[Theme] Night sky shots

[Akira]

Again, nice nebula image!

You posted the image of the same area in the past (#226 in 2018).  How do you see the difference between that and this new one in terms of the overall quality of the image datum?   Frankly the color of the older image looks a bit richer to my eye.

[Øivind Tøien]

Again, nice nebula image!

You posted the image of the same area in the past (#226 in 2018).  How do you see the difference between that and this new one in terms of the overall quality of the image datum?   Frankly the color of the older image looks a bit richer to my eye.

I agree, my last image is literally speaking a bleak representaion of my previous result:
https://nikongear.net/revival/index.php?topic=1992.msg129664#msg129664
As I recall I did spend a lot of time with control points on that one to bring out the nebulous colors.

It partly illustrates the difficulty of processing that can sometimes be a bit hit and miss, especially if one is doing fairly quick processing without having too much time available. As DSS/LibRaw does not support Z8 yet (it will process them but colors seems off) I used Sequator for this one, and it seems to be a bit variable with how well it works on individual takes. In addition the star-shrinking in StarTools might be an issue. When I initially edited it I forgot that my computer screen was in night mode and colors sort of looked OK  , but then this morning I noticed it was too dark and replaced it with a brighter version. There are other programs out there, for instance Siril which is also free, but I have not had time to really get into it. The commercial standard used by the more advanced astrophoto users is PixInsight and its many plugins, however it is seems it would take quite some time to master it, so perhaps not so suitable for occasional use.

In the same imaging session I did a very short test on the area in Cygnus from the deep "valley" around the Sadr to the Crescent Nebula (lower right) with only 9 minutes total integration time, also processed in Sequator, and was very surprised how useful the result was without too excessive noise levels. For both the Veil Nebula and this test I used the 300 PF. The purpose of the test was to perform a comparison of the PF flare around Sadr, which is the worst I have gotten on any star - there is something about the wavelengths in combination with the brightness of that star.  The image is somewhat cropped down from the FX frame. The only further processing was a moderate stretch and background level adjustment and minimal color correction in CNX2. (I also did a similar test with the 500PF right before that, but sort of screwed up by not realising I had the Z8 in DX mode -small version provided below, ca 22min integration time).

[armando_m]

It has been a while since I did any night time shooting, other than a quick wide angle milky way

Very nice images Øivind

[Øivind Tøien]

Thanks, Armando.

[Akira]

Thank you for the details, Øivind.  I'm looking forward to the reports of your further experiences of astrophotography.

[knb]

I’m with Akira here. I may not be very active for the time being, but I’m always returning to this thread to check out your latest efforts Øivind.

[Øivind Tøien]

Thanks Akira and Kjetil,
I hope it can inspire others do their own exploration. Although it is very far from the better images posted in the astro forums with the best techniques and equipment, it is a great personal journey to experience what can be achieved with relatively simple equipment and a great way to get familiar with what is out there.

[armando_m]

Thanks Akira and Kjetil,
I hope it can inspire others do their own exploration. Although it is very far from the better images posted in the astro forums with the best techniques and equipment, it is a great personal journey to experience what can be achieved with relatively simple equipment and a great way to get familiar with what is out there.

I reached similar conclusion, there is a limit for what I'm willing to spend both in equipment and time, the satisfaction of obtaining images of my own is sufficient.

[Akira]

I'm with Armando.

It is easy to access the images shot with the state-of-the-art equipment at various website, even those shot with HST or JWST as the extreme examples.

Øivind's images are valuable because they inspire and encourage us to shoot the night sky by making full use of what we already have maybe only with some small additional things.

[Øivind Tøien]

We got the redest aurora last night that I ever encountered at these latitudes, and it lasted for more than an hour! After some initial captures at my cabin (monthly thread), I walked over to the little local lake with a better view to the north. The red auroras are not easy to spot by eye that lacks red sensitivity at low light, so bring out the camera! These were captured with the 14-30mm @ f/4 with 4-8 sec exposures on the Z8 at ISO 3200. I finally happily walked back down the calm of my road with Capella, Jupiter and the Pleiades keeping me company in a less colorful sky .

[Akira]

Wow, these are amazing captures of a rare pageant!  The last one is a beautiful collaboration of the stars and the remnant of the aurora.  Thank you for sharing!

According to a quick search, the spectrum of red aurora is at 630nm.  Might it be a little easier to capture with the sensor than the H-alpha spectrum of 656.3nm?

[Øivind Tøien]

Wow, these are amazing captures of a rare pageant!  The last one is a beautiful collaboration of the stars and the remnant of the aurora.  Thank you for sharing!

According to a quick search, the spectrum of red aurora is at 630nm.  Might it be a little easier to capture with the sensor than the H-alpha spectrum of 656.3nm?

Thanks, Akira. Yes the red of the aurora is no problem as it is well below the cutoff of most DSLR/mirrorless UV-IR cut filters, while the H-alpha is right around the cutoff so can vary with different unmodified camera models. It is still early in the evening at 9PM here, but the activity is already on. It is mostly cloudy, but the Poker Flat sky camera already shows strikes of green, and red veils behind the clouds. Edit: Link to cam  https://allsky.gi.alaska.edu/

[Øivind Tøien]

It was not so red anymore, but we got some powerful nice green shapes.
"Container house width a view."

[aerobat]

We got the redest aurora last night that I ever encountered at these latitudes, and it lasted for more than an hour! After some initial captures at my cabin (monthly thread), I walked over to the little local lake with a better view to the north. The red auroras are not easy to spot by eye that lacks red sensitivity at low light, so bring out the camera! These were captured with the 14-30mm @ f/4 with 4-8 sec exposures on the Z8 at ISO 3200. I finally happily walked back down the calm of my road with Capella, Jupiter and the Pleiades keeping me company in a less colorful sky .

These are phantastic Øivind, well done!

[Øivind Tøien]

Thanks, Daniel!

An extra shot from the second day, perhaps on the spooky side.

The forecast is at kp5-kp8 for the coming two days, so watch out for a new event!