How to : collab

William Optics Redcat 51 ZWO AM5 Collaboration
8 replies•310 views
ValeryL avatar
ValeryL avatar
Hello everybody, 

With only 2 years of experience, I already figured out that collecting enough data is not that easy!
For now my best is 19h, but i was very lucky on the weather (6 perfect nights in a raw and during vacations).
I already want to get more and I don't mind sharing so..

Here we go : how to enter a collaboration? where to say hello I'm here who wants to collaborate? Is there a special forum? are they public annonces or is it mainly private?

Also, I must admit I have no idea  what are the requirements for the equipment to be able to compil the data. I mean, do FOV, sampling etc must be exactly the same?

Just in case here is the good forum, here is my equipment and location :

redcat51 / Evolution 8 SCT
AM5
ASI 2600MC 
Guiding 

latitude 43.5° north ( I can image mainly toward EAST with a 180°C FOV up to zenith.

Clear skies

Cheers
Oscar H. avatar
Oscar H. avatar
Hello everybody, 

With only 2 years of experience, I already figured out that collecting enough data is not that easy!
For now my best is 19h, but i was very lucky on the weather (6 perfect nights in a raw and during vacations).
I already want to get more and I don't mind sharing so..

Here we go : how to enter a collaboration? where to say hello I'm here who wants to collaborate? Is there a special forum? are they public annonces or is it mainly private?

Also, I must admit I have no idea  what are the requirements for the equipment to be able to compil the data. I mean, do FOV, sampling etc must be exactly the same?

Just in case here is the good forum, here is my equipment and location :

redcat51 / Evolution 8 SCT
AM5
ASI 2600MC 
Guiding 

latitude 43.5° north ( I can image mainly toward EAST with a 180°C FOV up to zenith.

Clear skies

Cheers

how to enter a collaboration > there isn't any special forum I know of; all my own collabs started with a PM.

requirements? > pixel size and focal length must be as close as possible for the processing to be less complicated; FOV, not exactly; just imagine if one guy has a 6200mm-p and another guy has a 2600mm-p, and both have RC51s; that would be okay for collabs; the FOV would be different, but the pixel size and FL would be the same, so it would be okay because the 6200 guy can crop his frame to match the 2600 guy.

I would've liked to team up with you, but I'm rushing to get probably around 150 more hours on an object before it goes away for the year

maybe after, we can do some projects; I don't think our focal lengths are far off if you use your RC51
ValeryL avatar
ValeryL avatar
Oscar H.:
Hello everybody, 

With only 2 years of experience, I already figured out that collecting enough data is not that easy!
For now my best is 19h, but i was very lucky on the weather (6 perfect nights in a raw and during vacations).
I already want to get more and I don't mind sharing so..

Here we go : how to enter a collaboration? where to say hello I'm here who wants to collaborate? Is there a special forum? are they public annonces or is it mainly private?

Also, I must admit I have no idea  what are the requirements for the equipment to be able to compil the data. I mean, do FOV, sampling etc must be exactly the same?

Just in case here is the good forum, here is my equipment and location :

redcat51 / Evolution 8 SCT
AM5
ASI 2600MC 
Guiding 

latitude 43.5° north ( I can image mainly toward EAST with a 180°C FOV up to zenith.

Clear skies

Cheers

how to enter a collaboration > there isn't any special forum I know of; all my own collabs started with a PM.

requirements? > pixel size and focal length must be as close as possible for the processing to be less complicated; FOV, not exactly; just imagine if one guy has a 6200mm-p and another guy has a 2600mm-p, and both have RC51s; that would be okay for collabs; the FOV would be different, but the pixel size and FL would be the same, so it would be okay because the 6200 guy can crop his frame to match the 2600 guy.

I would've liked to team up with you, but I'm rushing to get probably around 150 more hours on an object before it goes away for the year

maybe after, we can do some projects; I don't think our focal lengths are far off if you use your RC51

Hello Oscar,

Thanks for your answer! Ok about FOV and pixel size i think i got it.

150h! what a project, can't wait to see the results.

Feel free to send a message when you are available

clear skies
Oscar H. avatar
Oscar H. avatar
Oscar H.:
Hello everybody, 

With only 2 years of experience, I already figured out that collecting enough data is not that easy!
For now my best is 19h, but i was very lucky on the weather (6 perfect nights in a raw and during vacations).
I already want to get more and I don't mind sharing so..

Here we go : how to enter a collaboration? where to say hello I'm here who wants to collaborate? Is there a special forum? are they public annonces or is it mainly private?

Also, I must admit I have no idea  what are the requirements for the equipment to be able to compil the data. I mean, do FOV, sampling etc must be exactly the same?

Just in case here is the good forum, here is my equipment and location :

redcat51 / Evolution 8 SCT
AM5
ASI 2600MC 
Guiding 

latitude 43.5° north ( I can image mainly toward EAST with a 180°C FOV up to zenith.

Clear skies

Cheers

how to enter a collaboration > there isn't any special forum I know of; all my own collabs started with a PM.

requirements? > pixel size and focal length must be as close as possible for the processing to be less complicated; FOV, not exactly; just imagine if one guy has a 6200mm-p and another guy has a 2600mm-p, and both have RC51s; that would be okay for collabs; the FOV would be different, but the pixel size and FL would be the same, so it would be okay because the 6200 guy can crop his frame to match the 2600 guy.

I would've liked to team up with you, but I'm rushing to get probably around 150 more hours on an object before it goes away for the year

maybe after, we can do some projects; I don't think our focal lengths are far off if you use your RC51

Hello Oscar,

Thanks for your answer! Ok about FOV and pixel size i think i got it.

150h! what a project, can't wait to see the results.

Feel free to send a message when you are available

clear skies

of course! will bookmark this thread so I can come back to you.
SkyHoinar avatar
SkyHoinar avatar
Hello ValeryL,

I joined quite recently, but I am also interested to collaborate with others on common projects. The only limitations are the available time and the weather (which in this part of the world where I live is notoriously bad especially during this season). Otherwise, I would like to.

Do you have any specific targets in mind?

Just in case there is an interesting initiative, here is my current equipment:
Camera:
- Omegon veTEC 571C
OTA:
- TS-Optics CF-APO 80/480 mm
- SW 150/750mm PDS Newtonian
Mount:
- iOptron HEM27

Clear skies
Oscar H. avatar
Oscar H. avatar
Valery, you know what? actually, since it's around full moon, I can get some narrowband data for you; looking at my weather forecast, I can maybe get 30 hours or more during the next few days

I really have nothing else to do; my project requires less than 50% moon or better if no moon

we 3 can start a PM group, what do you guys think?
Scott Stirling avatar
Scott Stirling avatar

A dedicated area for coordinating group data projects and participation guidelines would be excellent.

Well Written Respectful
Salvatore Iovene avatar
Salvatore Iovene avatar

There’s a collaboration tag on the forums (this topic is tagged)! A dedicated area of the site with Taylor made tools would be great tho!

Scott Stirling avatar
Scott Stirling avatar

Salvatore Iovene · Sep 3, 2025 at 06:26 AM

There’s a collaboration tag on the forums (this topic is tagged)! A dedicated area of the site with Taylor made tools would be great tho!

Thanks for pointing that out, Salvatore — that’s great 🔭 I was looking for that to help discover group / collaboration data projects.

Related discussions
Seeking astrophotographer for high-resolution images of 55 stars
Hello everyone, I am currently working on a structured visual project that requires high-resolution images of 55 predefined stars, spanning apparent magnitudes up to approximately mag 13. which must be captured in the coming period. In general, the s...
Author seeks collaborators; this post offers high-resolution star image collaboration opportunity.
Feb 25, 2026
Crescent Nebula raw data available for processing - 21 hours collected
Hello all, The time has come again to offer up some of my raw image data for anyone to process if you’re up for it, specifically my 2025 acquisition of the Crescent Nebula in Cygnus. I captured this in a relatively narrow FOV with my Celestron C6 sco...
Author wants more data; this post shares 21 hours of raw data for processing.
Jan 7, 2026
FITS File Analysis Tool Python
fits-analyser.py astronomical_analysis_description.pdf Hello fellow astrophotographers! I've developed a Python script to help me quickly analyze my FITS files and track my progress across different targets and filters. The main goal was to get a cle...
Author collects data; FITS analysis tool helps organize and understand collected observations.
Oct 10, 2025