Re: Wipe needs Dark Anomaly bump; why?
Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 5:58 pm
Hi Mike,
The AVX does need to get upgraded, but it's working well enough and to replace it will trigger a nearly-complete rebuild of the imaging rig from the ground (er, trolley) on up through the software. So there it remains. My plan was to next get a reducer / flattener for the OTA, but recently realized that adding its 3 lbs to the tail of the scope would very likely push the AVX over the edge. So, I probably should do the mount first, and that's a big step. {sigh}
Last night, no, I opted to keep the imaging train the same as it was before, with no filter. I figured the Moon will become more of a factor over the next few days, so saved the one last night with it more or less out of the way to duplicate what I had before, but under better observing conditions. That will answer my thought about the really poor transparency as perhaps a factor. Got another 14 subs at 5 minutes (just over an hour). (Dang, it got cold out there all of a sudden!)
---------
Ok, got the calibration frames, and did a quick processing pass... Interesting. 2nd night by its self looks a lot better in terms of image noise, even though it was the same exposure and total duration. Transparency, for sure. But I see the same behavior in terms of DA. Adding in the first night made for a bit better image (expected), but essentially NO change in the need for DA filtering. As expected, there was a significant offset between the two nights, so there is little chance that FPN is the root issue.
Plan for what to do next? I'll probably throw on the UHC filter and try for another couple of hours of imaging, just focusing on the nebula and not the DA issue. Any thoughts about what to do to understand why I need the DA filter in the first place?
For the curious, here's the current Pacman Nebula image. DSS stacking of the 2 nights, StarTools processing using AutoDev, Crop, Wipe, AutoDev again, Color (using star field sample), DeNoise, and Contrast. Love the colorful star field.
The AVX does need to get upgraded, but it's working well enough and to replace it will trigger a nearly-complete rebuild of the imaging rig from the ground (er, trolley) on up through the software. So there it remains. My plan was to next get a reducer / flattener for the OTA, but recently realized that adding its 3 lbs to the tail of the scope would very likely push the AVX over the edge. So, I probably should do the mount first, and that's a big step. {sigh}
Last night, no, I opted to keep the imaging train the same as it was before, with no filter. I figured the Moon will become more of a factor over the next few days, so saved the one last night with it more or less out of the way to duplicate what I had before, but under better observing conditions. That will answer my thought about the really poor transparency as perhaps a factor. Got another 14 subs at 5 minutes (just over an hour). (Dang, it got cold out there all of a sudden!)
---------
Ok, got the calibration frames, and did a quick processing pass... Interesting. 2nd night by its self looks a lot better in terms of image noise, even though it was the same exposure and total duration. Transparency, for sure. But I see the same behavior in terms of DA. Adding in the first night made for a bit better image (expected), but essentially NO change in the need for DA filtering. As expected, there was a significant offset between the two nights, so there is little chance that FPN is the root issue.
Plan for what to do next? I'll probably throw on the UHC filter and try for another couple of hours of imaging, just focusing on the nebula and not the DA issue. Any thoughts about what to do to understand why I need the DA filter in the first place?
For the curious, here's the current Pacman Nebula image. DSS stacking of the 2 nights, StarTools processing using AutoDev, Crop, Wipe, AutoDev again, Color (using star field sample), DeNoise, and Contrast. Love the colorful star field.