MetaBlog Update #12: Dec 18, 2023

Another full year has gone by and I thought I would share a year-end update on this strange, strange year!

MetaBlog Update #11: July 24, 2023

Another full year has gone by and Cosgove’s Cosmos is now two years old!

Metablog update #11 provides some background of what has been happening with Cosgrove’s Cosmos over the last quarter of a year!

This is a very different kind of post for me. A sudden health issue will keep me from starting this year’s imaging projects for a while. I wrote this to let people know what was happening - hoping that sharing my experience might be helpful to others.

MetaBlog Update #10: March 23, 2023

As winter winds down and spring is in the offing, the promise of clear skies cannot be far away!

Metablog update #10 provides some background of what has been happening with Cosgrove’s Cosmos over the last quarter of a year!

MetaBlog Update #9: Jan 1, 2023

We have wrapped up 2022 and are just starting out the first days of 2023, and I am way overdue in sharing an update on what has been happening with the website!

So here is Metablog Update #9!

I’ll cover the news of the past 5months as well as my entry into the video space!

Having trouble getting GPU Acelleration working with your AI-based Pixinsight Tools? This might just help!

I’ve been asked by many people what the impact of recent wildfires in Canada is on my Astrophotography.

In order to understand the answer to this question, one must have an appreciation for when Astrophotographers are able to capture data!

Can they just go out any night? Nope!

So lets talk about how Astrophotographers determine what nights are good for data capture and then we can better understand how wildfire smoke plumes come along and make things more difficult!

Astrophotographers love to share their images, and getting published in a major Astronomy Magazine is the ultimate form of sharing!

Several people have asked me to write a post about how went about getting published. I am far from being an expert in this area, but I am happy to share what I do, and what seems to work for me!

Follow these tips, and you may well soon see your own images in print!

After writing about how to use deconvolution in 7-part series with an additional two follow on articles, I am writing my 10th article o and probably my last on Deconvolution.

discuss RC Astro’s new BlurXTerminator is a smart AI-based tool that delivers a breakthrough capability that suddenly makes deconvolution accessible to all, is easy to use, and provides a result that is superior to the Traditional Deconvolution tool in Pixinsight.

This article covers what BlurXTerminator is, how it is used, examples of its results, workflow considerations, and a high-level review of the Neural Network technology it is built on.

Further - it discusses some of the pushback that BlurXTerminator has received.

New to Pixinsight? Or have you been using Pixinsight for a while and are interested in upping your Mask game? This post is for you! This provides a broad overview of the use of mask in Pixinsight, including the types of masks that can be made, how you can create, customize and leverage your mask to enhance your final results!

As another follow-up post to my “Using Deconvolution in Pixinsight” series, I have written a new post exploring the use of the Richardson-Lucy Wavelet Regularization parameters. Proper use of these parameters will protect the algorithm from image noise, preventing the inadvertent enhancement of noise by deconvolution. After learning these “secrets”, you will never have to use an Object Mask again to protect the low signal areas in an image, and you will have a more consistent application of deconvolution to all non-noise image structures!

As a follow on to my “Using Deconvolution in Pixinsight” series, I have written a new post exploring the use of the EZ-Decon Script. This powerful tool offers an alternative way to apply deconvolution to your images - a way that is easy and convenient compared to the traditional method. In this post I will cover what is different in EZ-Decon’s approach and how to use it effectively to enhance your images!

Deconvolution in Pixinsight is a very powerful tool for restoring lost sharpness in a system - but it is not the easiest tool to learn to use. When I started, I hard time coming up to speed - but with time, I finally learned to use the tool to use it to improve my images. In this seven-post series, I share what works for me, and get into the background of the problem domain so you can understand not just WHAT and the HOWs but also the WHYs as well. This is Part 1- An Introduction.

“Deconvolution in Pixinsight - Part 2 - An overview of PFS and Deconvolution” is a deeper dive that coves the concepts of Airy Disks and Point Spread Functions, Estimating PFS model for an image, and the first overview of Deconvolution and what it does. This is Part 2 of a 7-Part Series.

“Using Deconvolution in Pixinsight - Part 3 - Workflow Considerations” explores how Deconvolution fits into your workflow, what images should have Deconvolution Applied to, and how the workflow changes based on image type. This is part 3 of 7-part series.

“Using Deconvolution in Pixinsight - part 4 - Preparing for Deconvolution” covers the steps you must take in preparing to use Deconvolution. How to create masks and support images, image previews fields, and setting up the Deconvolution Tool panel for the initial testing is all covered. This is part 4 of a 7-part series.

“Using Deconvolution in Pixinsight - Part 5- Example - The Draco Triplet” demonstrates the application of Deconvolution for the first example image, consisting of The Draco Triplet taken on my Williams Optics 132mm APO. All steps are shown. This is part 5 of a 7-part series.

“Using Deconvolution in Pixinsight - Part 6- Example - Messier 63” demonstrates the application of Deconvolution for the second example image, consisting of Messier 63 - The Sunflower Galaxy. This was taken on my Astro-Physics 130mm APO. All steps are shown. This is part 6 of a 7-part series.

Move complete! Old house sold! It's time to pivot towards the Observatory Project. Here, I outline the Initial steps I am taking and review some preliminary hardware choices…

After two years of searching, we just bought a new house with a location in the backyard that will support my observatory! We can finally move forward with the project!

There has been no updates on my observatory project for over a year. During that time we have been engaged on a search for Land to build a house and an observatory - but in this tough market we have not found the right place yet! Even so, I thought it was time for an update on the search and my effort to design the observatory I would like to build!

My current project is to buy land, and build my personal Astrophotographic Observatory on it so that I no longer have to set up 3 scopes in the driveway each night! This is the first of several posts that will chronicle the planning and development of this observatory!