I always do open sky flats, often before dusk as part of my setup process. I use NINA's flats wizard to take them, and dark flats. I've never had a problem with this method. Quick, easy and foolproof.
I’m glad somebody finally made a video about this, because I’ve been doing this for a while for the exact same reason you did it because it really is more convenient and works just as effectively. The only risk in my case is if do builds up on the primary mirror because my heater bands aren’t as strong at preventing 100% of the moisture from building up.
What about taking sky flats at Dusk? I would like to set up my NINA advanced sequencer set up to take my flats and do a three-point polar alignment as part of start of every imaging session.
There is nothing stopping you from taking sky flats at any time, though since flats are used--among other things--to calibrate out dust, they are best when taken in the morning to account for any dust that may have landed on the lens or mirror during the night. I suppose if you live in a less dusty area, it may be less of an issue.
Do you bother with dark flats? I'm wondering if you might introduce a bit of noise to the flats without them - or is the exposure short enough that it doesn't matter?
I only use dark flats with the uncooled Uranus-C planetary camera which works very well for DSOs, even when it's pretty warm. But I live in Canada where "pretty warm" is a night of 25C.
Not shown in the video, N.I.N.A.'s Flat Wizard has a "Sky Flats" mode. Open up N.I.N.A.'s Flat Wizard. In the "Wizard Mode" change from "Dynamic Exposure" (default, which is what was used in the video) to "Sky Flats." In this Sky Flats mode, "the runtime of the flat wizard the exposure time will be constantly adjusted for the changing sky brightness, so the exposures will all have a different exposure time."
That's great advice. I tried that mode but it wasn't working as of NINA 3.0 with my camera. It kept shooting same exposure time and was going really slow. I've also been experiencing camera drops since NINA 3.0. But Player One has since updated the ASCOM camera driver. I'll have to try it again and see if Sky Flats Mode cooperates this time.
In practical experience, I find the opposite to be the case. Unless the sky is filled with fast moving clouds and fast changing light conditions, you should be able to do this just fine.
I always do open sky flats, often before dusk as part of my setup process. I use NINA's flats wizard to take them, and dark flats. I've never had a problem with this method. Quick, easy and foolproof.
Yeah, it's my new favorite method. Bye-bye, light boxes, unless there are racing clouds in the morning.
I’m glad somebody finally made a video about this, because I’ve been doing this for a while for the exact same reason you did it because it really is more convenient and works just as effectively. The only risk in my case is if do builds up on the primary mirror because my heater bands aren’t as strong at preventing 100% of the moisture from building up.
Are you using a Newtonian?
What about taking sky flats at Dusk? I would like to set up my NINA advanced sequencer set up to take my flats and do a three-point polar alignment as part of start of every imaging session.
There is nothing stopping you from taking sky flats at any time, though since flats are used--among other things--to calibrate out dust, they are best when taken in the morning to account for any dust that may have landed on the lens or mirror during the night. I suppose if you live in a less dusty area, it may be less of an issue.
Interesting.
Do you bother with dark flats? I'm wondering if you might introduce a bit of noise to the flats without them - or is the exposure short enough that it doesn't matter?
I only use dark flats with the uncooled Uranus-C planetary camera which works very well for DSOs, even when it's pretty warm. But I live in Canada where "pretty warm" is a night of 25C.
Not shown in the video, N.I.N.A.'s Flat Wizard has a "Sky Flats" mode. Open up N.I.N.A.'s Flat Wizard. In the "Wizard Mode" change from "Dynamic Exposure" (default, which is what was used in the video) to "Sky Flats." In this Sky Flats mode, "the runtime of the flat wizard the exposure time will be constantly adjusted for the changing sky brightness, so the exposures will all have a different exposure time."
That's great advice. I tried that mode but it wasn't working as of NINA 3.0 with my camera. It kept shooting same exposure time and was going really slow. I've also been experiencing camera drops since NINA 3.0. But Player One has since updated the ASCOM camera driver. I'll have to try it again and see if Sky Flats Mode cooperates this time.
The sky conditions that are necessary rarely exist.
In practical experience, I find the opposite to be the case. Unless the sky is filled with fast moving clouds and fast changing light conditions, you should be able to do this just fine.