I got my new ZWO ASI533MC COOL camera in and installed. Went out to play and thought it might be fun to shoot Orion's nebula using various filters. I used NO FILTER, then UHC filter, then HA/Oiii filter, then finally Oiii filter. I tried to adjust the exposures as near the same as possible. I use SHARPCAP as my imaging software, Registax 6 as the stacking program, then, if necessary, Topaz DeNoise AI for noise removal, then Photoshop to clean up.
On none the exposures did the denoise program help, so it was not used.

Sharpcap has a histogram feature that will allow you to mess with your exposure settings to see what expansion, etc can do. I always start an exposure with the histogram "reset" to remove previous adjustments. I adjusted the camera gain on each exposure so that the left starting edge of the histogram was away from the wall and there was a small space to the left of where the histogram curve started. Then I adjusted the exposure time so that the histogram had some activity all the way to the right side of the graph.

All exposures were 10 frames stacked.

The exposures ran from just under 4 seconds for NO FILTER to about 6.5 seconds for the Oiii filter. Visually on screen I was trying to get the exposures to look similar overall. The results were interesting, and are shown here.

Orion no filter


Orion UHC filter


Orion HA-Oiii dual band filter


Orion Oiii filter

i will be using the ASI533 on the hyperstar for wide field, short exposure pix. I have installed the newly arrived ASI533MC COOL on the back of the C-11 as my imaging device when using the full 2800 mm focal length of the C-11. I am using a 2" light train from the SCT to the camera. I don't have a 2" Barlow, so I have not tried it.

Usually images from the C-11 in SCT mode are fairly large in the camera. Often they are too big to handle and I must go to another telescope to get an image. I have an ST-80 which I use as a guide camera and sometimes I assign its camera (QHY 5 series color) to the imaging software and shoot larger objects with it. I also have an ASI178 camera attached to a 70mm finder scope and I can diddle around with it to get huge swaths of the sky - but not really sharp edge to edge pictures. Still fun, though.

I no longer use any of the telescopes for direct visual observation. I have some damage to the retina in the left and need cataract surgery on both, so visual observation is wasted effort. Not good, but it is what it is.

I did a series of the Orion nebula last night with the new ASI533MC COOL camera to see what different filter would do, and I will be posting that shortly.

I recently received my ZWO ASI533MC camera. I have the MC-COOL version coming as well, but back ordered. I put the MC version on the back of my Celestron C-11 and tested it on Jupiter. Had only half an hour of open sky before it clouded up. The attached is 337 frames stacked in Registax 6. I then ran the result through Topaz DeNoise AL which smoothed out the noise. Some light Photoshop and the result is what you see. I am really happy with it and am really impressed with the new ZWO camera.
I will be mounting the ASI533MC on my Hyperstar to take advantage of its short exposure times maybe offsetting the small noise from not cooling and I will be mounting the ASI533MC-COOL Pro in the back to use with cooling when I am using the C-11 in SCT mode.

Any and all comments are welcome, even nasty ones. I am insult-proof and ALWAYS interested in whatever I can learn from the rest of you!

Well, I see it did attach the camera data.

I attempted to use my ZWO ASI178MC camera with its "all sky" fisheye lenses to capture the Perseids meteor shower. I set the camera to capture 180 1-minute exposures which would give me 3 hours of observation time. I placed the camera on top of a tall step ladder to eliminate ground clutter, started the exposures, leaned back in my reclining swing and watched a beautiful night sky. I saw 6 bright meteors pass almost directly above me, so I knew I had something good on the camera.

I did not have a single one. I stacked various intervals of exposures, forced exposure, curves, etc all over the place, and found not even a light trace. I am attaching the camera settings and one of the ugly stacks of 5 1-minute exposures taken at midnight. There should be 2 bright meteors on this picture - but ther t'a'int! I am also attaching the camera settings text with the picture.

ANY AND ALL SUGGESTIONS as how to fix it to get real pictures next time are . . . begged for!!!! I want to be ready for the next shower!

Well , I couldn't get it to attach the text file so here is the camera text stuff:

[ZWO ASI178MC]
FrameType=Light
Pan=0
Tilt=0
Output Format=JPEG files (*.jpg)
Binning=2
Capture Area=3096x2080
Colour Space=RGB24
Temperature=38.1
Hardware Binning=Off
High Speed Mode=Off
Turbo USB=40
Flip=None
Frame Rate Limit=Maximum
Gain=31
Exposure=60.000s
Timestamp Frames=Off
White Bal (B)=50
White Bal (R)=50
Brightness=340
Auto Exp Max Gain=255
Auto Exp Max Exp M S=100
Auto Exp Target Brightness=100
Mono Bin=Off
Trail Width=3
Minimum Trail Length=100
Trail Detection Sensitivity=9
Remove Satellite Trails=Off
Background Subtraction=Off
Planet/Disk Stabilization=Off
Banding Threshold=10
Banding Suppression=0
Apply Flat=None
Hot Pixel Sensitivity=5
Subtract Dark=None
NegativeDisplay=0
Display Black Point=0.101190476190476
Display MidTone Point=0.602114121510672
Display White Point=0.857142857142857
Notes=
TimeStamp=2023-08-13T06:34:38.6309757Z
SharpCapVersion=4.0.9538.0
StartCapture=2023-08-13T06:33:39.2425035Z
MidCapture=2023-08-13T07:25:38.6195035Z
EndCapture=2023-08-13T08:17:37.9961285Z
Duration=6238.754s
FrameCount=102
ActualFrameRate=0.0163fps
TimeZone=-7.00

Attached file:
(Download)

Attached file:
(Download)

I managed to get a . . . reasonable . . . picture of the comet after a couple nights of fighting clouds. I live in a desert in the sunniest place on earth - officially - and I almost didn't have a chance to shoot!

I used a Celestron C11 with a Hyperstar attachment feeding a ZWO ASI458MC camera. I exposed for 3.4 seconds times 25 frames with a camera gain of 225 in SharpCap 4. Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker using dark frames.

A little bit of photoshop afterwards, and here is the result.

Really wish I could have displayed a tail. Just could not get it.

You cannot hurt my feelings with comments and criticism, so if you with to make comments or suggestions, feel free!

(Download)

I got this as a FITS image. Used the FITS viewer to save it as a BMB which I cleaned up a bit with Photoshop.
This is 15 frames at 5 sec/frame using the ZWO ASI485MC on the Hyperstar. It was shot in MONO mode.

I have tried over and over to get this nebula using RGB setting on my camera, but never succeeded. I finally got a reasonable pix using FITS format, saving as a BMP from the FITS viewer, then cleaning it up in Photoshop. It isn't the best, and I will probably try a couple more times with a couple other cameras to see if I can get it better.

However, here is what I have now!

Before the nasty, bright, sky-polluting, picture-spoiling full moon blasted over the Gila mountains, I got this picture of the Andromeda Galaxy! 'Nother half hour and I woulda been out of luck!

Celestron C-11 with Hyperstar attachment. Camera is a ZWO ASI485MC using Sharpcap software. 50 exposures of 2.5 sec each, camera gain slider at 371. Stacked in Registax 6 with some clean-up in Photoshop. Could have done this as a single ".png" picture instead of stacking a few, but I was playing around!!

I love the Hyperstar device since I get so much sky in the background. It really gives context to the target. However, the C-11 operating at F/2 is such a light bucket that I have almost no operating range on the camera exposure values. A tiny tweak of either the time or gain and the picture will go from black to full screen white. Very hard to control. I am contacting Starzonia to see if I can replace the camera adapter on the Hyperstar with the one that has a filter drawer (which I was too stupid to order in the first place!) so I can get some neutral density filtration in front of the camera to give me more range in exposure controls.

Anyway, here is the picture!

The secondary is firmly fixed to its mount and there is a keyway on the on the secondary mirror mounting bezel attached to the corrector lens and a key on the secondary mirror assembly. When the mirror is removed and then replaced the key-keyway combination insures the mirror returns to its previous position exactly. The collimation screws on the secondary are locked down and are not disturbed by the mirror being removed and reinstalled.

I find no collimation problems when I remove the Hyperstar and reinstall the mirror.

Yes, the scope does go from f-11 to about f-2 and the field of view increases greatly allowing me to get pictures of my targets in the context of the surrounding sky, which I cannot do otherwise. For example if I had taken the crab with the normal secondary installed and the camera on the visual back I would have had a huge (and probably highly detailed) crab, but few, if any, of the background stars.

Using the scope as an F-2 lens allows VERY short exposure times. This also largely reduces the need for a guide camera since the exposures are so short there is not time for much movement. This picture took total of 41 seconds to shoot. As an F-11 it would have taken several minutes - and needed guiding.

This, too, introduces its own set of problems. If I need an exposure time of several minutes, it is easy to adjust the camera gain and exposure time for the best picture. LONG range of adjustment possible. But, with an F-2 lens, the camera gain and exposure times have a VERY short adjustment range and it becomes very tedious to get the gain and exposure just right. I have considered, and may well try, using a neutral density filter on the camera to cut down on the light getting to the sensor to give a little more adjustment range for the exposure.

All that said, I have always wanted a way to get a wider field of view, and now I have it! In the past, using Sharp Cap I have sometimes stopped guiding and switched the guide camera to be the imaging camera. My QHY guide camera is mounted on an Orion ST-80 refractor, so I get lots of field, but lose the guiding ability.

Nothing's perfect!

Thanks for your comments. I always welcome a response and will always try to address questions.

I took this on 4 Dec 21 with my Celestron C-11 using the Hyperstar with the ZWO ASI178. Exposure was 16 frames totaling 41.7 seconds, binning =1, camera gain= 510. Assembly was with Registax 6 with clean-up in Photoshop.

I am quite happy with this and am certainly enjoying the capability the Hyperstar adds to my scope.

Any and all comments are welcome. Suggestions are always welcome since that is one way I learn how to improve!

I did this last night. Scope is a Celestron C-11 with a Hyperstar device mounting a ZWO AS1485MC (not cooled) camera. This is a stack of 100 frames taken at 1 second each. Camera gain was set to 197 ("gain units???"). Stacking was done in RegStax-6 with further processing in Photoshop.

I am thinking about taking another set with this exposure and then a set where there is detail in the bright white area and seeing if I can mix them in Photoshop to get some detail into that area. Dunno know if my Photoshop skills are up to it, but can't hurt to try!

Any and all comments are welcome. You can't hurt my feelings with negative comments -those are what I learn from!

Orion nebula

Black hole of astronomy. Hmmm. From a 70cm Tasco to a 6" Dob to a 10" Newt. From a tripod to a concrete pillar. From a makeshift shelter to a SkyPod Dome. Thence to a C-11 on a CGX mount and now a Hyperstar! Yeah, I guess you are right! I hope my Executor can get a decent price for this stuff somewhere down the line, cause it represents all my lunch money for many, many years!! If my wife ever asks how much I have tied up in this rig, I am gonna have to change the subject real fast!!!

Anyway, thanks for your comments.

Mike

My "vintage" Celestron C-11 experienced secondary mirror failure in that the plastic holder distorted from age and heat. (It lives in a desert in Arizona) I took it to Celestron and they replaced it with a Fastar capable mirror. Hum. Interesting. I contacted Starizona and purchased the Hyperstar device and mounted it on my telescope along with one of my ZWO cameras.

I pointed it at the sky and almost fell off my chair! Oh,my, the stars I saw! This it really neat. The scope is so much faster - about F/2 from F/11 - and about a degree or so of viewing angle!

I am posting some of the first shots I got with it. It is going to take some time to work out how to get the best exposures, so I will probably do better later, but I am proud of these first attempts!

Exposures were made with about 1/3 gain on the camera and exposure times of 12-15 seconds. All were single exposures, CGX base doing the tracking with no guide camera used. Comments welcome, can't hurt my feelings with honest comments.

This is the Dumbell. Kinda small, but has lots of sky with it!


M77


Should be Bubble, but could not work out an exposure that gave the whole nebula. Maybe I mis-pointed the tube...

I have been idle for quite some time - health and other issues - but I am getting back into the observatory again. Tonite I shot 500 frames of Jupiter and told REGISTACK to use only best frames. I didn't think to see how may it used, but here is the Jupiter I got! Got in trouble with the wife, though. I have a foam rubber floor in the observatory - the stuff for shop floors from "H.F.". It has died in the desert heat and since I was last at the telescope. I didn't know that. When I came back into the house I tracked black rubber dust all over the living room floor. Not pretty. I guess I pitch the rubber mat floor and live with the concrete blocks. At least I do get to live!!!!

Anyway, enjoy the Jupiter!?

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