#seestars30pro — Public Fediverse posts

While it's not as colourful as the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex the Corona Australis molecular cloud region also makes for a decent photo, if you're patient enough.

To get this with the Thirty Millimetre Telescope from my light polluted suburban Sydney backyard I stacked a total of 3909 individual 30 second exposures, i.e. 32.6 hours total exposure time. All processing was done in Siril with RC Astro and VeraLux scripts. Full resolution version here: https://drhotdog.smugmug.com/Nature/Seeing-Stars/i-d3vJ89q/A

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

While it's not as colourful as the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex the Corona Australis molecular cloud region also makes for a decent photo, if you're patient enough.

To get this with the Thirty Millimetre Telescope from my light polluted suburban Sydney backyard I stacked a total of 3909 individual 30 second exposures, i.e. 32.6 hours total exposure time. All processing was done in Siril with RC Astro and VeraLux scripts. Full resolution version here: https://drhotdog.smugmug.com/Nature/Seeing-Stars/i-d3vJ89q/A

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

While it's not as colourful as the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex the Corona Australis molecular cloud region also makes for a decent photo, if you're patient enough.

To get this with the Thirty Millimetre Telescope from my light polluted suburban Sydney backyard I stacked a total of 3909 individual 30 second exposures, i.e. 32.6 hours total exposure time. All processing was done in Siril with RC Astro and VeraLux scripts. Full resolution version here: https://drhotdog.smugmug.com/Nature/Seeing-Stars/i-d3vJ89q/A

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

While it's not as colourful as the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex the Corona Australis molecular cloud region also makes for a decent photo, if you're patient enough.

To get this with the Thirty Millimetre Telescope from my light polluted suburban Sydney backyard I stacked a total of 3909 individual 30 second exposures, i.e. 32.6 hours total exposure time. All processing was done in Siril with RC Astro and VeraLux scripts. Full resolution version here: https://drhotdog.smugmug.com/Nature/Seeing-Stars/i-d3vJ89q/A

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

While it's not as colourful as the Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex the Corona Australis molecular cloud region also makes for a decent photo, if you're patient enough.

To get this with the Thirty Millimetre Telescope from my light polluted suburban Sydney backyard I stacked a total of 3909 individual 30 second exposures, i.e. 32.6 hours total exposure time. All processing was done in Siril with RC Astro and VeraLux scripts. Full resolution version here: https://drhotdog.smugmug.com/Nature/Seeing-Stars/i-d3vJ89q/A

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

One further design iteration of my 3D printed lens hood/light baffle seems to have done the trick. v5b goes back to the 5 mm long, 2 perimeters thick telescope interface but bumps up the diameter just slightly for a snug push fit into the aperture on the 'scope. The thread is in place to stop it dropping on to the concrete patio tiles when the Seestar closes itself at the end of the night so hopefully I won't get any more broken lens hoods.

I've designed all these so that they shouldn't induce any vignetting at all, but I'll still take some new twilight flats shortly just in case the illumination is slightly different to the previous version.

The weather forecast says it'll be clear pretty much all night but that humidity will hit 99% by around midnight so it'll probably be foggy before morning. Definitely a night to turn the dew heater on, but the lens hood should also help keep condensation off the lens.

#Seestar #SeestarS30Pro #3Dprinting #FreeCAD #FreeCADFriday #TMMT #ThirtyMillimetreTelescope #Astrophotography #SmartTelescope #SmartScope

Rapid prototyping.

I quickly knocked up v5a of my lens hood/light baffle design (loop for attaching a thread, telescope interface wall 3 perimeters thick instead of 2, but 3 mm long instead of 5, opening half angle increased from 2.3° to 2.4°), printed it on my Prusa Mini+, and put it on the telescope by the time the night was about half over.

I'm pretty happy with the design but it did expose the issues with relying on a push fit. Despite being designed with the exact same outer diameter as my previous lens hoods this one (and only this one) was too loose, and was going to fall out when the telescope moved. An emergency application of a single strip of masking tape on the interface surface to tighten it up may just be enough to keep it in place for tonight, but I'll need to investigate more tomorrow.

I may be partly due to my printer producing a smoother surface than the previous prints that suffered from cold conditions, but I suspect it was actually the shortening by 2 mm that is the main problem. Now that I think about it I recall there being a fine moulding line or seam between parts a few mm inside the aperture. My previous lens hood might have been relying on that for grip, and the new one doesn't quite reach it. I can tweak the dimensions to try to get the perfect fit but I really should find a way to use the magnets instead.

#Seestar #SeestarS30Pro #3Dprinting #FreeCAD #SmartTelescope #TMMT #ThirtyMillimetreTelescope