Imaging Session 16 - Friday 9th November

[Mike]

This is for the astrophotographers or people interested in learning about astrophotography to get together and do some imaging. Anyone else who wants to come to watch and learn, or just do some observing is also welcome.

If it is cloudy there will be a workshop on a topical subejct. If it is clear we will go outside and do imaging.

Hot and cold drinks and nibbles will be provided.

Bring a sleeping bag if you are crashing overnight. Bring an extension lead if you need mains power. You are more than welcome to bring your own equipment along.

If you need the address or my phone number then send me a PM.

Please note that any member is welcome, even if you have no equipment and just want to watch and learn.

A new addition to the Imaging Sessions will be a monthly "Sky Focus" session, which will be a quick presentation on which objects are visible at that time of year, which ones are good for photographing and the best kit and techniques to capture it.

[Mike]

Anyone want anything specific to be the topic for the talk ?

[Mike]

OK Jim has suggested that the workshop be on "Guiding", so Guiding it is then.

[Mike]

Reminder - Imaging Session this Friday at 8pm (please don't arrive before 8 thank you).

Agenda:-

Sky Focus - Objects to observe and image in November/December
Presentation - AutoGuiding Basics
AOB - Looking at Fay's and carole's laptop/camera issues

[Jim]

Mike

Once again thanks for a great evening and hospitality, looking forward to the next one.

[Carole]

Many thanks for your hospitality Mike and Cris, (those chocolate/coconut things were delicious).  Also thanks Jim for running through my K3 software with me.  It verified what I had thought on the capturing aspect and gave me a good run down on processing which I hadn't even looked at yet.

Now all I need is good skies to experiment with my first imaging session.

As Mike says, even if the picture is rubbish, it's all practice and learning as you go along.

These imaging sessions are excellent for learning.

Thanks
Carole

[Mike]

Glad you are finding the sessions useful. That is after all what they are for. I think the sessions have been partially responsible for the increase in astrophotographers we now have in the society, which is great.

I have come across this article on UKAI about guiding with the EQ6 which may be of use to you..........

http://ukastroimaging.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=26457.0

Note there is no Imaging Session in December, next one is January. Date to be decided upon.

[Mike]

Did any of you have a HP laptop with you when you came on the 9th? A HP driver CD has turned up in the front room and it's not mine.

[Carole]

I had a Sony laptop with me.
What is the CD?

Carole

[Mike]

It's a HP I/O Driver CD

[Carole]

CD doesn't sound familiar. 

Incidentally I have now done my 1st image, which as predicted was rubbish.  I was probably more anxious to get through the process for the 1st time and try it out than to concentrate on trying to get everything as accurate as possible.

Once again I had to align in the front of my house with the bright street light because that is on the Eastern side where everything comes up, so once again alignment was difficult and I know I did not do a very good job on that, but was anxious to just do something before it got too cold, my batteries on the telescope ran out and clouds came over.   Once objects get higher in the sky before midnight I can move to my back garden where I can see better.

I did a one minute video 5fps and stacked them OK except I should have eliminated more frames than I did out of the 279 it took.  I did try fiddling around with the various controls before videoing to try to improve the picture but didn't seem to make much difference, so I just "went for it" (before the batteries ran out). 

What I ended up with was a featureless white disc of Mars on a black sky. 

Anyway, I'm not too disappointed because I achieved my first aim, just to go through the process once.
The picture is on my laptop and I forgot to save it as a Tiff file (it's a Jpeg).  I don't think it is worth the bother of trying to fix the laptop up to the internet just to show any-one, I doubt they will be interested anyway.

Was hoping to do the moon tonight, but it looks as though the clouds are here to stay, and it's probably too bitterly cold anyway.

One thing I did purchase which has been very useful is a rear port adapter so I can actually look through the eye piece at the top to make sure the object is still in the eyepice and then flip the mirror over to the webcam.

Carole