Continued testing of the Indigo client with AstroDMx Capture

Four nebulae were Captured with AstroDMx Capture, controlling the mount via a newly implemented INDIGO client. The scope was an Altair Starwave 60 ED refractor with an 0.8 reducer/flattener, an Altair Quadband filter and an SVBONY SV605CC 14 bit OSC CMOS camera. We were testing Nicola's implementation of the INDIGO client. PHD2 pulse auto-guiding was also done via INDIGO. The mount was placed on marks on the ground which quickly gives quite a good polar alignment if care is taken with the placement of the tripod feet.

AstroDMx Capture running on the imaging computer indoors sent the scope/mount, via an INDIGO server running on the same computer, to Vega and the scope was focused on the star using a Bahtinov mask and the Pegasus focuser.

An SVBONY SV165 guide scope with a QHY-5II-M guide camera was used for PHD2 multistar pulse auto-guiding. The auto-guiding was controlled by a separate Linux laptop indoors via the INDIGO server

The exposures for each nebula were:

Heart 18 x 5 min = 90 minutes

Soul 14 x 5 min = 70 minutes

Pacman 17 x 5 min = 85 minutes

Helix 30 x 2.5 min = 75 minutes

The images were calibrated and stacked in Deep Sky Stacker, background corrected in GraXpert and post processed in the Gimp 2.10, the Starnet++ Gimp plugin, Neat image and CS2. Channel decomposition, combining and composition, selective colours processing and Channel mixing were used to produce an HOO type palette rendering of the Heart and Soul nebulae.

The Heart nebula

AstroDMx Capture capturing data on the Heart nebula

Negative preview

The Heart nebula

HOO type rendering

The Soul nebula

AstroDMx Capture capturing data on the Soul nebula

Negative preview

The Soul nebula

HOO type rendering

The Pacman nebula

AstroDMx Capture capturing data on the Pacman nebula

Negative preview

The Pacman nebula

The Helix nebula

AstroDMx Capture capturing data on the Helix nebula

Negative preview

The Helix nebula

The session was a success. The few anomalies that were detected were noted and have been resolved.

INDIGO support is getting closer to release.

Resurrecting an old, cheap refractor.

I came across an old 70mm refractor that we were using 13 years ago as a guide scope. It is a cheap Meade RB-70. The specifications are on a label on the focuser housing.

Click on any image to get a closer view.

The scope being used as a guide scope in November 2010

These scopes are no longer available. the RB series having been recently discontinued, and superseded by the Meade Infinity 70mm refractor which has similar specifications but a more robust AZ mount. Being an f/10, 70mm refractor, the colour correction of the air-spaced doublet achromat lens is acceptable. The large dew shield works well preventing the formation of condensation on the objective.

The scope was cleaned and even after a long time of disuse, it was a simple matter to clean all surfaces of the doublet objective and replace the elements in the lens cell.

Tube rings had originally been fitted when the scope was used as a guide scope. Now they were attached to a dovetail bar for attachment to a mount and a Skywatcher finder shoe was fitted to hold a small guide scope in place in case the scope is tested for deep sky imaging.

The test involved imaging the 65.3% waxing Moon.

The scope was mounted on a Celestron AVX mount and a Player One Mars-C II camera, fitted with an IR/UV cute filter was placed in a higher quality diagonal than the one that came with the scope.

The imaging equipment

AstroDMx Capture was used to capture 1200-frame SER files of four overlapping areas of the Moon

The best 85% of the frames in each of the SER files were stacked in Autostakkert!

 

The resulting four files were stitched into a 4-pane mosaic in Microsoft ICE

The image was then wavelet processed in waveSharp

The image was then post processed in the Gimp 2.10 and reorientated to produce the final image

65.3% waxing Moon

The Meade RB-70 functioned well as a lunar imaging telescope.

When time permits, the scope will be tested with other cameras with different sensor sizes and on some deep sky objects

Feature Release Version 2.4.1 of AstroDMx Capture

Nicola has released Version 2.4.1 of AstroDMx Capture

Mutatis mutandis

This version of AstroDMx Capture 2.4.1 is a minor Feature Release including a number of SDK updates.

Astrometric Functions

It is now possible to solve the current starfield without correcting the mount. This is useful if the user wishes to find out exactly where the mount is pointing without making any changes to the position of the telescope. This function will solve the starfield and then report the centre of the field of view RA/DEC coordinates to the user.

Astronomical Mathematics

Transit times (the time an object crosses the user’s local meridian) for circumpolar objects are now calculated. If an object is circumpolar then rise and set times show “Circumpolar” but the transit time is shown in the user’s local time. 

Most of the astronomical mathematics have been rewritten for greater accuracy. It is vital that the user’s geographical coordinates are entered correctly and that the date/time is set correctly to use most of the mount control functionality. Any error in geographical coordinates or date/time inaccuracy will result in object positions/rise/transit/set times and GOTOs being incorrect.

Assisted meridian flip

There are improvements to the code for the assisted meridian flip 

SDK Updates

The following SDKs have been updated.

• ZWO
• QHY
• Altair
• OmegonPro
• RisingCam
• Touptek
• StarshootG
• PlayerOne

AstroDMx Capture for all operating systems can be downloaded HERE.

 

First Light for AstroDMx Capture with INDIGO mount control

First Light for AstroDMx Capture with INDIGO mount control and PHD2 autoguiding via INDIGO

Nicola has spent some time refactoring the code of AstroDMx Capture to facilitate the implementation of an INDIGO client so that everything that can currently be controlled via an INDI server will also be controlled via an INDIGO server.

At the moment, mount control has been implemented and the current imaging session was to test that function.

Exposures were captured with AstroDMx Capture through an Altair Starwave 60 ED refractor with an 0.8 reducer/flattener, an Altair Quadband filter and an SV605CC 14 bit OSC CMOS camera. The scope was mounted on a Celestron AVX mount.

The mount was placed on marks on the ground which quickly gives quite a good polar alignment if care is taken with the placement of the tripod feet.

The weather was poor and image capture was limited to a short period of time.

AstroDMx Capture running on the imaging computer indoors sent the scope/mount, via an INDIGO server running on the same computer, to the star Deneb and the scope was focused on the star using a Bahtinov mask.

An SVBONY SV165 guide scope with a QHY-5II-M guide camera was used for PHD2 multistar pulse auto-guiding. The auto-guiding was controlled by a separate Linux laptop indoors via the INDIGO server

AstroDMx Capture sent the scope/mount to the galaxy M33, with plate solving and was used to capture 30 minute’s worth of 5-minute exposures before clouds brought an end to the imaging session.

AstroDMx Capture capturing 5-minute exposures of M33

The Imaging computer indoors capturing data on M33

Dark frames, Flat fields, Dark Flats and Bias calibration frame were used in the stacking of the data in Deep Sky Stacker.

The stacked image was processed in Siril, Gimp 2.10, the Gimp Starnet++ Version 2 plugin, Photoshop CS2 and Neat Image.

M33 the Triangulum galaxy

This first light for the AstroDMx Capture INDIGO client mount control was successful.

Nicola is continuing to implement the INDIGO framework in AstroDMx Capture. This will eventually be released as Version 3.

Imaging the Cocoon nebula in Cygnus

Imaging IC 5146, Caldwell 19, Sh 2-125, Barnard 168, the Cocoon nebula in Cygnus

Exposures were captured with AstroDMx Capture through an Altair Starwave 60 ED refractor with an 0.8 reducer/flattener, an Altair Quadband filter and an SV605CC 14 bit OSC CMOS camera. The scope was mounted on a Celestron AVX mount.

As usual, the mount was placed on marks on the ground which quickly gives quite a good polar alignment if care is taken with the placement of the tripod feet.

AstroDMx Capture running on the imaging computer indoors sent the scope/mount, via an INDI server running on the same computer, to the star Vega and the scope was focused on the star using a Bahtinov mask.

An SVBONY SV165 guide scope with a QHY-5II-M guide camera was used for PHD2 multistar pulse auto-guiding. The auto-guiding was controlled by a separate Linux laptop indoors.

AstroDMx Capture sent the scope/mount to the Cocoon nebula, with plate solving and was used to capture 35 minute’s worth of 5 minute exposures before clouds brought an end to the imaging session.

AstroDMx Capture capturing 5 minute exposures of the Cocoon nebula

Dark frames, Flat fields, Dark Flats and Bias calibration frame were used in the stacking of the data in Deep Sky Stacker.

The stacked image was processed in Siril, Gimp 2.10, the Gimp Starnet++ Version 2 plugin, Photoshop CS2 and Neat Image.

The Cocoon nebula

What is known as the Cocoon nebula is a group of associated structures:

First is the bright Cocoon, a combination of emission, reflection and absorption nebulae which contain the open star cluster Collinder 470. This structure of stars and nebulosity is located at the end of the dark nebula Barnard 168 which has the appearance of a dark lane leading to the stars and nebulae of the Cocoon.