I recently discovered the Open Astro Tracker by OpenAstroTech. Does anyone have experience with it and can recommend it? I don't want to spend time and money for a product that maybe won't work, but I really like the idea of a self build tracker. I also like that it can be upgraded later by adding things like a autoguider

Because my camera is only ~1kg (2.2lbs) the small model is enough and I don't plan on upgrading anytime soon. If I can be sure it will work, its fine if it takes some time to print and assemble.

Also, can someone make a rough estimation of the price? On the website it is around 250€ for a complete kit, but I have a 3d printer and don't need the autoguider right now. For me that seems a little expensive for mostly 3d printed parts.

Panasonic FZ70

Or would the tolerances needed in the hinged mirror make the whole thing unusable?

I was looking at modern "smart telescopes" recently and noticed some are sideways and wondered if that would be possible for a normal hobby Newtonian telescope.

Possible upsides:

• no tripod needed for use
• mirror is light so smaller motors can be used for movement

Possible downsides:

• maybe mirror flatness?

EDIT/UPDATE: so i tryed it with a 75mm first surface mirror, it kinda worked, at least better than a normal mirror, but i wasnt able to get it as sharply focused as i like. I suspect the mirrior i use has micro ripples because its just 2mm thick and doesent look like its seen a polishen process....guess thats how far a budget of 25bucks gets ya

I'm thinking about an IoT Polar Aligner. The main idea is to use a Raspberry Pi W with the camera module to find and detect the North Star and display it on the mobile phone. The final goal is to connect it with servos so that it can automatically align itself. Does anyone know of a similar open source project?

Crosspost: https://mander.xyz/post/20076533

Got another shot at C/2023 A3.

• Samyang 135mm f2.0
• Fuji X-T5
• 603 x 5s
• ISO 400
• Stacked, streched in Siril
• combined stars, comet and foreground in Photoshop

Southern Ohio, USA. Bortle 3. Exif data is in the image. Colored adjusted in Gimp. We actually saw zero meteors. I was quite disappointed until I got home and looked at the RAW files in Windows Photos Legacy. I found 8-9 meteors! Apparently RAW files have some magic going on.

Saw two shooting stars pop up while watching the comet last night, one of them showed up in the exposure I was taking at the time.
Canon R8 w 13s exposure, iso 8000, f7.1; cropped.

Taken with Vaonis Vespera II smart scope.

Taken with Pixel phone over 4:00 minutes in Astro mode. RAW further edited in Snapseed.

Got lucky with a clear night.

We got extremely lucky and got a tiny window of cloudless sky in an never ending sequence of cloudy nights. Also the conditions were a nightmare with severe light pollution and lights shining directly at our equipment.

• Samyang 135mm f2.0
• Fuji X-T5
• 158 x 5s
• ISO 125
• @f2.8

And maybe somebody here can explain to us what the ionized gas is that 'shoots out‘ in front of the comet?

Also do the colours seem to be correct? We tried our best at background extraction and maintaining the true colour, but the raw data was of poor quality. From images of other comets the dust tails normally seems to have a yellow/orange colour and only the plasma tail is blue.

Edit: found the answer to the Anti-tail. It shows the trail of dust were the comet has traveled, which appears to come out at the opposing side because of earths angle relative to the comet and sun.

Equipment:

• Samyang 135mm f2.0 lens
• Fuji X-T5 (unmodified)
• Star Adventurer 2i

Images:

• 220 x 60s
• ISO 400

Processing:

• stacked in Siril
• remove green noise
• background extraction
• BlurXTerminator
• NoiseXTerminator (0.5)
• GHST
• final editing and recomposition in Photoshop

More details: https://telescopius.com/pictures/view/202996/deep_sky/ngc-1456/pleiades/by-maxi_franzi

We really struggled to combine RGB with Ha. For our first try at continuum subtraction however we are very pleased.

Equipment:

• Samyang 135mm f2.0 lens
• Fuji X-T5 (unmodified)
• Star Adventurer 2i
• STC duo narrowband filter

Images:

• 288x 60s RGB
• 592x 60s narrowband

Processing:

• stacked in Siril
• remove green noise
• background extraction
• star removal on both rgb and Ha
• continuum subtraction with Pixelmath in Siril
• adding Ha to RGB with Pixelmath
• BlurXTerminator
• NoiseXTerminator (0.5)
• GHST
• final editing and recomposition in Photoshop

Full resolution and more details: https://telescopius.com/pictures/view/202859/deep_sky/ngc-206/m31-andromeda/by-maxi_franzi

~600 images with 4 seconds exposure without a tracker. This is my first ever (successful) try of any object on the night sky. I did a post a few weeks ago asking for a camera setup, and I went and bought a panasonic lumix g85 with the 45-150 f4-5.6 lens I had in mind before that. I know this is not the ideal setup, but I am still very proud of that image. Although I would appreciate any feedback on how to improve my skills.

M31 shot only in Ha and OIII.

Equipment:

• Samyang 135mm f2.0
• Fuji X-T5 unmodified
• Star Adventurer 2i
• STC dual narrowband filter

Images:

• 650x 60s
• ISO 3200

Processing:

• remove green noise
• background extraction
• photometric colour calibration
• BluXTerminator
• NoiseXTerminator (0.4)
• star removal
• GHST
• saturation, blending and final adjustments in Photoshop

I am thinking about buying a camera, but not exclusively for astrophotography. Since this will be my first own camera, I don't want to spend too much money. For that reason, I looked mainly for Micro four thirds, specifically the lumix g85. I dont know what category of ap I will like the most/focus on, but until now I only tried deep space with a relatives camera. I know I probably wont be able to get images like most in this community, but I want to know your experiences. How far can I get with stacking? What should I look out for in Bodies and lenses?

We finally got two clear nights and although the moon was really bright, this target came out quite well due to the narrowband filter.

Equipment:

• Samyang 135mm f2.0
• Fuji X-T5
• Star Adventurer 2i
• Duo narrowband filter

Images:

• 466 x 60s lights
• ISO 3200
• @f2.8

Editing:

• Stacking with drizzle in Siril
• Background removal in GraXpert
• photometric color calibration in Siril
• BlurXTerminator
• 0.3 denoising with BlurXTerminator
• Star removal
• Stretching in Siril with GHST
• final composing in Photoshop (saturation, contrast, blending with stars)

Full resolution and more details: https://telescopius.com/pictures/view/198606/deep_sky/ngc-6974/veil-nebula-complex/by-maxi_franzi

Hey everyone, I’m in need of help. I’m a long time landscape photographer on a hiatus. I’ve been looking into astrophotography and it is getting me really excited to get back at it while learning a new skill and enjoying a new aspect of photography. I’ve always enjoyed seeing the Milky Way and viewing the beautiful photos of nebula.

I would like some help selecting a star tracker. I have a Canon 5D Mk3, TSE 24mm f/3.5L, 70-300mm f/4-5.6L, and a 300mm f/2.8L. With the 300mm mounted to the camera it weighs 9lb-1.6oz. I’ve got what seems like to me a pretty decent view from the roof of my house for photographing nebulas but also have a great spot less than a 10min walk from my house to get the Milky Way over the mountains.

I’m thinking of getting either the Sky-Watcher EQM-35 or the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi. I like the idea of having a portable battery powered star tracker (GTi) but it’s payload is 11lbs and my large lens with camera is 9lb-1.6oz which is pretty close to its max. Would that be okay or is it too heavy to work well? The EQM-35 has a 22lb payload but is far less portable, though I suppose I could hook it up to a portable lithium battery pack. Overall I think I would prefer the GTi for its portability and cheaper price but am worried about being so close to the weight capacity.

Whatever suggestions you all provide please keep these constraints in mind. I use Linux and absolutely will not install any apps on my phone for functionality unless they are FOSS with no trackers. I have found that the program KStars can control cameras and mounts via the protocol INDI as well as Sky-Watcher has a SynScan hand controller accessory.

I appreciate any help given and am looking to go to a local Star Party to meet people but sadly am busy during the next one. Thanks!

Celestron C90, Sony A7R2