1,000% CPU utilization in Astro Pixel Processor. I'm three hours into processing this stack of 720 luminance images for M101. It's currently 29% in writing the light stacked image. So I anticipate about 4 hours total to stack this set. Interestingly CPU utilization isn't maxed. This iMac Pro has 32GB RAM, and 8 cores clocked at 3.2 GHz.
What do you do with the organized or unorganized chaos of your astrophotography library of images as you continue to add to it over time? I end up with dozens and dozens of folder within folder sorted by date and object. Well, Observatory has shown that there's a better way.
After importing your images (which is just a reference to your files on your drive, so very little additional space is required) you can plate solve the images for automatic tagging by all the known astronomical databases. The benefit of this is that any object you've purposely captured, or objects you inadvertently captured are tagged in your images. You can then create smart folders which then subdivide your set of images into nice little categories like galaxies, nebulas, planetary nebulas, etc.
Additionally you can batch tag your images with equipment you used, and also have those same images flow into smart folders for sets of equipment you used. The benefit being that you might have imaged a smaller galaxy or object with a wide FOV set of equipment, and you want to revisit that object with a narrow FOV set of equipment. This could really help in planning your imaging sessions going forward. And, if your'e a completionist like I am, and intend to image the whole Messier catalog, this is a great way to keep track of it.
Automatic tagging and smart folders, show you what images in your library match the criteria of the folder selected.
There are some light weight stacking, and calibration features that work well for one shot color cameras, which take folders of hundreds of images and displays them in a single stack to mitigate the clutter. I would like to see some way to integrate mono channels into single stacks by selecting each channel and assigning it a color.
Additionally, a small, but powerful feature of adding astronomical image types to quicklook is an amazingly beneficial too for browsing your images in the finder. No more loading images to see what they are, when you select one and press the spacebar, you see it instantly.
Some things I'd like to see come to a future version are better management tools for your equipment, since this is only done through tagging right now. I would like some place to store equipment I own, so it's easier to select when tagging images. I'd also like to see FOV overlays of my equipment on some of the research portions of the data. (Incidentally, the application has access to vast NASA libraries of images you can download into and view.) It would be nice to pull up a Hubble image and see how my gear could frame it, and what might be the best possible set of gear to use when planning a session on a particular object. Other information like object rise and set time based on my location would be beneficial for planning sessions.
In all though, this is a great v1 of a cataloging application for astronomical images, and I look forward to what v2 will bring.
M101 and surrounding nebula are auto tagged once the image is plate solved.
Markarian's Chain has an enormous amount of galaxies hidden deeper into the image that are only revealed after plate solving.
A recent addition to my set of telescopes. This is probably the most economically viable Ritchey-Chrétien telescope money can buy. It can be found for around $350 at most places. I bought this one used for even less. The Ritchey-Chrétien design is probably most famous for being the same optical design that's in the Hubble Telescope. This is probably the largest scope I can feasibly put on my mount for weight reasons. The AVX has a 30lb max payload capacity, and the AT6RC is around 13lbs with no other gear. So, I'm probably pushing 18-20lbs of astronomical gear with this scope. Due to the long focal length, getting the polar alignment dialed in is crucial. But once set, I'm able to get some half way decent images out of it.
These images show all the gear set up and ready for a night of imaging. Pictured here is the AVX mount, AT6RC, Orion 60mm Guide scope, ZWO ASI1600MM-Cool camera for primary imaging, ZWO ASI224MC camera for guiding, the ZWO 8 slot electronic filter wheel with LRGB and Narrowband filters, an Astrozap dew heater on the guide scope, Astrozap dew shield, and a Bahtinov mask from Grosky.
M51, Whirlpool galaxy taken on this setup later that evening.
Here she is. The 2017 iMac Pro, and my new astrophotography processing workstation. I've just moved up from a 2013 Mac Pro. The new setup includes two Dell P2715Q 27" 4k monitors along with the iMac's 5k 27" monitor. The iMac consists of an 3.2GHz 8-core Intel Xeon W CPU with 32GB RAM. Performance wise, it's about 2x as fast as my previous 6-core Mac Pro. It's connect to both a 6TB and an 8TB RAID storage solution. The 6TB is backup currently, and the 8TB stores all my data and work files.
I'm currently running Astro Pixel Processor on the left display for calibration and integration of captured images. I'm running PixInsight on the middle monitor for processing the integrated images, and I have PhotoShop running on the right hand monitor for last minute color touch up.
This setup might seem like overkill, and it probably is. It's primary use is as my home business graphic design and video system.
Pictured in the setup from left to right is the Dell P2715Q 4k Monitor below that is some Sennheiser HD 650 headphones, a Blu-ray disk drive, the Schiit Audio Asgard headphone AMP and PreAMP. Then the 2017 iMac Pro base model, a 1TB portable G-Drive for transferring images off my 13" 2015 MacBook Pro capturing laptop. A Sphero Star Wars BB-8 robot, World of Warcraft mouse pad, the other Dell P2715Q, and an XBOX 360 controller for games.
Above the monitors is a Mission Chart from when I worked at NASA. It features the mission and communications route for the Shuttle flight STS 51-G. Hanging to the left is a flowchart showing the history of Apple hardware up to the 2013 Mac Pro.
Yours truly…not an actual astronaut, and not an actual space suit.
I imaged IC410 over a single night using my Explore Scientific 102mm FCD-100 telescope, ASI1600MM-Cool camera, and the ZWO narrowband filters. I took 75 images that were exposed for 5 minutes each. 25 HA, 25 OIII, and 25 SII images in total.
I used AstroPixel Processor to combine and integrate the images into a single master HA, OIII, and SII frame. From there I imported all three into PixInsight and followed this Light Vortex Astronomy tutorial for processing the individual frames. Note that their tutorial covers a two frame process, and I had three. I just applied the same processing techniques to each of my three frames.
Where I had to diverge from the above tutorial was when combining the images into a single color RGB image. I researched and found the following PixelMath formula for PixInsight to combine the 3 frames:
R: 0.5*SII + 0.5*HA
G: 0.15*HA + 0.85*OIII
B: OIII
Once done, I wrapped up the tutorial and concluded with the finished image seen above.
I also went back to this same image and reprocessed it in the Hubble telescope pallet.
I took advantage of a recent sale on ZWO cameras, and sold my old color camera to move into mono imaging. The benefit of using mono is increased resolution and sensitivity in the camera. One shot color cameras have a Bayer matrix over the sensor which is like a screen door with red, green, and blue filters placed over every third pixel. These pixels are merged into a single color photograph in the software after the image is taken.
In a mono camera, you shoot black and white, and use a individual color filters over the entire sensor so that all of the sensor is shooting in that one color. After you're done imaging, you merge all the colors into a single higher fidelity image. Below is one of my first attempted color images using LRGB filters (Luminance, Red, Green, and Blue).
M42 (Orion Nebula) shot in LRGB on my ES102mm ED telescope.
While taking pictures of the moon last night, I noticed Uranus was in view, so I pointed the telescope at it and took around 300 images to combine and stack into this final image.
I upgraded to this Moonlite 2" crayford design focuser for a few reasons. The initial reason was that the compression ring clamp that came with the Explore Scientific scope didn't compress very well. The reducer I have has a beveled edge, and it just wouldn't grab it tight enough. The weight of the camera made the reducer shift in place, which made artifacts show up in my images from the shift. Secondary reason is that the built in drawtube is not very long, which means that to switch between imaging and visual, you have to add and remove extension tubes. With the Moonlite, the drawtube is 4.5" long and can accommodate both lengths just by rolling it in and out to the desired length. No more threading black extension tubes onto a black drawtube in the dark.
Installation was very straight forward. The focuser is collimated at the factory, so I only need to unbolt the 6 hex screws where it meets the OTA tube, and then replace them with the new focuser. Took about 10 minutes. My only gripe would be that I wish they included the allen wrench required for putting in the new screws.
There are a few options you can order. I did the dual rate focuser, with focuser lock, and two vixen style mounts for finder scopes or laser pointers. Additionally you can add a stepper motor and electronic control for focusing from your computer. This is something I'll likely add later, but so far I've not had any issues with losing focus during the night.
About a week ago, I made my first "real" attempt to image something in the night sky. I say first real attempt, because I believe I have the correct equipment and setup that I'm willing to work with. It's taken me a year to get comfortable imaging objects in the night sky, and almost all of it has been a learning experience.
For the first time, I have a scope, mount, camera, filter, proper imaging train, and enough knowledge to know how long to expose the object, take proper lights, flats, and bias images to achieve a decent outcome. I think it's a great first attempt, and am happy with the results.
Today I joined the Planetary Society to contribute to and advance science and a future in space exploration.
