Do you think my camera is malfunctioning ?

Tom HChristoph Nieswandandrea tasselli
39 replies1k views
Tom H avatar
started getting pictures like this from my ZWO 533mc 
image was background extraction and Noise reduction in Graxpert and then opened up in Siril -Auto stretch view 
Christoph Nieswand avatar
No, I do not think, that the camera has a problem.

We would need to see the original picture without background extraction.

I guess, that your signal is pretty low and the Siril autostretch simply blows up all (normal) residual artifacts from background extraction.
Is it a stack?

Without more information about the picture … difficult to say.
Tom H avatar
Original picture without background extraction 

andrea tasselli avatar
We mean an orginal single image, not a stack.
TiffsAndAstro avatar
What colour are northern lights?
Tom H avatar

300" exposure Gain 100 camera cooled to 14 degrees
Christoph Nieswand avatar
There is almost nothing in the image and the auto-stretch is pretty aggressiv and blows it up …
Tell us more about your setup, telescope, offset setting on the camera …
Btw: I don not recognize the object … what is it?
Rostokko avatar
Christoph Nieswand:
Btw: I don not recognize the object … what is it?


NGC7129?
andrea tasselli avatar
Tom H avatar
Celestron 9.25 nexstar evolution 
.63 Celestron reducer 
Celestron OAG
ASI AIR PLUS 

OBJECT ngc 1333/LDN 1452

offset? New to the hobby how do I determine ?
I appreciate you help Chris
andrea tasselli avatar
What about the image calibration pipeline, as I reckon the issue is there.
Tom H avatar

asi air plus single image -jpeg

Andrea calibration pipeline in Siril?
Tom H avatar
Object was initially setup at NGC 1333 but the asiair plus logged it as LDN 1452 for some unknown reason -it has been acting up on me after downloading latest firmware
Tom H avatar
Also using L-enhance filter
andrea tasselli avatar
Tom H:
Andrea calibration pipeline in Siril?


Yes, what is the calibration procedure in Siril. Do you remove master dark, apply master flat? And what about those as well. How do you create those? As an aside, do you use the L-eNhance for capturing NGC1333? That won't do and explains the loss of signal.
Tom H avatar
Siril settings
The Andrea will try without L-enhance filter 

andrea tasselli avatar
If that are your calibration settings I don't think you are calibrating anything, see below:

You need to enable the options (and do it the right way) in order for Siril to actually do something.

Are you using a script by any chance (like OSC_Preprocessing)?
Tom H avatar
I am using the OS C Preprocessing

I have had no issues with prior image processing-I thought these were already set by SIRIL-default settings.
Alex Nicholas avatar
Nope..

The issue is that your frames are not lined up correctly, so when they were stacked, the usable area (area of intersection of all the subframes) is actually quite small, and all the dark area in the upper right and bottom left are areas of little to no subframe intersection, thus, little to no signal there, vs. the very center of the image where there plenty of signal.

This level of misalignment in your subframes indicates to me that either: 1. Your dither settings are FAR too agressive, causing the images to walk away from the center of the desired target. 2. Your polar alignment is quite poor, and during the night, any pauses is guiding to achieve autofocus runs are allowing the scope to drift a considerable amount between, thus, walking away from the desired target center. 3. You're not carefully re-positioning the target if you're shooting multi-night images, again, causing the frames to not overlap correctly, resulting in this sort of image..

Remember, the image sensor in your 533 is square 3008x3008px sensor, and the resulting image you got is rectangle, and im willing to bet its greater than 3008px on both sides… That's a perfect indication that the resulting image is made from frames that are grossly misaligned.
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andrea tasselli avatar
The original image is square and cannot be otherwise.
Well Written
Tom H avatar
I appreciate the help -my asiair plus is struggling with the meridian flip -has trouble centering after 
Going to try another night of imaging
Christoph Nieswand avatar
Tom H:
Celestron 9.25 nexstar evolution 
.63 Celestron reducer 
Celestron OAG
ASI AIR PLUS 

OBJECT ngc 1333/LDN 1452

offset? New to the hobby how do I determine ?
I appreciate you help Chris

The camera has an offset setting. It determines the value of the reading on pixels where is no signal on the sensor. If you do not set it correctly you clip off all low values. To check if your offset is set too low check for the lowest pixel value in a single image. If it is 0, then the offset is probably too low and you loose signal.
Check the histogram of a dark or bias frame (frames with no light on the sensor). There should be a peak around reading of some tens ADU. If the peak is cut off on the low side at 0 then the offset is too low.
I guess that the offset should be some tens or a few hundred. The optimum value is different for each individual camera und you have to determine it by taking dark or bias frames.
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Christoph Nieswand avatar
Tom H:

asi air plus single image -jpeg

Andrea calibration pipeline in Siril?

Your OAG is partly obstructing your FOV. The top left dark patch is caused by the prism which is a bit too far in. You should rotate the OAG so that the prism side is parallel to a side of the frame. Then the obstruction can be reduced to a minimum or even avoided.
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Christoph Nieswand avatar
And from that image, I guess your offset is ok.
Christoph Nieswand avatar
NGC 1333 is mostly a reflection nebula. I would try without filter, if light pollution in your area is not too extreme. The L-enhance takes away a lot of nice signal.
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