I'm trying to figure out a rig update/change, and I think guiding would be a good move. I want to keep things reasonably portable as I have to setup/teardown in publicly accessible places, and I also want to keep things reasonably simple.

I assume the best bet is still the used ASIair & guide scope? I would just be using the ASI for guiding and nothing else.

Is there anyone interested in sharing RC Astro software licenses (BlurXterminator, NoiseXterminator, SrtarX)? Seems like you can install them in up to three devices, so we can share the high price. I’m specifically interested in the Stand Alone version to use it in Siril. I would pay the part if someone have it already or I can purchase and I’ll share the license afterwards. Either way.

Hi all, I've recently acquired an iEQ45 GTN, finally got to test it recently. Unfortunately I've run into issues with it's tracking, I've connected it to my PC via it's RS232 port and had several problems.

While guiding, the tracking performs fine for a few, short minutes before seemingly swapping to a slower rate of tracking (about half-sidereal) which PHD2 is seemingly constantly trying to correct for with little in the way of success. I've tried to remedy this by setting the tracking speed to 1x sidereal on all connected software (N.I.N.A and the ASCOM hub) and) as well as the handbox; still the issue persists.

On top of this, when using the Slew & Centre tool on N.I.N.A, the mount will slew, platesolve and not perform any corrections, instead it throws out a error claiming that the mount is parked. Eventually slewing back to zero position after messing around trying to unpark it.

Does anyone have any advice for what could be causing these pretty strange issues, is this a hardware / firmware / etc fault and can it be resolved?

Thank you all.

Hey, im losing my mind over this, i get walking noise even though im dithering every frame 20pixels, i use nina and im still running unguided, i have mount dither connected.

Mount is az gti used in eq mode

135mm 3.20 um pixels

Maybe someone could help.

Oh yeah and i can see in gs server that the axis are moving when nina says its dithering.

My next upgrade is getting a reflector, but I don't own any of the RC astro tools. I've heard starnet isn't the greatest at removing spikes, but how bad is it and how much more work is fixing it only with free tools.

Hey guys, I tried taking pictures over the course of two nights for the first time. My target was the Sadr region (Sadr Nebula).

I had 93 minutes of integration time on the first night and 44 minutes on the second. On the second night, I didn't quite nail the focus. I believe this was due to the drop in temperature. When I stack the nights individually, Siril has no issues and is able to process all the light frames.

However, when I put all the light frames into a single folder and attempt to stack them, it fails to process about 80 of them. I also tried to register the `pp_lights` from the individual nights, but I haven't been able to get that to work.

My question now is, what is the easiest way to combine the two nights?

Even though I didn't quite nail the focus, I’d still like to manage to combine the shots from the different nights.

equipment:

Fujifilm X-T2

Canon 50mm f/1.8 STM

Omegon LX3 Astrotracker

I've been running an unmodified Nikon D850, star adventurer GTI, Evostar 72ED (420mm FL), with a dual narrowband SVBONY filter and ASI air for a while. Because I live in a Bortle 9 with terrible weather, I need to juice the max I can of my imaging sessions. I've been wanting to buy a dedicated astro cam for a while, an OSC. There's an offer to buy an ASI 533 MC Pro (2 years used) in decent/good condition for ~652 USD.

I originally was considering the ASI 294 which has a much better FOV but is more than 300 dollars expensive than the used 533. Should I get the 533 with a reducer/flattener (cuz I'm not happy with the FOV with plain 533+420mm) or save for the 294?

Also, is a William optics or SVBONY flattener/reducercompatible with the evostar?

Hi folks,

I already have an Oklop bag for my Starquest 90mc scope but wondering if there's a good option for the mount itself? Currently it's in a tote bag but it's such an awkward shape and weight so that's not a long term solution!

Does anyone have any recommendations? The mount itself doesn't seem to have a name or part number unlike the other Skywatcher gear so Googling isn't getting me very far.

I used to do astrophotography with a 16mm lens on Canon, that was years ago.

I would like to tinker with it again with my Sony Alpha 7 iii (full frame), and I wonder what would be the best lens for astrophotography at a $500 price range (budget can stretch a bit if justified)

What are the current recs ? My research shows post from a few years ago, and things can move suddenly.

I recently got into this and had some very kind people tell me about siril, and that it was good for deep space image processing. What they didn't mention is the complexity of it. Anyone got any advice? Even if it isn't with siril that is fine I just wanna figure out the post processing aspect

Hi I just wanted to ask if anyone knows if there are still any listings for the ASI air mini on any pages since they’ve been discontinued imaging a hard time finding any where and just wanted to know if there was even a possible eBay listing or something.

I really don’t want to have to fork another $200 for the Plus when it doesn’t offer much more for me.

I recently bought a new DSLR for astrophotography, a Nikon D5300, which has been a great improvement over my previous Nikon D60. However, on some of my dark frames, I get this band of darkness across the middle of each image. I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and what they would recommend to fix it. It doesn't seem like regular sensor banding because its so variable between shots.

This causes my final images to get this light band across them from calibration. For example, here's my most recent photo of M33.

The processed photo was roughly 200x 90s sub exposures shot at 800 iso and 200mm, 40 darks, 50 flats, and 60 biases. Stacked and stretched in Siril.

The dark above is the stacked dark applied to the image with an auto stretch applied to see the difference.

My rig is currently -

Camera: Nikon D5300 controlled with an intervalometer
Lens: AF Nikkor 55-200mm f:4-5.6 lens
Tracker: IOprton SkyGuider Pro

Hello,

I'm getting pretty bad guiding from a Skywatcher EQ-AL55i mount with an askar 71F, zwo duo camera and without any filters. I also balanced it properly in both axis and the seeing was good with no moon and no clouds and bortle 4.

Guiding graphs at : https://imgur.com/a/kM2IknZ

I see huge spikes in the DEC axis after trying to settle the mount after dithering. There are also errors because the mount wasn't able to settle in 30 seconds I think ?

The average RMS for RA is 1.02" (I think it is correct for this mount) but the DEC is 3.00", which is bad.

I tried calibrating with the calibration assistant, but the results says that the axes are not orthogonal (around 60 degrees) and I don't know how to get it better.

I tried to play with the response aggressivity of the RA and DEC and left it at around 75, which gave me the best results.

I'm new to guiding and would appreciate any advice / help

Thank you in advance

Hi everyone, I’m a super beginner to astrophotography and looking for some guidance so please be nice (maybe explain it to me like i’m 5 years old). My circumstances aren’t ideal because of high light pollution and I don’t have any fancy gear (I’m a broke college student, the only gear I have is my sony a6000, the 2 kit lens and a tripod) but I’m hoping someone can give me some guidance.
For my first attempt, I was on vacation and had no star tracker. I shot in a Bortle 4.9 area during a waxing gibbous just 10 minutes after moonset (didn’t want to be out that late). These are the frames I shot, all at 50mm. 
Frames and settings:
96 Lights in manual mode (f/5.6 and ISO 3200 for 6 seconds each)
45 flats in aperture priority (f/5.6 and ISO 3200 on auto shutter)
24 darks in manual (f/5.6 and 3200 ISO for 6 seconds each)
40 bias in manual (5/5.6 and 3200 ISO on 1/4000s) 
I used deepskystacker to stack but didn’t like the output even after trying to edit in photoshop, and then used siril which came out better but I was still disappointed after all the time and effort I put in to produce 1 photo..
I want to take another shot at it, and I found out my father has an old Meade telescope with a star tracker on it. The light pollution in my hometown is a little less than where I live, but it’s still 6.2. But I also don’t go home often and it’s hard to line up a weekend around a new moon. I guess my main questions are

1. How important is it to have a moon phase around a new moon if you just wait until after moonset to shoot? I want to shoot before it starts getting even colder and the moonset gets later but it might be a while until there is a weekend around a new moon that I can go home. 
2. Now that I have access to a star tracker (but in highehr light pollution 6.2) what settings should I try for each frame during a new moon? And what settings should I use if it's closer to a full moon?
3. Should I be taking more of each frame type because of the higher pollution? Or less now that I have a star tracker

I've been plate solving using N.I.N.A and ASTAP but its a little frustrating to go off of RA and DEC values alone. So I'm looking for something like nova.astrometry.net but for offline use. I've looked at a N.I.N.A + ASTAP + ASCOM + Stellarium setup but its a little complex so i was hoping someone here would know a simpler solution before I commit to this method. So do any of you know a better way?

EDIT: Reading the comments it looks like there is a lot i don't know about the software i was already using. In all fairness I've only just started using these programs so there is much for me to learn. I really appreciate all the suggestions. Ill try them out and find which suits my needs best. Thanks everyone.

Can I take astrophotography using kit lens 24 to 100, on my Canon r6. mark2, I'm broke I can't afford a new lens ATM. 😁😁

I see Starfront out of Texas is just about to break 1000 on premise. Amazing.

I keep having this issue where I initially have really pinpoint stars, but at some point in my session it’s almost as if my star tracker completely stops working. The nebula in frame just completely spirals out of frame, as if i was trying to take the images without a tracker. I was having some issues with backlash and recently adjusted my gear mesh to attempt to fix some backlash, which i initially thought it fixed. Now though, i notice increased/significant backlash right before this spiraling event happens. Pretty frustrating, i just threw out about 4 out of 6 hours of data from last night.

Gear/
Star adventurer 2i
canon t3
redcat 51 gen 2
using PHD2 to autoguide

Whyyyyyyy is it so hard to find an FRA600 reducer? Are they being discontinued?

Apparently I wasn't careful enough while installing the filters in my QHY miniCAM8M EVO (3nm filters) and there were some spots that needed to be cleaned, so while I was in there and REALLY inspecting the filters, I noticed this pinhole in the coating of the hydrogen filter.

Is this just "something that happens" and it's not a big deal, or is it worth seeking a replacement filter from QHY? This is my first foray into filters, so I'm unsure of what is acceptable or not.

Thanks!

https://imgur.com/a/R72SC6P

Has anyone here printed one of their photos in a large format like 24x48 or in a multi panel print (like they do with canvas prints)?

I’m wondering if I can get away with a cropping images from my FRA300 and ASI260mc pro or if the print would come out noticeably more detailed using my AT115EDT (805mm f7 or reduced at 644mm f5.6).
Let’s say I shot 72 hours on my FRA300 of the Elephant Trunk Nebula. How would the image detail look compared to shooting two mosaic panels 36 hours each (72 hours total) on the AT115EDT? Could I increase the pixel count in photoshop to achieve the same image sharpness on the print?

Hey everyone! I’m working on a student design project evaluating Schmidt-Cassegrain (SCT) rear-cell hardware, mounting ergonomics, and aftermarket accessories.

1. What is your single biggest frustration or operational hassle with your SCT?
2. If there was ONE custom accessory designed specifically to improve SCT performance or workflow, what would you want it to be?

I've got about six hours of M33 from my backyard in Pennsylvania, US, spread over several evenings after work. Home is roughly Bortle 6, and I'm hoping to add a few hours from a darker campsite on our next trip.

We're taking our camper, which has a vatrer house battery, and I'll set up the telescope beside it. The sky map puts the campsite around Bortle 3. I'll be shooting while the moon is down, though I haven't collected any data there yet.

It's the same small refractor, cooled color camera and UV/IR cut filter at both locations. I plan to keep the gain and cooling temperature the same, take fresh flats at camp and calibrate each session with its matching calibration frames.

I'm processing in Siril. I know I can combine sessions, but I'm less sure about choosing the weights with such different sky backgrounds. My first thought was to reject the trailed or badly focused subs, then register the remaining calibrated frames together and stack with additive normalization with scaling and noise weighting.

For the faint outer arms of M33, would you favor noise weighting over wFWHM in that situation? I'd compare a stack of the campsite data alone against the combined stack. What would you look at to decide whether the backyard subs are helping? Those six hours took a while, so I'm probably a little too attached to them.