Leveling up my post-processing with StarNet++

Posted on 18 November 2020 by matthannan

The other night I posted an image of Cassiopeia that I banged out very quickly in Sequator and The GIMP. Over the last few nights, I have re-run those images through Astro Pixel Processor as a way of getting better acquainted with that tool and its huge amount of features.… Read the rest

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Running Plex on an Atomic Pi: a follow-up

Posted on 16 November 2020 by matthannan

I was thinking about a post to tell you about how the new Atomic Pi Plex server was working out. Splendidly, thanks for asking. But we did have an issue this evening that I was afraid would eventually pop up.

The Atomic Pi has been entirely stable.… Read the rest

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Finally caught M31 and M33 together. Plus Cassiopeia with M103

Posted on 15 November 2020 by matthannan

I finally got a good shot of M31 and M33! So happy.

50mm, f/2.8, ISO 640, 361 exposures at 5 seconds each (just over 30 minutes)

I have a much larger version, should you be interested. In that one, you can see that I was starting to capture the arms of M33, but I really like the spikes on Mirach (the star in the center of the picture).… Read the rest

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M31 and M33 again

Posted on 8 November 2020 by matthannan

Revisited the sky last night after a period of inactivity due to rain, snow, clouds, and/or cold. It was nice to be outside again. Tried to get M31 and M33 in the same shot.

M31 & M33, Take 1

Because I was unable to see my two main targets, I was unable to properly frame the shot.… Read the rest

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Pretty Frank followup

Posted on 24 October 2020 by matthannan

I’ve raked the yard two days running and took a shower after today’s session. Neither pit was ripe. In fact, it wasn’t until nearly the end of the shower when I finally caught a hint of something from the Piper Wai pit.… Read the rest

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Piper Wai, follow-up

Posted on 22 October 2020 by matthannan

You may recall that back in mid-June I was trying out a new deodorant, Piper Wai. Well, there is not enough left in the jar to do both arm pits tomorrow, so I am calling it finished. 128 days.

I liked Piper Wai so much that I sent a jar to a friend in CA.… Read the rest

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Revisiting Plex and NFS

Posted on 22 October 2020 by matthannan

The Raspberry Pi 3B is just a bit too weak to provide quick transcoding of HD files. But it has been working great for photos, podcasts, and music. I have long wanted to get the Atomic Pi back in the mix.… Read the rest

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Triangulum Galaxy at 50mm

Posted on 18 October 2020 by matthannan

M33, the Triangulum Galaxy, or the Pinwheel Galaxy, and its neighborhood at 50mm.

If the sky stays clear, I am going to try again tonight at 100mm. I knew nothing about this galaxy yesterday. Now I know that it is the second brightest object that we can see with our naked eyes (under extremely awesome dark sky conditions) that is outside of our own galaxy.… Read the rest

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Andromeda at 50mm, again

Posted on 18 October 2020 by matthannan

Went out on the 14th and took a quick 470 pictures of a blank spot in the sky. Actually, they were 4 seconds a piece, so just over a 30 minute exposure. Stopped down to f/2.8 and tried out reducing to ISO 640.… Read the rest

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Andromeda at 50mm

Posted on 11 October 2020 by matthannan

This is from a session that I did back on Sept 25, using the 50mm f/1.8 prime lens. Been banging my head against it in Deep Sky Stacker, Siril, and Sequator for the stacking and pre-processing, and then finishing up with The GIMP for post-processing.… Read the rest

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