I gave a talk about the methodology I use to obtain high resolution imagery of deep sky objects on The Astro Imaging Channel.
The link is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gSn1NltNn4
Any comments?
The Quest for High Resolution Deep Sky Imaging Presentation
Just watched it a bit ago, it was excellent and covers all the major points. I’ve been pushing shorter subs , deep culling, over-sampling and +60 degree elevation imaging for a long time. It’s nice to see confirmation that I’m on the right track.
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Robert Majewski · Feb 16, 2026, 05:42 PM
I gave a talk about the methodology I use to obtain high resolution imagery of deep sky objects on The Astro Imaging Channel.
The link is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gSn1NltNn4
Any comments?
Hi and thank you.
Very interesting.
Are there any recommendations for us poor guys in Bortle 6 and upwards to make high resolution imaging apart from
Search for another Hobby? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Thanks 🥴
Bortle 6 Guy
Just because your sky is somewhat bright does not mean the seeing is bad. I get good seeing at SRO however the sky is only Bortle 4. So it is not as dark as possible.
Only collect imagery near zenith when there is no moon. Maybe a light pollution filter?
Bob
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Robert Majewski · Feb 16, 2026, 09:58 PM
Bortle 6 Guy
Just because your sky is somewhat bright does not mean the seeing is bad. I get good seeing at SRO however the sky is only Bortle 4. So it is not as dark as possible.
Only collect imagery near zenith when there is no moon. Maybe a light pollution filter?
Bob
I agree, light pollution isn’t the limiting factor, seeing is. The short subs preferred in this type of work (15-30sec) work just fine in B8 as long as you have a camera with low read noise.
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Robert Majewski · Feb 16, 2026, 09:58 PM
Bortle 6 Guy
Just because your sky is somewhat bright does not mean the seeing is bad. I get good seeing at SRO however the sky is only Bortle 4. So it is not as dark as possible.
Only collect imagery near zenith when there is no moon. Maybe a light pollution filter?
Bob
Hi Bob,
Thanks. I do image with Monochrome and LRGB Ha OIII SII filters.
Light pollution filter for B$W camera with filters?
See below my latest image fo Arp 210 or NGC 1569 with a total of 19 hours and 15 minutes.
I am imaging from 30 - 35° over horizon and the clear nights are sparse… So I should start later and fnish earlier.
I am at 1950m over sea level in center México, 22° North 101° West which we could call a semi-arid climate
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semi-arid_climate
What do you think. This is at 3200mm focal length (a DIY CDK Mewlon 250S (acqusition year 2006)) and a 0.245” arcseconds per pixel… Please ignore the chromatic aberration at the stars as it comes from the DIY flattener using Edmund Optics lenses) Have not yet found a script in PixInsight for killing it . Also seems to be that PI does not align correctly my separate LRGB images…
Thanks Rainer
Arp210_LRGB.jpg
Tony Gondola · Feb 16, 2026, 10:09 PM
Robert Majewski · Feb 16, 2026, 09:58 PM
Bortle 6 Guy
Just because your sky is somewhat bright does not mean the seeing is bad. I get good seeing at SRO however the sky is only Bortle 4. So it is not as dark as possible.
Only collect imagery near zenith when there is no moon. Maybe a light pollution filter?
Bob
I agree, light pollution isn’t the limiting factor, seeing is. The short subs preferred in this type of work (15-30sec) work just fine in B8 as long as you have a camera with low read noise.
The camera I use on the Mewlon is an ASI 1600MM Pro
Thanks Rainer
As I understand things you take a block of 64 sub-exposures, toss 12, integrate the remaining 12 (maybe apply a bit of deconvolution) and call it a super-sub.. Repeat over and over then stack the super-subs in PixInsight.
So what happens as the seeing varies throughout the night? Perhaps looking all the subs as a whole you would decide to keep all 64 subs in some blocks and maybe throw away the entirety of other blocks.
Have you considered keeping all your subs and then post-processing them all at once at the end of acquisition? i.e. stack them all in PixInsight and use the Sub-Frame selector to toss your 1/2.
Also, in this case why not stack them all using PixInsight's weighed stacking scheme? My understanding is that the result of this is nearly identical as what you get by manual culling.
Have you done an analysis about how much more noise you have in your final stacks by the higher contribution of read-noise from all those short exposures against the trade-off in integrating more seeing variations in longer subs followed by a deconvolution (like BlurX) to recover the lost detail?
Lastly, have you considered the possibility of moving your scope to a site with better/more-frequent good seeing? A place like Howling Coyete Remote Observatories which frequently is sub-arcsecond?
So what happens as the seeing varies throughout the night? Perhaps looking all the subs as a whole you would decide to keep all 64 subs in some blocks and maybe throw away the entirety of other blocks.
Have you considered keeping all your subs and then post-processing them all at once at the end of acquisition? i.e. stack them all in PixInsight and use the Sub-Frame selector to toss your 1/2.
Also, in this case why not stack them all using PixInsight's weighed stacking scheme? My understanding is that the result of this is nearly identical as what you get by manual culling.
Have you done an analysis about how much more noise you have in your final stacks by the higher contribution of read-noise from all those short exposures against the trade-off in integrating more seeing variations in longer subs followed by a deconvolution (like BlurX) to recover the lost detail?
Lastly, have you considered the possibility of moving your scope to a site with better/more-frequent good seeing? A place like Howling Coyete Remote Observatories which frequently is sub-arcsecond?
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