Rob Reid

Thanks. StarNet++ is a neural net trained to recognize stars so they can be separated from non-star features like nebulae. Siril has a nice interface for using that to stretch the brightness of the stars separately from the nebulosity, so that the final result isn’t just a bunch of white stars and looks more “natural”, even though it is of course…[Read more]

I’m a WordPress newbie, so now I’ll try using attachments to avoid downscaling the images.

Flame to Orion nebulae: 30 * 13s exposures at 200 mm focal length

Rosette Nebula: 31 * 13s exposures at 200 mm focal length

Both processed with Siril and StarNet++.

I’m not sure where my post went, so apologies if I’m double posting.

I got my camera, a mirrorless “regular daytime” one, astromodified in late 2024, but did not really get the hang of it until March 2025. If anyone else is interested in getting their camera modified please reply and I’d be happy to go into more detail about my experience.…[Read more]

I got my mirrorless camera astromodified in late 2024, but did not really get the hang of H-alpha observing, or even regular daytime photography with it, until March 2025. If you are considering getting a “regular” camera astromodified instead of taking the dedicated astronomy camera route, here are some notes that I wish I had seen all in one…[Read more]

I did get those at Eagle Bluff, Bob. I’m glad you got to see Starship.

It was a great night! I got 77 x 30s exposures of M81 and M82, with somewhat less time and worse tracking on the Pleiades. My initial stacks + stretches are below, but I would like to eventually try using siril and starnet++ to bring out the galaxies and reflection nebula without fattening the stars.

I’m looking forward to it! It will be my first time at Eagle Bluff.

Wow. I was taught that Earth’s rotation was slowly slowing as the tides transferred its spin angular momentum to the Moon’s orbital angular momentum. This suggests that Earth’s mass distribution has contracted a bit.