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N.I.N.A. – Nighttime Imaging 'N' Astronomy

nighttime-imaging.eu

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Re: N.I.N.A. – Nighttime Imaging 'N' Astronomy

#2
I love the fact that we have so much available at our disposal now to make this kind of thing possible. The old days of manual steering to keep the object center over the course of multiple nights just to get a single image can now be done in a single night with equipment that fits in the back of an SUV. Much thanks to people that build tools like this and PHD!

My retirement dream is to do this all the time. I fall prone to the traditional amateur astronomer's delima of having free time available to go to a dark sky location and the weather is bad, or be totally slammed with gorgeous viewing conditions.

Re: N.I.N.A. – Nighttime Imaging 'N' Astronomy

#3
This looks pretty cool. Anyone have any experience with it? Used to use Backyard EOS to control my canon for timed exposures.

Edit: In case anyone is interested here’s a couple images I took with my 9.5 inch scope. The globular cluster required stacking many exposures. The double star is not color enhanced or anything, that’s how it looks through the eye piece.

https://astrob.in/257816/0/

https://astrob.in/257435/0/

https://astrob.in/256165/0/

Re: N.I.N.A. – Nighttime Imaging 'N' Astronomy

#4
I would love a viable F/OSS alternative to SGPro, as it’s pretty much the only show in town when it comes to fire and forget capture sessions, and I’m too busy in the day to stay up all night nursing telescopes - I rely on it handling everything from focus to acquisition to guiding to some control, including exceptions such as weather - and will therefore do my best to find the time to contribute to this project.

Re: N.I.N.A. – Nighttime Imaging 'N' Astronomy

#5
Looks well thought out and powerful to use.

The page does, however, fall prey to a common issue among HN submissions:

For someone who is not already an expert, and who does not know the rest of the pieces required: what do they need to know/have to get their first successful use?

I’m vaguely guessing that someone needs a camera that can keep the shutter open, some type of servos to turn the camera?, and a laptop running next to it all night (which implies you also need necessary cables, extra battery power, and waterproof bags just in case)?

Re: N.I.N.A. – Nighttime Imaging 'N' Astronomy

#6

Looks well thought out and powerful to use. The page does, however, fall prey to a common issue among HN submissions: For someone who is not already an expert, and who does not know the rest of the pieces required: what do they need to know/have to get their first successful use? I’m vaguely guessing that someone needs a camera that can keep the shutter open, some type of servos to turn the camera?, and a laptop runn…

I am aware of Astrophotography on a limited/thats a thing basis and would like to give it a go someday. That said, I think its pretty self-explanatory that you will need some kind of imaging capturing device as a first step to even have interest in this project. The documentation is on the home page... :https://nighttime-imaging.eu/docs/master/site/requirements/

Not to be too snide, but I highly doubt you'll need a waterproof bag if you are trying to take images of Space at night... Kinda hard to see through clouds.

Re: N.I.N.A. – Nighttime Imaging 'N' Astronomy

#8

Looks well thought out and powerful to use. The page does, however, fall prey to a common issue among HN submissions: For someone who is not already an expert, and who does not know the rest of the pieces required: what do they need to know/have to get their first successful use? I’m vaguely guessing that someone needs a camera that can keep the shutter open, some type of servos to turn the camera?, and a laptop runn…

I think the issue is that this software really probably targets someone already pretty advanced in the hobby. If you’re just stepping in, this software will probably be overkill.

You can start doing astrophotography with nothing more than a nice camera with a tripod and a remote shutter control for long exposures. You can get great views of the Milky Way and some brighter nebulas that way. If you want longer exposures then obviously you’ll need a mount that can track the earths rotation.

If you’re looking to image what are called “deep sky” objects, then that’s when you’ll need something like this software and probably a telescope, along with a mount that can track the movement of the earth with very high precision. Lots of deep sky objects require multiple exposures from a larger telescope that can capture lots of light, which are then stacked. The stacking requires lining up the star field, so software is a must.

Another use for software like this is doing amateur astronomy work. For example taking multiple basic images of galaxies every night in order to spot a supernova.

Re: N.I.N.A. – Nighttime Imaging 'N' Astronomy

#9

Looks well thought out and powerful to use. The page does, however, fall prey to a common issue among HN submissions: For someone who is not already an expert, and who does not know the rest of the pieces required: what do they need to know/have to get their first successful use? I’m vaguely guessing that someone needs a camera that can keep the shutter open, some type of servos to turn the camera?, and a laptop runn…

I am aware of Astrophotography on a limited/thats a thing basis and would like to give it a go someday. That said, I think its pretty self-explanatory that you will need some kind of imaging capturing device as a first step to even have interest in this project. The documentation is on the home page... : https://nighttime-imaging.eu/docs/master/site/requirements/ Not to be too snide, but I highly doubt you'll need a…

Don't forget about dew.

Re: N.I.N.A. – Nighttime Imaging 'N' Astronomy

#10
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am aware of Astrophotography on a limited/thats a thing basis and would like to give it a go someday. That said, I think its pretty self-explanatory that you will need some kind of imaging capturing device as a first step to even have interest in this project. The documentation is on the home page... : https://nighttime-imaging.eu/docs/master/site/requirements/ Not to be too snide, but I highly doubt you'll need a…

Don't forget about dew.

Dew can definitely be a problem depending on location and weather. Dew shields and heaters for lenses or scopes can sometimes be required. It doesn’t need to be cloudy for dew to be an issue.
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