Lessons Learned

Things I have learned along the way that might help other folks interested in this hobby

Atlanta Astronomy Club

The Atlanta Astronomy Club https://atlantaastronomy.org/  is one of the largest astronomy clubs  in the southeast.  Membership includes people of all skill levels from beginners just entering the hobby to seasoned observers and astrophotographers who could probably give some pointers to the folks running the Hubble and JWST telescopes.  In addition to being a great group of friendly, knowledgeable enthusiasts, the club is an excellent source of information and provides the opportunity to meet and network with fellow hobbyists.    Every fall the club sponsors the Peach State Star Gaze .  This is a week long gathering of astronomers and astrophotographers held at the Deerlick Astronomy Village.  Club members meet monthly to network, discuss club business, upcoming events. and present guest speakers on topics of interest.  The club also sponsors astronomy outreach programs for schools, libraries, and other organizations.   Membership benefits also include a monthly newsletter, "Focal Point" and discounts to popular astronomy magazines.  

Filters

Living and photographing in a bortle 7-8 suburb, light pollution is always a factor.  The goal is to have a high signal to noise ratio.  Light pollution is one of several factors that contribute to the noise.  When imaging nebulae filters are essential.  When imaging other deep sky objects such as galaxies and clusters I normally use a  broadband 2'" filter such as the Optolong L-Pro.  In rare instances I forego a filter.  

Since I use one shot color as opposed to mono  cameras I  tend to use one filter for an image or at least one filter for a night of imaging.  Filter drawers ease the filter changing process  filters for one shot color cameras. Rather than disassembling the image train to swap out a filter I  just slide the filter holder out, replace the filter, and slide the holder back into the drawer.  I  use  three types of filter holders: Starizona, ZWO, and one that came with my ZWO Camera Adapter which allows me to connect my ZWO cameras to Canon EF type lenses.  While I use all three filter drawers the Starizona is the easiest to use.  It is larger with more space for my fingers to screw in the filter. The Starizona filters also seem to be more magnetized to keep the filters in place even when the drawer is facing down.  The Starizona filters are about 1mm wider (17.5mm vs. 16.5mm) which can affect the backfocus on the image train.  Fortunately since I use refractors with short focal lengths but medium speed (~f5) I have some forgiveness with my backfocus.  

I use several filters when I image.  For broadband targets such as galaxies or star clusters I find the L-Pro filter helps with the light pollution while not affecting the light from the broadband target.  For Nebulae I use the following multiband filters: Optolong L-eNhance, Optolong L-eXtreme, and the Antlia ALP-T.  While all three filters do the job,  my favorite is the Antlia filter.  The Antlia filter's narrowband (5nm) blocks the most light from unatural sources and provides the greatest contrast in my images.   However, regardless of what filter I use I always have severe light gradients in my images due to the bortle 7-8 light pollution in my suburban sky.  

Image Capture Controls - ASIAIR

There are many steps involved in capturing a deep sky Image.  The process starts with planning and runs through post capture processing.  The step we normally associate with astrophotography is  capturing the actual image.  This involves the telescope, mount and camera.  It can also require long and late hours outside in very cold or very warm weather depending on the season.   Recently I switched my image management to the ASIair controllers.  The first two pictures above on the left show these controllers.  I use both the ASIair Plus and the ASIair Mini

I initially used an old laptop with several different software applications such as astrophotography Tool (APT)  or BackyardEOS (BYE) for capture, Celestron PlaneWave Instruments (CPWI) for the mount, and Push Here Dummy 2 (PHD2}for guiding.  I set up an old laptop tethered to the to my mount and all the cameras (main and guide).  The many wires and cables presented a cable management challenge and I kept the laptop near the imaging rig.  You can see an example of this set up in the rightmost image above.  

The ASIair controllers provide image capture management, mount management, guiding, and auto focuser management in one small package.  The ASIair also provides filter wheel management, but I do not use a filter wheel.  The ASIair Plus is a small computer for about $300 that mounts directly to my rig and enables me to manage everything from my phone, iPad, or Android tablet.  Once I am polar aligned I can run everything on the tablet (or phone)  from the comfort of my living room. The ASIair Mini provides the same controls but comes in a slightly smaller package. It sells for about $200.  There is a newer version of the ASIair Plus with more memory that sells for about $400.  However since I capture my images on a thumbdrive in the ASIair I do not need the extra memory. The downside of the ASIair is it only works with ZWO products for dedicated astrophotography cameras, filter wheels, and focusers.  It will work with non-ZWO mounts and for Mirrorless or DSLR cameras it will work for Canon and Nikon cameras. So using an ASIair means you are locked into the ZWO product family.  Fortunately ZWO offers a wide variety of products and I use them. The second image from the right shows two of my imaging rigs with ASIair controllers.  Much easier cable management and no need to lug a table and laptop outside.  

I use the ASIair Plus with my main imaging rig, the William Optics FLT91 mounted on the AM5 (picture second from the right) , and with my RedCat 51 mounted on the AM3. The Plus version is slightly larger and heavier but has more features and controls.  For my use the key feature differences between the Plus and the Mini  are an on/off switch, two (out of four) USB3 outlets, and better control of the electrical outlets.  The better control of the electrical outlets enables me to use the ASIair  Plus to manage my dew heater strips.  The two USB 3 outlets may provide better download speeds, but since I normally capture long exposure images this is not a factor for me.  It might be a factor for folks downloading video images of the planets or the moon.

The ASIair Mini is mounted on my lightweight rig, the Rokinon 135mm lens mounted on the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTI mount.  The mount has a capacity of 11 pounds so the lighter weight mini is perfect.  I already mentioned the feature differences that matter to me.  One other item of note the ASIair Mini wifi seems to be stronger and have more range than the larger ASIair Plus.  However, this is not a factor at home since I have the ASIair plus controllers in what is called station mode and connected to my home wifi rather than the ASIair's limited range wifi.

I have found the use of the ASIair controllers to have made the image capture process, from polar alignment to focusing, to guiding to the actual capturing of images, much easier and definitely faster.  I have probably saved over 50% in my set up  and breakdown times.  

For more information on the ASIair controllers I suggest you go to the following link provided by High Point Scientific

 https://www.highpointscientific.com/astronomy-hub/post/how-tos/zwo-asiair-guide#Long

Also there are some great videos out on YouTube.  I found the series of videos by Astro Escape were particularly helpful starting with the following: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p1ITxBlHT8&t=191s

If the links do not work just copy and paste the link info into  your  browser