Galaxy Season From the Heavenly Backyard Garden

[@mrtransistor6173]

You're one of the best Astrophotography KZbinrs. Good work as always!

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Thank you. Clear Skies

[@zara8289]

Beautiful!

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Thank you

[@ronm6585]

Thanks for sharing. 👍🏻

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Thank you, Ron

[@LogansAstro]

Excellent captures of those galaxies with the dust on edge. Garden looks awesome as well. Clear skies (and a bit of rain for the garden)

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Thanks, Logan. We are in that period where little to no rain falls (savanna type climate) and now that the moon is getting out of the way, I should have several clear nights worth for "galaxy shopping". The garden is certainly keeping me busy during the daytime now too. So, you are heading toward winter ... lots of dark skies heading your way. Have fun with that.

[@Terte06]

Incredible work!👏🏻😁

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Thank you

[@christopheguigot841]

Bravo….!.cool.

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Thank you Christ

[@SimonsAstro]

Cracking images Pat! Great video, I want to shoot those galaxies now😀 The garden is looking good and the best is still to come! Clear skies Pat👍

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Hi Simon, M104 would be extremely low on your horizon at your latitude but the Trio in Leo would certainly be a good bet. BTW, I watched your video of the castle while on "your" island (Saint Simons) but wasn't able to leave a comment. I'm home now and will go back to it and your latest video and put in my two cents worth. Hopefully, your skies are clearing up by now.

[@SimonsAstro]

@@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy lol😀 Didn’t know I had an island!! Thanks Pat 👍 Skies are not good at present, but we can hope!

[@mikehardy8247]

Thanks for reminding me about the Sombrero galaxy. It's fsirly low here in Wisconsin. Next clear night.

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Hi Mike, I bet it is as it is low here at 32N, so it's about 15 degrees lower there in Wisconsin. Good luck. Cleaar skies.

[@mikehardy8247]

I got about 15, 180 second subs around 2 AM this morning after the clouds dissipated, untill my neighbors garage roof. And I'm shooting toward LP. The moons a problem anyway. Still the subs look promising. I'll get more data as I can.

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

@@mikehardy8247 ... M104 is certainly an interesting galaxy and quite difficult to capture at your latitude, plus the extra amount of atmosphere you are looking through. Good luck

[@dereksmith4517]

Nice.

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Thank you, Derek

[@Prispector]

Amazing images Pat! The solar eclipse was also visible in the UK, but there were many clouds, so i coudn't see it. Have clear skies!

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

I did not know it was visible in the UK. Good to know. Thank you for watching my video, Alex

[@markg975]

Only as a partial eclipse in the UK and close to sunset.

[@AZ4Runner]

Started the Sombrero tonight.. Your M104 looks so good, 2800 FL is crazy!!

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Hi Jason, For me, I only get about 3 hours of viewing time on any night on M104 due to those trees. But, yeah, it did come out okay. I will be looking out for your view of the Sombrero. Clear skies

[@AmatureAstronomer]

Mighty nice garden. And, the pictures are nice, too.

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Thank you so much

[@astrotan]

amazing!

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Hi Tanner, I noticed you captured M51 recently. Any plans for additional galaxies while we are in the season?

[@psuaero100]

5 minute exposures using a StarSense 120mm guide scope?! That's a focal length guiding ratio of 1:18. It's counter to the general rule of guiding (1:5 or less). Obviously, it's working for you. Outstanding images. Having just gotten an 8" EdgeHD I was planning to move to an OAG and buy a new guide camera. I think I'll give it a try with my 200mm guide scope. My combination will yield 1:11 guide ratio.

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Well, one would think ... howerver, the StarSense scope was developed by Celestron, and it seems to work ... at least for me. As you say, the appature of the SSAG is only 28mm at f/4.3 with a focal length of 120mm. Generally, I use a 50mm guide scope with a focal length of 200mm, so I would think your 200mm FL guidescope would do just fine ... or one would think. Thank you for watching my video.

[@psuaero100]

@@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy Thanks. I definitely plan to do some testing before buying more gear. My current guide scope/camera combo bounces back and forth between two refractors. It would be great if it worked on all three.

[@HollomanUFOLanding]

Hi Pat, thanks for this and all your great videos. Like you, I am using a C11 and trying to image galaxies at F10. I am using also using Celestron SSAG and the guiding seems to be working fine. The image on the camera capture software hardly moved from centre in 3 hours of imaging. However, I can't seem to get the images to stack in Deep Sky Stacker (DSS) I can get get the images to stack in Sharp Cap's live stacking utility but not in DSS. My stars are coming out looking like bananas in DSS! Could you you give me nay tips please regarding any particular settings to pay attaention to when using DSS? The subs were 60 seconds long and the focus didn't look too bad. I was using a camera with a pixel size of 3.42, so not great dis-similar to your set up. Thanks for any help or tips you can give me about DSS.

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Hi Holland, Hmm. My first thought would be the stars are out of focus or soft focus (but you say they look good). I had that issue in the past where DSS wouldn't stack. Also, try setting DSS back to its default values. Then in settings, for "light" frames, select "Kappa-Sigma Clipping" and click "Debloom" and give it a shot. The other issue could be your binning ... just a guess. With a camera of 3.42 micron pixel size and using the scope of f/10, try 2x2 binning and see if that works. Lately, I've been using Pixinsight to stack as it does a better job .... however takes MUCH longer. I am preparing to make a video about that. Good luck

[@HollomanUFOLanding]

@@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy Hey Pat, I appreciate you getting back to me, thank you. I'll give your suggestions a try, thanks. Clear skies!

[@steveby14]

Hi Pat, I notice you don’t do luminance subs?

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Hi Steve, I did that for a reason. With the new processing routines in Pixinsight, I don't seem to need a luminace view. By extracting the stars in processing, I am able to process them alone and then add them back in keeping their color. But, I am still experimenting on using luminance frames. Clear Skies

[@Aerostar509]

@@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy I find that Lum data really adds detail to the RGB data.

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

@@Aerostar509 ... Good to know, Tim. I will continue to experiment with that. Thanks for the heads-up

[@Sw87sw87]

Maybe I missed it but how many total hours of M104 were you able to get for the final image?

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

Due to patches of clouds, trees, and focusing errors, I only got 90 minutes of useful data ... Red: 36mn, Green: 24mn, and Blue 30mn. The target is only visible for about 3 hours per night due to trees and its low altitude.

[@dereksmith4517]

Not

[@HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy]

???