The triumph of adversity over optimism

[JR]

Got set up last night, looking clear. Had to focus by hand as Lakeside motor expired (though hardly due to overuse what with the weather). Aligned, took one frame and cloud blanked everything. Gave up. 🙁

Here is the one (uncalibrated stretched) frame of Pelican in mono. But perhaps better than nothing as the return for getting cold. 3 minutes with ZWOasi 533 at -10C, Optolong L-extreme dual narrow band filter, Esprit 80ed f5/400

James

[Andrew Brockett]

Nice one James. The focus looks crystal clear and produces an almost 3D image. The weather is disheartening. I had everything set up before dark but when I came back the camera wouldn't connect. Forums tell me I should go back to an earlier driver. Then it clouded over. At least there was no dew as on Monday, when at least I got one shot in of M31.

Andrew

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[tcos...@gmail.com]

Hi all

Good to hear that you have been trying some imaging lately. With the full Moon up and unpredictable weather it’s been quite frustrating for imaging over the last few weeks. I’ve not done any at home since 2 November (concentrating on some remote imaging instead). Fingers crossed that with the Moon now waning and gradually moving out of the way we will have some proper clear nights!

Tim C

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[JR]

I live in hope!

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On 27 Nov 2021, at 08:52, tcos...@gmail.com wrote:



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[William Bottaci]

Hello James, not bad at all for just one image. Of course there is granularity but that's the idea of taking many subs and calibration frames. Still, the setting up is good practice; you never know when it'll be clear next - like when the moon is about!
It's funny how greyscale is still appealing.
Thanks for sharing, William



On Sat, 27 Nov 2021 at 12:31, 'JR' via croydonastro <croydo...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
I live in hope!

On Sat, 27 Nov 2021 at 08:52, <tcos...@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi all
Good to hear that you have been trying some imaging lately. With the full Moon up and unpredictable weather it’s been quite frustrating for imaging over the last few weeks. I’ve not done any at home since 2 November (concentrating on some remote imaging instead). Fingers crossed that with the Moon now waning and gradually moving out of the way we will have some proper clear nights!
Tim C

On Fri, 26 Nov 2021 at 12:30, Andrew Brockett <andrew....@gmail.com> wrote:
Nice one James. The focus looks crystal clear and produces an almost 3D image. The weather is disheartening. I had everything set up before dark but when I came back the camera wouldn't connect. Forums tell me I should go back to an earlier driver. Then it clouded over. At least there was no dew as on Monday, when at least I got one shot in of M31.
Andrew



On Fri, 26 Nov 2021 at 12:01, 'JR' via croydonastro <croydo...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Got set up last night, looking clear.  Had to focus by hand as Lakeside motor expired (though hardly due to overuse what with the weather).  Aligned, took one frame and cloud blanked everything.  Gave up. :(

[trevsie7]

Hi James,

Good image for a single.  I'm sure that would have been a great image if only you had a few more hours clear sky.

It is very frustrating, I have set up (about half an hours effort) several times in the past few weeks only to get clouded out after a very short time. In that time I have only managed a couple of hours narrowband of the Heart nebula and some of those have to be discarded due to clouds. Still, on the bright side, I have more time to study the Chris Woodhouse Pixinsight videos which are excellent but need plenty of practice to implement.

On Fri, 26 Nov 2021 at 12:01, 'JR' via croydonastro <croydo...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

[JR]

Hi Trevor

The weather is very frustrating, but it is a gold lining in all those clouds that the alternatives are rewarding.  As William said, keeping in practice on set up is valuable.  More so than normal for me.  I discovered that my Lakeside auto focuser may well have failed due to having the wrong connecting shaft.  It seems I have a rare form of the Esprit 80 with a 4mm spindle when all the others are 6mm.  The spindle tightens up considerably off centre under a grub screw in the shaft and binds the motor.  

Like you, I find the weather is a good chance for studying processing.  The Woodhouse Pixinsight videos are excellent.  His explanations of what they do and how to choose the options is really helpful and an exception to all the black box tutorials.  There's so much detail I have been making notes for future reference!

Clear skies.

James

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On 2 Dec 2021, at 21:04, trevsie7 <trevs...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Trev S]

I have had my Lakeside focuser for nearly 5 years now and it has been very reliable, so you have been unlucky.  My Esprit 80ED is the 6mm version so I didn't get the problem you have.

I have also been making notes of the Woodhouse videos as I watch them, there is too much to take in just by watching the videos.  The next big challenge is to put them into practice.

I'm pretty sure Pixinsight can do anything one wants, its just a case of understanding it well enough to do it.  After watching a few different videos it seems everyone has their favourite way of using it to accomplish similar results.

[tcos...@gmail.com]

Making notes of these video tutorials is a really good idea. I have about 20-30 pages worth of detailed notes of Adam Block’s tutorials on CCD stack and Photoshop which I did about 7 years ago and I still refer to them, particularly for tricky processes or ones I don’t use very often.

Tim C

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[JR]

Hi Trevor

It's good to hear your very positive experience with Lakesides.  First Light Optics is replacing my motor and also arranged to get a custom coupler manufactured for my scope at their cost.  Both in the post as I write this morning.   Great service.  Hopefully that will be a permanent fix. 

I find the same with Pixinsight workflow and Photoshop.  Lots of options and personal preference.   Same with Photoshop.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was using a remote telescope service to get practice data to process at minimal cost.  They had an automated Pixinsight process to show you what was there.  The result came with the data set the day after it had been acquired and produced impressively good results.  It suggests there is a set routine to get say 80% towards 'perfection' for 20% of the effort of pursuing it for ever.  

Going beyond that ratio, and most of us want to, I wonder if there's more room for a best practice 'medical' type diagnosis/remedy methodology, for dealing generically with individual issues eg light pollution, colour cast, noise reduction, contrast enhancement, channel management etc.  There may be more than one treatment for a given problem, and different doses, but on at least a vaguely more rational basis than 'X works for me'.

Image processing is generally an intensively individual business, cloistered with a computer for some time.  But like writing hit songs and breakthroughs in pure mathematics and sciences, there's a tension between individualism and getting all the credit and honours and getting a breakthrough.  Top 10 hits and Nobel prizes in sciences are often shared between collaborative small teams.  Does that suggest a model for combining expertise and judgement, (depending on one's preference for unique fame)?

James

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On 3 Dec 2021, at 20:50, Trev S <trevs...@gmail.com> wrote:



I have had my Lakeside focuser for nearly 5 years now and it has been very reliable, so you have been unlucky.  My Esprit 80ED is the 6mm version so I didn't get the problem you have.

I have also been making notes of the Woodhouse videos as I watch them, there is too much to take in just by watching the videos.  The next big challenge is to put them into practice.

I'm pretty sure Pixinsight can do anything one wants, its just a case of understanding it well enough to do it.  After watching a few different videos it seems everyone has their favourite way of using it to accomplish similar results.

--

[JR]

Thanks William.  Yep if it's not the clouds it's the Moon or the trees in the way!

Greyscale is the new technicolour?  Plus one from me on that.

James

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On 2 Dec 2021, at 11:57, William Bottaci <w.bo...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[trevsie7]

I'm sure it must be possible to create a prescriptive process in Pixinsight that would produce a reasonable (~80%) result, but it would require a lot more experience than I currently have.  I also use Astro Pixel Processor which is much more automated than Pixinsight and can generate quite acceptable results that can be further processed in Photoshop, though it doesn't have some of the tools for finer manipulation that Pixinsight does.

Just wondering if the remote site you use would make their Pixinsight process available?

[JR]

Hi Trevor

I stopped my subscription with Telescope Live, £4 a month notwithstanding, as it was proving difficult to get data due to weather - even from sites you'd think are relatively immune in Australia but predominantly Spain.  (I wasn't the only one  - they have now totally revamped their offer and you can get any data from their archive without waiting)

I have however emailed them to ask if they will share the work flow they use!  Don't ask, don't get.  We'll see.

James  

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On 6 Dec 2021, at 00:43, trevsie7 <trevs...@gmail.com> wrote:



I'm sure it must be possible to create a prescriptive process in Pixinsight that would produce a reasonable (~80%) result, but it would require a lot more experience than I currently have.  I also use Astro Pixel Processor which is much more automated than Pixinsight and can generate quite acceptable results that can be further processed in Photoshop, though it doesn't have some of the tools for finer manipulation that Pixinsight does.

Just wondering if the remote site you use would make their Pixinsight process available?

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[JR]

Trevor

I got this reply from Telescope Live:

"We are implementing Pixiinsight to our workflow to check the quality of the images (mainly the FWHM) so to reject the image with bad tracking etc before they reach our users."

I think that's a no!

James

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On 6 Dec 2021, at 10:11, JR <drja...@aol.com> wrote:



[Trev S]

Yes, the response to be expected but well worth asking as you say.

It might be worth sharing the workflow and screenshots of any successful processes on this forum if they would help others understand Pixinsight better, what do you think?