Newest best, and probably the last gear (Patrick Stevenson)

Newest best, and probably the last gear

For a number of years after retiring from Steward Observatory Mirror Lab I have been trying a variety of hardware and software for me to demonstrate my favorite astrophotography setup. At 76 I realize that I may not have many years left to engage in my favorite hobby before I become part of the ether that will give my successor's a small part to enjoy. Since my early years (1958) I fell in love with the monstrous Newtonian weapons that represent REAL telescopes. I tried refractors now and then but was never really happy. Earlier this year I was engaged in my last project that I was certain would represent my last project when I met Dr. Earl Beers, a doctor with the VA. He was close to my age and his enthusiasm drew me to visit him at his home where he had a Takahashi 105 on an EQ-6 mount. He demonstrated a device called an ASIair Pro control mechanism that I had not seen before. By the end of the evening, I was sold on trying just one more "trick" before I gave up. Now I have this new stuff that just added at least ten more years to my hobby (unless I get hit by a truck).

Cloudy Nights

Please note: The following tables are updated every 24 hours.

Distribution of astrophotographers

This table shows the number of distinct astrophotographers who have been assigned and IOTD/TP award compared to the total number of images awarded.
	Distinct awarded users	Total awarded images
Image of the day
Top picks
Top pick nominations

Distribution of subject types

This table shows the distribution of awards per subject type, compared to the popularity of images of that subject type.
	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
Deep sky
Solar system
Extremely wide field
Star trails
Northern lights
Noctilucent clouds
Landscape

Distribution of data sources

This table shows the distribution of awards per data source, compared to the popularity of images acquired from that data source.
	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
Backyard
Traveller
Own remote observatory
Amateur hosting facility
Public amaeteur data
Professional, scientific grade data
Mix of multiple sources
Other
Unknown

The “AstroBin Image of the Day and Top Picks”, or IOTD/TP, is a long-running system to promote beautiful, interesting, peculiar, or otherwise amazing astrophotographs, with a focus on technical excellence. Learn more.

Submitted The date and time when you submitted this image for IOTD/TP consideration.	...
Views by Submitters (available since September 19th, 2023) Every image is assigned to 50% of available Submitters. In the event that at least 80% of them don't view the image before its time in the IOTD/TP process expires, it's assigned to the other 50% of Submitters and the process begins anew.
Promotions by Submitters When 3 distinct Submitters promote the image, it moves on to the next stage of the process: evaluation for Top Pick status. This requirement, in addition to anonymization of images and distribution to only a subset of them, prevents biases and ensures that the best images are selected.
Promotions by Reviewers When 3 distinct Reviewers promote the image, it moves on to the next stage of the process: evaluation for IOTD status.
Early dismissal Staff members have a lot of images to inspect on a daily basis, and they can dismiss images if they believe they don't meet the requirements for IOTD/TP selection. If an image is dismissed 5 times, it's removed from the process. This streamlines the process and ensures that any bias present in promotions could be overruled by other staff members.

Status	Basic failed
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	6405109
PixInsight job	n/a
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