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I spent a while capturing ser files and this is one with a grasshopper PT Grey cam on loan from Graham and could not resist the temptation to process a file from tonight.

Imaging telescopes or lenses:Ceslestron C11 Imaging cameras:ZWO 178 MC Mounts:NEQ-6 Pro Accessory:TeleVue Powermate 2.5x , ZWO ADC Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector Date:Aug. 19, 2020 Time: 01:32 Frames: 1500 FPS: 106.00000

After a very frustrating start (laptop woes!) I tried the Pacman Nebula, reasonably happy wit it as its only 15 x 180s + darks/Flats/Dark Flats. Usual kit, I did try the Triband filter but can't seem to get to grips with it using the Hypercam 183c, only with the DSLR?

NGC1499 from this morning, not sure if it’s wide field or DSO but it’s big either way. Canon 5dii @ 500 mm, 50 x 130 seconds at ISO 1600.

After three months of not having a mount, I'm currently borrowing one, so it's lovely to actually get out and point at the heavens. Andromeda, in LRGB, 15x90 second exposures on each filter. Bring on some more clear skies..

The clouds cleared somewhere around midnight and shortly after Mars rose above the neighbors tree. She was shining so brightly I just had to get an image. Well I actually spent the next two hours capturing video after video. It is going to take an eternity to process them all so here is just one. 10,000 frame SER captured using the 10 inch Meade and the ZWO 120 MC Stacked the best frames in Registax. Slightest touch up in PS 6.

Sorry to run this post again but. This has to be the best Mars image I have produced to date. This is the second attempt as I selected the wrong thing when 2 hours into processing this and had to start again 😭 😭 😭 This is 3 X 10,000 frame SER's joined together, centralized and sorted in PIPP. The best 5000 frames were saved as an AVI. Ran this AVI through Registax and polished up the resulting image in PS 6. Shame about the artifact along the lower edge. What did surprise me was the detail that has shown up in the atmosphere. Clouds

M31 Andromeda Galaxy approx 5 hrs data 130pds , Nikon D5300, flats and bias dithered , stacked in siril processed in Startools , focus went out a bit due to temp variation came out not too bad considering

I was fortunate to have another good imaging run last night. With clear skies promised on the satellite weather I was up and running on this target by 21:00. To start I wound the mount back past the horizontal to avoid the dreaded flip being required later on in the run. I then set up an 8 hour imaging run in Maxim. After hitting the 'go' button I just let it get on with it whilst I got a few hours of much needed sleep. Lost a few subs to bad seeing , the odd passing cloud ect but all in all a good haul. Williams Optics GT 81 QSI 683 12 sub

The Red Backed Shrike has been at Sutton Park in Sutton Coldfield for about 11 days now but today was my first opertunity to get down and view this wonderful bird. I'm not overly pleased with the final photos as it was a little to far away and the light was pretty bad but at least I have some photos of the great little butcher bird.

Had a brilliant night tonight. It cleared hours before it was suppose to so I set out to collect all the planets available to me. I was using the F15 refractor, ZWO 120 MC and a 2X Barlow. Hence why the images are all small in size. The seeing was pretty bloody awful with all the object bouncing around like a Bunny on steroids. 😅 First up was Jupiter. Next was Saturn. Moving along the line was Neptune. I then stopped on the Moon to get the makings of a 23 panel mosaic. ( I did remove

After a great nights imaging with the GT 81 I decided it would be rude to ignore Mars. So I loaded up the 10 inch Meade. 10 inch Meade ZWO 120 MC Captured in Fire capture Best 1000 frames from a 5000 frame vid stacked in Registax Polished up in PS 6

After playing with Mars I noticed Venus was sitting nicely between the houses and a tree so I just had to have a go before the sun came up. The colour was an amazing sight to behold. 10 inch Meade ZWO 120 MC Captured in Fire capture Best 1000 frames from a 5000 frame vid stacked in Registax Polished up in PS 6

Facing the fact that I will probably not bother with the other 2 nights data on this. Imaging telescopes or lenses:William Optics FLT 132 , Takahashi FS-102 Imaging cameras:QSI 690WSG-8 QSI690 , Starlight Xpress H694 Mono CCD SX 694 Mounts:Takahashi NJP Temma 2 Guiding cameras:SX Lodestar Software:Astro Pixel Processor , Photoshop CS4 Filters:astrodon LRGB set , Astronomik c Give it a click or 3 for full res.

M31 seems to have been a popular choice last night, Canon 5DII @ 500 mm, 40 x 1 min at ISO 1600.

This time I made sure all was well in the filter selection window in Maxim before I started. 😂 Collected the missing OIII and SII last night. Despite the cloud interruption for an hour or so I managed to collect 30 subs at 600 seconds. 15 subs in OIII and 15 in SII. I would have collected more but the mount was so far past the flip point the camera was going to hit the pier 😅 As this was shot over two nights and I had removed the rig from the mount the previous night the star alignment was all over the place between the HA and the other two channels.

M31 approx 12hrs after stacking 80% in Dss processed in Startools data from 2 nights 2min subs dithered , flats and bias , bias as darks .Nikon D5300

My family thinks I'm mad but today my mate and I drove to Brighton and back to see a butterfly, it's a 400 mile roud trip to see Long Tailed Blues. The Long-tailed Blue is an exotic migrant from the Mediterranean with a handful typically reaching UK shores each year. Whitehawk Hill is a hot spot for them. The butterflies very rarely opened their wings which was a shame as I really wanted a photo of them with the wings opened but it was very hot day so maybe they decided to keep them closed due to the heat. Anyway I managed 10 good photos and this little trip makes my to

Result from last night. Canon 200D with 400mm lens at F5.6, ISO1600, 74 x 180s on SW EQM-35. An improvement over last years image (where the I had taken the lens out into the cold from the warm house and started imaging immediately only to find the focus lasted about 10 minutes!). Having spent an age messing about getting the mount star aligned using Liveview, the battery didn't last quite as long as normal so whilst I was watching the cricket highlights, I spent 30 min or so taking 'images' with the camera switched off.

A good clear night last nightbut alas work this morning! Cocoon Nebula 30 x 180s +Darks/Flats/dark Flats. NEQ6 SW150 PDS AA Hypercam 183c (fan) guided by PHD 2.6.9 and APT 3.86.

I tried to balance the rig using a multi meter as instructed in an earlier thread. I moved the weights more than 1.5" nearer the mount and decided to test it by checking my guiding. This is on a NEQ6 using a SW 150 PDS. Using PHD 2.6.8 I got the following measurements: Best: RA 0.08 Dec 0.07 Tot 0.10 Worst: RA 0.11 Dec 0.10 Tot 0.14 Pleased with the result and have ordered an in-line Volt meter. 2 images, first for focusing was M15 10 x 180 Gain 400 + Darks etc..

Downtime this Saturday, 12 September 2020 East Midlands Stargazers will be down, this Saturday, while a software upgrade and server migration are performed. What's changing? EMS is being modernised, once again, to bring us up to modern standards and introduce a few new features. Customisation options You'll be able to customise the way EMS looks and feels according to your own preferences, including the use of a light or dark theme (see the next paragraph), placing the sidebar on either side of the website, making the header bar stick

Had a good run on this despite Blobby's best attempts to wash it out. Williams Optics GT 81 QSI 683 14 subs at 600 seconds Captured and stacked in Maxim Polished up in PS 6.

Just a couple of pics, all seems to operate as it should, inside that is. Probably all will go wrong when i get it outside 😂

Taken with recently purchased Altair Astro 115mm triplet. A preowned bargain, of course. Camera SXV H9C 22 x 120s. Mount NEQ6. Guided with oag, ASI120MM and PHD2. The point of buying this scope was to get closer to small galaxies and some of the planetary nebulae. Will soon run of suitable planetary nebs as most are really small. The AA 115 is only marginally faster the the ED80 so the exposure times are very similar. Very pleased with how it is performing and the guiding on the EQ6 is working really well in spite of the extra load.

Spent most of the day sun bothering. Turned out to be a challenging session due to the seeing being awful. The Sun was dancing about like a drop of water on a hot plate. Clocked up just shy of 100 gigs of data. These are a few of the better ones I got. The full disc. Added colour in PS 6 Close up of the faint Sunspot. Added colour in PS 6 Surface proms. Added colour in PS 6 Smaller prom.

Had a few days in Norfolk recently and had a lovely walk round Titchwell my favourite nature reserve. Common Lizard thinking off dinner Sanderling eating dinner Turnstone Ringed Plover Knot Sanderling Turnstone Common Lizard Sanderling

My eyes have nearly turned square doing this. This mosaic of the moon contains 23 panels. Each panel was a 1000 frame video taken with the F15 and the ZWO 120 MC Each video was stacked and processed in Registax. Saved as a Tiff. Each Tiff was cropped in PS 6 The 23 finished images were then stitched together in Microsoft ICE 6 hours later the completed mosaic was then put back into PS 6 for polishing. The finished result is huge so give it a couple of clicks to get to full res.

This is a composite image containing my 23 panel Luna mosaic along with an image of Mars taken last night at the same time. The image scale of the two bodies are the same.

This is a "trick" shot composed from two images. First I used a long exposure to capture Mars with the Moon but this left a bright over-exposed Moon. Then I used a short exposure to capture detail on the Moon. Then I combined the two images to get the final result.

I wanted to do a comparison between my 10 inch Meade and the 102mm F15 refractor on Mars. After trying with the 2X Barlow I decided to push things to the limit and probably beyond by sticking in the 5X Barlow. Imaging at F75 was interesting to say the least but it was the only way I could get Mars up to a decent size on the camera. Focusing was done manually by going back and forth out to the obs giving it a tweak then back inside to check so is a bit on the soft side. 3000 frames from a 5000 frame vid taken with the ZWO 120 MC stacked in Registax and tweaked in PS 6

Had a great run on this in the early hours of this morning. Williams Optics GT 81 QSI 683 21 subs at 600 seconds Captured and stacked in Maxim Polished up in PS 6.

This was a by-product of a meteor hunt. It was 20 frames stacked, each 18mm focal length, ISO 6400 and 6 seconds exposure. What I liked was that I caught M31, the double cluster and Melotte 20 as well.

Carrying on from the other post I said I was out for a "while" bear with me as I have been looking at these on and off for 24 hours and could not decide which to post so I combined 5 of the ser files with the grasshopper then did same with the chameleon and the IR 642 I still have the ZWO images to do

Messier list and how easy or hard to see each one is.

The rig took this whilst I was tucked up asleep in bed last night. 😀 Programmed Maxim to gather 8 hours of subs in all LRGB channels at 180 seconds a sub. Set it going just before 9pm last night so it was finishing at around 5am this morning just as I was getting up for work. Which gave me enough time to pack away whilst the kettle was boiling. Luckily it only had a slight issue 10 mins before the end, this was due entirely down to the fact the mount was albeit running upside down 😅 ( not for the first time or the last ) Did a quick processing on it when

Had another unexpected session tonight so I decided to go back to some narrow band. Revisited and old favorite in the Wizard Neb. Was hoping for another all nighter but alas the clouds rolled in again. Gt81 QSI 683 6 subs at 600 seconds in HA 6 subs at 600 seconds in OIII 6 subs at 600 seconds in SII Captured and stacked in Maxim. Beaten into submission in PS 6. Been a long time since I did a Hubble process I had a devil of a job to remember how to do it. Of course it could just be old age 😅

Ended up playing Polo sun bothering this afternoon. Still my endeavors were rewarded with a couple of 1000 frame SERs. Usual Kit of the 60mm Double stacked Lunt. Point Grey Camera. Captured in Fire Capture. Stacked in Registax. Polished up in PS 6. False colour added in PS 6.

Finally got a break in the clouds around 1 am. I wanted to try out the F 15 tonight to see what it could do on Mars. Whilst waiting for Mars to clear a tree I decided to do a quick Luna shot. This is taken with the bare F 15 and the ZWO 120 MC No electronic focuser fitted so focus had to be obtained by going back and forth out to the obs tweaking the focuser and then going back inside to check. The Luna experts can name what this is. 1000 frames stacked in Registax Polished up in PS 6.

Returned to an old favourite of mine last night, NGC7380 The Wizard Nebula. The Moon was very bright and washed out some of the colour but happy enough! Ron

Just before midnight:

This makes the full set for this morning. 😂 Usual kit. Give an image a couple of clicks to get to full res. False colour added in PS 6.

Imaging telescopes or lenses:Lunt LS60THa/B1200 Imaging cameras:Flir Chameleon 3 Mounts:Vixen GP DX Software:AutoStakkert! AS3 , IMPPG , Photoshop CS4 , Firecapture Filters:Coronado SM60 double Stack 200of 1000 frames Give it a click or 3 for full res.

Had the opportunity to get some sun bothering in today so I grabbed it with both hands. 😃 Usual kit of the Double stacked Lunt and the Point Grey camera. Give an image a couple of clicks to get to full res. False colour added in PS 6.

Got this yesterday. Tair 3s f4.5. Ex Photosniper prime 300mm lens. I have always fancied having a play with one of these, they have good reviews and some folks have used them to good effect on astro. Got it focusing to infinity with the 1000D (this is the easiest lens I have come across to adjust focus reach). Tested on clouds at the horizon and nice and sharp with a bit more left for astro infinity focus. I had a massive Pentacon 300mm F4 a few years ago which I intended to do this with but it just would not reach astro infinity without a complete strip down.

Hi everyone - hope you're all well. I finally bagged my last 2 hrs on this last one night. 7hrs in total with my Altair Astro 72ED and ZWO ASI 183 MM. Processed in Pixinsight and PSCC. Cheers

I was going to go out Saturday night for a rich field session with the 72 ED DS Pro, unfortunately rain stopped play. My new weather app ‘Yo Weather’ (honestly) said it would clear around 03:20 to 04:00. By 03:30 I was set-up and looking up at cloudy sky porridge except for a brief naked eye view of Mars. Then, around 04:25 it started to clear and I could see Mars approaching transit. The 72 ED had been set-up with the 5x Tele Vue Powermate and a 10mm Vixen NPL most of this time just sitting there in case Mars reappeared. I got a sharp, clear 210x, and could easily see the phase.

Decided to try something completely different tonight and what a mare it turned out to be. I wanted to try out the Meade with the QSI on some Galaxy stuff but the weight with all that gear was pushing things a bit too far for the AZEQ6. Change of plan. 😕 I stripped the mount down and loaded up the 150 Mac and the QSI instead. Now I found that I could not get the OAG to focus on a guide star as there was not quite enough travel on the focal adjuster to get a guide star. Change of plan again. 😢 I Stripped the mount down again and l

Testing out PHD 2.6.9 last night on an old favourite of mine, M27. PHD worked very well and I could tell little difference from 2.6.8 which I've used for months. I chose M27 because it was an easily reachable target, I wanted M33 but it was behind a tree till 22.30 by which time it was cloudy!! I spent the next 2 hours doing some Darks! NEQ6 SW 150PDS Hypercam 183c (Fan) guided by PHD 2.6.9 and APT 3.86 15 x 180s at Gain 400 (Unity) + Darks/Flats/Dark Flats.

Just to let you know as far as I am aware the new restrictions do not affect businesses and are for personal restrictions. As yet Kelling is still taking place and I have had no notification that this has changed. Although no one will be able to camp with more than 6 people unless all from the same household. Social distancing from all other people at kellling must be 2m so no sharing scopes etc as you would expect. This could change over the next few weeks but we will have to wait and see. But we have been told there will be no total lockdown again unless things go really