I apologize if this is known or listed somewhere, but is there an app that will let me know:

-Where to go to be able to see stars? I live close to NYC and I'm not sure I've ever seen a starry night.

-If a particular night will be good? Whether it will be a cloudy night, and moon phase?

What are people using? Maybe a few different apps that will achieve this?

Thank you for your time.

I am looking to get my first dedicated astrophotography and have been debating on whether to get mono or color. I have limited time to image and wanted to still get great shots of nebuale. I am also struggling with my ASI 120mm Mini with my 120mm guide scope and 250mm Redcat 51 main scope. I have heard that a guide camera with a bigger sensor like the ASI 174 mini or ASI 220 mini would perform much better at 120mm focal lengh. I am also planning to build a new rig with around 500 to 600mm focal length and would like to use a 240mm guide scope. So should I go mono or color and what would be the best guide cameras for 120mm and 240mm guide scope focal lengths?

Thank you for reading and responding to this post.

Does anyone have either (or both) of these astrographs? If so, which is better? I've looked at the metrics, and while both have the same f ratio, the focal length of the 180 is shorter than the 555 and they both have the same f ratio (though the aperture on the SVBONY is larger).

Starnet leaves this ugly star halos on 2x Drizzled data. 1x Drizzled is fine. However for my setup 2x drizzle is really beneficial and I really want to use it.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lTEDUKRT8P_YjS9xo9aIXFSCgbcVZzMt/view?usp=sharing

What is causing this? Will StarX be better with that? I tried different drop shrink setting, as well as, GraXpert and DeepSNR denoice, results are similar. Also stars before removal are not bloated or something like that

Hello! I've been using Siril for a long time, but last week while processing some data I noticed that it shows the disk space of the main drive but my home directory in Siril is on my external SSD. I have the newest version of Siril for Apple silicon (I have a M1 Mac mini). Has anyone encountered this issue? How have you fixed it? Thank you for your time and answers.

Here's my Image Train...

Forgive me for not asking about an out of focus, overly zoomed image of a random star and a what is this question... Something newish for today, but caution, I am a newb...

I'm dipping a toe into attaching a relatively inexpensive refactor onto my DLSR (Nikon D750). It is sitting on a Sky Watcher GTi mount. The refactor is a Gskyer 80mm f5 (model #80400). This is my first attempt not using a Nikon variable focus lens. I know this refactor will give me other issues, but it was very inexpensive on craigslist and I thought would be a good starter.

I was not able to get focus just using a T-Ring w/ 1.25" adaptor. I need more length than the focuser can give me. I'm confused with thread sizes, spacers, etc. I bought a set of M42x0.75 spacers. They fit nicely onto the end of the eyepiece holder. However, it pushes the camera away from the set screws in the eyepiece holder. If I use a long enough spacer to get focus, the set screws cannot engage.

The eyepiece holder itself does unscrew from the focuser. That thread, however, is larger than the M42x0.75. If I had to guess, it is M42x1.0, but I don't have a way to verify that. What I think I must need is a set of shims/spacers that are M42x1.0, but I can't find those online. Makes me think I need something else and is why I'm here. Maybe a M42x0.75 shim with eyepiece set screws? A M42x1.0(m) to M42x0.75(f) adapter and an eyepiece adapter that is M42x0.75 on both sides?

Thanks for your suggestions. If the image is not clear, what I currently have from camera to focuser is DSLR, T-Ring w/ 1.25" adaptor, M42 spacer, eyepiece holder (M42x0.75(f) to M42x1.0?(m), and telescope focuser with what I am guessing is M42x1.0.

I own a Canon 70D and I use a t-ring adapter to attach it on to the telescope directly. However, I have noticed that when the camera is attached that the telescope droops from the weight of the camera . Any suggestions on how to combat this? Hopefully without buying a whole new mount

Does anyone use this combination? Is it compatible? Using for live viewing.

I have around 2 Hours of Heart And soul Nebula from Bortle 4. Now i dont have a modified camera So im shooting Pure broadband. Will, after stacking, the picture be worse?

And Is it even Worth it considering i need 7.8× more exposure time in Bortle 6 than i would get in Bortle 4.

Thanks

hey everyone, struggling to reach focus with my canon eos and t adapter with my 8 inch dob, is there anything I'm missing or do I need more equipment and what do I change in the cameras settings?

Ive been looking at camera options for astrophography and i was thinking abt buying a budget dslr or mirrorless. I do need the camera for other things but the only real thing that i wanna know is that will a mirrorless or a dslr be better for astrophotography , the only reason im considering a dslr is because of their ruggedness. My budget options for dslrs are nikon d7500, canon 800d and for mirrorless its the sony a6400. Any advice on specific cameras to buy would also be appreciated

Hello everyone! I recently got my hands on a celestron nexstar 4se. My friend loaned me his Sony Alpha Nex 6 to take pictures. I don’t have a star tracker or anything else, just the 25mm eye piece, Sony t adapter, and celestron T adapter. With the opposition of Saturn coming up, I’d love to get a photo of it next month. So far, I’ve taken still photos of it with 100 ISO and 1/4 shutter speed but I haven’t processed anything. Would stacking pictures be the best bet? There is so much information online and I get lost with the technicalities. I’d really appreciate any advice with what I have. I hope to buy a star tracker by the end of the year once I get comfortable with everything (I want to see the growth in pictures or else I’d buy it now XD). Thank you!!!

My first pair of equipment came in i got a rokinon 14mm 2.8 along with the canon t6 i was looking for some pics i can only really find milky way pics and was wondering if the lense is capable of capturing anything else

Hi everyone! I just recently came back from Iceland and I was really hoping to see the MW. It was a clear night (no clouds) and I was in a town with little/no lights or even houses around. It was during the new moon period too, so no moon light.

Despite all of this, the best I got was a lot of stars (albeit incredible) but I was really hoping it would be my chance to see the MW. I'm from UK, London where it's difficult to see stars as it is. Any advice? Am I missing anything/should know anything?

Hey all,

Im finally ready to pull the trigger on the final parts of my Astro Setup after years of delays and pauses due to real life and career.

Currently I have everything besides the ASIAIR and Guide Scope.

My mount is a EQ6R.

I've seen that now in the ASIAIR software it has built in Polar Alignment with plate solving

Was curious, from all the YouTube videos no one explains but is this using the guide scope or the main scope? Do I still need a guide scope with this feature? Wouldn't the guide scope be used for Auto guiding? I'm not familiar with the ASIAIR software yet so if anyone could share info I would appreciate it. Once you use the built in polar Alignment feature, does your guide scope now track a certain star afterwards to keep your image in frame?

Sorry if this doesn't make sense.

Alex

I'm doing a photometry project using my iPhone 15 Pro to take ProRAW (.DNG) pictures of the Pleiades and I'm using 3-5 second exposures, but looking at the image after, it reads off as 1.1 second exposures. Does anyone know why this is and what the actual exposure time of each image is?

Budget: $2500 (wiggle room).

Country: USA.

Condition: New or used.

Type of Camera: Mirrorless.

Intended use: Photography, video.

If photography; what style: landscape, wildlife, astrophotography.

If video what style: landscape, wildlife (I don't really take videos so it's not that important).

What features do you absolutely need: WEATHER SEALING (perhaps most important as I live in an area that gets lots of rain), flip or articulating screen, more megapixels for cropping, autofocus, sensor stabilization, electronic view finder... a brand and camera that allows me to grow into the hobby.

What features would be nice to have: full frame, touch screen.

Portability: How portable does it need to be? Something that can accompany me on hikes, backpacking.

Cameras you're considering: Canon EOS R5, OM System OM-5, OM System OM-1 Mark II, Fujifilm X-T4, Sony Alpha 7C, Nikon Z7 II.

Cameras you already have: None! Just an I-phone!

Notes: I'm a total beginner to photography. Perhaps the most important thing, as stated, is weather proofing and something that is capable of capturing nature (landscapes, plants, animals, stars and sky).

I've got the Dwarf and a Samsung Phone but I would like to get a real camera and photograph crisp star pictures that won't wash out at higher views. I know the basics (long shutter speed, higher iso, tripod) and I've been studying various cameras and I also need to know of some best lens recommendations. I started an account on KEH and was thinking of the Sony A6000.

can anyone give me a few suggestions, esp for lenses? my budget is a few hundred $$ as I'm just starting out.

Starting off, I know nothing (well very very little) about guiding.

Let me list some of my equipment: Iexos pmc-eight 100, canon 600d, prime lenses 35, 135, 200 & 300mm. Catadioptric lenses of 500 and 1000mm and a 127mm skywatcher mak. RasPi 4 and 5 (Yes, thinking about astroberry server)

Last week i saw a svbony sv165 guidescope on sale for less than 35,- so i grabbed it before it was too late.

That might have been a mistake, because now i don't know what to get next. The tried an true asi120mm or a svbony cam (sv305 à 150,- as i understand, and why are these still so expensive? Ali's 11.11 sale is not even bringing it down much 😅)

(Or.... should i have just gotten the open astro guidecamera with built in dew heater?)

Will i run into issues with the asi in combination with the skymak? Or should work just fine?

Thank you so much in advance for your insights!

Hi guys, An Astrophotography noob here. I’m looking to build a telescope kit for myself for astrophotography. The telescope I was recommended can be purchased with a 0.75 reducer. Is owing a reducer like owning two telescopes?

Do reducers degrade photo quality?

Hey Guys,

I'm currently putting together my first actual astrophotography setup and decided to go for a used William optics Zenithstar 73.

I found a pretty good looking offer with the 73a flattener included.

I want to make sure that the optics are still in a good condition and got this picture from the seller who took it with his full frame sony camera https://imgur.com/a/7WGOm8k (I would be using it with my aps-c Nikon 5600), I dont really know what to exactly look for, so I appreciate any thoughts you might have on it, and if the picture seems fine.

The Telescope seems to be in a really good condition, at least from what I can see on the outside in the pictures.

edit: slightly better version of the image

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vQ9hCOVpDXAjVEJQkPctkHu5gXtM8eg7/view?usp=sharing

(will link an actual high quality one soon)

With so many options out there (paid & free) which software do you use and why?

And what makes it your choice over the others?

Hey all,

Does anyone know of an app that you can put data into and it will give you a rough idea of how long an exposure should be for dslrs before being blown out by light pollution?

Some examples of what I mean:

You want to image the orion nebula in a bortle 9 sky, it might suggest 10 sec frames at iso 400 with a minimum acquisition time of 4 hours in total to get decent details

The eagle nebula in a bortle 3 sky, it might suggest 60 second frames with an iso of 1600 woth a minimum acquisition time of 2 hours in total to get decent details

I find myself in a bortle 8 sky and it's trial an error trying to image with the right amount of time to gather data but not get blown out in post processing and would love something like that to use a reference

Thanks

I’m in the UK where the weather can change frequently, and I’m getting sick of opening my app to see a “☀️” and getting excited for clear skies only to see what the night weather will be and it’ll be 98% cloud cover…

Is there a weather app for stargazing?

Hello, wanting to get further in depth in astrophotography. I currently have a 8 inch dobsonian and a Canon EOS r50, and am wondering what I should do regarding my current gear. I currently have two paths in mind. I want to get some sort of tracking in order to take long exposures. I tried building an eq platform for my dobsonian, but it is proving quite difficult, I’m trying my best to get it to work, but have had many failed attempts. My question is, am I better off just getting a small/budget tracking mount and tripod for my R50 and a telephoto lens? I mainly want to shoot DSO’s, and was going to keep planetary to my dobsonian. My other option is; do I try my very best to get the EQ platform for my dobsonian working, and use the R50 with my dobsonian instead. Will I get better quality photos with the R50, tracking mount and a telephoto lens, or will I get better photos from the R50 and dobsonian combo + a working EQ platform. Also, if the telephoto lens is the better option, please point me in the right direction for a budget friendly option, thanks in advance.

Hello! I have the Celestron C90 scope, but I lost the tripod that it came with.

I tried out another tripod but it was very unstable so I couldn’t see anything. Any recommendations for a good stable tripod?

Main objective is just viewing planets at the moment.

My budget is under $100

Thank you!!

I'm working on building my first setup I've already bought a go-to equatorial mount now I just need telescope and a planetary camera I'm completely stumped on what to get

I'm currently looking at a 8" f/4.9 For planetary camera I'm currently looking at the ZWO ASI178MC.

If anyone has any recomendations or upgrade or other accessories aswell

Also did I get a good deal on my mount I payed just under 200 for a az gti with a polar wedge?

Thank again 👍

I've been into visual astronomy for years and have been wanting to dip my toes into astrophotography lately. I have reasonable expectations and going to start with planetary and some of the brighter dso, nothing crazy yet. I already have a DSLR I can use but also have been considering something like the zwo asi662mc. Would a camera as inexpensive as that outperform a dslr and if not around what price point would be it worth upgrading from a dslr?

Not sure if it's relevant but I live in bortle 5 skies and I have a celestron C8 and a celestron omni xlt 150. I know the CG-4 mount isn't ideal but not looking to do anything crazy yet.

Hello everyone, I am interested in getting into astrophotography and I am wondering if there is a way for me to take decent to high quality pictures with my phone? Like apps or anything like that? I want to get a telescope eventually, but for now that's not possible. My current phone is a Google Pixel 8 and if there's a way, please let me know! I am so fascinated with space and I want to be able to take my own pictures of it!

If not, then I'll suppose I can wait until I have money for a telescope. In which case, what telescope would you recommend for a beginner and does a good job for a decent price? Oh and in case it matters, I live in South Carolina, US

Thank you very much!