RCC - Progress trajectory and everything else Requests for constructive critique · Rajat Kumar · ... · 4 · 142 · 0

Hello everyone,

My name is Rajat, and I’m from New Delhi, India. Like many others, I discovered my love for astronomy during the COVID pandemic when I bought my first telescope—a 90mm f/5 achromatic alt-az refractor (Bresser). Not long after, an 8-inch Dobsonian arrived at my doorstep, and, as many of you can probably relate, the journey of equipment acquisition began and hasn’t stopped since!

It’s been almost four years since I started exploring astrophotography. I began with an old Canon EOS 40D from 2007, which a friend kindly gave me—though it had fungus on the sensor at the time. Back then, I had never used a DSLR before, and even now, I’m not sure I could take a decent daytime photo with one (too many photons for me to handle!). Most of what I’ve learned about astrophotography has come from studying the incredible images and resources here on Astrobin. I’ve tried to learn by observing and emulating the work of others, and my understanding of what makes a “good image” has evolved over time—and continues to do so.I’m reaching out to this wonderful community today to humbly ask for your feedback and guidance. I’ve been working with a basic beginner setup and have tried my best to make the most of it. I’d greatly appreciate any critique or advice on my progress so far, as well as thoughts on specific areas where I can improve, whether in processing techniques or future equipment choices. Your insights would mean a lot to me as I continue to learn and grow in this amazing hobby.

Here is my profile: https://www.astrobin.com/users/Mintakaite/
Some of the images:
1. Abell 31: https://www.astrobin.com/wxr493/H/ (Hardest thing I have ever done. From Bortle 8)
2. Vdb 14 and 15: https://www.astrobin.com/2soarl/ (this one was imaged from a fantastic Bortle 1 skies competing with Chilean skies. The site hosts several professional telescopes and it is currently=10.5px the tenth-highest optical telescope in the world. Reaching there is not easy but I would aim once a year trip to Hanle) 
3. Lower's Nebula: https://www.astrobin.com/v6zxfj/D/ (From my B8)
4. Cederblad 51: https://www.astrobin.com/x4lmjz/B/ (from B2)
5. M45: https://www.astrobin.com/mxb0wz/B/ (from B2)

Equipments/ Softwares that I use:
1. William Optics Z73 (it has an aperture mask for star shape improvement - plate solved focal length is 442mm)
2. ZWO ASI2600MC (as of now I am not willing to give up convenience - so switching to mono set-up is .. maybe 2 years away)
3. Ioptron HAE29C (this is my second mount. shifted from GEM28 to HAE. It has some minor quirk when it comes to polar alignment but overall it just works. Have no complaints on performance whatsoever.)
4. Filters: L'Ultimate (3nm) dual narrowband and UV/IR Cut filter (I have stopped using broadband LP filters completely. I don't miss it)
5. Softwares: NINA, PHD2, Cartes Du Ciel, SIRIL, Astropixel Processor, Graxpert, SetiAstro Cosmic Suite, NoiseXterminator, Affinity Photos, and Starnet. 

Some upgrades that I have in my mind are Pixinsight (there is no question about it), and an 8" f/4 dob as my main imaging scope.

My aim of writing this post is to get some good critique on the work I have been doing. It is difficult to get a proper critique of your astro-images and I do not want to be that person who thinks everything-I-do-is-the-best. I am a criminal defence attorney and stories of my failures are often recorded in public documents which have a shelf life of infinity. I can take criticism no matter how harsh it is. And in this case of AP, I think, I need some reality check. 

If you have reached here, thank you. 

Clear skies!

Thanks, Andrea. Your comments are always very helpful. About the bigger scope, yes that's on the horizon somewhere. I am almost convinced about an 8" f/4 newt. I am done with refractors for now. Points noted about more data and consequent effect of it on noise reduction. Can you elaborate on image scale bit? Some times I use CFA drizzle - mostly for better stars - but otherwise, I am imaging at 1.7"/ pixel.

andrea tasselli:

Rajat Kumar:
Thanks, Andrea. Your comments are always very helpful. About the bigger scope, yes that's on the horizon somewhere. I am almost convinced about an 8" f/4 newt. I am done with refractors for now. Points noted about more data and consequent effect of it on noise reduction. Can you elaborate on image scale bit? Some times I use CFA drizzle - mostly for better stars - but otherwise, I am imaging at 1.7"/ pixel.

Yes, you need a LOT more light to combat the nefarious effects of LP and an 8" f/4 is definitely the way to go. As for the other comments, let take Sh2-261 - Space Bug (Mintakaite) - Full resolution | AstroBin
If halved the image scale (which stands a ~ 1.4"/px) you would still see the same amount of details but you wouldn't need to over-smooth it and you'll a have a better handle of the "chicken skin" effect (spots or small blotches of colors in an otherwise dark background) in the shadows. Remember you are imaging with a 70mm refractor and your ideal image scale wouldn't need to be smaller (or is bigger?) than 2"/px.

Also, don't forget to bring stars colors out.

Ah got it! Yes, I did drizzle the image. Thanks!
Star Colours: I have started focussing on stars and colours. I plan to shoot a lot more star clusters just to improve my processing skills on that front. For eg. https://www.astrobin.com/full/ixecrw/D/ .. from bortle 8 - nothing perfect but just to figure out how to get star colours out.