SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Trifid, Filamentary, and a Flying Unicorn, too.
Three more things I'm bringing to you.

Still experimenting with depth by taking more and sometimes longer or shorter exposures, while I fiddle with color and stretching controls. Just having fun in the Fall evening air.

Gotta run off.

Trifid-Nebula-20---50s---1000s-w

(Download)

Filimentary-Nebula-25---120s---3000s-w

(Download)

Flying-Unicorn-Cluster-15---25s---375s-w

(Download)

Ballard Loc: Grass Valley, California

Nice captures. Keep up the experimenting.

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Thank You!
I'm not mucha one for star clusters, usually.
But my Daughter loves Unicorns, so I wanted to gather it up since I was in it's neighborhood. It looked more like a Unicorn as I was capturing it.

The Trifid and Filamentary Nebulae are just fun to shoot, to me.
I'm where I use to dream about, EAA or Electronically Assisted Astronomy
And it's all do to many friends here in UHH's Astrophotography. After a gentle push over the edge into the financial Black Hole this can be, they helped me figure out much of this stuff.
I'm at the point where I'm revisiting many of these and trying to do better.

Something from a long time ago, in a Galaxy Far, Far Away....
Pre-Infinity...
Flame, Horsehead, Alnitak 450s YCbCr Something from back in the Single-Shot nights with the G3 camera.
1-14-17. Yep, it's been a struggle. But worth it.

It's OK, you can laugh... I do.

(Download)

Ballard Loc: Grass Valley, California

Nice shot. The Flame nebula came out well also.

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Oh, you are too kind!
That was with the old Orion G3 that worked in .FIT files.
That camera was so bad, several of my friends here tried to process them and couldn't.
And that is why the G3 is destined to be a weight on one of my crab pots.
But as Matthew said, "Sonny, you just stack with time."

Marc G Loc: East Grinstead, West Sussex, England

Coming along nicely mate

stepping beyond Loc: usa eastcoast

Go ahead and "RUB IT IN" Sonny . It's the end of Sept. and still in the boil, I do get out but my guiding is frustrating with the patchy clouds going by. It's clear and then soon as I get guiding here come the clouds . I just keep plugging away. Good work my friend.

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Thanks Ronnie!
Starting to get those Microsoft Skies out here now. Yesterday, last night, and still today.
We can't stop Mother Nature.

I think it's Marc's fault with that HEQ5 Pro.
At least, we can blame him.

When do you expect your first snows?

Guiding always gets boogered up by the clouds.

stepping beyond Loc: usa eastcoast

I wish you imaging "BLISS" , I've collected hundreds of subs in all channels and so far 1/3 got dumped on one night "Darn guider" and haven't got it back to where it was yet due to clouds . I'm going up the ladder to" thee rings ". I'll have a high topper and no more running into the mount with my st-4 and usb cable at the end of the guide cam . Now , back to cable management and re- balancing the load Sonny. I hope it just stays away , Ronnie wants some image time , 78 days since May when we got our 1st 95° and the Humidity has been through the roof . My Power bill is through the roof also .

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

My BLISS was hard earned, such a PITA! But I persisted because I have a tenacity for making things work.
I am Man, You are Machine, I will prevail! LMAO!
Yeah, I know my Friend, although I'm a bit more colorful with my words when my equipment decides to be crap on me.

Many has been the night I broke it down, walked away, and decided to try another night. That respite helped me figure out what might be wrong. And sometimes the turd in the punchbowl disappeared (Maybe it moved on into somebody else's cup. )
But we have to come back and strike that iron again. It's the only way we can eventually grasp how to make it work. Tiny hammer blows shapes the steel. A steady drip of water can sink ships.
So we have to keep trying. We have to keep learning. And it helps us to keep improving.

What is wrong with your cable management? Anything I might be able to help with?

As for balance, I'm not really close. I can't be with my equipment. So I run "Tail Heavy", because most of my weight is in the rear, and my telescope is Carbon Fiber. So short of hanging a barbell weight on the front, it's gonna stay out of balance. Funny, because it works. So I tend to think, "Let her run".
Of course, my junk is different than anybody else's, so we are all kinda stuck on figuring it out for ourselves. I know I sure was. But the bottom line here is that being out-of-balance hasn't seem to hurt me much. But I might be blissful...
I think my "tail heavy" might help preload the gears, and minimize the backlash. But it's just a theory. A well based one, but just a thought.

The deal is, I have seen improvement in your images. So you may not think you are gaining, but you appear to be to me. So keep striking that iron, and bail that water.
You are making headway. Forget about keeping count of the clear nights. Focus on how to improve your cable management in the shade of the clouds.

LOL! I was tinkering today, and thought to myself how nice it was to have the shade from the clouds. I was still sweatin my butt off, but I wasn't boiling.

stepping beyond Loc: usa eastcoast

Sonny , you sure are a good friend . Always saying something that cheers me up, this crap we're constantly having has put a itch that I can't reach to scratch. Here's the heads up , I had Alanna go out and align my guidescope { She'll do that if I feel really bad} and she comes back in an hour later sweat running down her face and started off by saying "you need a guidescope or camera or both because I don't know how in the he-- you get that thing to work at all". I told her not without cursing and kickin the darn thing but, it works after that. I guess it just needs to be kicked into gear dear. I'm still laughing !

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

I had a mini bike as a kid, Briggs and Stratton engine (think lawn mower engine).
It wouldn't start until I called it an S. o. B.
Then, Varoom!

Alanna is an Angel!

My Guide scope and Camera is the one thing that has been flawless for me. Every thing else has given me grief.

You deserve a radiator cap overhaul.
Whats that?
That's where you take the radiator cap off. Push the old car out of the way. Drive a new car in it's place.
Then throw the radiator cap away.
And start sorting all the new problems out.

Or watch this video. (Might as well, it's cloudy anyway.)

Marc G Loc: East Grinstead, West Sussex, England

What have I done now
Did I mention I have sent you a pressie via airmail Sonny / Ronnie?
Some beautiful free of charge British clouds
These are not your usual clouds either, they tend to stay for a while

stepping beyond Loc: usa eastcoast

Thanks Marc , by chance did you also happen to send some rain along with, we're in a bad draught. Heat storms everywhere but, hear.

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Ha, Ha!
I dismounted my guide scope yesterday to remove a non-functioning laser pointer I used on occasion. I mounted up a different green laser.*
Well, anytime you mess with anything, it isn't going to land perfect again. So last night I had to line up the guide scopes aim, to the main telescopes aim.
Oddly enough, I got it even better than it previously was.
I use the guide scopes view as my course adjustment. And the main camera as my "fine" view. I do my alignment with the Infinity, but course adjustment eyeballing the guide camera's view.
The guide camera doesn't have to be as tight as the main imaging camera does in the alignment.
Anyway, I had to tweak the guide scope back into alignment with the main telescope, and got luckier than before.

I used the green laser to show where the telescope was aimed. Now, since I'm virtually a loner out there in the dark and cold, I use the laser to tell when I need to abandon one target for another because of the trees or other stuff getting in the way. I did that last night when moving on from the Eagle Nebula, which was setting into the neighbors tree. It is wildly off, but good for guesstimating.

Always something with this crap.