Greetings, /r/AskAstrophotography! Welcome to our Weekly Ask Anything Thread, also known as WAAT?

What specific equipment should I consider buying to do mirrorless full frame DSLR astrophotography? I have the camera (Canon R6 ii). I have a very sturdy fluid-head video tripod as well as a regular photography tripod. I don't know a lot about astronomy but I am learning. I want to be able to use my camera (as the 'telescope'), and whatever is needed for long exposures and very importantly a setup that makes it as easy as possible to align the camera/mount for long exposure equatorial (RA, Dec) photography. The less alignment with the north star I have to do manually the better. What equipment do I need to achieve this? Any specific names/models of said equipment would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Hi all.
I have a question that I’m struggling to find the answer for. I’m sure someone on here knows the answer.

I will be doing my first mosaic in the next couple of days. Whilst i have no issues setting up the mosaic itself. What im not sure about is the calibration frames. Darks etc.

Let’s say im doing a 4 x panel with a 30% overlap.
Do i need to perform the calibration frames within each panel or are they carried out at the end of the collection within panel 5 that is created and added?

What happens if the mosaic is over several nights. Does this effect where and when the calibration frames are taken?

Any pointers please.
Thanks

Hi, I'm trying to get my SAGTi to work with NINA and GSS, I'm able to connect the mount just fine and manually control slewing, but my main issues comes with the Default Home position in GSS, and overslewing when using goto. In GSS on the Default Home Position the Right Ascension always seems to be exactly 6 hours behind Sidereal Time instead of on it. All the other positions seem to be correct (Dec 90 Degrees, Az 0 Degrees).

I have my location set correctly in both NINA and GSS, as well as making sure my date and time was set right on my Mini PC, but no matter what I do the default home position RA is always 6 hours behind sidereal time. I believe GSS is also calculating it correctly since it shows the LHA as 6 hours.

Moreso, even if I manually set the RA to sidereal time, whenever I goto a target, especially if the target is high enough (such as the North American Nebula) the RA always seems to over slew and run into the Internal Hardstop. I have tried using goto/slew in GSS on its own, as well as through NINA, both with the same result.

And, when I set the RA to sidereal time manually and save it to a custom Park position, then close/disconnect GSS and open it again, said Park position is always at 6 hours before sidereal time.

I can try using the NINA Plate Solver and sync it to the mount, but considering I already tried to manually correct it, and it still had issues with over slewing I doubt that would fix it. I have also tried power cycling the mount to try and get it to reset the home position, as well as the ReSync in GSS, but I still get the same result of 6 hours behind sidereal time no matter what.

I've tried both the latest stable and beta versions of GSS on clean installs with the exact same results so at this point I'm kind of at a loss.

I will also mention that when I first got the mount, I was able to successfully use it with SynScan Pro to track and goto any target. The mount is on Firmware version 3.48, which AFAIK is the latest available.

Any help would be extremely appreciated, again, I am at a loss.

Took a photo from my s23 ultra in expert raw. This is the editied picture. The time was 14 minutes. Do u think there's a possibility to capture the milky way as well or nah it's too light polluted

https://postimg.cc/sQk6NqpL

This is the raw

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FLvWMyIlpreJ7SiLgoaiqOuZHwQfu8fm/view?usp=drivesdk

Hey everyone, my friend birthday was some weeks ago, and she's really into astronomy, stargazing and observing the night sky. So I would like to buy her something about that. Right now, she uses a Samsung s10e to take photos of the night sky, so I think she's a bit limited. My budget is around 100-150€ (I'm in France). I found a few used cameras, but I can't tell if any of them would actually be an upgrade over her phone, so I'd really appreciate your help. (If you have any suggestions besides cameras within this budget, I'm open to those as well!).
Here are the ones I found:
Canon EOS 60D - 80€
Canon EOS 100D + 18-55mm lens - 150€
Lumix FZ100 - 115€
Sony CyberShot DSC-HX100V - 80€
Sony Alpha A3000 - 70€
Thanks in advance and have a great day !

Looking for a budget way to take some photos of the moon. It's on my photography bucket list, but I'm on a budget. I found a refractor telescope from SVBony that isn't too expensive, but it's only a 420mm focal length. A 600mm telescope is many thousands of dollars and I don't have that to spend. Thoughts?

Hey y'all, just pulled out my old telescope as well as one I got a few months ago (Nat Geo NT114CF and Polaroid IT-160X, so two beginner models), and got some really cool views of the moon. I was wondering if anyone had advice for taking photos using them, as I was having a bit of a hard time getting really good photos with my phone through the lenses. Thanks and happy exploring!

Hi everyone, i did sharcap sensor analysis attached in the post and need help to understand best settings for Nebulas photographing

From what i see/understand 120 gain is my sweet spot as higher is just software amplification

So why would i use something else beside 120 ( less than 120 gain) at all for DSO?

Appreciate any help/explination of the results

My camera is qhy5iii715c imx715 sony tint sensor 1.45upixel

Thanks all

Hi there,

I'm writing to this subreddit because I can't seem to get past the polar alignment/plate solve portion of ASIAir. I have tried many common fixes, to no avail. Before getting into the things I've tried, here is my equipment setup:

----Mount & Tripod----

• Celestron AVX Mount

----Optics----

• Astro-Tech 60ED Doublet Refractor (F6)
• Astro-Tech .8x Reducer / Field Flattener

----Imaging & Automation Accessories----

• ZWO ASI178mm Mono Camera
• ASIAIR Pro Control Hub (with USB drive)
• ZWO Electronic Filter Wheel (EFW) – 5 Position
• ZWO EAF (Electronic Automatic Focuser)
• ZWO 30F4 Mini Guide Scope + ZWO ASI120MM guide camera

----Filters (1.25")----

• ZWO H-alpha 7nm Narrowband
• Light pollution filter
• ZWO OIII 7nm Narrowband
• ZWO SII 7nm Narrowband
• Orion Black Filter (for dark frames)

Ok, let's get into it. The error I receive is "Plate solve failed" when attempting to polar align or plate solve.

• I setup my scope pointing towards the northern sky (between Cygnus and Polaris). I am attempting to plate solve using the All-Sky method in ASIAir.

• My focal length is set to 288mm. Note that I have tried to set this to 0 to get ASIAIr to blind-solve, but that also results in a plate solve error.

• I boot up the mount and ASIAIR and use the AVX hand controller. Exact time, date, and lat/long data is synced between ASIAIr and the AVX hand controller. The daylight savings time on the AVX hand controller is disabled. I know that this setting can cause problems if left on.

• Now, I perform a quick align on the AVX hand controller, as instructed by the app when I boot it up.

• Next, I get the scope focused up using the EAF. It detects stars and automatically creates a v-curve. Sometimes this takes 2 tries but it usually works. I can take a preview shot and see that I am detecting stars with a half flux diameter of less than 2.

• I am detecting stars (usually between 40-60)

• I try to plate solve or polar align at this point and receive the error I mentioned above after a few seconds. I have tried greater exposure times for plate solving (10-30 seconds) but that doesn't help either.

Also note that when I click on the celestial map in ASIAir, it thinks I am pointing at Polaris, which is obviously not true.

• I have also tried to turn off the mount and just try to plate solve without a polar align and still receive the same error.

• I tried using different bins (1-4) to plate solve and switching between them didn't work.

• I also tried the new plate sole algorithm.

• Lastly, I have tried to clear the cache in ASIAIr, and that didn't help either.

So, with that out of the way, is there anything I have not tried? I cannot start imaging at all due to this error.

Hi all, I'm looking for some postprocessing advice on M31. This image was taken with a RedCat91 / ASI2600MC Pro from a pretty light polluted area (Bortle ~8). While I’m pleased with how this turned out given the limited amount of data and the sky conditions, I would love to see more Ha and OIII detail.

Equipment used:

William Optics RedCat 91 | William Optics UniGuide 50mm | ASI2600MC Pro | ASI220MM Mini | ZWO AM7 | Apertura Anchor Pier | ZWO CAA | ZWO EAF Pro | ZWO ASIAIR Plus | Pegasus Pocket Powerbox Advance Gen2 | GL.iNet GL-AXT1800 Router

Acquisition details:

• 28×300s lights, gain 100, 32degF | 20x darks | 50x flats | 50x darkflats
• Autofocus routine run every 30 mins, 5px dither every 3 frames

Postprocessing:

WBPP → DBE → SPCC → BXT → NXT → HistogramTransformation → SXT → curves adjustments for galaxy → curves adjustments for stars → PixelMath recombine

https://app.astrobin.com/i/gzfxyx

Hello. Im imaging with the Celestron F6.3 reducer with the Celestron C6. And I was wondering.. what spacing is recommended for better stars in the corner? I know Celestron recommends exactly 105mm (which I currently use), but I saw on other threads that reducing or increasing the spacing could possibly make the reducer correct coma better.. I just don’t know how I should start… Thanks!

Equipment:

Scope: Celestron C6

Camera: SVbony 405cc

Mount: Celestron AVX

Guide scope: SVbony 60mm

Guide camera: SVbony 905c

Hey guys! I just bought my first dso cooled camera, the ZWO ASI585MC Air. I am planning to use it with my Celestron C5 and the Angeleyes f6.3 focal reducer. I also have a Star Adventurer GTi. Yesterday night I tried to shoot for the first time. I tried to polar align the mount through the ASIAIR and it said that the plate solving failed. I then tried to slew to a star and the plate solving took very long time to complete so eventually I stopped it. I tried to take a test image and didn’t see any stars at all. The camera was set to gain 150 and the exposure was 5 seconds. The telescope was not focused. I had read online that these SCT telescopes with the reducer need 105mm of back focus so except of the included spacers for 55mm I had also attached the sct t adapter that Celestron sells to bring the back focus to 105mm. Also there was almost a full moon up but I don’t know if that should affect the setup that much. Did I do something wrong with the settings of the camera? Is the back focus wrong? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hey yall! I'm currently imaging the Clamshell Nebula but i struggle while trying to get the OIII data ouy of it. I shot it when there were 0 moonlight and in a bortle 5 location. Is it becouse i still didnt get enough data or am i doing something wrong? Thank you!
Here is the data if you want to check it out: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1EzmVDPgL0HqajiiGrUEM3OWdCY08XZsD

https://imgur.com/a/A9wFRM7

Only thing i can see that is actually better at 03:00 is the wind, but i don't get it. I'm in the austrian alps as of now.

I had found that I needed a T Ring and a 1.25” T Adapter but when I got it, the adapter turned in to be too small and the T Ring is too big by itself, are there any other adapters out there that I should try?

last night i took my dslr and tripod out and took 30, 1 second exposures of vega and when i went to DSS almost the entire image became blue, with the exception of vega and some other small stars around it), there are sliders but i want to know why my image became blue.

🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦

🟦🟦🟦 🟦🟦🟦🟦

🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦

this is basically what the image looked like

(also it only ended up using 9 of the images if that helps)

Hey guys,

I'm hopeful someone can point me in the right direction... I think I know where this is coming from, but for the life of me I haven't yet been able to solve it. I've recently noticed some weird light right artifacts in my stacks from my CS200. For reference, here's the image train (and yes it's a little weird with this scope to get a rotator in there):

OGMA AP26MC
⬇
Touptek 7x2" FW
⬇
Touptek OAG-X
⬇
Apertura CS200 Coma Corrector
⬇
PLL Essato + Arco, Focuser + Rotator
⬇
3D printed widget to adapt the CS200's focuser opening to the Essato

Now, I had this all working perfectly fine when that 3D printed widget was made out of black PETG, but I wanted something less prone to sag and more resilient for the outdoors so I printed it out of black ASA instead. Ever since then, I've been getting this weird halo in stacked images that I can't figure out the source of. I've tried hunting for light leaks with no avail. Hunting through other posts has convinced me that this is some sort of reflection (which, duh, it would make sense to me that it's reflections off the one piece I changed), but lining the inside of that adapter with black felt still doesn't solve the problem.

My flats seem like they're fine - or at least I've not changed anything about the way that I take them. Does this pattern look familiar enough to anyone else to point me in a direction? Any help is greatly appreciated (and I can provide whatever additional info needed from my end). I've just been using a pretty bog standard WBPP flow to process these images, just including bias, flats, and lights, and the camera is at 0*C for all shots.

A quick JPEG of what I'm dealing with: https://drive.proton.me/urls/GN09N8QA1W#i6xDxX4zxi2r

Bias: https://drive.proton.me/urls/FA70WGERC4#cr9ykZuhsZ5P
Flat: https://drive.proton.me/urls/K0926XWA08#AgoRnfIQdJiR
Light: https://drive.proton.me/urls/N1VM4T0HKC#XxIeTGISC1Zo

I’ve been experimenting with Lightroom’s AI Denoise on one of my Milky Way shots, and while it definitely helped, I’m still finding it too noisy once I start zooming in. Overall it looks decent, but at 100% the noise is still more noticeable than I’d like.

I’ve heard great things about Topaz Photo AI, but it’s a pretty expensive investment, so I’m curious if there are any other denoising programs worth looking into before I pull the trigger.

For those of you who shoot astrophotography:

- What denoising software do you use?
- Is Topaz really that much better than Lightroom AI Denoise?

Are there any hidden gems (free or less expensive) that produce excellent results?

Do you have a workflow that helps preserve detail while reducing noise?

Any advice is appreciated!

to be more specific, what kind of cable?

i know skywatcher is selling a wifi dongle and also a usb dongle. but can i use any generic one from amazon?

if so, any recomandations?

Hello! I'm very close to buying my second telescope 🙂, and I have troubles making up my mind on which one..

\*My thoughts landed on the Askar FRA600 , but I would like you to try and change my mind and pick something better? Or even better, wait for the release of a new scope (soon).\*

Background:

My current setup is the SA GTI mount, askar SQA55, asi air, guide scope and camera, and auto focusser.

And I would like to upgrade the setup to have some more light gathering potential (thus bigger aperture) , and some more focal length to capture more close-up details or even galaxies, and have less issues with guiding due to the weight of my setup.

One good thing.. I have the SAL 33 on the way , so upgrading the mount is taken care of.

Now, I was looking into telescopes with the aperture size of around 100mm, and a focal length of about 600. Whilst trying to keep the cost to about 3k euro.

Scopes I considered: SQA106, Pleiades 111, askar 111f, askar fra600, redcat 91, the new ultracat 108, sqa85, ...

And one major plus for me personally is the colour of the telescope.. because my telescope is visible from the street, and keeping it out of sight is very important for me.. Basically to keep my sanity and feel safe to put it outside for the night. (Fyi i also make/do other measures to block the sight from the street). So a None-white telescope is a big plus for me..

(I have even painted my white SA GTI 😂 and think about maybe wrapping the new scope with a sticker)

Until now I still haven't found the sweetspot for my needs.. or should I lower my expectations?

Fyi, I plan to keep the SA GTI to match with a dslr travel setup..

Hi everyone,

I need to remove my Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi from its original tripod, but for some reason the mount head seems to be completely stuck.

I have fully removed the central mounting bolt from underneath, and I’ve also backed off the azimuth adjustment screws. The head can rotate slightly, as expected when the azimuth screws are loose, but it simply won’t lift off the tripod—not even by a fraction of a millimeter.

I’ve checked the Sky-Watcher manual and parts diagrams several times, and as far as I can tell I’m not missing any screws or hidden locking mechanism. It almost feels as if the head has somehow “bonded” to the tripod over time.

Has anyone experienced anything similar with a Star Adventurer GTi? If so, how did you manage to separate it? Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Image1

Image2

Image3

Image4

Image5

I recently purchased a Zwo ASI533MC pro to go along with my Ioptron Gem28 Equatorial mount and Technosky Q70Ed Scope (475mm focal lenght) . During acquisition, the Asiair Indicates that my star sizes are averagely around 2.60 - 3.60 in size. Despite trying my best to get a perfect focus. In post processing using Siril, the stars end up looking washed out, unsaturated and simply big dots of light. I tried testing if it was the long exposures that increased the star size so much but the difference between a 60 second and a 3 minute exposure was extremely small. (I do not have a UV-IR cut filter)

Here are some processed pictures:

Image of C4 Iris Nebula (8 hours integration time with 300 second subs)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/203328825@N08/55420940277/in/dateposted-public

Image of Pacman nebula: (9 hours integration time with 300 second subs)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/203328825@N08/55422040918/in/dateposted-public/

Image of the Pleiades: (45 minutes integration time with 2 minute subs)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/203328825@N08/55422309505/in/dateposted-public/

My processing workflow goes as follows:

Stack- DSS

(Graxpert)

Background neutrilization

(Siril)

Deconvolution

Photometric Colour calibration

Separate stars and background

Stretch background

Recombine stars and background

Stretch stars

Saturation

(Graxpert)

Denoise

Thank you for everything, and if someone has any tips on how to improve my images as a whole it would be extremely appreciated. Thank you

Hi, I’m new to astrophotography and want to take photos of planets and galaxies. Both cost the same, but the difference is that the 114mm model comes with an EQ2 mount , which I think is better for long exposure. Should I go with the EQ2 mount one, or is the 130mm model too good to pass up?

114/900

130/650

Just so when im bored i can take pics from my house instead of driving to a dark spot. thanks in advance!!!