Pleiades (M45) has some dark secrets
I was able to pull out some darker whispies as well as several
galaxies hidden in the mist while imaging Pleiades, AKA M45 or
“The Seven Sisters” (I count a lot more than seven!).
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Quickshot: The North America Nebula
A quick process of the North America Nebula. This is about eighteen hours of SHO + RGB data and I like how it turned out 
.
See below for acquisition details.
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RGB & SHO image processing workflows, 2024 edition
In the past few years the tools used to process astro-images have made a
generational leap. Tools built into PixInsight, like WBPP (Weighted Batch
Preprocessor), have simplified calibration and integration, while other free
tools, like Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch (GHS), and SetiAstro’s
helpers are making processing in PI
easier (once you learn them). Other, paid tools, like RC-Astro’s *XTerminator tools have amplified the leap. In this post
I’ll walk through a high-level overview of how I process images. It’s
repeatable, pretty streamlined, and I think that you can get pretty good results
without a lot of theory or math.
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Image processing: PixInsight scripts from theAstroShed
I use PixInsight to process my images and I’ve gotten to a point where I feel
that I have a pretty repeatable workflow (note that I didn’t say that I’m
good). I’ve created a few tools along the way that make things easier for me,
which I figured I’d share with the community.
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Spending some quality time with the Heart Nebula
First remote imaging: Veil Nebula and M101
Another quick post. I have finally had my first night imaging remotely, and everything actually worked!
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Quickshot: The Crescent Nebula - NCG 6888
Still working out the kinks in my full automation routine but making progress
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Quick shot of M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy
In my quest to image remotely I needed a dry run.
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Remote imaging thwarted by reboots: The death of an Eagle
I’ve been (very) slowly getting my imaging rig and shed up to snuff for some
remote imaging. I’ve got various stages of automation underway, including Slack
notifications for when my control computer (a PrimaluceLab Eagle) reboots or if
the retrieval of weather data from the club’s sensor fails. Early December I
noticed an uptick in reboots but didn’t think anything of it, but it turns out
that it was the beginning of the end, signaling the death of an Eagle.
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How I keep my astro images organized
Astrophotography is a pretty data-heavy hobby. One night of imaging can result in
dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of images. In this post I’ll go over my plans
to keep them organized, especially now that I’m starting to image remotely.
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