Help - only getting star annotation on my plate-solved image

Acquisition Plate Solving AstroBin Deep Sky
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Dick Locke avatar
Dick Locke avatar

Hi, just joined and paid for the high-end version specifically to get the best plate solving capabilities. In a 50mm Ha image of the Orion area I got a successful plate solve but I am only seeing star annotations. Would expect to see M42 etc. noted. Seems like a bug or unfortunate limitation, or maybe I’m just doing something wrong? Assistance/info appreciated and I hope this is an appropriate place to inquire (if not please advise).

The image in question is this one: https://app.astrobin.com/u/DickLocke?i=66s3k2

Salvatore Iovene avatar
Salvatore Iovene avatar

Hi Dick,

This image is failing at the second plate-solving stage, the one powered by PixInsight.

A small percentage of images do fail at this step. The tolerances are intentionally tight to avoid false positives, and issues like distorted stars from optics or processing can sometimes prevent a successful solve.

There is something you can try that often helps. You can attach a sample frame that PixInsight will use instead of the final JPEG or PNG.

Go to the image’s advanced plate-solving settings and upload a sample frame in FITS or XISF format. The frame must meet these requirements:

  • A single frame, not a stack

  • Linear, not stretched

  • Registered to the final image you uploaded to AstroBin, so annotations line up correctly

This resolves the issue in many cases.

If it still does not work, let me know and we can look further.

Kind regards,

Salvatore

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Dick Locke avatar
Dick Locke avatar

Thank you I greatly appreciate the explanation. For future considerations, perhaps the tolerances are too tight, or maybe provide a simple setting to loosen them.

For the work-around, it would take some me work to prepare a sample frame. Since I plan to reprocess from scratch I will attempt to preserve a suitable sample frame then.

-Dick Locke

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Salvatore Iovene avatar
Salvatore Iovene avatar

Hi Dick,

that would be great, but unfortunately it's outside of AstroBin's control as it's not an option provided by the PixInsight interface at this time.

In theory this should be doable, and I will add it to my list!

Salvatore

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