M37 plus uguided and guided data on IC 2177 and their combination

A William Optics ZenithStar 66 SD Apochromatic refractor wasmounted on a Celestron AVX mount. An Atik 314L mono CCD was mounted at the focus. FITS images with matching dark frames were captured using AstroDMx Capture for macOS of M37. 

35 x 20s exposures were stacked in Affinity Photo and post processed in Affinity Photo and the Gimp 2.10.

M37 in Auriga

The camera was fitted with a H-alpha narrowband filter and 5 minute, unguided FITS images were captured with matching dark frames. 9 x 5min unguided FITS exposures of the central part of the Seagull nebula were stacked in Affinity Photo with flat fields and post processed in Affinity Photo, the Gimp 2.10 and Neat Image.

Unguided Seagull nebula, IC 2177, 45 minutes total exposure time

The next night, the Atik 314L CCD camera fitted with a H-alpha narrowband filter was mounted alongside a 50mm guidescope fitted with a QHY 5L-II mono CMOS guide camera.

The scope was autoguided using PHD2 running on a Fedora Linux computer.

The guiding rig

Screenshot of PHD2 autoguiding.

8 x 10 minute FITS exposures were captured of the central part of the Seagull nebula using AstroDMx Capture for macOS on a Mackbook Air computer.

The equipment capturing images of the Seagull nebula

Screenshot of AstroDMx Capture for macOS capturing 10 minute, guided images of the Seagull nebula, IC 2177.

The FITS images were stacked, dark frame and flat field corrected in Affinity Photo. The final image was post processed in Affinity Photo, the Gimp and Neat Image.

The Seagull nebula, 1 hour, 20 minutes total exposure time

The two images of the Seagull nebula covered slightly different areas of the nebula so they were stitched into a mosaic using Affinity Photo.

Mosaic of the Seagull nebula

Autoguiding allows for longer exposures  and these experiments have shown that PHD2 can be used with Linux, whilst the capturing was done by AstroDMx Capture for macOS.

Testing AstroDMx Capture and an SV305 camera with MX Linux

With a virtually full Moon in the sky, a William Optics ZenithStar 66 SD Apochromatic refractor was mounted on a Celestron AVX mount and an SVBONY SV305 camera was placed at the focus.

AstroDMx Capture for Linux running in MX Linux was used to capture two overlapping 2000-frame SER files

Click on an image to get a closer view

Screenshot of AstroDMx Capture capturing a 2000 Frame SER file in MX Linux

The best 50% of the frames in the SER files were stacked in Autostakkert!, wavelet processed in Registax 6 and post processed in The Gimp and Affinity Photo, and the images stitched in Microsoft ICE.

The Final image

Final image with enhanced colour saturation to reveal more of the mineralogical variation in the Moon's surface

The SV305 once again proves it's worth in combination with a short-tube apochromatic refractor and yet another distribution of Linux; MX Linux.

The Horsehead region with AstroDMx Capture and PHD autoguiding.

A William Optics Zenithstar 66, apochromatic refractor was mounted on an aluminium plate at the side of a short guidescope with a QHY 5L-II M monochrome CMOS camera which was attached by the ST4 guideport to the Autoguiding port of the Celestron AVX mount on which everything was mounted.

An Atik 314L mono CCD camera fitted with a narrowband H-alpha filter was placed at the focus of the apochromatic refractor.

The capture and guidescope mounting on the Celestron AVX mount

The Atik CCD camera was attached to a Macbook Air running AstroDMx Capture for macOS and the QHY CMOS guide camera was attached to a Lenovo ThinkPad X230 laptop running Fedora Linux with PHD2 running as the autoguiding software

The capturing and autoguiding equipment

Screenshot of the PHD2 autoguiding of the scope

The MacBook Air capturing 16-bit FITs data on the Horsehead/Flame nebula regionT

The 16-bit display controls in AstroDMx Capture allowed a good preview of the objects being captured

Screenshot of AstroDMx Capture capturing a 24 minute exposure

10 x 6 minute exposures, 1 x 12 minute exposure and 2 x 24 minute exposures were captured with matching dark frames. The Autoguiding performed extremely well and there was zero movement of the image as each image was captured and displayed.

The FITs files were stacked and calibrated with the dark frames and previously captured flat fields in Affinity Photo on the MacBook. The resulting stacked image, which comprised a total exposure time of 2 hours was post processed in Affinity Photo, The Gimp 2.10 and Neat Image Pro, all on the MacBook.

The Horsehead and Flame nebulae in H-alpha light

Closer view

The Celestron AVX mount performed extremely well in conjunction with the PHD2 autoguiding. The new 16-bit brightness controls enabled the display to be set, non destructively to a pleasing view of the objects being captured without the captured data being affected.

These results demonstrate that macOS is a perfectly good imaging platform using AstroDMx Capture for macOS and all native image processing software.

Maintenance release of AstroDMx Capture Version 0.86.3

Nicola has released a maintenance release (Version 0.86.3) of AstroDMx Capture to fix a couple of issues that have come to light and to improve some of the DSLR control buttons and tool tips.

Mutatis Mutandis

The new startup version checker should alert users to the new version if they already have version 0.86.2 and they start the software within range of their internet connection. Version 0.86.2 should be replaced.

Otherwise, Version 0.86.3 can be downloaded from https://www.astrodmx-capture.org.uk

New Feature Release of AstroDMx Capture

Feature release of AstroDMx Capture for All platforms

Version 0.86.2

Mutatis Mutandis.

The new version can be downloaded from https://www.astrodmx-capture.org.uk

Nicola has made a feature release of AstroDMx Capture on all platforms: Version 0.86.2

It features an improved, non-destructive, incremental 16-bit brightness control that can be used either on its own in Linear mode, or in association with the other visualisation transforms as well as the transform coefficient. This control is to facilitate the visualisation of 16-bit image data as they are captured, but, being non-destructive, does not affect the data that are saved.

AstroDMx Capture now incorporates automatic version checking on startup to check if you are on the latest version. This can be disabled if required and then you can use the manual check procedure in the Help section.

A user-defined Exposure Delay allows the user to set a time delay between exposures so that the screen will update after the set delay. If the user wishes to keep the exposure, this can be done with the Snapshot button.

AstroDMx Capture for the Raspberry Pi

The Raspberry Pi now has support in AstroDMx Capture for 32-bit Raspberry Pi OS for the HQ PiCamera up to resolutions of 1600 x 1200, in 8-bits RGB24.

The PiCamera works with all of the functions such as motion detection, and frame-integration, so increases the utility of the camera within this software.

This is a lower priority part of the AstroDMx Capture project that will be revisited in the future.

INDIGO and INDI

Nicola has started longer term work on INDIGO/INDI support that will increase the application of AstroDMx Capture.

Further progress will, as always, be reported on this blog... Stay tuned!

Experiments with AstroDMx Capture 16-bit preview controls and combining data from different cameras in post processing

Last month I used AstroDMx Capture for macOS with a 14-bit ZWO ASI178MC CMOS camera and a William Optics ZenithStar 66 SD Apochromatic refractor mounted on a Celestron AVX mount to image the Orion nebula.

Click on an image to get a closer view

The Equipment used

150 x 15s exposures were captured, the best 135 were stacked in Deep Sky Stacker and post processed in the Gimp, Affinity Photo, Topaz sharpen and Neat image.

The resulting image

Last night AstroDMx Capture for Linux was used with a 6-bit Atik 314L mono CCD camera fitted with a light pollution filter was used to capture FITS files of the Orion nebula using the same William Optics apochromatic refractor and Celestron AVx mount.

60 x 45s exposures and 40 x 15s exposures were captured with matching dark frames.

The preview controls were set to give a pleasing preview of the 16-bit images being captured.

Screenshot of AstroDMx Capture for Linux capturing FITS data on the Orion Nebula

The FITs files were stacked in Deep Sky Stacker and the resulting image was post processed in the Gimp 2.10

The Orion nebulae

Picture Window Pro 2.5 running in Wine was used to overlay the luminance data from the monochrome image over the Chrominance data of the colour image, blending the images using shift, rotate and scale.

The final image was post processed using Photoshop elements and EasyFoto by softmaker.

The final image of the Orion nebula

The total exposure time for this image was 1.48 hours.

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The same telescope and mount with the Atik camera was used to capture 50 x 90s Fits exposures of the Rosette nebula with matching dark frames.

The equipment used

The 16-bit preview controls were adjusted to give a pleasing preview of the images being captured.

Screenshot of AstroDMx Capture for Linux capturing 90s FITS exposures of the Rosette nebula

The FITS files were stacked in affinity Photo and the result was post processed in the same software.

The Rosette nebula

This image was obtained with a total exposure time of 1.25 hours.

Stacking and processing Deep Sky images with Affinity Photo in macOS and Windows

Things are looking up for astronomers using macOS and Windows.

Affinity Photo by Serif now has Astronomical image stacking in the latest version 1.9.0.

This means that you can stack your deep sky images and then process the result all in a single application, and it is good!

Cropped screenshot showing the Astrophotography Stack as well as other options

Cropped screenshot showing types of frames Affinity Photo can use in the calibration and stacking process as well as the best percentage of files to stack

I have stacked TIFF files and FITS files and the results have been good. It is then a simple matter to move on to the post processing of the stacked image.

Cropped screenshot showing stacking options

Cropped screenshot showing the 'RAW' options.

To test the idea of doing the stacking and processing all within Affinity Photo, a William Optics 66mm, Apochromatic refractor was mounted on a Celestron AVX GOTO mount and a 14-bit ZWO ASI178MC camera was placed at the focus.

The equipment used

AstroDMx Capture for macOS was used to capture 60 x 30s exposures with matching dark frames of the Crab Nebula, using a Region of Interest of 1560 x 1560, which captured sufficient surrounding sky to place the nebula in context.

Screenshot of AstroDMx Capture for macOS capturing data on the Crab Nebula, M1.

Affinity Photo was used to dark frame correct and stack 55 of the images and then process the resulting stacked image.

M1, the Crab Nebula

The whole workflow was straightforward and produced a pleasing result.

This stacking capability of Affinity Photo is a boon to macOS users in particular, but also for Windows users, who now have even more choice of software for image stacking.

Affinity Photo is also a program that nicely complements the Gimp for image processing. 

Affinity Photo is a paid for program but is priced realistically. Also, from time to time, Serif offer substantial discounts as they are doing at the time of writing this article.

I recommend this software particularly to macOS astronomers, who can now take their deep sky image processing from beginning to end within a single program.

The Horsehead, Flame and Rosette nebulae with AstroDMx Capture

A William Optics apochromatic refractor was mounted on a Celestron AVX EQ, GOTO mount. An Atik 314L monochrome 16-bit CCD camera fitted with a narrowband H-alpha filter was placed at the focus of the telescope and AstroDMx Capture for Linux was used to capture 16-bit FITS files. (AstroDMx Capture for Windows or macOS could have been used as they are essentially identical in operation).

The equipment used

40 x 60s exposures of the Horsehead and Flame nebulae were captured with matching dark frames. The images were registered and stacked in Deep Sky Stacker and the autosaved 32-bit file was post processed in the Gimp 2.10, Afinity Photo and Neat Image.

Screenshot of AstroDMx Capture for Linux capturing data on the Horsehead and Flame nebulae.

Various Preview and Software controls were used to visualise the 16-bit image. It should be noted that whilst it is possible to make adjustments to these controls so that the preview is more pleasing to view, the purpose of these controls is to make the preview visible so that the image can be composed and checked during capture. The preview controls have no effect on the saved data. The same is true of the Software controls. 

Example of the Preview and Software controls

The Horsehead and Flame nebulae Stack of 40 x 60s exposures

Screenshot of AstroDMx Capture saving Data on the Rosette nebula

Clouds prevented more than 16 x 60s exposures of the Rosette nebula. Nevertheless, a pleasing image was obtained when the 32-bit autosaved file was post processed in the Gimp, Affinity Photo and Neat image.

The Rosette nebula stack of 16 x 60s exposures

Despite the fact that there was a gibbous Moon in the sky close to Orion, the H-alpha filter allowed the moonlight to be filtered out revealing the H-alpha content of the nebulae.

Modifications to the 16-bit Preview controls were being tested and following some more refinements, will shortly be included in a new release of AstroDMx Capture for Windows, macOS and Linux (including AstroDMx Capture for the Raspberry Pi).

AstroDMx Capture for Windows, macOS or Linux (Including Raspberry Pi) can be downloaded freely here:

https://www.astrodmx-capture.org.uk

The Moon at different scales with an SVBONY SV305 camera

 An SVBONY Full Spectrum SV305 camera (an SV305 manufactured with an optical window in front of the sensor rather than a UV/IR cut filter, which allows the sensor access to a wider range of wavelengths at the red and the blue end of the spectrum; of value for deep sky imaging) was used for these tests. The camera was fitted with a Baader UV/IR cut filter as a soft focus is likely, particularly with a refractor (although a Newtonian should not be affected).

The first experiments used a William Optics ZenithStar 66 SD Apochromatic refractor was mounted on a Celestron AVX EQ, GOTO mount and an SV305 Full spectrum camera fitted with  a Baader UV/IR cut filter.

A 2000 frame SER file was captured using AstroDMx Capture.

Click on an image to get a closer view

Screenshot of AstroDMx Capture for Linux capturing a SER file

The best 90% of the frames were stacked in Autostakert!, wavelet processed in Registax 6 and post processed in the Gimp 2.10.

Closer view

The telescope was then changed for an 8" Celestron SCT fitted with a 0.6 focal reducer and AstroDMx Capture was used for capturing 5000 frame SER files of selected regions of the Moon using a Region Of Interest of 800 x 608

Screenshot of AstroDmx Capture for Linux capturing a SER file of the Clavius/Tycho region of the Moon

The best 20% of the frames in the 5000 frame SER files were stacked in Autostakkert, wavelet processed in Registax 6 and post processed in the Gimp 2.10.

Clavius region

Copernicus

Plato region

The focal reducer was then removed from the SCT and using AstroDMx Capture, 5000 frame SER files were captured using a Region Of Interest of 800 x 608, and using Region of Interest Nudge, to prevent the image from drifting during the capture process.

Screenshot of AstroDMx Capture for Linux capturing a 5000 frame SER file of the Plato region

The best 20% of the frames in the SER files were stacked in Autostakkert!, wavelet processed in Registax 6 and post processed in the Gimp 2.10.

Plato

Clavius

Copernicus

Fitted with a UV/IR cut filter, the Full Spectrum SV305 camera proved to be a first rate imager for the Moon at different scales and with different telescopes.

To obtain the images at larger image scales, a Region Of Interest was used to frame the feature that was to be imaged. Using a ROI allows for faster frame rates, so the SER file can be captured in a shorter period of time. Also, at high focal lengths, any slight tracking issues will lead to significant image drift during the capture period. Therefore, the Region Of Interest Nudge function was used to hold the image and prevent significant image drift.

Capturing 5000 frames allowed for the poorer quality 80% of the frames to be discarded, and the best 20% (1000 frames) to be stacked. The frames that are discarded are in this sense, just as important as the frames that are retained for stacking. Capturing 10000 frames would have been better because then 90% of the frames could be discarded, still leaving 1000 frames to be stacked. A stack of 1000 frames has 31.62 times the signal to noise ratio of a single frame, and this allows the wavelet sliders to be pulled, sharpening the detail, without emphasising the noise in the image.

The Full Spectrum SV305 camera performed well with the addition of a UV/IR cut filter. This is a very good low cost camera that is capable of taking good Lunar images as well as good images of the brighter deep sky objects.

AstroDMx Capture for Windows, macOS or Linux (Including Raspberry Pi) can be downloaded freely here:

https://www.astrodmx-capture.org.uk