Hello from North West England

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Petrol Great Britain
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Hello from North West England

#1

Post by Petrol »


Hi, whist I'm not new to astro imaging, I certainly feel like it!
I built this roll off 10 years ago but didn't use it much because of changing work commitments

Image

This is the sort of image I was taking back then with a OSC Atik camera

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Image


I have a lot more time now and decided to upgrade to bring thing up to date - RASA 8, Samyang F2 lens and a couple of ZWO OSC cameras. I'm astonished how things have moved on in particular, narrowband OSC imaging and software capabilities. I've recently bought Pixinsight (monumental learning curve....EEK!) and am using NINA to plate solve and capture. It took a while to get my head around the basics of all this but feel I making a little progress. These are my latest images

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Rasa 8, ZWO Asi293MC Pro


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Rasa 8, ZWO Asi293MC Pro


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Samyang 135 F2, ZWO Asi293MC Pro

I have a lot to learn and know I have various problems including camera tilt particularly with the RASA, star halos, and various software issues. It's all great fun and very interesting though.
I live in Bortle 5 skies so it's difficult for me to observe but when I see images on my screen, it humbles me. Astronomy is an awesome hobby!

Thanks for looking
Clear skies,

Pete
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JayTee United States of America
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Re: Hello from North West England

#2

Post by JayTee »


Hello Pete,

Great images. Welcome to TSS. Glad you joined us.

Cheers,
∞ Primary Scopes: #1: Celestron CPC1100 #2: 8" f/7.5 Dob #3: CR150HD f/8 6" frac
∞ AP Scopes: #1: TPO 6" f/9 RC #2: ES 102 f/7 APO #3: ES 80mm f/6 APO
∞ G&G Scopes: #1: Meade 102mm f/7.8 #2: Bresser 102mm f/4.5
∞ Guide Scopes: 70 & 80mm fracs -- The El Cheapo Bros.
∞ Mounts: iOptron CEM70AG, SW EQ6, Celestron AVX, SLT & GT (Alt-Az), Meade DS2000
∞ Cameras: #1: ZWO ASI294MC Pro #2: 662MC #3: 120MC, Canon T3i, Orion SSAG, WYZE Cam3
∞ Binos: 10X50,11X70,15X70, 25X100
∞ EPs: ES 2": 21mm 100° & 30mm 82° Pentax XW: 7, 10, 14, & 20mm 70°

Searching the skies since 1966. "I never met a scope I didn't want to keep."

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helicon United States of America
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Re: Hello from North West England

#3

Post by helicon »


Hi Petrol (Pete) and welcome to the forums! Thanks for joining us.

:telescopewink:
-Michael
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50
Eyepieces: Various, GSO Superview, 9mm Plossl, Celestron 25mm Plossl
Camera: ZWO ASI 120
Naked Eye: Two Eyeballs
Latitude: 48.7229° N
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Ylem United States of America
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Re: Hello from North West England

#4

Post by Ylem »


Beautiful images Pete, thanks for joining us here at TSS :)
Clear Skies,
-Jeff :telescopewink:


Member; ASTRA-NJ



Orion 80ED
Celestron C5, 6SE, Celestar 8
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A big box of Plossls
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:D



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Frankskywatcher United States of America
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Re: Hello from North West England

#5

Post by Frankskywatcher »


That is quite the setup and the images are fantastic !
You are truly correct when you state that it’s always humbling,this hobby.
I feel the same way and I’m sure others concur, even when you are looking at something like a planet and realize the distance to it then think about our place in the universe and how small we as humans are,it’s very humbling !
Thanks for joining us you will love it here,everyone is so kind.
Gee if I had known there was so much to see I would have started decades ago ! :Astronomer1:

Equipment :
Apertura AD10” Dobsonian

Polaris 4” Dobsonian

7x50 binoculars
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Unitron48 United States of America
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Re: Hello from North West England

#6

Post by Unitron48 »


Hello, Pete. Welcome to the group. Looking forward to your AP work.

Dave
Unitron (60mm, 102mm), Brandon 94
Stellarvue SVX127D
http://www.unitronhistory.com

"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better." Albert Einstein
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messier 111 Canada
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Re: Hello from North West England

#7

Post by messier 111 »


wow , nice first post , welcome in , thx .
I LOVE REFRACTORS , :Astronomer1: :sprefac:

REFRACTOR , TS-Optics Doublet SD-APO 125 mm f/7.8 . Lunt 80mm MT Ha Doublet Refractor .

EYEPIECES, Delos , Delite and 26mm Nagler t5 , 2 zoom Svbony 7-21 , Orion Premium Linear BinoViewer .

FILTER , Nebustar 2 tele vue . Apm solar wedge . contrast booster 2 inches .

Mounts , berno mack 3 with telepod , cg-4 motorized , eq6 pro belt drive .

“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in.”
― Isaac Asimov

Jean-Yves :flags-canada:
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Lady Fraktor Slovakia
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Re: Hello from North West England

#8

Post by Lady Fraktor »


Hello and welcome to the forums :)
See Far Sticks: Antares Elita 103/1575, AOM FLT 105/1000, Bresser BV 127/1200, Nočný stopár 152/1200, Vyrobené doma 70/700, Stellarvue NHNG DX 80/552, TAL RS100/1000, Vixen SD115s/885
EQ: TAL MT-1, Vixen SXP, AXJ, AXD
Az/Alt: AYO Digi II/ Argo Navis, Stellarvue M2C/ Argo Navis
Tripods: Berlebach Planet (2), Uni 28 Astro, Report 372, TAL factory maple, Vixen ASG-CB90, Vixen AXD-TR102
Diagonals: Astro-Physics, Baader Amici, Baader Herschel, iStar Blue, Stellarvue DX, Takahashi prism, TAL, Vixen flip mirror
Eyepieces: Antares to Zeiss
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Tillibobs Great Britain
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Re: Hello from North West England

#9

Post by Tillibobs »


Hi Pete, and a warm welcome from West Yorkshire.
Keith
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Re: Hello from North West England

#10

Post by rickclark28 »


Greetings from Ohio/USA and welcome to the forum.
*Good photos in this post and thanks for the share!
Telescopes: *Celestron DX5 SCT 127mm 5" w/StarSense *Astro-Tech 80ED AT80ED
Eyepiece: AT-UWA 4/7/10/13/16, AT-PF 5.5/15.5/25, ES52/10, ES62/20, SvBony 26-70 2", 7-21/3-8 zoom, Bresser 30/35 2"
Binoculars: Minolta 10x50 Wide Angle 7", HUTACT 10x42,
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Re: Hello from North West England

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Post by Richard »


Welcome to TSS Pete , nice images
Reflectors GSO 200 Dobs
Refractors None
SCT C5 on a SLT mount
Mak 150 Bosma on a EQ5
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Re: Hello from North West England

#12

Post by smp »


Hi Pete, and welcome here to the Forum!

smp
Stephen
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Solar: Thousand Oaks white light filter; Daystar Quark (chromosphere) Hα filter
Mounts: Explore Scientific Twilight I; Majestic heavy duty tripod
Local Club: New Hampshire Astronomical Society
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Re: Hello from North West England

#13

Post by Gordon »


Hi Pete!

Welcome to TSS!

I'm looking forward to see more of your images.
Gordon
Scopes: Explore Scientific ED80CF, Skywatcher 200 Quattro Imaging Newt, SeeStar S50 for EAA.
Mounts: Orion Atlas EQ-g mount & Skywatcher EQ5 Pro.
ZWO mini guider.
Image cameras: ZWO ASI1600 MM Cool, ZWO ASI533mc-Pro, ZWO ASI174mm-C (for use with my Quark chromosphere), ZWO ASI120MC
Filters: LRGB, Ha 7nm, O-III 7nm, S-II 7nm
Eyepieces: a few.
Primary software: Cartes du Ciel, N.I.N.A, StarTools V1.4.

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Re: Hello from North West England

#14

Post by Juno16 »


Hi Pete and a big welcome to TSS!

Some really nice AP images. Yeah, Pixinsight can be a struggle, but it’s worth every bit of it.

Looking forward to your work!
Jim

Scopes: Explore Scientific ED102 APO, Sharpstar 61 EDPH II APO, Samyang 135 F2 (still on the Nikon).
Mount: Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro with Rowan Belt Mod
Stuff: ASI EAF Focus Motor (x2), Orion 50mm Guide Scope, ZWO 30 mm Guide Scope, ASI 220mm min, ASI 120mm mini, Stellarview 0.8 FR/FF, Sharpstar 0.8 FR/FF, Mele Overloock 3C.
Camera/Filters/Software: ASI 533 mc pro, ASI 120mm mini, Orion SSAG, IDAS LPS D-1, Optolong L-Enhance, ZWO UV/IR Cut, N.I.N.A., Green Swamp Server, PHD2, Adobe Photoshop CC, Pixinsight.
Dog and best bud: Jack
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Re: Hello from North West England

#15

Post by Makuser »


Hi Pete. It's great to have you join us here on TSS and that is a very nice roll off roof observatory that you have there. I also enjoyed the excellent images that you have taken with your new RASA 8 telescope. Welcome to the forum Pete and the best of wishes on your astrophotography endeavors.
:text-welcomeconfetti:
Marshall
Sky-Watcher 90mm f/13.8 Maksutov-Cassegrain on motorized Multimount
Orion Astroview 120ST f/5 Refractor on EQ3 mount
Celestron Comet Catcher 140mm f/3.64 Schmidt-Newtonian on alt-az mount
Celestron Omni XLT150R f/5 Refractor on CG4 mount with dual axis drives.
Orion 180mm f/15 Maksutov-Cassegrain on CG5-GT Goto mount.
Orion XT12i 12" f/4.9 Dobsonian Intelliscope.
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>)))))*>
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Gfamily Wales
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Re: Hello from North West England

#16

Post by Gfamily »


Petrol wrote: Sat Jan 28, 2023 11:02 pm I have a lot to learn and know I have various problems including camera tilt particularly with the RASA, star halos, and various software issues. It's all great fun and very interesting though.
I live in Bortle 5 skies so it's difficult for me to observe but when I see images on my screen, it humbles me. Astronomy is an awesome hobby!
Hi Pete
Welcome to TSS. Depending on where you are in the NW you may be near to one of our local Astro Societies, and I'm sure you'll be made very welcome, and with luck, be the recipient of advice.
My own club is in my sig, but I'm sure you'll be welcome at any of the local clubs you'll find on the gostargazing.co.uk website
LS8 Meade SCT, SW 127 Mak, 72mm Lightwave Refractor
Star Adventurer
AZ Gti mount
www.midcheshireastro.co.uk for astro company
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Petrol Great Britain
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Re: Hello from North West England

#17

Post by Petrol »


Thank you very much for a very warm welcome. What an awesome community this is!
The roll off took me some time to build but it's been worth it. Quick and easy to pack up when the clouds and rain move in very fast here.
Gfamily, I'm near Blackburn but I may very well make the trip down to your club. I've been interested in astronomy since I was 10 but have never been to a club meet. I'm sure it would be awesome and I would learn a lot. I have, however visited the McDonald observatory in Texas (bit commercial) and even better Big Bend national park (Bortle 1) The sky is mind blowing without light pollution. I travelled most of Texas from Austin to Amarillo, then down to Big Bend and the skies were mostly better than what I've seen here. Having experienced good skies, I've built a mobile rig which I'm hoping to take to better skies in my (mini) RV. Campervan for the UK viewers.

It's an EQ5 mount and I'm using a Samyang F2 135mm ED UMC lens with a Zwo 295MCPro camera on the back. I use a Zwo narrowband filter (Had noise problems with L-extreme)
This is it in the foreground

Image

I'm working on a mosaic at the moment but I need more data. The plan is a 3 panel but I only have data for 2.... and not enough of the 2!

Image

I only have a narrow window to image the Orion area but hopefully if the skies are clear, I'll travel to get more data
Again, thank you for the very warm welcome. I didn't expect it and it's a pleasure to be here.

Pete (AKA Petrol due to my car restoration hobby)
Clear skies
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Gfamily Wales
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Re: Hello from North West England

#18

Post by Gfamily »


Petrol wrote: Mon Jan 30, 2023 12:21 am Gfamily, I'm near Blackburn but I may very well make the trip down to your club. I've been interested in astronomy since I was 10 but have never been to a club meet. I'm sure it would be awesome and I would learn a lot.
You'll be very welcome at the Mid Cheshire Astro Group of course, but you may find it easier to visit the Preston and District AS, as they're closer.
https://www.padas.org.uk/ (next meeting Thursday 9th Feb).
Alternatively, I notice that the Alston Observatory (run by UC Lan) has an monthly open day - next two on 1st Feb and 1st March.
Book via EventBrite. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/alston-o ... 3692807207
LS8 Meade SCT, SW 127 Mak, 72mm Lightwave Refractor
Star Adventurer
AZ Gti mount
www.midcheshireastro.co.uk for astro company
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Petrol Great Britain
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Re: Hello from North West England

#19

Post by Petrol »


Gfamily wrote: Mon Jan 30, 2023 12:50 pm Alternatively, I notice that the Alston Observatory (run by UC Lan) has an monthly open day - next two on 1st Feb and 1st March.
Book via EventBrite. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/alston-o ... 3692807207


Thank you very much for this. I've subscribed to EventBrite and assuming I can get a ticket (not yet available) I'll be visiting on 1st of March.

Pete
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Re: Hello from North West England

#20

Post by AntennaGuy »


Beautiful work. Welcome to TSS!
:text-welcomewave: :observer:
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* Celestron C6 SCT on a Twilight 1 Alt-Az mount
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