TerryMcK Posted March 2, 2022 Share Posted March 2, 2022 Yet again no. Too much cloud but the rest of the month to hope it gets better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Padraic M Posted March 2, 2022 Share Posted March 2, 2022 Managed a few hours last night before the cloud arrived. Need to take new flats so no stacked results as yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carastro Posted March 2, 2022 Share Posted March 2, 2022 Raining tonight and no clear skies forecast until Monday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveS Posted March 4, 2022 Share Posted March 4, 2022 Had conflicting forecasts for tonight but it's clear so far. Grabbing another few hours on NGC 2903 RGB. My Cloudwatcher has stopped communicating with the host PC so have no safety monitor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cumbrianwolf Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 I am hoping it will stay clear here in Cumbria, as I will be out tonight. In fact, it is looking good for the whole weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted March 5, 2022 Author Share Posted March 5, 2022 My bad back and dodgy hip is preventing me doing anything at the moment. Looks to be good here tonight and tomorrow. Ho hum the cosmos will have to wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazAstro Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 Hi Terry, bad back and dodgy shoulder got me into the Az-gti a few years ago, it's all set up and imaging in 45 mins and weighs very little 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Padraic M Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 I managed around 7 hours on a range of targets last night, and tonight looks promising too. Currently taking fresh flats but the 150PDS leaks light like a sieve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cumbrianwolf Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 Well that is my kit set up and cooling down, well probably warming up until the sun goes away. Hopefully I will find out tonight if I have cured the image issues, no, thanks to the mirror slipping. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Padraic M Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 Doing a general data collection session tonight (and last night). 1 hr Ha on the Horsehead; 1 hr Ha on the Spider (below); 3 hrs RGB on NGC2903 and 2 hrs RGB on M3. Short spells on each target as I have a narrow sky window between the trees and the house. Luckily pointing due south. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted March 7, 2022 Author Share Posted March 7, 2022 Very clear but surprisingly windy here tonight. My dodgy back and hip is still preventing me from going out so no playing for me tonight. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cumbrianwolf Posted March 7, 2022 Share Posted March 7, 2022 16 minutes ago, TerryMcK said: Very clear but surprisingly windy here tonight. My dodgy back and hip is still preventing me from going out so no playing for me tonight. I understand your plight, had a chronic back issue for years now and last night I must have leant on a bad bit of stone from the gravel and due to the cold I never felt it and I assume I have done some temporary nerve damage to the knee as this morning, and now it is torture if I move it and I have never had issues with the knees before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sterrenland Posted March 7, 2022 Share Posted March 7, 2022 Windy here in East Kent...and cold! Trying for some M106 data tonight...first time catching this galaxy. Fingers crossed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted March 18, 2022 Author Share Posted March 18, 2022 Full moon, clear skies, start of galaxy season, no clear south view, no imaging. Ho hum. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sterrenland Posted March 18, 2022 Share Posted March 18, 2022 37 minutes ago, TerryMcK said: Full moon, clear skies, start of galaxy season, no clear south view, no imaging. Ho hum. Seems to be the norm now...rubbish weather most of the month...then full moon...clear skies! Very annoying! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrobdlbug Posted March 18, 2022 Share Posted March 18, 2022 34 minutes ago, TerryMcK said: Full moon, clear skies, start of galaxy season, no clear south view, no imaging. Ho hum. I know and its a run of three nights of clear skies - very frustrating for you - I've put ASi1600 and Antlia 3nm filter wheel back on the scope and imaging west on a rapidly sinking Auriga, IC405, Flame - possibly the last gasp Nebula grab this season - going ok - and (fingers crossed) have a stable Rpi4 astroberry. I bit the bullet and did an update, plus put ALL USB, bar keyboard, through a powered USB3 hub. I also turned off WiFi as I read recently on an Intel white paper that 2.4Ghz WiFi does cause interference on USB3 - who knew ?? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Padraic M Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 Got first light with my new 533MC Pro last night. In Bortle 2 for the weekend with the full moon :-(. Very windy tonight so no joy even though it's very clear. Still struggling to get usable flats from the 150PDS so haven't manage to calibrate. Haven't even built a dark library for the 533. Uncalibrated RGB stack below. Quite a few anomalies to sort out! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul Posted March 22, 2022 Share Posted March 22, 2022 (edited) All clear tonight and seeing is good. Guiding was a problem earlier - the dew heater cable was dragging against the hand controller cable. I wouldn't have believed it would be so sensitive - they are both low friction and can move freely - another lesson learnt! Topping up my O3 on IC410. Hoping to get 4hrs in on NGC4725. Edited March 22, 2022 by paul 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveS Posted March 22, 2022 Share Posted March 22, 2022 Trying again to get another 9 RGB subs on M106, using G2v calibration. Getting the Blue data first before the moon rises then move on to Green and Red. Hopefully I will be able to put this to bed and move on. May try for some more RGB data on NGC 3718, but I also have M101 on my hit list, surprisingly I haven't done anything on it since a Luminance bash with a 130 P-DS and SX694 back in 2016. I was still living in West London at the time so imaging through the horrid orange murk. Can't remember if I used a LP filter or not, but probably did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Padraic M Posted March 22, 2022 Share Posted March 22, 2022 (edited) Have the asi533 on the Esprit 80 back in city lights tonight - nice clear sky, but my guiding is pants for some reason. 1.3" where normally I would get 0.6-0.8". I'm not going to worry about it as I'll head for the hills shortly and let it run. Just babysitting a flip for the next 10 minutes then will let it be. Hope to get a few hours of RGB on the Leo Triplet and M3. Edited March 22, 2022 by Padraic M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 (edited) The stars have aligned, gremlins put to bed (dew heater on CC too high I think) and the weather is remarkable. Guiding is excellent, cant say when it was this good before. and it just got better: 😲 Edited March 24, 2022 by paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted March 24, 2022 Author Share Posted March 24, 2022 I've just closed up after a session on LBN582. I too was getting fabulous guiding. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 Immediately after my last post I checked the subs - my stars had double spikes and PHD was showing static. Looking at the scope via my security camera I saw it was pointing at a hedge and in the opposite part of the sky🤢. Restarting the run didn't correct it. I zeroed the mount, restarted NINA and the run from where it left off - back to excellent guiding and no troubles for the rest of the night. The target was the 2nd of a series of two, the first had completed but may now have been below the hedge . I think its a bug in NINA - I've noticed it has become a bit fragile (I use the nightly BETAs - probably shouldn't!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob-c Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 I have been on ngc3718 this last couple of weeks or so taking advantage of any clear sky ,moon as been a problem as well but i hope the Baader moon and skyglow filter will make things worth the effort. Last night started off looking promising especially with the moon not interfering much, but soon detreated for me after first hour with lots of high light cloud so decided to pack in. Hope to get a couple more sessions in before the weather changes. Bob. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveS Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 Trying to get some data on the Coma cluster, but I'm seeing some odd trailing in my blue subs which are 1050 sec, but not every sub. Likely to be a balance issue, which I will have to sort out tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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