#seestar — Public Fediverse posts

The Helix Nebula.

This is more of a target for bigger telescopes really, but I have been curious about what the little Thirty Millimetre Telescope could do with it. Between last night's data and a smaller stash I'd previously taken I put a little over 8 hours worth of 30 second LP filter exposures into the stack. All processing in Siril with SyQon and VeraLux scripts.

It would probably benefit from even more exposure time, but the Seestar was already well into the diminishing returns domain as it was and I'm not sure it's going to get dramatically better no matter how long I go.

https://drhotdog.smugmug.com/Nature/Seeing-Stars/i-VqQVR3M/A

#Astrophotography #Seestar #SeestarS30Pro #TMMT #ThirtyMillimetreTelescope #Siril #SyQon #VeraLux

The Helix Nebula.

This is more of a target for bigger telescopes really, but I have been curious about what the little Thirty Millimetre Telescope could do with it. Between last night's data and a smaller stash I'd previously taken I put a little over 8 hours worth of 30 second LP filter exposures into the stack. All processing in Siril with SyQon and VeraLux scripts.

It would probably benefit from even more exposure time, but the Seestar was already well into the diminishing returns domain as it was and I'm not sure it's going to get dramatically better no matter how long I go.

https://drhotdog.smugmug.com/Nature/Seeing-Stars/i-VqQVR3M/A

#Astrophotography #Seestar #SeestarS30Pro #TMMT #ThirtyMillimetreTelescope #Siril #SyQon #VeraLux

It's clear again tonight so I felt compelled to get the Thirty Millimetre Telescope out again. I took the opportunity to do a flat field calibration using twilight flats because I noticed some residual low level radial variation in the background in the images I've taken recently. I had to redo the polar alignment as I had brought the tripod inside since the last time I used it, but that only takes a few minutes.

It's a Full Moon tonight so I'm not even going to try taking images of anything that isn't an emission nebula, the dual band light pollution filter will be in use all night long. I've decided to spend most of the night on the Helix Nebula, with the Eagle Nebula filling in the first part of the night while the Helix is too low. I'm hoping for decent seeing as my plan for both targets is to see how much resolution I can squeeze out of them given plenty of signal to noise.

#TMMT #ThirtyMillimetreTelescope #Seestar #SeestarS30Pro #Astrophotography

It's clear again tonight so I felt compelled to get the Thirty Millimetre Telescope out again. I took the opportunity to do a flat field calibration using twilight flats because I noticed some residual low level radial variation in the background in the images I've taken recently. I had to redo the polar alignment as I had brought the tripod inside since the last time I used it, but that only takes a few minutes.

It's a Full Moon tonight so I'm not even going to try taking images of anything that isn't an emission nebula, the dual band light pollution filter will be in use all night long. I've decided to spend most of the night on the Helix Nebula, with the Eagle Nebula filling in the first part of the night while the Helix is too low. I'm hoping for decent seeing as my plan for both targets is to see how much resolution I can squeeze out of them given plenty of signal to noise.

#TMMT #ThirtyMillimetreTelescope #Seestar #SeestarS30Pro #Astrophotography

This is the nicest photo I've ever taken of a bunch of dust.

This image of part of Corona Australis includes the Corona Australis Molecular Cloud, one of the nearest star formation regions to Earth.

Turns out this is a challenging target for the Thirty Millimetre Telescope, especially when the Moon is up! I put a total of 14.3 hours of exposure time into a 3 panel mosaic and I still think I need to revisit this target with some darker skies (and better flat field calibrations) to do a better job of it. I'm calling this a work in progress until then.

#Astrophotography #Seestar #SeestarS30Pro #TMMT #ThirtyMilliMetreTelescope #Siril #SyQon #VeraLux

This is the nicest photo I've ever taken of a bunch of dust.

This image of part of Corona Australis includes the Corona Australis Molecular Cloud, one of the nearest star formation regions to Earth.

Turns out this is a challenging target for the Thirty Millimetre Telescope, especially when the Moon is up! I put a total of 14.3 hours of exposure time into a 3 panel mosaic and I still think I need to revisit this target with some darker skies (and better flat field calibrations) to do a better job of it. I'm calling this a work in progress until then.

#Astrophotography #Seestar #SeestarS30Pro #TMMT #ThirtyMilliMetreTelescope #Siril #SyQon #VeraLux

Meanwhile I've been struggling to get an aesthetically pleasing result out of this other bunch of stars, the Small Magellanic Cloud. Plenty of data (about 8 hours 20 minutes of total exposure time) but it can't massage it into a pleasing JPEG. Maybe I just don't like the SMC.

#Astrophotography #Seestar30Pro #Seestar #Siril #SyQon #VeraLux #TMMT #ThirtyMilliMetreTelescope

Meanwhile I've been struggling to get an aesthetically pleasing result out of this other bunch of stars, the Small Magellanic Cloud. Plenty of data (about 8 hours 20 minutes of total exposure time) but it can't massage it into a pleasing JPEG. Maybe I just don't like the SMC.

#Astrophotography #Seestar30Pro #Seestar #Siril #SyQon #VeraLux #TMMT #ThirtyMilliMetreTelescope

My god, it's full of stars.

M24, the Small Sagittarius Star Cloud, and neighbouring bits and pieces. Just over 4 hours 10 minutes of total exposure time over the last two nights with the little Seestar S30 Pro and its UV/IR cut filter. Not bad considered how irritatingly bright the Moon was being at the time. Processed in Siril with SyQon and VeraLux scripts.

I should have been using the light pollution filter under conditions like that, but I've already done all the big HII regions that are conveniently placed at this time of year so I've been trying to do stars and dust despite the Moon.

Edit: Full res, with *all* the stars, here https://drhotdog.smugmug.com/Nature/Seeing-Stars/i-B7XMtVm/A

#Astrophotography #Seestar #SeestarS30Pro #Siril #VeraLux #SyQon #ThirtyMilliMetreTelescope #TMMT

My god, it's full of stars.

M24, the Small Sagittarius Star Cloud, and neighbouring bits and pieces. Just over 4 hours 10 minutes of total exposure time over the last two nights with the little Seestar S30 Pro and its UV/IR cut filter. Not bad considered how irritatingly bright the Moon was being at the time. Processed in Siril with SyQon and VeraLux scripts.

I should have been using the light pollution filter under conditions like that, but I've already done all the big HII regions that are conveniently placed at this time of year so I've been trying to do stars and dust despite the Moon.

Edit: Full res, with *all* the stars, here https://drhotdog.smugmug.com/Nature/Seeing-Stars/i-B7XMtVm/A

#Astrophotography #Seestar #SeestarS30Pro #Siril #VeraLux #SyQon #ThirtyMilliMetreTelescope #TMMT

Astronomers classify M101 as a "grand design" spiral galaxy because its spiral arms are so unusually prominent and well-defined. Those bright, bluish knots you see scattered throughout the arms are massive regions of active star formation, where enormous clouds of hydrogen gas are giving birth to brilliant new star clusters.

#Seestar #astronomy #m100

Astronomers classify M101 as a "grand design" spiral galaxy because its spiral arms are so unusually prominent and well-defined. Those bright, bluish knots you see scattered throughout the arms are massive regions of active star formation, where enormous clouds of hydrogen gas are giving birth to brilliant new star clusters.

#Seestar #astronomy #m100

And finally, proper stack of the 5 1/2 hours of data I got on the Helix nebula over the course of four nights in inner Melbourne. #space #astrophotography #seestar #astrodon #astronomy

And finally, proper stack of the 5 1/2 hours of data I got on the Helix nebula over the course of four nights in inner Melbourne. #space #astrophotography #seestar #astrodon #astronomy

And the same images again, but with some basic post-processing applied to get rid of the ridiculous brightness gradient from millions of inner city lights. #space #astrophotography #seestar #astrodon #astronomy

And the same images again, but with some basic post-processing applied to get rid of the ridiculous brightness gradient from millions of inner city lights. #space #astrophotography #seestar #astrodon #astronomy

Another successful overnight rooftop imaging run. The Moon is still very new, so I decided to image without the light pollution filter for a while.

Globular cluster Omega Centauri, Messier 24 (the Sagittarius Star cloud) and the Helix Nebula.

#space #astrophotography #seestar #astrodon #astronomy

Another successful overnight rooftop imaging run. The Moon is still very new, so I decided to image without the light pollution filter for a while.

Globular cluster Omega Centauri, Messier 24 (the Sagittarius Star cloud) and the Helix Nebula.

#space #astrophotography #seestar #astrodon #astronomy

Obscure globular cluster Terzan 4, 29000 light years away on the other side of the center of the galaxy.
#astrophotography #seestar #terzan4

Obscure globular cluster Terzan 4, 29000 light years away on the other side of the center of the galaxy.
#astrophotography #seestar #terzan4

Obscure globular cluster Palomar 10, 19000 light years away in Sagitta. Note the improvement in picture quality over a year ago through the use of an equatorial mount.
#astrophotography #seestar #palomar10

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:7pkzzzyr5cruwxk3x3wbe6a7/post/3lqow6tka7c2g

Obscure globular cluster Palomar 10, 19000 light years away in Sagitta. Note the improvement in picture quality over a year ago through the use of an equatorial mount.
#astrophotography #seestar #palomar10

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:7pkzzzyr5cruwxk3x3wbe6a7/post/3lqow6tka7c2g

And the post-processed versions with the gradient removed, levels tweaked and noise reduced.

#space #seestar #astrophotography #astrodon

And the post-processed versions with the gradient removed, levels tweaked and noise reduced.

#space #seestar #astrophotography #astrodon

The overnight bounty off the :seestar_s30: from the city.

The fighting dragons of Ara, the Corona Australis molecular cloud, the Helix nebula and the Sculptor galaxy with globular cluster NGC 288.

These are stacks off the seestar, they’ve not been post-processed to get rid of the light pollution gradient.

#space #seestar #astrophotography #astrodon

The overnight bounty off the :seestar_s30: from the city.

The fighting dragons of Ara, the Corona Australis molecular cloud, the Helix nebula and the Sculptor galaxy with globular cluster NGC 288.

These are stacks off the seestar, they’ve not been post-processed to get rid of the light pollution gradient.

#space #seestar #astrophotography #astrodon

Shot planetary nebula Humason 1-2, 5000 light years away in Cygnus, but couldn't resolve any detail.
#astrophotography #seestar #vv267 #aro89

NGC 7044, an open cluster 10,676 light years away in Cygnus.
#astrophotography #seestar #ngc7044

NGC 6515, an elliptical galaxy 310 million light years away in Draco.
Challenge mode: PGC 61180 at 11:00, distance unknown.
#astrophotography #seestar #ngc6515

IC 1291, 100 million light years away in Draco.
Challenge mode:
At 11:45: PGC 62055, 110 mly
5:30: PGC 2335645, ? mly
#astrophotography #seestar #ic1291

NGC 6711, a spiral galaxy 210 million light years away in Draco.
#astrophotography #seestar #ngc6711

Het wordt in de zomermaanden niet echt donker in Nederland ,rond 24 uur een poging gedaan wat redelijk goed gelukt is, de telescoop heeft in een klein uurtje 300 foto's gemaakt en er een stack van gemaakt tot 1 afbeelding van. dit 👇

M101, ook bekend als het Windmolenstelsel (Pinwheel Galaxy)
afstand ergens tussen de 21-27 miljoen lichtjaar, diameter 170.000 lichtjaar. #astrophotography #astronomy #seestar

Het wordt in de zomermaanden niet echt donker in Nederland ,rond 24 uur een poging gedaan wat redelijk goed gelukt is, de telescoop heeft in een klein uurtje 300 foto's gemaakt en er een stack van gemaakt tot 1 afbeelding van. dit 👇

M101, ook bekend als het Windmolenstelsel (Pinwheel Galaxy)
afstand ergens tussen de 21-27 miljoen lichtjaar, diameter 170.000 lichtjaar. #astrophotography #astronomy #seestar

I did another round of rooftop imaging, despite the haze and fog. Turned out fine!

The first image was without the light pollution filter. Given where I am and the conditions, I am impressed!

Antares through Rho Ophiuchi, The Swan or Omega nebula, the Helix nebula, and Melbourne.

#astrophotography #space #seestar #Astrodon

I did another round of rooftop imaging, despite the haze and fog. Turned out fine!

The first image was without the light pollution filter. Given where I am and the conditions, I am impressed!

Antares through Rho Ophiuchi, The Swan or Omega nebula, the Helix nebula, and Melbourne.

#astrophotography #space #seestar #Astrodon

🌃 🔭 Slightly more successful inner city rooftop astrophotography overnight. Fog interfered with the final image though.

The Eta Carina nebula, the Lagoon and Trifid nebulae, the Eagle nebula, the Helix nebula.

The first three are all about 2 hours of data, the last one only 25 minutes. They are stacked and processed on the device only.

#Astrodon #astrophotography #seestar #space

🌃 🔭 Slightly more successful inner city rooftop astrophotography overnight. Fog interfered with the final image though.

The Eta Carina nebula, the Lagoon and Trifid nebulae, the Eagle nebula, the Helix nebula.

The first three are all about 2 hours of data, the last one only 25 minutes. They are stacked and processed on the device only.

#Astrodon #astrophotography #seestar #space

Galaxy cluster ACO 2197 centered on NGC 6160, 260 million light years away in Hercules. Many of the 'stars' in this picture are background galaxies, too numerous to list.
#astrophotography #seestar #aco2197 #ngc6160

One thing I checked out with the Seestar last night was the Rho Ophuici Cloud Complex. I only managed to get just over half an hour of images before the clouds appeared, and the Moon was certainly not helping either, but taking the look at the data now I can already see the potential.

Definitely need to revisit this next time I have clear skies, preferably without scattered Moonlight, ideally with less light pollution too (can't use the light pollution filter on this). It's going to need a lot more exposure time and, I think, a 4 pointing mosaic in order to get the whole cloud complex in frame.

Removing background gradients is really challenging here because there's so much stuff! There's gas and dust almost everywhere so there's barely any truly empty sky to measure the background in. That makes it especially important to minimise background gradients in the data to begin with, i.e. take images close to zenith and with no pesky Moon nearby.

#Astrophotography #Seestar #SeestarS30Pro #TMMT #ThirtyMilliMetreTelescope

Bonus astrophotography! I though I was done for the next little while as I was expecting there to be enough cloud tonight to ruin any plans I made, but as it turned out it was completely clear for the first half of the night. So I improvised and managed to get a good 4-ish hours on the Running Chicken Nebula and Pearl Cluster, then just played around in interactive mode looking at some different sorts of targets, getting ideas for the future.

That included my nemesis the Moon, which has been up and brightly illuminating the entire sky for most of every clear night that I've had since getting the Seestar 4 weeks ago. That is why up until now I've concentrated almost exclusively on emission nebulae that I can use the light pollution filter with.

#Astrophotography #Seestar #SeestarS30Pro #TMMT #ThirtyMilliMetreTelescope

Nog een keer de Messier 13 (M13) afgelopen nacht rond 24 uur werden de condities beter, een stack van 30 foto’s gemaakt en samengevoegd met deze foto als eind resultaat #astrofotography #astronomy #SeeStar #stargazing

Since my telescope was still running when I got up this morning, and the skies were still clear, I did take the opportunity to snap a few pictures of the day star, too.

It's a not a fantastic solar telescope but it does alright for its size. Slightly better results would be achievable by saving raw video and applying the the standard planetary imaging workflow of stacking and sharpening in AutoStakkert!, Registax, whatever but I'm spending enough time processing the night time data so I'm content to just use the in-telescope processed stills.

Word on the street (well, Seestar FB group) is that using Baader Astrosolar film instead of the included solar filter also helps. I think I've got some of that in the cupboard somewhere.

#Seestar #Seestar30Pro #TMMT #ThirtymilliMetreTelescope

This, meanwhile, is a preview. The Large Magellanic Cloud is only just rising high enough to take images of right at the end of the night, plus the Moon is currently almost full which pretty much forced me to use the light pollution filter with everything. I will return to this in a few months when I can hopefully get lots of time in better conditions, and I can try imaging it without the light pollution filter too.

#Astrophotography #Seestar #SeestarS30Pro #TMMT #ThirtyMilliMetreTelescope

The Eagle and its Nest.

This is what my telescope has been spending most time on for the last couple of nights, 9 hours in total. It's the Eagle Nebula, M16 and, below (north) of it, is something the Seestar app calls "NGC 6604 - Nest Nebula".

As far as I can tell it would be more accurate to refer to the nebula as Sh 2-54, NGC 6604 is the star cluster near the centre of it.

Edit: I wasn't entirely happy with the processing so had another stab at it. It's better now.

#Astrophotography #Seestar #SeestarS30Pro #TMMT #ThirtyMilliMetreTelescope

That's better. I'm going to call this done now.

"Eta Carina in Context", all shot with the Thirty Millimetre Telescope (Seestar S30 Pro) from suburban Sydney (Bortle 7), mostly during full Moon, using the built in light pollution filter. Processing in Siril with SyQon and VeraLux.

50% scale version in this post, full resolution (6047×3411) here: https://drhotdog.smugmug.com/Nature/Seeing-Stars/i-RXPkcWj/A

#Astrophotography #ThirtyMilliMetreTelescope #TMMT #Seestar #SeestarS30Pro #Siril #SyQon #VeraLux

Gisteravond laat (het wordt niet echt donker) 1 snelle opname gemaakt van Messier 13 (M13), ook wel bekend als de Herculesbolhoop, is een gigantische bolvormige sterrenhoop in het sterrenbeeld Hercules, voorlopig om de software te leren kennen #Stargazing #SeeStar #m13 #Astrophotography

The Thirty Millimetre Telescope is back outside and cooling down, tonight's Plan has been prepared, and now it's just a matter of waiting for it to get dark.

I will check the polar alignment before starting the plan just in case, but I have found that as long as I don't move the tripod I can detach and reattach the telescope without needing to realign it afterwards.

#Seestar #SeestarS30Pro #ThirtyMilliMetreTelescope #TMMT #Astrophotography

Messier 101 (Pinwheel Galaxy) e a foto da andorinha de ontem adicionadas à coleção que estou a fazer. 😅
#instax #seestar