u/ilessthan3math

• Apertura AD10 untracked dobsonian
• ZWO ASI585MC + 2x barlow
• Captured using Sharpcap - 7ms exposures with Gain=438
  • I tried a separate set of captures at the native Gain of 300, but required 40ms+ exposure times, and since I am untracked and just let the planet drift, I thought the result was coming out too soft.
• PIPP, AutoStakkert, and Registax used to process the best 67% out of ≈8000 frames
  • This was my first time manually adding alignment points (APs) instead of having Autostakkert do them automatically. I think I got a better result out of it.
• Color, contrast, and curves adjustments done in GIMP

Registax is a PITA to get your hands on since it's way out of production at this point. So if you don't already have it installed you have to sleuth around the internet to find it. Everyone says to use Wavesharp instead which is apparently its spiritual successor, but I for the life of me cannot get NEARLY the same level of results trying to sharpen in Wavesharp.

Has anyone had success with Wavesharp and/or know of a good tutorial on how to use it effectively to sharpen an image stack coming out of Autostakkert?

• Canon R8 mirrorless camera
• Sigma 28mm f/1.4 ART (shot wide open at f/1.4)
• 4k video downsampled to 1080p to help with noise.
• Levels brought up a bit with curve adjustments in Da Vinci Resolve

I've been trying to do some "astrovideography" lately with my Canon R8 and a fast, wide lens. It's not perfect, but I'm pretty happy with the results I've been getting, all things considered. The R8 lets you do video with exposure times up to 1/8". When it does this and records at 24fps, it's printing the same frame several times, since the 1/8" takes up more time than the 1/24th second frame time. But obviously the result is that you can get much better signal to noise and brightness.

The R8 is also very good in low light, so I can comfortably shoot at ISO 12800, or even 25600. And as a result I can pick up the Milky Way a little bit on video, plenty of stars, satellites streaking all over the place, and occasional meteors, like in this video.

Left for vacation last week. Brought free chlorine up to SLAM level and dropped two pucks in the skimmer before we left to try to keep levels on the high side while we were gone. We have a VS pump that never turns off, so no real risk of chlorine sitting stagnant in the skimmer.

Came back to chrystal clear water ready to swim right away. Get your chems right and the rest is easy! Especially if you've got a pair of automaton assistants who do all the heavy lifting clearing debris.

Taken at dusk tonight - the meteor was observed naked-eye at the time of the shot, so confirmed not a plane contrail or anything. This was a 1 second exposure, during which a bright flash streaked straight down as seen in the image.

Planets in the shot from left to right are Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury (near the bottom of the meteor streak).

Grilled a handful of these huge steaks on the grill (1.5lbs each). Indirect heat up to about 105° internal, then seared at ~600° for about 2.5 minutes, by which point internal temp was 125°-130°. Served with au jus and chimicurri. Some of the best we've had here at the house.