NGC253 - Sculptor Galaxy

[Whitters]

This could do with more data, looking at the weather that seems unlikely for a while.
Images with a Seestar S50 Aligned and stacked in Siril, then processed in Pixinsight using Graxpert, NoiseXterminator, BlurXterminator and Curves.

[Carole]

Image looks good. Really low in the sky from UK.  Well done.

You've been very busy Paul, can I have a few more details like exposure times and total imaging time. 
So have you abandoned traditional imaging for the Seestar.

Also would like to understand how you stack in Siril as I thought Smart-telescopes did their own stacking, or can you stop them from doing that. 
Also if you do multi nights, do you stack per night then stack the stacks as I think Sirul might have a problem with over 3000 frames. 

Asking as Imaging Officer so I know what I am talking about.  Also might be helpful to others with Smart=telescopes to improve their final "offering". 

[Carole]

Also so if you haven;t attempted Equatorial mode yet, how are you avoiding field rotation?

[Dave A]

Another good image hope you can add more data to it

[Whitters]

Thanks folks,
Carole, I've put the full exposure details in the images on the gallery.
You can let the smart scope handle all the integration and stacking, however I use the raw images, although with 10" exposures you end up with thousands. You are right there is a file limit imposed by windows, not present on Mac or Linux. I got around this by using a script which converts all the fits files into a single fits cube. A single fits file which holds all the images. Then Siril uses that single file and processes them as individual images, just like normal.
Yes Field rotation is an issue, however if you pick an object that is small enough you can get away with it as the field rotation cuts into the top and bottom corners and you crop the image.
So it's not really a trick , just making the most of what the scope can offer.
In the Seestar you can tell it to save all the images, they are kept as fits files, so once you turn that option on and use the Siril script to get around the Windows file limit, then image processing is the same as any other imaging ser-up.
And of course so long as you can gather the data and the object fits within the area unaffected by field rotation you can get some pretty good images from a 50mm scope.
I've used the Seestar a lot this year, because it's so quick to set-up, you can be imaging in minutes, and make use of any gap in the cloud. I've changed the mount in the observatory and need to get a plate made, I've designed it and 3D printed it, but I need it made in Aluminium to be happy. So I'm waiting on the machine shop to have time to make it for me. My 10" RCS is in the shed having a bit of tarting up done to it, to improve the image quality. ANd the WO 110 hasn't been out for a while, more to do with the poor weather than anything else. Hopefully once the obsy is sorted I could have 3 scopes running on a night. Oh for some clear crisp nights.

For more details on the Windows 2048 file limit and to get the script to get around it take a look at this You Tube Vid.

All the best

[Carole]

Thanks Paul