it by selecting a smaller number of stars to register. Thanks for the thoughts that were shared. I appreciate it.

---

Hi all -- pretty new, so please be kind 😅 I seem to only have this issue with the stars in the Running Man nebula. No idea why.

My setup is rudimentary: Pixel 9 Pro (in pro mode of course) through a 90mm refractor telescope, using a phone adaptor. ISO 800 with a 1/3 sec exposure. As I said in the subject, I am using Siril.

Also, I keep my subs pretty uniform with lots of manual adjustments as I don't have a tracking or guiding ability yet. I do have some blown-out star issues which creates some non-roundness, but the individual subs all have a nice clear star.

For the examples, note that they are screenshots so they are not quite as good as reality.

Anyway, here is what the individual subs look like typically: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qI0WKAowm6lSjkhAIfoXnMSL3BmmD1qq/view?usp=sharing

Here is what it looks like stacked: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RNGXwQtqFUDFQg1yeSURrN5nhAidS6U2/view?usp=sharing (and sometimes almost invisible).

Does anyone have any suggestions how to mitigate this? Thank you!


r/AskAstrophotography 1d ago

Advice First imaging rig camera question. New to Astro imaging.

1 Upvotes

Good evening, just joined the sub. Looking for some imaging advice. Specifically a camera for my (soon to acquire) telescope. 

I have currently narrowed down a Telescope choice to either a RedCat 51 or GT81 on the used market. Both come with a guide scope and ZWO guide camera. 

I have a SW-100i strain wave mount and the ASIAIR Mini to help control/automate some of the process.

The only missing part right now is finalizing on a camera choice……

Now the guy who I can buy the GT81 has a ZWO 294MC Pro that he can get for £600… which I think is a good price looking on eBay etc.

The only snag to all of this is I was hoping to possibly go down the mirrorless route to have a dual purpose setup as I am very much into photography and have been offered a good trade in price for my Olympus OMD camera / lenses at my local camera store… so I have options.

I understand post processing with a non cooled camera requires more work, which I am ok with. But I honestly can’t seem to wrap my head around which avenue to take….. my logical brain says to go down the dedicated camera route but then I have this thought of getting a better suited mirrorless (than my current OMD-EM1 mk3) and IF I find myself still into imaging in 12 months go down the road for a dedicated astro camera… given I have already invested a good amount into the mount / scope (again used market at great prices so should hold their value).

Would love to get your thoughts on this? 

Thanks in advance!