Utah Astrophotography
Automated Test - 1
While in Bryce Canyon teaching a workshop this last weekend I wanted to try out an idea I've had for a very long time, automated tracked Nightscape imaging. I didn't have enough time to collect the foreground images, but I at least wanted to put together a bit of a test for the sky sequence. Luckily the ASIAir Pro has developed a new plan module which allows importing a mosaic from Telescopius, this allowed me to create a mosaic with the 2600mc Pro and my Voigtlander 50mm APO lens that would cover pretty much the entire arch. I waited a little too long to start the plan (waiting for the moon to set) so the plan ended up only covering a portion of the horizon, in the future I'll arrange the panel order to cover the entire horizon. The AAP controls everything (including slewing and centering the mount on each panel)! Only one panel failed, the target centering coordinates were below the horizon by the time I got to it and it couldn't execute that panel.
This plan is a 35 panel mosaic, each panel is a single 2 minute exposure at gain 100 and f2.5 with my ASI2600mc Pro and Voigtlander 50mm APO lens on a Sky Watcher AZ-GTi mount. Calibrated with a master bias and master flat, edited in PixInsight and Photoshop. We had some pretty crazy airglow that night which made color balancing and stitching a challenge, it moved pretty quick so getting the panels to stitch together evenly was a lot of work!
Automated Test - 1
While in Bryce Canyon teaching a workshop this last weekend I wanted to try out an idea I've had for a very long time, automated tracked Nightscape imaging. I didn't have enough time to collect the foreground images, but I at least wanted to put together a bit of a test for the sky sequence. Luckily the ASIAir Pro has developed a new plan module which allows importing a mosaic from Telescopius, this allowed me to create a mosaic with the 2600mc Pro and my Voigtlander 50mm APO lens that would cover pretty much the entire arch. I waited a little too long to start the plan (waiting for the moon to set) so the plan ended up only covering a portion of the horizon, in the future I'll arrange the panel order to cover the entire horizon. The AAP controls everything (including slewing and centering the mount on each panel)! Only one panel failed, the target centering coordinates were below the horizon by the time I got to it and it couldn't execute that panel.
This plan is a 35 panel mosaic, each panel is a single 2 minute exposure at gain 100 and f2.5 with my ASI2600mc Pro and Voigtlander 50mm APO lens on a Sky Watcher AZ-GTi mount. Calibrated with a master bias and master flat, edited in PixInsight and Photoshop. We had some pretty crazy airglow that night which made color balancing and stitching a challenge, it moved pretty quick so getting the panels to stitch together evenly was a lot of work!