M31 - first time guiding scope

[gabs]

The picture is the result of 20 no. exposures at 200 sec each with a dslr camera and a light pollution filter.

 

I can  improve it possible with longer exposures and a better understanding of Gimp and post processing software however I can't hide how happy I am to see the galaxy and a faint M110.

 

Most important thing for me was to sort the guiding which was going to drive me insane.

 

I hope it will work again next time !

 

please feel free to comment as you wish.

 

Thanks you all!

 

 

Edited August 25, 2021 by gabs

[AstronomyUkraine]

17 minutes ago, gabs said:

The picture is the result of 20 no. exposures at 200 sec each with a dslr camera and a light pollution filter.

 

I can  improve it possible with longer exposures and a better understanding of Gimp and post processing software however I can't hide how happy I am to see the galaxy and a faint M110.

 

Most important thing for me was to sort the guiding which was going to drive me insane.

 

I hope it will work again next time !

 

please feel free to comment as you wish.

 

Thanks you all!

 

 

Your stars look round, that's the main thing. Numbers in PHD2 can be misleading, go off your eyes, not the numbers.

[gabs]

Just now, AstronomyUkraine said:

Your stars look round, that's the main thing. Numbers in PHD2 can be misleading, go off your eyes, not the numbers.

Thanks

Not more eggy stars I hope and everything seems in focus!

[ApophisAstros]

What an improvement! Well done , just a little advice you have done what i did and need to rotate the camera so the main M31 is diagonal in the FOV , apart from that you have cracked it.

Roger

[gabs]

17 minutes ago, ApophisAstros said:

What an improvement! Well done , just a little advice you have done what i did and need to rotate the camera so the main M31 is diagonal in the FOV , apart from that you have cracked it.

Roger

Cheers ! Well I thought to get more details but I guess with a different camera the result would be better!

I am thinking to replace the dslr with something more advanced however most of my problem is location and light pollution.

 

I really don’t like to use the clip filter it turn everything in green!

 

Edited August 25, 2021 by gabs

[ApophisAstros]

45 minutes ago, gabs said:

Cheers ! Well I thought to get more details but I guess with a different camera the result would be better!

I am thinking to replace the dslr with something more advanced however most of my problem is location and light pollution.

 

I really don’t like to use the clip filter it turn everything in green!

 

Get "Hasta la Vista Green" , google it its an action for PS that takes that green out.

Rog

[gabs]

32 minutes ago, ApophisAstros said:

Get "Hasta la Vista Green" , google it its an action for PS that takes that green out.

Rog

Oh wow!! Brilliant advise here!! Thank you so much!

[AstronomyUkraine]

1 hour ago, gabs said:

Cheers ! Well I thought to get more details but I guess with a different camera the result would be better!

I am thinking to replace the dslr with something more advanced however most of my problem is location and light pollution.

 

I really don’t like to use the clip filter it turn everything in green!

Noise is the biggest problem with dslr's, gradients can be removed quite easily. Filters like the L-Extreme combat light pollution quite well with OSC, although nothing is better than good narrowband filters, when it comes to fighting light pollution.

[gabs]

On 8/25/2021 at 8:05 PM, AstronomyUkraine said:

Noise is the biggest problem with dslr's, gradients can be removed quite easily. Filters like the L-Extreme combat light pollution quite well with OSC, although nothing is better than good narrowband filters, when it comes to fighting light pollution.

Any suggestion for a dedicated camera ( not too expensive! ) ? I saw an ZWO ASI 183 that match my budget but I am not sure if it will help me.

 

[AstronomyUkraine]

19 minutes ago, gabs said:

Any suggestion for a dedicated camera ( not too expensive! ) ? I saw an ZWO ASI 183 that match my budget but I am not sure if it will help me.

 

You want an OSC camera, not a mono?

[TerryMcK]

200 second subs is fine on Andromeda. You’ve progressed really far since the start of your journey and in a relatively short space of time.

Make sure you go for a cooled camera Gabs. I have both mono and colour versions of the ZWO ASI183 and they will match your scope really well.

If I were starting out I would go for the mono but you also need to budget for filters and maybe a filter wheel too.

The OSC version you would still need a LP filter from London and if a 2” one fits somewhere within your scope go for that. Either way you will be paying a lot. Welcome to the astronomy money spending society.

[AstronomyUkraine]

I'll second what @TerryMcK says. The pro version of the camera will allow you to regulate the temperature and take darks during the day, as well as reduce noise. The 183 has a resolution of 1.38 with your 72ED which is perfect, no undersampling or oversampling. The 183 is also very good for planetary work.

[Padraic M]

Just checked the price on the ASI183 - actually very good for either the mono or OSC. Might look for a OSC for Christmas myself!

+1 on Pro; no point buying the uncooled, better to save up for a few more months.

Edited August 26, 2021 by Padraic M

[gabs]

45 minutes ago, Padraic M said:

Just checked the price on the ASI183 - actually very good for either the mono or OSC. Might look for a OSC for Christmas myself!

+1 on Pro; no point buying the uncooled, better to save up for a few more months.

 

1 hour ago, TerryMcK said:

200 second subs is fine on Andromeda. You’ve progressed really far since the start of your journey and in a relatively short space of time.

Make sure you go for a cooled camera Gabs. I have both mono and colour versions of the ZWO ASI183 and they will match your scope really well.

If I were starting out I would go for the mono but you also need to budget for filters and maybe a filter wheel too.

The OSC version you would still need a LP filter from London and if a 2” one fits somewhere within your scope go for that. Either way you will be paying a lot. Welcome to the astronomy money spending society.

 

55 minutes ago, AstronomyUkraine said:

I'll second what @TerryMcK says. The pro version of the camera will allow you to regulate the temperature and take darks during the day, as well as reduce noise. The 183 has a resolution of 1.38 with your 72ED which is perfect, no undersampling or oversampling. The 183 is also very good for planetary work.

Thank you guys! 
 

my concern was the weight of the camera it self I don’t want to buy that is too heavy and impossible to use with my mount and difficult to balance 

 

well of course cost for the camere is important too! Some are out of my budget atm 

[gabs]

1 hour ago, TerryMcK said:

200 second subs is fine on Andromeda. You’ve progressed really far since the start of your journey and in a relatively short space of time.

Make sure you go for a cooled camera Gabs. I have both mono and colour versions of the ZWO ASI183 and they will match your scope really well.

If I were starting out I would go for the mono but you also need to budget for filters and maybe a filter wheel too.

The OSC version you would still need a LP filter from London and if a 2” one fits somewhere within your scope go for that. Either way you will be paying a lot. Welcome to the astronomy money spending society.

I tried longer exposure like 240 sec but the image was too noise and I didn’t get more details of the galaxy itself. 

[AstronomyUkraine]

1 hour ago, gabs said:

my concern was the weight of the camera it self I don’t want to buy that is too heavy and impossible to use with my mount and difficult to balance 

Looking at the load capacity of the EQ3, which is 5kg, with a camera, you would be just OK for imaging. If you are serious about astro imaging, I would trade in your EQ3, and save up for an HEQ5. It has a much higher load capacity, and is a lot sturdier. A lot of people on here use them and get great results. Another cheaper alternative would be the EQM-35 PRO. It looks like the EQ3, but has double the load capacity, and has has bigger worm wheel which will improve tracking and guiding.

Edited August 26, 2021 by AstronomyUkraine

[ApophisAstros]

Don’t know how much a new camera is but do you have a modded DSLR at the moment? If so that’s a adequate  OSC cam for you to cut your teeth on so keep the faith until you have cracked it , that’s what i did and it made such a difference  to my knowledge and ability. You will know yourself when to upgrade.

Rog

[TerryMcK]

If it helps the mass of the ZWO ASI183MM/MC Pro is 410g whilst the Canon 1200D DSLR (body only) is 480g so the ZWO camera is actually lighter.

[gabs]

5 hours ago, AstronomyUkraine said:

Looking at the load capacity of the EQ3, which is 5kg, with a camera, you would be just OK for imaging. If you are serious about astro imaging, I would trade in your EQ3, and save up for an HEQ5. It has a much higher load capacity, and is a lot sturdier. A lot of people on here use them and get great results. Another cheaper alternative would be the EQM-35 PRO. It looks like the EQ3, but has double the load capacity, and has has bigger worm wheel which will improve tracking and guiding.

The original EQ3 came with an aluminium tripod which I recently replaced with a steel one.

it doesn’t help the load capacity but definitely helps me in terms of stability.

[gabs]

43 minutes ago, TerryMcK said:

If it helps the mass of the ZWO ASI183MM/MC Pro is 410g whilst the Canon 1200D DSLR (body only) is 480g so the ZWO camera is actually lighter.

That is good to know it, both need a field flattener I think which is quite heavy.

[AstronomyUkraine]

3 hours ago, gabs said:

The original EQ3 came with an aluminium tripod which I recently replaced with a steel one.

it doesn’t help the load capacity but definitely helps me in terms of stability.

If you keep your OTA between 3-3.5kg you will be OK for astro imaging. Any more weight than that and you will struggle with guiding and tracking.

[gabs]

27 minutes ago, AstronomyUkraine said:

If you keep your OTA between 3-3.5kg you will be OK for astro imaging. Any more weight than that and you will struggle with guiding and tracking.

Thanks, I will check the weight of each component.

 

I have to say the steel tripod from the EQ5 makes everything sturdy and not wobbly.

[Carastro]

Yabber dabber do Gabs, you finally got an image with guiding, no stopping you now.

 

My advice to any-one but particularly some-one living in a LP location is to get a cooled mono camera.  I think Mono cameras give better detail anyway as they don't have a bayer matrix.  But for people like you and me living in a highly LP location they are a godsend because you can do narrowband.  (Yes I know you can get these new fancy filters for OSC) but do they work well enough in a highly LP location?

 

OK it gets more expensive with a filterwheel and filters, but you can buy those slowly. 

 

Carole  

[gabs]

20 minutes ago, Carastro said:

Yabber dabber do Gabs, you finally got an image with guiding, no stopping you now.

 

My advice to any-one but particularly some-one living in a LP location is to get a cooled mono camera.  I think Mono cameras give better detail anyway as they don't have a bayer matrix.  But for people like you and me living in a highly LP location they are a godsend because you can do narrowband.  (Yes I know you can get these new fancy filters for OSC) but do they work well enough in a highly LP location?

 

OK it gets more expensive with a filterwheel and filters, but you can buy those slowly. 

 

Carole  

Thanks Carole that will be my next step , not so sure when but slowly I will get a dedicated camera.

first of all I want to use the dslr cam until I can and improve my knowledges   In particular with GIMP and any other software .

 

I am aware there are still lots of thing I need to know and improve! 

 

 

 

 

[Padraic M]

@gabs I think you can still have plenty of fun with your 72ED and modified 1200D. While you would enjoy a dedicated cooled camera, there's no rush. People are getting excellent results from modified DSLRs.

 

Your guiding is excellent. You just need to work on noise control, LP and calibration.