Astrophotography equipment and techniques and questions

[Levina de Ruijter]

Here is an example of the difference between the two sensors. The S50 is an older sensor so has slightly more noise, the S30 is an upgraded sensor, they are both still 2 mpx and same size and pixel density but the S30 is an upgraded sensor and it is noticeable in the noise in the fits image. You can overcome the noise with longer, i.e. more, exposures but it is nice to have a good sensor to begin with. SO when they say bigger and better, we will see what they do and when.

Here are two images, the S30 is on the left and the S50 on the right. they were not taken on the same night but they were taken about the same time with the same sky conditions. You can see first that the S50 has a bigger image size (they are both M31 the Andromeda Galaxy) the galaxy is bigger and the stars are bigger than in the S30 image, but you can also see there is more noise in the S50.

View attachment 12603

About the noise, does the Seestar also take darks?

 

[Jeff WX1USN]

About the noise, does the Seestar also take darks?

The Seestars take darks automatically although you have total control of that. They call it Horizontal Calibration and Enhancing where it plate solves where it is looking at and then it says it is enhancing for about 30 seconds, that is when it takes the darks. You can do that every object but I tend to do it for the first one as it needs enough sky to do 3 shots one center one left about 20 degrees and then one right 20 degrees and I have lots of trees. I am pretty sure that it "enhances" for each object. It also automatically subtracts the darks from the image and you can get a live stacked image straight from the Seestar, or the individual fits images to process on your PC BUT you can also stack them on the seestar so you can delete any images that have satellites or planes or trees (I get those a lot). Also you can edit in the Seestar with brightness contrast saturation denoise and cropping.

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

The Seestars take darks automatically although you have total control of that. They call it Horizontal Calibration and Enhancing where it plate solves where it is looking at and then it says it is enhancing for about 30 seconds, that is when it takes the darks. You can do that every object but I tend to do it for the first one as it needs enough sky to do 3 shots one center one left about 20 degrees and then one right 20 degrees and I have lots of trees. I am pretty sure that it "enhances" for each object. It also automatically subtracts the darks from the image and you can get a live stacked image straight from the Seestar, or the individual fits images to process on your PC BUT you can also stack them on the seestar so you can delete any images that have satellites or planes or trees (I get those a lot). Also you can edit in the Seestar with brightness contrast saturation denoise and cropping.

Wow. Okay, sounds good!

Now the question is: do I wait for the new S50 version?

 

[Jeff WX1USN]

Wow. Okay, sounds good!

Now the question is: do I wait for the new S50 version?

That is the question, however I haven't heard a release date yet and it could be a while...

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

That is the question, however I haven't heard a release date yet and it could be a while...

Yes. And as always, it's a problem: get what is available now or wait for the latest, greatest.

 

[Jeff WX1USN]

The NEWEST Seestar the S700!

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

The NEWEST Seestar the S700!

View attachment 16824

Yay!

So, what do you think? Is this the one to get?

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

Or is it an April Fool’s joke!

 

[Jeff WX1USN]

Or is it an April Fool’s joke!

April Fools

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

April Fools

LOL It dawned on me when I looked closer and saw the date! Good one!

I had actually thought about a joke, something like New York Times mentions us in an article! But then I thought that no one would buy that!

 

[By-tor]

 

[Jeff WX1USN]

View attachment 21267

View attachment 21268

VERY NICE SETUP! Alot of work!

 

[By-tor]

VERY NICE SETUP! Alot of work!

It's not the latest or greatest, but once I tuned the mount it worked so much better than stock. With the wifi extender mounted on the tripod leg It's connected to my home network and control everything from inside the house on a small tablet.

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

View attachment 21267

View attachment 21268

Looks impressive.
Pretty cool you can remote control it from inside your house, where it's nice and warm! And the resulting images are really excellent.

 

[By-tor]

This is the Sky Watcher EvoGuide 50ED with a field flattener I use for wider shots as needed, and still not wide enough at 240mm for some targets.. I couldn't get that mount in the images to work so I use it on my main mount. All the main electronics from my main scope fit on this without issue, but a wee bit tight fit..

 

[Jeff WX1USN]

I am mainly a Solar Imager. Bortle 8 skies don't affect solar that much LOL

I have to say I went the opposite way with my imaging lately. I sold my Celestron Edge HD8 to a friend, but still have my Skywatcher EQ6-R Pro, an Orion EQ mount and 2 Orion Alt Az mounts, my Skywatcher ED120, Stellarvue 90 APO, Lunt ED102 and a 127 Mak.
But my main thing is SOLAR and for that I use all the refractors with a Quark Chromosphere and Daystar Gemini and a Lunt LS80 and LS50.

But as I said for deep sky I have gone small light and simple with the Seestar S50 and S30. Love those scopes, I can take either one outside and be imaging in 3 minutes. I have been using the "Plan" feature, setting up objects to image all night long. Also if there was a sudden unexpected shower and everything got rained on, no big deal as they cost less than many eyepieces!

Do they give the same quality images that you get with your great setup, NO, you get much better results but I do it from home for the fun of it and for the challenge of trying to mimic what I can get with my better gear. Also the time it takes to set up my better gear is a turn off at night especially as I am in my 70's and like it easier.
For better imaging than my Bortle 8 skies I belong to SLOOH an Educational Observatory used by many colleges and schools for imaging. Slooh is different from all other amateur hosting observatories, in the others you tell them what you would like files/images of and they do all the work and send you the files already without planes wind satellites etc. With Slooh you schedule a time from what is available, 5 minute blocks, you decided on the target from 20 catalogs or coordinates RA/DEC, you then can watch the live feed from the telescope as it captures your data. You then have to down load the data and check it for any satellites planes also wind shaking especially with the 20" in the Canary Islands. Slooh owns and maintains the scopes and observatories but I decide what and when and how to image. I am able to use 2 20" 2 17" 1 14" 1 8" Astrograph and a 90mm Telervue in Chile Australia and the Canary Islands bascially 24 hours a day. I enjoy it and enjoy watching the live feeds from the scopes when other are using them.

BUT back to my simple setup! I have the S50 and S30 and a Skywatcher Alt/Az mount, a Celestron mount I took the head off and put a Skywatcher "wedge" and 3 other tripods. The images are great for social media but not for pixel peepers LOL.

 

[By-tor]

I have looked into getting one to carry in the car and be able to stop and quickly set it up on the go.

 

[Jeff WX1USN]

I have looked into getting one to carry in the car and be able to stop and quickly set it up on the go.

Either the S50 or S30 would be good, but the S50 can do more of the smaller galaxies and clusters. Also the S30 Pro is supposedly coming out soon, but may cost more, a better sensor. also a S50 pro is in the works.
But either are cheap enough to just toss in the car!

 

[By-tor]

Either the S50 or S30 would be good, but the S50 can do more of the smaller galaxies and clusters. Also the S30 Pro is supposedly coming out soon, but may cost more, a better sensor. also a S50 pro is in the works.
But either are cheap enough to just toss in the car!

Thanks for the info...