9 oct 2025

more ts60

 The 0.8 ff-reducer give 288mm. A little gibbous moon dodging involving choice of targets away from the satellite... really disppointed with both the gradient and the outcome over such a long integration, especially the gecko. 2 nights, one with sv220 and the other, sv260.

emission and reflection nebulae around sh2-126 gecko in lacerta
veTEC571 on ts60    ~90x4min @ hcg100

open cluster m45 pleiades in taurus
veTEC571 on ts60    36x4min @ hcg100


29 sept 2025

autumn widefield

 




veTEC-571 on ts60
hcg 100, -5º
sky rover 0.8 fr giving 288mm
sv220 dual band

Various renditions as I've no idea how to use the filter...
supernova remnant ic443 medusa in gemini with emission nebula ngc7124 cabeza de mono in orion
14 frames 
- - -
A few nt150s extra frames first.

emission nebula ngc7380 wizard in cepheus
~45 frames



- - -

emission nebula ic1848 alma in cassiopeia
~45 frames




21 sept 2025

equinoccio otoño



El equinoccio de otoño 2025 -> 22 de septiembre.

El sol pasa por el ecuador celeste a las 20:19 CET; día y noche siendo iguales.

18 sept 2025

more nt150s




Around 10 years old. Not doing bad apart from a -very much user error- loose camera. Shock horror upon venturing outside on two consecutive mornings at 06:30 to find a loose veTEC. Not once, but twice. Must be old age.








veTEC-571 on Bresser nt150s: -5º  ~48x4min give or take @ hcg10

night 1

globular cluster m71 in sagitta
process st

process seti

asterism collinder 399 coat hanger in vulpecula

open cluster ngc7789 caroline's rose in cassiopeia

night 2

galaxy m33 pinwheel in triangulum

open cluster m103 in cassiopeia

galaxy ngc7331 with cluster deer lick and stephan's quintet in pegaso

night 3

open cluster ngc457 owl in cassiopeia

open clusters ngc884 and ngc869 in perseo

15 sept 2025

sas-pro build

get the source:
git clone https://github.com/setiastro/setiastrosuitepro.git

setup the virtual environment
cd ~/setiastrosuitepro
python3 -m venv venv
. venv/bin/activate

install the requirements
pip install -r requirements.txt

run from the source
At this point, the source is ready to run:
./venv/bin/python setiastrosuitepro.py

update
cd ~/setiastrosuitepro
git pull

go
./venv/bin/python setiastrosuitepro.py

 --- --- ---

But you may want to make an app to distribute to your friends who -shame- don't have a virtual environment, so...

prepare the .spec file
pyi-makespec --onefile setiastrosuitepro.py

edit the .spec file
Here are the units required to build a standalone app without needing the source. 
Tested on kubuntu 24.04.2

astroquery CITATION
astropy CITATION
photutils
onnxruntime
the png icon images in the root of the git

Add that to the output of the pyi-makespec file using the paths on your computer. 
Mine looks like this:

setiastrosuitepro.spec

# -*- mode: python ; coding: utf-8 -*-

a = Analysis(
    ['setiastrosuitepro.py'],
    pathex=[],
    datas=[
    ('/home/steve/setiastrosuitepro/venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/astroquery', 'astroquery'),
    ('/home/steve/setiastrosuitepro/venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/astropy', 'astropy'),
    ('/home/steve/setiastrosuitepro/venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/photutils', 'photutils'),
    ('/home/steve/setiastrosuitepro/venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/onnxruntime', 'onnxruntime'),
    ('/home/steve/setiastrosuitepro/*.png', '.'),
    ],
    binaries=[],
    hookspath=[],
    hooksconfig={},
    runtime_hooks=[],
    excludes=[],
    noarchive=False,
    optimize=0,
    )
pyz = PYZ(a.pure)

exe = EXE(
    pyz,
    a.scripts,
    a.binaries,
    a.datas,
    [],
    name='setiastrosuitepro',
    debug=False,
    bootloader_ignore_signals=False,
    strip=False,
    upx=True,
    upx_exclude=[],
    runtime_tmpdir=None,
    console=True,
    disable_windowed_traceback=False,
    argv_emulation=False,
    target_arch=None,
    codesign_identity=None,
    entitlements_file=None,
)

test
Deep breath, then...

cd ~/setiastrosuitepro/dist
./setiastrosutepro

and, yeyhhh... You now have a single file which will work outside the venv.

please donate to help Franklin on his journey

10 sept 2025

startools panda eyes

 Description taken from here.

It's the dark rings which appear around stars which are imaged against a bright background, especially after deconvolution.

Eliminated using a star mask, then...