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My stars stink an I can't figure out why. Next I'm going to try to reduce any vibrations coming from the fan on the 2600mm camera. I guess this can be an issue with the 2600 mm.
Sharpstar Z4 550mm f/5.5
ZWO ASI2600MM Pro
ZWO AM5
Antlia EDGE Filters H-alpha 4.5nm 36 mm, OIII 4.5 nm, SII 4.5 nm
ZWO ASIAIR Plus, ZWO EAF, ZWO EFW 7 x 36mm
Guiding ZWO OAG with ASI174MM
~ 18 hours, Bortle 5, Gain 100, -10C
Sii 154 x 120”
Oiii 162 x 120”
Ha 225 x 120”
Only used about 40 darks, no Flats or Bias.
Ok, wrong place to post. I can’t delete it now. I’ll go elsewhere. For some reason I thought I remembered Astro postings here. I should have looked before posting.
Leah Hallett wrote:
Ok, wrong place to post. I can’t delete it now. I’ll go elsewhere. For some reason I thought I remembered Astro postings here. I should have looked before posting.
Your certainly welcome to post here, but I would guess you are already shooting at a technical level beyond most here as far as astro. I was thinking cloudynights would be a better option for help at the level your at.
If I can ask, what is it you don't like about the stars? I like the diffraction spikes on the bright stars. I assume they are from the support to a secondary mirror in your scope and not added in post. I see some stars that are very small and others that are larger. So the larger stars could be from blooming due to some lens aberration or maybe the star is behind the nebula and is a result of forward scattering of the dust in the nebula, so nothing to fix.
Looks like your south of Indy, where do you go to shoot astro? I'm a couple hours west of Indy, There is a decent spot a bit east of me, but it favors shooting towards the south because of cities to the north.
tschopp wrote:
Your certainly welcome to post here, but I would guess you are already shooting at a technical level beyond most here as far as astro. I was thinking cloudynights would be a better option for help at the level your at.
If I can ask, what is it you don't like about the stars? I like the diffraction spikes on the bright stars. I assume they are from the support to a secondary mirror in your scope and not added in post. I see some stars that are very small and others that are larger. So the larger stars could be from blooming due to some lens aberration or maybe the star is behind the nebula and is a result of forward scattering of the dust in the nebula, so nothing to fix....Show more →
The stars are not round especially in the corners. Kine or egg shape with a tail. Almost looks like trails but it's not. I replaced the fan in the ASI 2600mm last night with the silicone hold downs instead of screws and the sorbothane washers - but the stars are only a tad better. I must have some tilt, lens aberration or SOMETHING? I was hoping it wasn't lens aberration. I just started this hobby in March and this is my first scope. It was a new scope to the market and maybe not quite ready for prime time.
I actually do add the star spikes in post using StarSpikes Pro lol.
tschopp wrote:
Looks like your south of Indy, where do you go to shoot astro? I'm a couple hours west of Indy, There is a decent spot a bit east of me, but it favors shooting towards the south because of cities to the north.
I live in Columbus just West of 65 in Tipton Lakes. I shoot from my concrete back porch. I 'm very limited here because of tall trees and a tall spruce . It's a bortle 5 here believe it or not!
I reimaged this Elephant Trunk Nebula last night after changing out the camera fan to the noctua and all the anti-vibration fixins. The stars look a little bit better...
If you hadn’t said anything I would not have even noticed it, however I’m just the casual viewer of your unique type of photography. I think they look great.
The stars are not round especially in the corners. Kine or egg shape with a tail. Almost looks like trails but it's not. I replaced the fan in the ASI 2600mm last night with the silicone hold downs instead of screws and the sorbothane washers - but the stars are only a tad better. I must have some tilt, lens aberration or SOMETHING? I was hoping it wasn't lens aberration. I just started this hobby in March and this is my first scope. It was a new scope to the market and maybe not quite ready for prime time.
I actually do add the star spikes in post uses StarSpikes Pro lol.
Thanks for the links!
Leah
...Show more →
Leah, if you were using a camera or camera/lens combination, I would suggest stopping down, to improve the corners. It may not resolve the issue completely, but it can definitely help. That's very good for a suburban Bortle 5
Jim
Leah, if you were using a camera or camera/lens combination, I would suggest stopping down, to improve the corners. It may not resolve the issue completely, but it can definitely help. That's very good for a suburban Bortle 5
Jim
Thanks Jim, but I'm using an astro camera (ASI 2600mm) the telescope is the lens.
Here are 2 links with dedicated astrophotography forums that should be able to help you. 
