[HN Gopher] N.I.N.A. - Nighttime Imaging 'N' Astronomy ___________________________________________________________________ N.I.N.A. - Nighttime Imaging 'N' Astronomy Author : amarsahinovic Score : 60 points Date : 2021-10-23 17:34 UTC (5 hours ago) (HTM) web link (nighttime-imaging.eu) (TXT) w3m dump (nighttime-imaging.eu) | dylan604 wrote: | I love the fact that we have so much available at our disposal | now to make this kind of thing possible. The old days of manual | steering to keep the object center over the course of multiple | nights just to get a single image can now be done in a single | night with equipment that fits in the back of an SUV. Much thanks | to people that build tools like this and PHD! | | My retirement dream is to do this all the time. I fall prone to | the traditional amateur astronomer's delima of having free time | available to go to a dark sky location and the weather is bad, or | be totally slammed with gorgeous viewing conditions. | throw0101a wrote: | For a pre-made hardware appliance/solution see Stellina: | | * https://vaonis.com/stellina | | * https://www.astrobiscuit.com/stellina-review | | * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_AS0R4x_cE | crazydoggers wrote: | This looks pretty cool. Anyone have any experience with it? Used | to use Backyard EOS to control my canon for timed exposures. | | Edit: In case anyone is interested here's a couple images I took | with my 9.5 inch scope. The globular cluster required stacking | many exposures. The double star is not color enhanced or | anything, that's how it looks through the eye piece. | | https://astrob.in/257816/0/ | | https://astrob.in/257435/0/ | | https://astrob.in/256165/0/ | joshspankit wrote: | Looks well thought out and powerful to use. | | The page does, however, fall prey to a common issue among HN | submissions: | | For someone who is not already an expert, _and_ who does not know | the rest of the pieces required: what do they need to know /have | to get their first successful use? | | I'm vaguely guessing that someone needs a camera that can keep | the shutter open, some type of servos to turn the camera?, and a | laptop running next to it all night (which implies you also need | necessary cables, extra battery power, and waterproof bags just | in case)? | crazydoggers wrote: | I think the issue is that this software really probably targets | someone already pretty advanced in the hobby. If you're just | stepping in, this software will probably be overkill. | | You can start doing astrophotography with nothing more than a | nice camera with a tripod and a remote shutter control for long | exposures. You can get great views of the Milky Way and some | brighter nebulas that way. If you want longer exposures then | obviously you'll need a mount that can track the earths | rotation. | | If you're looking to image what are called "deep sky" objects, | then that's when you'll need something like this software and | probably a telescope, along with a mount that can track the | movement of the earth with very high precision. Lots of deep | sky objects require multiple exposures from a larger telescope | that can capture lots of light, which are then stacked. The | stacking requires lining up the star field, so software is a | must. | | Another use for software like this is doing amateur astronomy | work. For example taking multiple basic images of galaxies | every night in order to spot a supernova. | joshspankit wrote: | Even your reply would be a big help on that page. | | Personally, I like to use the best tools even if they are | _well_ outside my current skillset (diving in to early | Photoshop was overkill to recolour images and took me dozens | of hours to start to learn, but working with it paid off many | times over the years). | | Sounds like the most efficient path is: | | 1. Nice camera with long exposure via remote shutter: Take | photos of stars / milky way / some nebulas | | 2. Add tripod and mount to automatically move the camera that | can be optionally controlled via some smart device: Adds the | ability to see more nebulas, and focus on objects for longer | (meaning they show up brighter, with more detail) | | 3. Add software and maybe a telescope that can connect to the | camera + mount: Adds the ability to capture things not | normally visible, and really tune in to the details | | Is that right? | crazydoggers wrote: | Pretty much. Definitely get the tripod right at the | beginning. You can get some nice and very portable ones for | not much money, and with any night photography if you want | halfway decent shots, it's a must. | | And depending on how into it you get, you might not even | bother with a mount for a camera. If you end up going the | telescope route you'll want a good equatorial mount for | that, and typically the camera will attach directly to the | telescope. | | And speaking of mounts, for astrophotography, an equatorial | mount is a must. It rotates along the earths axis, so it | can keep the image orientation correct. If you get a mount | that moves up/down left/right (they call that alt/azimuth) | then your image will rotate as the night progresses. | | For learning, there's also no better place than the cloudy | nights forums in my opinion: | | https://www.cloudynights.com/ | | edit: dylans comment is also really good and tracks with my | experiences as well | samstave wrote: | Also, garage sales for tripods. | | I got a collection of ~30 tripods at a garage sale for | $10 for the lot. | | Some really really cool tripods - but I dont really do | photography I put my houseplants on them/ | | https://imgur.com/gallery/l4cwHyp | dylan604 wrote: | One thing I'd also suggest is rent, rent, rent. You can | rent so many different camera bodies and lenses, that | you'd be silly to not try out different things before | buying. You can even rent modified camera bodies that | have the IR filters removed specifically for astro stuff. | | Before buying a telescope, attend star parties. People | will bring out their gear and welcome you to chat and | view through their gear. You'll start to see the | differences in telescope types and their pros/cons. | Astronomy was built on the shoulders of giants, so you | can take advantage of that as well. | | +1000 for cloudynights website | monkmartinez wrote: | I am aware of Astrophotography on a limited/thats a thing basis | and would like to give it a go someday. That said, I think its | pretty self-explanatory that you will need some kind of imaging | capturing device as a first step to even have interest in this | project. The documentation is on the home page... | :https://nighttime-imaging.eu/docs/master/site/requirements/ | | Not to be too snide, but I highly doubt you'll need a | waterproof bag if you are trying to take images of Space at | night... Kinda hard to see through clouds. | ksaj wrote: | Don't forget about dew. | crazydoggers wrote: | Dew can definitely be a problem depending on location and | weather. Dew shields and heaters for lenses or scopes can | sometimes be required. It doesn't need to be cloudy for dew | to be an issue. | joshspankit wrote: | Aha, then your answer to "if you don't already know, then how | do you learn?" is "you should just already know" / "use | common sense". Respectfully, that is quite unhelpful. | | I was thinking a waterproof bag in case you set up and a | storm rolls in and you have to pack up then get back to | shelter. _My_ common sense says be prepared because you don't | even want expensive gear to get wet while being transported. | dylan604 wrote: | Anyone doing astrophotography has already been watching the | forecast for days in advance. There's not really going to | be something rolling in they didn't anticipate, unless | you're really planning for it. | | Depending on where you are and the type of weather you | have, a storm rolling through could be the best thing. I'm | in Texas, and my favorite spot to go is a place 4.5 hours | away. If you want to view things around the center of the | Milky Way, you'll need to be viewing during the summer. | Texas and summer don't make for friendly viewing | conditions. However, if you catch one of those | thunderstorms that blows through in half an hour or so, | they can clear the air so that you have much better | conditions after. You just gotta time it right! | dylan604 wrote: | >what do they need to know/have to get their first successful | use? | | Ah, the age old question: how long is a piece of string? | | The question you pose is best answered by more questions. | | What do you want to do? Wide angle full sky type imagery (think | full night sky with Milky Way tracing across the image)? | Planetary images (I'd suggest not starting here)? Deep Sky | Objects (nebulae, galaxies, star clusters, etc)? Each one of | those requires different equipment. | | Wide angle full sky stuff can be done with a tripod and a | camera. After that, you will need gear that can start | "tracking" the sky. Basically, a method to counter act the | rotation of the earth. Many ways of achieving this for just | mounting a camera to a tripod. | | Say you want to go further, you'll start looking at telescopes. | Which telescope depends on what you want to image. Now that you | have a telescope, you'll need a mount. I'd highly suggest an | equitorial mount. | | Now you need a camera to mount to that scope. Again many | options exist. You can get a mount that allows you to hold your | mobile phone next to an eyepiece. Works great for | planetary/moon shots as they are bright enough a long exposure | is not necessary. If you want to use a DSLR you already have, | you'll need some method of connecting it to the telescope | usually with a t-adapter. It connects to your camera like a | lens, then you slide it in place of the eyepiece. Now your | telescope is your lens. | | All of sudden, you start realizing that your mount and motors | just are not accurate enough, so now you want to start doing | guided imaging. Oh boy, now you need a smaller telescope for | your telescope. That new scope will need it's own camera. | Depending on where you're going, you can get a new camera that | is also a guider or one that needs to be plugged into a laptop | for control. Oh, so you'll need a laptop you don't mind being | out all night and susceptible to dew etc. | | Once you have your guide scope being guided by something, | you'll get to start learning about stacking. Instead of taking | a single exposure for 60 minutes, you can take 60 one minute | exposures. Then there's more software that allows you to take | your stacks and align/process them. | | Okay, so now you have all of this equipment to take great | images. You'll need a way to transport it. Great, put it in the | SUV. Now, your schedule will need to align. Certain nights are | better for imaging than others. Full moons are the wrong time | for viewing anything but the moon. Great, shift your schedule | for new moons. Perfect there's one coming up, but the Mrs has | already made dinner plans with someone you may or may not care | about, but you won't be using your gear that night. A free | weekend lines up with a new moon and you've received permission | from the Mrs to go play. Oops, its cloudy AF, and you're left | dreaming once again about the imagary you'll someday be able to | take. | | I love my hobby enough to be that cynical. | | Edit: I always focus on the tech gear, but there's some other | basics need too. As many red filters as you can find. | Flashlights with red filters are a must. Lots of headlamps now | come with red LEDs as an option. Red filter your laptop screen | whether with actual filter or an app that changes the screen | tone. Warm clothes. Because of heat distortion in the | atmosphere, lots of good viewing during winter. Winter gets | cold, and it's never as cold as when you're trying to achieve | focus with 10 little blocks of ice at the end of your hands. | Also, be aware of the car you are driving. Can you turn the | headlights off when the car is on? You'll be tempted to sit in | the car with the heater running, but some cars always have | running lights that you cannot turn off. Also, check you car's | interior lights. If you need to keep running back to the car, | that interior light coming on/off will become annoying. If not | annoying to you, anyone else imaging that night will start to | get peeved at you. | | The other thing I'd suggest is friends to take with you. | Sharing the experience is so much more rewarding. If you have | no friends, at least not interested in staying up all night in | remote locations, then find star parties. Get involved with | local groups. It's easy to get defeated, but going to meetings | and chatting with others helps keep you excited about it. | JPLeRouzic wrote: | Thanks for writing this, this is hilarious and so true! | joshspankit wrote: | I went on the journey of this comment and fully respect your | loving cynicism. | dylan604 wrote: | Thanks. I really do love this stuff, but I am constantly | frustrated by how rarely I get to do it. I sold my car at | the beginning of the pandemic, and while it made financial | sense, I regretted not being able to go out while that was | pretty much the perfect thing to do during the pandemic. | Going outside with fresh air and nobody around because | there's very few freaks to be wanting to do this. | | It's definitely a love/love/hate/love type of hobby. | madaxe_again wrote: | I would love a viable F/OSS alternative to SGPro, as it's pretty | much the only show in town when it comes to fire and forget | capture sessions, and I'm too busy in the day to stay up all | night nursing telescopes - I rely on it handling everything from | focus to acquisition to guiding to some control, including | exceptions such as weather - and will therefore do my best to | find the time to contribute to this project. ___________________________________________________________________ (page generated 2021-10-23 23:00 UTC)