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.
“Using Deconvolution in Pixinsight - Part 7 - Example - Messier 31” demonstrates the application of Deconvolution for the third and last example image, consisting of Andromeda Galaxy taken on my Askar FRA400 scope. All steps are shown. This is part 7 of a 7-part series.
I run three scopes at the same time from my driveway - and when we finally have a series of clear nights, I work hard to collect as many photons as I can across all of my scopes. This post talks about how I do my Target Selections and Sequence planning to make this happen!
Astrophotographic Cameras come in two flavors: One-Shot-Color (OSC) and Mono. Which is best?
With this post, I explore the differences, the pros, and cons of each and make recommendations for when one might be the best choice over the other. Several case histories are also explored.
As you assemble and evolve your telescope platform, you can expect to have to deal with routing cables to feed power and USB connection. It’s easy to end up with a rat’s nest of cabling that can have a negative impact on your imaging. With this post, I share how I deal with this problem. Hopefully, it will give you some ideas as your wrestle with your cabling challenges.
All Astrophotographers go through a series of phases as they develop their skills. This post started as a Tweet series I made that got a positive response from the #Astrophotography tweet community, so I decided to expand on it a bit to create this post!
Astrophotography Rigs typically have a lot of accessory equipment mounted to them. How do you mount them? In this post, I share my secret method of attaching Telescope Accessories!
I built a portable rig to support imaging when I travel. Up until now, I have not actually used it during a trip. This is about to change! I planned how I would break down the rig and package the gear for travel, and I also planed for a remote location that does not have a view of Polaris - so I needed to learn how to drift align with PHD2. Here is the report on my planning and how it all worked out….
There are many barriers to overcome in astrophotography. This is a post in a series addressing how I overcame those barriers. For this article, I discuss doing flat calibration frames. More specifically, how do you get a good light source that is appropriate, reliable, and repeatable? This shows how a $20 LED Tracing Panel could be used for this purpose.
There are many barriers to overcome in astrophotography. This is a post in a series addressing how I overcame those barriers. For this article, I discuss the challenges I had with Polar Alignment and how I resolved that issue by using Polar Alignment Cameras.
While most astrophotography is shared as images, once you have a collection of images you are proud of, there is a way to share your entire collection all at once! Create a video! This video was created using iMovie.
Moving all of my images to this website caused me to review my early images for the first time in a while. As I looked at them, I recognized several mistakes I was making back then that I think are fairly common among beginning astrophotographers. This article calls out ten of them - with the hope that pointing them out will allow others to avoid these common pitfalls.
Having trouble getting GPU Acelleration working with your AI-based Pixinsight Tools? This might just help!