More practice with Sequence Generator Pro. This time I turned autofocus off completely and just focused manually. I think that turned out better. For some reason the session hung just before it should have performed a meridian flip (it looks like I had a camera disconnect, or at very least the camera download failed), so I got much less data than I had hoped for. I’ve had a lot of problems with hangs and crashes, but I still really like Sequence Generator Pro’s automatic plate solving, aiming, and meridian-flipping capabilities. Buying a license when the trial runs out is starting to look like a lock. This is my best image of M81 so far. This is in my opinion one of the most beautiful spiral galaxies out there, so it’s a favorite target I’ve returned to repeatedly.
Date: 12 Jan 2016
Subject: M81, Bode’s Galaxy
Scope: AT8IN
Filter: Baader UHC-S
Mount: EQ-6 (EQMOD)
Guiding: Orion ST-80 + DSI Ic + PHD 2.5.0.9 (Win 7 ASCOM)
Camera: DSI IIc, no chiller CCD -5 °C
Acquisition: Sequence Generator Pro with Nebulosity 4.0.4 ASCOM camera driver
Exposure: 31x600 s
Stacking: Neb 4, bad pixel map, bias included, 33 flats, match histograms, manual demosaic & square, trans+rot align, Nebulosity 40-60tile stack.
Processing: StarTools 1.4.305: Crop; Wipe; Rotate 180°; Develop: 84.36%; HDR
ptimize; Color:Scientific, 225% sat; Deconvolute: 3.0 pix; Track: Smoothness 88%, 4.5 pix; Magic: shrink 1 pix; Photoshop CS6 + Astronomy Tools: deep space noise reduction; make stars smaller; local contrast enhancement; Astroframe.
Comments