Welcome to the rabbit hole! I find it humbling that you find my work an inspiration, I still feel like I'm only starting out in this hobby. However, that said I can still remember my early days in this hobby and the naive view that I could get away with less integration time and still get a great looking image. 2 main things that are needed in this hobby, 1) As much integration time as possible, 2) Killer processing skills, 3) Money! (That was a bonus point)
Most nebula are perfect for the RedCat51 in my opinion. Sadly we’re currently in galaxy season and then summer will soon be here which is a pain for me as it doesn’t get completely dark. :(
Bortle 6 will be better than 7-8 however, I typically use light pollution filters in anything above bortle 4, although I’ve only ever shot from Bortle 2, 4 and 6. The first time I shot in bortle 2 was the first time I took the filters out which felt odd. These days I think the new enemy is LED street lights because we can’t filter them out. In summer at higher latitudes in the north it doesn’t get dark at all. I still “get away” with shooting in astronomical twilight.
That’s an interesting view on how we used to do astrophotography. I was chatting to the owner of Roboscope at PAS last year and he was telling me about how he used to guide manually for hours!!! I’m not sure I’d enjoy that. 😂 I’d love to live in a bortle 1 or 2 zone, for both day time photography and night time. Ie away from the city. :)
Being a amateurphotographer for as long I remember. And wanting a good telescope, for as long I remember. And never having the money for it. And since now I am on the verge of retirement and wanting to combine these two interests of mine. I was baffled by the amount of knowledge and money needed for it. But, not being able to set my mind on sct or dobs or astographs. On small or large. Besides my wallet of course. I had a feeble hint the, redstar 51 might be the go to system for me. Meaning enough bang for the buck. Instead of a 71 or a 100 Astrograph. But seeing what you sir are able to get out of it, I am convinced this is the scope for me. Thanks for your hard work and sharing it with us Sir. Kudos.
I’d say you couldn’t go wrong with this as a first scope. People use them with DSLRs too but bear in mind that you need to remove the IR/UV filter so a cheap approach could be to get a budget 2nd hand SLR and get it Astro modified.
I do have the ASI533MC Pro but I’ve never used it with the RedCat51, mainly because of under sampling concerns however, my last video has shown this isn’t a major concern. Sorry to hear that you aren’t well at the moment. I hope you have a speedy recovery.
@@astrojourneyuk I got 3.5hrs in this week in Suffolk using SW EVOStar 72 & GTi mount with my Pentax K3II DSLR. Pretty happy with what is my best to date. Tried processing using PixInsight I have as demo but reverted to ASTAP & Photoshop that I'm familiar with. Good fun!
That's an incredibly beautiful image picture. Congrats on that. I know you used a zwo 183 but have you any experience with the new zwo 585 or Player One Uranus -C that uses that sensor among toury astrofriends? It seems to deliver incredibie pictures, even the non-cooled version. Congrats again on your Andromeda shot.. wish, one day to manage to get a similar pic. Clear skies my friend. Greetings from Venice
Nice image! In your opinion, can a person get a decent image of galaxies using the Red Cat 51 and the ZWO ASI224? Or is the sensor just too small to get a good image with this scope? Thanks!
Yes, most of the image is from the broadband data and I then just used the Ha to boost the nebula parts using PixelMath in PixInsight. I’ll be doing a video of the processing next week.
Great final picture! I shot M31 on Thursday evening using a RedCat51 and a 533MC Pro from my Bortle 8 London garden. I used just the Optolong L-Pro as it is the only filter I have. I ended up with 39x 180s subs. Stacked and processed in PixInsight (first time using this), and the resulting image isn’t too bad. I did write every stage down as I was doing the edge so I can remember what I did. I’d be interested in seeing a video of how you combined your images together. I should add that while I was doing my edit, I was watching your 15min M31 video you did previously, which I found really useful (even if I didn’t really know what I was doing). I think there was one section where you were playing around doing some sort of denoise setting parameters like 3.5, 0.25,1 and I couldn’t get it to work well. I assumed it was a denoise so I just run the EZ version instead.
Glad you’re having fun with M31 too! It’s worth you checking out undersampling with the 533 and the RedCat as I don’t think they are 100% compatible. I’m doing a processing video and I might explain what I’m doing and why. These days I also use EZ denoise or Topaz Denoise because it’s quicker / less faffing. Topaz works really well although costs money.
@@astrojourneyuk Yes that combo does give undersampling but it was a trade-off that if I buy a bigger scope then the 533 will be better with the focal length. I did spend ages thinking what to get, but so many people seemed happy with the RedCat/533 combo, so I got the 533. You can see the undersampling when really zoomed in, but doing a x2 drizzle fixes it (but gives massive files!!) Be interested to see your next video, as it is helpful to see other peoples thinking when they do a task.
Great, I’m glad you’re away of the issue with that combo and also good to hear what the impact is. I’ve never drizzled the data. When you say massive files, how massive? I completely agree with you in terms of seeing different processing approaches, I’m in the dark a lot of the time, or one approach won’t necessarily work for all images.
@@astrojourneyuk a normal image from WBPP is 100MBytes, but a x2 drizzle is 300MBytes, so not that massive I guess. The thing about undersampling is I can't see it unless I zoom in 300% and then it is just starting to show pixels, but as I only look at the images on my PC not even at 100% zoom, it is fine. Now if I were going to print them, maybe I would drizzle and use that.
A nice result there I haven't shot this one in a while, interesting to note you used a dual band filter for the HA regions I've often thought about doing the same but never bothered, think I will be giving it a go now though.
To be honest it only made a slight difference. I played about with the data quite a bit and sometimes it just looked way too saturated in the Ha areas so I didn’t keep it.
Thanks for the great video. Your setup seems very similar to mine, same main and finder scope and same 183MCPro camera etc. I have purchased the L-Extreme filter but not used it yet. Can I ask if you have any recommendations for how you need to change settings compared to when doing broadband? Do you do PA without the filter in place? Any special tips for focusing with the reduced light level coming through? Do you have to change any other settings? Any advice you can give is much appreciated. And excellent image by the way! thanks!
I can’t remember exactly but from memory I might just increase the exposure time to 4 seconds for when I’m using the l extreme. I do still have it in for PA as it’s just easier but also has the benefit of reducing the chance for dust getting in. With focussing a good bright star is usually enough, if ever it isn’t I just increase the gain.
@@astrojourneyuk ok many thanks! I have the same filter drawer setup as well, and am a bit worried about dew inside as the filter drawer is not an airtight seal of course. Is that why you put a dew heater on your 183MCPro? Sorry for many questions but really appreciate your guidance
Questions are good. That’s how we all learn. I’ve never had dew forming on filters so I thing we’re ok there. The dew tends to form on the glass in front of the sensor on the camera which is why they put dew heaters on them.
Beautiful image. Andromeda is a great target for the Red Cat 51, I have only imaged it with that scope and a DSLR myself but hope to use my 183 camera on it along with M33.this coming autumn
Great images you captured there! It's amazing to see this from someone's back garden telescope. The light from the stars in that galaxy have taken over 2.5 million years to get here, I wonder what has happened in all those years, how many civilisations have come and gone since.
Wow, that’s an awesome image of Andromeda Mark! Great video, good music! Funny thing is I decided not to image tonight as I can’t decide on a target with the full moon, I’m still using one shot colour, haven’t moved over to my mono setup yet! That book might come in handy! I’ll add it to the Xmas list🤣 Clear skies👍
It is cool isn’t it? I used Shazam to discover Sciophobia by Jo Wandrini. www.shazam.com/track/430244660/sciophobia?referrer=share It’s on epidemic sounds site that I use for all my music.
I’m new to this hobby, six months in actually, and I find inspiration in your videos, thank you sir.
Welcome to the rabbit hole! I find it humbling that you find my work an inspiration, I still feel like I'm only starting out in this hobby. However, that said I can still remember my early days in this hobby and the naive view that I could get away with less integration time and still get a great looking image. 2 main things that are needed in this hobby, 1) As much integration time as possible, 2) Killer processing skills, 3) Money! (That was a bonus point)
I’ll be doing a new M31 processing video soon so, once you have the data you can give that a go and hopefully it comes out as well as you hope.
Most nebula are perfect for the RedCat51 in my opinion. Sadly we’re currently in galaxy season and then summer will soon be here which is a pain for me as it doesn’t get completely dark. :(
Bortle 6 will be better than 7-8 however, I typically use light pollution filters in anything above bortle 4, although I’ve only ever shot from Bortle 2, 4 and 6. The first time I shot in bortle 2 was the first time I took the filters out which felt odd. These days I think the new enemy is LED street lights because we can’t filter them out. In summer at higher latitudes in the north it doesn’t get dark at all. I still “get away” with shooting in astronomical twilight.
That’s an interesting view on how we used to do astrophotography. I was chatting to the owner of Roboscope at PAS last year and he was telling me about how he used to guide manually for hours!!! I’m not sure I’d enjoy that. 😂 I’d love to live in a bortle 1 or 2 zone, for both day time photography and night time. Ie away from the city. :)
Being a amateurphotographer for as long I remember. And wanting a good telescope, for as long I remember. And never having the money for it. And since now I am on the verge of retirement and wanting to combine these two interests of mine. I was baffled by the amount of knowledge and money needed for it. But, not being able to set my mind on sct or dobs or astographs. On small or large. Besides my wallet of course. I had a feeble hint the, redstar 51 might be the go to system for me. Meaning enough bang for the buck. Instead of a 71 or a 100 Astrograph. But seeing what you sir are able to get out of it, I am convinced this is the scope for me. Thanks for your hard work and sharing it with us Sir. Kudos.
I’d say you couldn’t go wrong with this as a first scope. People use them with DSLRs too but bear in mind that you need to remove the IR/UV filter so a cheap approach could be to get a budget 2nd hand SLR and get it Astro modified.
I do have the ASI533MC Pro but I’ve never used it with the RedCat51, mainly because of under sampling concerns however, my last video has shown this isn’t a major concern. Sorry to hear that you aren’t well at the moment. I hope you have a speedy recovery.
Ah, that’s good then. I misread your comment, sorry. :)
Great image of Andromeda Mark , that came out really well
Thanks, I’m pretty happy with it, definitely when compared with my image of it when I first started this hobby and even on my progress in a year.
Great work!
Thanks. I hope it worked for you too.
@@astrojourneyuk I got 3.5hrs in this week in Suffolk using SW EVOStar 72 & GTi mount with my Pentax K3II DSLR. Pretty happy with what is my best to date. Tried processing using PixInsight I have as demo but reverted to ASTAP & Photoshop that I'm familiar with. Good fun!
That's an incredibly beautiful image picture. Congrats on that. I know you used a zwo 183 but have you any experience with the new zwo 585 or Player One Uranus -C that uses that sensor among toury astrofriends? It seems to deliver incredibie pictures, even the non-cooled version. Congrats again on your Andromeda shot.. wish, one day to manage to get a similar pic. Clear skies my friend. Greetings from Venice
Nice image! In your opinion, can a person get a decent image of galaxies using the Red Cat 51 and the ZWO ASI224? Or is the sensor just too small to get a good image with this scope? Thanks!
honesty, brilliant
good boy
regards
enzo
No problem. :)
Lots of different star colors!. Is that result of the broadband contribution? A very nice image.
Yes, most of the image is from the broadband data and I then just used the Ha to boost the nebula parts using PixelMath in PixInsight. I’ll be doing a video of the processing next week.
Stunning!
Thank you and thanks for watching.
WOW fantastic image thanks for sharing your work
Thanks for watching and commenting.
What a beautiful image.
Thank you.
Great final picture! I shot M31 on Thursday evening using a RedCat51 and a 533MC Pro from my Bortle 8 London garden. I used just the Optolong L-Pro as it is the only filter I have. I ended up with 39x 180s subs. Stacked and processed in PixInsight (first time using this), and the resulting image isn’t too bad. I did write every stage down as I was doing the edge so I can remember what I did. I’d be interested in seeing a video of how you combined your images together.
I should add that while I was doing my edit, I was watching your 15min M31 video you did previously, which I found really useful (even if I didn’t really know what I was doing). I think there was one section where you were playing around doing some sort of denoise setting parameters like 3.5, 0.25,1 and I couldn’t get it to work well. I assumed it was a denoise so I just run the EZ version instead.
Glad you’re having fun with M31 too! It’s worth you checking out undersampling with the 533 and the RedCat as I don’t think they are 100% compatible.
I’m doing a processing video and I might explain what I’m doing and why. These days I also use EZ denoise or Topaz Denoise because it’s quicker / less faffing. Topaz works really well although costs money.
@@astrojourneyuk Yes that combo does give undersampling but it was a trade-off that if I buy a bigger scope then the 533 will be better with the focal length. I did spend ages thinking what to get, but so many people seemed happy with the RedCat/533 combo, so I got the 533. You can see the undersampling when really zoomed in, but doing a x2 drizzle fixes it (but gives massive files!!) Be interested to see your next video, as it is helpful to see other peoples thinking when they do a task.
Great, I’m glad you’re away of the issue with that combo and also good to hear what the impact is. I’ve never drizzled the data. When you say massive files, how massive?
I completely agree with you in terms of seeing different processing approaches, I’m in the dark a lot of the time, or one approach won’t necessarily work for all images.
@@astrojourneyuk a normal image from WBPP is 100MBytes, but a x2 drizzle is 300MBytes, so not that massive I guess. The thing about undersampling is I can't see it unless I zoom in 300% and then it is just starting to show pixels, but as I only look at the images on my PC not even at 100% zoom, it is fine. Now if I were going to print them, maybe I would drizzle and use that.
Damn it. If I’d known it wasn’t that bad I could have saved the money on the 183MC Pro I bought. 😂😂😂
Final image looks awesome to me! Well done!
Thanks, I’m definitely more than happy with this image. Thanks for stopping by.
A nice result there I haven't shot this one in a while, interesting to note you used a dual band filter for the HA regions I've often thought about doing the same but never bothered, think I will be giving it a go now though.
To be honest it only made a slight difference. I played about with the data quite a bit and sometimes it just looked way too saturated in the Ha areas so I didn’t keep it.
Thanks for the great video. Your setup seems very similar to mine, same main and finder scope and same 183MCPro camera etc. I have purchased the L-Extreme filter but not used it yet. Can I ask if you have any recommendations for how you need to change settings compared to when doing broadband? Do you do PA without the filter in place? Any special tips for focusing with the reduced light level coming through? Do you have to change any other settings? Any advice you can give is much appreciated. And excellent image by the way! thanks!
I can’t remember exactly but from memory I might just increase the exposure time to 4 seconds for when I’m using the l extreme. I do still have it in for PA as it’s just easier but also has the benefit of reducing the chance for dust getting in. With focussing a good bright star is usually enough, if ever it isn’t I just increase the gain.
@@astrojourneyuk ok many thanks! I have the same filter drawer setup as well, and am a bit worried about dew inside as the filter drawer is not an airtight seal of course. Is that why you put a dew heater on your 183MCPro? Sorry for many questions but really appreciate your guidance
Questions are good. That’s how we all learn. I’ve never had dew forming on filters so I thing we’re ok there. The dew tends to form on the glass in front of the sensor on the camera which is why they put dew heaters on them.
Great video, wil give this ago myself on M31 and M33, only sticking point is how to combine in Pixinsight 😬
I’m planning to do a processing video soon too. Combining the two data sources does require a bit more processing.
Beautiful image. Andromeda is a great target for the Red Cat 51, I have only imaged it with that scope and a DSLR myself but hope to use my 183 camera on it along with M33.this coming autumn
I completely agree, it’s the perfect combo for that target. To be honest it works really well for a lot of targets. M42, Horsehead, Rosette etc.
Great images you captured there! It's amazing to see this from someone's back garden telescope. The light from the stars in that galaxy have taken over 2.5 million years to get here, I wonder what has happened in all those years, how many civilisations have come and gone since.
It is mind blowing when we can see 2.5 million years into the past. It could look so different now, or just the same but a bit closer than before. 😂
That's an amazing result Mark, what bortle sky are you under?
Andromeda was my first target I shot and after that I was hooked.
Thanks Andrew, this was taken in a bortle 6 from my patio. :)
Wow, that’s an awesome image of Andromeda Mark! Great video, good music! Funny thing is I decided not to image tonight as I can’t decide on a target with the full moon, I’m still using one shot colour, haven’t moved over to my mono setup yet! That book might come in handy! I’ll add it to the Xmas list🤣 Clear skies👍
It is a great book. Good luck with the mono. I need to go back to mono again when the long dark nights are here again. Thanks for the kind comments.
Amazing work, Marc!
Did you use 3 mins exposures for both Ha and broadband?
Thanks and CS,
Stephen
I did 3 minutes subs for the broadband images and 5 minutes for the Ha.
Great video, love the music, who is it?
It is cool isn’t it? I used Shazam to discover Sciophobia by Jo Wandrini. www.shazam.com/track/430244660/sciophobia?referrer=share
It’s on epidemic sounds site that I use for all my music.