SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

A fit file that is...

Playing in the back yard last night, I did a 2+2 calib star alignment, then started flying around my little view of the universe.
Per usual for me, not having any luck with my cameras, but the SSAG and the 50mm guide scope were trooping right along.
I got tired of Saturn, although it looked good through stacked Barlow lenses. So I went boldly where I had never gone before...
The Messier Catalog.. (Drums Please, Boom, boom, Boom, boom, Boom boom...) Tried a little this, tried a little that, nature called :roll: :lol: . :oops:
While temporarily called away from the scope, I took the time to scan through the catalog in my phone. Well what is this?
M-13, The Great Cluster in Hercules. So when the job was done and the paperwork finished, I tapped in M13 in the mount display and pushed enter... WhirrRRRRRRrrrrr, away we went boldly to places never gone before (by me).
I watched my newly arranged harness as the scope slewed to a very nearly straight up vertical position. Humm, well I've never tried that before.
Adjusting the focus, the stars came to sharp focus, except for a smudge near the center of the FOV (Field of View), what is that? Hey, it kinda looks like... :shock: It's the Great Cluster!
Then I tried fiddling with the camera since the mount was tracking it like a dog on meat.
Uh, no. Uh, humm. Uh, poo. Then I broke away from the herd. I tried sticking the camera in the eyepiece hole and adjusting the focus. I set the program to loop so I could adjust focus, and could hardly believe what the G3 was pulling out of the sky.
The Orion G3 is a deep space camera. I guess that was what I had been missing as I bumbled around the night sky. What looked like a small cloud of light to my awakening eyes, was a very distinct field of Stars to the G3.
So I set about capturing single photo's to play with later. I took pictures from 1 to 10 seconds long. Then, determined to figure it out, I discovered I could Export them as a .jpg, and save them in a presentable format. But still kinda crude.
I admit I have a ways to go yet, but finally, progress!

A 7 second exposure...
Eeww. It looked better on the Laptop. :P :roll: :lol:

M-13 Now, I'm finally in business...

(Download)

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

Sonny!
YOU took a picture!
Great start!
Your rain is still here... I think I'm just gonna keep it so you can take some more pics..
Way to go! (They WILL get better as you get things figured out I promise.)

:thumbup: :thumbup:

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

Speaking of rain.. Just so you know I am not pulling your leg..
I shot this 20 minutes ago..

A rainbow...

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

Good start. Now to work on focus and tracking. But you're off and running.

By the way, M13 is always a challenge getting it to look in focus with that mass of stars in the center.

I took the liberty to touch this photo up with Focus Magic. I reduced the movement and then applied about 4 pixels of focus improvement. Its kind of crude since it was working with a JPEG.

Picture with a bit of Focus Majic touchup

(Download)

Just for the fun of it, here is the M13 download from StarryNights

(Download)

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Well, we are fartin dust here. But I'm enjoying the clear skies I was expecting that are typical for my location.
Yep, just stopped by the computer as I am moving the gear outside.
I'll be scoutin the skies again tonight. :-D

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Thanks Jim,
Please feel free to play with anything I post. I appreciate any and all help and pointers.
Would a tiff file be more workable? (I've barely figured out how to get from a .fit to a .jpg) Presuming I could even get there. It did lose a lot going from a .fit to a .jpg.
I think I'll try and work on shorter exposures to try and limit the tracking movements.
I can't detect them, but the camera doesn't lie.
But last night was a first for me. I was excited and pleased when I finally got far enough out for the deep space camera to work.
More playing with configurations tonight. ;)

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

A TIFF file holds much more information than the JPEG. A .FIT file has limited use. It can be read by Deep Sky Stacker. But may be a challenge for general photo editors.

Getting a good alignment is sometimes a challenge. I have trees around my backyard, so I am limited in what stars I get to pick. I use the polar alignment scope which allows me to get a better aim at true north. And I use the calibration stars after the initial alignment. It is working quite well. I find that my limiting fact is the brightness of the sky. I don't seem to be able to expose much longer than 30 sec at high ISOs.

I find that my teleconverters for my camera work quite well. I have a 1.4x and a 2.0x. At longer focal lenghts, the sky does appear darker. I am not seeing any degrading of the star field when using teleconverters. I suspect they are superior to Barlow lenses.

And I am in love with the widefield views I get with my 300mm f2.8. I am thinking of trying some panaramic shots with that lens.

Well, its clear tonight, but very windy. Plus I get up at 5 AM for work. Maybe no playing with the scope tonight.

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

Certainly work on focusing first. Even with very short exposures at high ISO, you can capture a lot. But focusing is real critical. Do you have the ability to magnify the image on the laptop screen for critical focusing?

I have been using my Sony body, and Icrank up the magnification for focusing. I pick a dim star, and I carefully rock the focus back and forth trying to judge the middle point. Best focus is when the star is reduced to the tiniest point. It is also bright since the light is not spread over as wide an area.

Happy viewing,

Jim

Bloke Loc: Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

It worked! Nice shot...

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Thanks, Phil.
Finally, my Space Ship has launched. :-D
I shot the Lagoon Nebula last night. Nebula's are a particular favorite of mine.
Someday I hope to inch out of my self imposed Rank Amiture status. :lol:

hettmoe Loc: Rural ND

You are doing well, SonnyE. I am very happy for you.

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Thank You, Jim!
I'm using an Orion G3 camera that has a Sony ICX419AKL CCD color chip in it. I believe they call it a 1/2" chip. (Semantics to me.) It's a deep space camera. I've finally figured that out. :shock: First I had to try everything it is not for, like planets, trees, telephone poles, and transmission lines. :roll:
Last night I went Nebula hunting, after some warm up stuff, constellations, and checking aim. I love dialing in equipment and trying to make stuff work it's best. (I'm weird)
Got this image below. (And made it a tiff file in the Orion Camera Studio that came with the camera.)
In the program I have .fit file extension, which is it's default.
If I export the .fit file I have options to export it (save it?) as a .jpg, or a .tiff. So I think from here on out I will try to convert to tiff for posting.
I don't know how to colorize yet, but do play with the histogram sliders a little. And I'm dabbling in the programs menus. I learn by dirty hands and trial and error.
This one is stretched a lot in the programs histogram. (I think, I'm only beginning to understand these terminologies.)

You may notice it is upside down. :? This is because of me using the mirrored side of my Imaging Flip Mirror. Today I have moved the camera to the rear port, and tonight I'm going to see how well I can fine tune the configuration. Including getting the images right side up. Whatever that is.

Last night I began by working on my aim. I dialed in the Auto Guider scope to get my target dead center to the PHD's cross-hairs, and the camera programs cross-hairs. I'm close, but not "perfect" yet.
I have discovered I can zoom in on the captured, and capturing photos (looping), up to 800% for focusing.
I think with the camera may work better without the mirror in the FOV. I'm keeping my fingers crossed anyway. ;)

Anybody, and everybody is Welcome to download and play with my pictures. :-D

M8, Lagoon Nebula, Orion ED80T CF telescope, no filtering.

( :hunf: Things don't look quite the same here as they do at home. :? )

25 sec, Encoding RGB. TIFF file format

(Download)

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

I can only view on cell phone right now, but I definately see major, major improvement.

Good job

skylane5sp Loc: Puyallup, WA

Finally!!!!!

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Thanks, Jim.
Yep, this blind mouse found some cheese. ;) :lol: