Unistellar FITS

Hi Edgar @echiriff,

Thank you very much for your post and welcome to the Astro Pixel Processor forum.

I have had a look at the TIFF file. I see what you mean.

We have tested data before from the Unistellar telescope and all was working as epxected back then I think. I do not have one myself for testing though.

What can you do with setup of the telescope? If it can dither properly, those alt-azimuth concentric circles will be gone for sure and also the grainy color patches.

I also think that processing the data with Bayer Drizzle with bigger drizzle drops can solve it.

Those artefacts that you describe are basically a result of shooting images without dithering and a camera with a Bayer sensor, it would also occur with a regular Canon camera if you do not dither I think.

Regarding the pinkish color, there are several ways to solve that, maybe the Unistellar stores some color factors in the FITS header that we can use to fix that?

If you want, I can look at your Unistellar data and test it myself?

You can upload it here:

https://upload.astropixelprocessor.com/

username: uploadData

password: uploadTestData

Please make a folder with your name and issue like:  Edgar-Unistellar-Pink

and upload the data there and let me know once uploaded, then I will look at it as soon as possible.

I will also be happy to extend your Trial or give you a new Trial whenever you want, just let me know 😉

Mabula

@mabula-admin Hello, I uploaded a couple of subfolders within the main folder.  One is for the picture I sent (Horsehead), and the other I picked by mistake (Jellyfish Nebula), but they all have the same problem.  I am also a bit confused about how to correct colors in APP or use some of the most advanced features (I'm a beginner at all this).  Unistellar telescopes do not have any option to change how captures are made.  As far as I know, there is no drizzle.  They are designed to give you easy access to decent images with minimal effort with their own app but allow you to download the raw data if you want to stack and process outside of their app to get better images.  The 10000 + Unistellar community is looking for an app that will stack and correct some of the inherent all-azimuth artifacts.  Many would be very happy to purchase an app that would have some sort of workflow for Unistellar.  To illustrate, although their app is Ok for many things, with faint nebulae or other DSOs, it is not enough.  The image below shows what the Unistellar app shows for the same stack that I did in APP.  As you can see, APP stretched a lot more detail from the raw files.  Thanks

Hello Mabula, I just wanted to confirm that the files were uploaded correctly and you were able to look at them.  I'd be happy to get another trial, but as a beginner, I'm not sure what else to do to get the stacks to look better than what I've already achieved.  There are so many options, but I don't know what is good for Unistellar files. I pretty much used the default settings because I don't know what many of the terms mean.  If you give me any recommendations to try, I would definitely love to give it another chance.  As I mentioned, there are a lot of Unistellar owners who would love to use APP if they are able to get better images that go beyond what the included software can do.  Thanks in advance for your help.

Hi Edgar @echiriff,

Thank you very much for all the details and for your upload. We have received your files in good order. I will try to test your data in the coming days, I could not do it sooner, because of the planned release for APP 2.0.0-beta35 today.

I will get back to you in the coming days 😉

Mabula

@mabula-admin Hello Mabula, no problem.  Let me know if you are able to come up with a workflow that would work for Unistellar.  You had also offered a trial extension.  I would love to keep trying APP.  So far, it's the only software that at least gave me something to work with.  I just wish I knew more about what the different options do.  Thanks, Edgar

Good morning Mabula, have you looked into the Unistellar files and come up with a better workflow than what I was able to get?  Thanks 

Dear Edgar,

Thank you very much for your post, I was not yet able to look at the Unistellar data, but it is still on my list to do. I will do it in the coming week for sure and will get back to you.

Mabula

Hello Mabula, thank you for getting back.  Were you able to look into the Unistellar data?  Eagerly waiting 25,000 Unistellar community waiting... 🤣

Hi Edgar, @echiriff

Please accept my apologies, it is still on my todo list to check your data and advise on workflow. I have been working hard for the next release which will have several improvements again and that work has finished now, hope to release it next week. That also means that I am bumping your issue/request now to the top of my todo list.

Sorry to have kept you waiting for so long.

Mabula

Hello Mabula,

Thank you for getting back.  I know it is complicated with smart telescopes and proprietary algorithms.  I appreciate the effort, and hopefully, there will be a way to stretch the files while eliminating the rotation artifacts.

Hi Edgar, @echiriff

I have finally looked at your data and I sincerely apologize for the late reply.

Using the data that you uploaded, I see little issues to start with but also little signal because the amount of frames uploaded is small and the exposures are very short as you know of course.

This is what I get In APP 2.0.0-beta37 for the Horse Head and JellyFish:

I see that you had created folders for darks, but no darks were actually uploaded? Is that correct?

I also see that little light frames were uploaded, I think the whole dataset must be more then 1000s of frames, right? With less than 100 frames it is hard for me to see real signal nor the big issues like the concentric circles.

Maybe you can use the upload instructions as indicated earlier in this topic to upload all lights and all darks that you have for the HorseHead ? Then I will look at that and see what the best way would be to process this in APP 😉

Sorry to have kept you waiting so long,

Mabula

Hello Mabula, thank you for following up.  I don't know what happened, I uploaded all the files.  This time I went back and created a folder Edgar and uploaded M 101, Horsehead and Jellyfish plus a Masterfiles folder.  I stayed watching and while uploading Horsed, it got stuck and did not upload all the lights.  Same with Jellyfish.  M 101 is complete.  When I tried to upload the missing files I got this error about not having proper priviledges so I couldn't complete them.

Also, the M 101 folder contains the only dark Unistellar makes and the stacksum file that is the internal live stack from the scope and .jpg preview.  So you will have to extract these prior to stacking in APP, I guess.  I usually use the master files instead of the individual darks, but I left it so you can try both if you want.  When the issue with the priviledges is fixed, I will complete the other uploads.  There are a lot more files but not the entire set.  Thanks Again.

Hi Edgar @echiriff,

I just checked, I see in all 3 object folders now around 700 lights. I guess all the data is there now? Or do you still need to add more so I can test on the complete dataset which will be best I think to help you and other unistellar users.

The issue with the priviliges could be that our server logged you out at some point? By logging in again, all should be fine I think.

Mabula

Hi Mabula. The only one complete is M101; the other got interrupted, and although they have more subs than before, they are still not complete.  The issue with the server seems to be that it keeps me logged in.  When I click on the upload page link, I don't get the login screen, it takes me directly to the files page.  I still can't add any additional files.  I guess you can try M101 until I'm able to upload the rest of the other ones.  M101 is a newer capture that I had not processed with APP.  I tried the login again, and this is what I keep getting (see image).  Thanks for your interest. I know that Unistellar telescopes are more of an immediate visual experience, not astrophotography, but I keep hoping that with the right software and step-by-step workflow, and proper settings, something can be done to achieve a better image.  I know a lot of the 25000-plus Unistellar users are also looking for software that can do this, too.

Hello Mabula,  I am still unable to add the missing files.  I get the same error.  I go directly to the file manager without having to log in.  Hopefully, M 101 is usable to work with.  Thanks

Hi Edgar @echiriff, thanks for the upload, I am finishing some work for the next release related to making mosaics and then I will fully address M101 😉 I will get back to you.

Mabula

Hello Mabula, thank you for keeping this in mind.  Just to let you know, I just tried again and keep getting the same error when I try to add more files.  It's like I'm still logged in.  I go straight to the upload area without having to log in

Hi Edgar @echiriff,

I have checked our server and I killed an open connection for the upload user, maybe you can try again now?

Mabula

Hi Mabula, I just tried, and although I was prompted to log in, I still got the same error.  On the other hand, the Horsehead seems to have finished uploading, and the Jellyfish is a bit short but probably still usable.  M101 has been complete since the beginning.  You could try either one of those (or all). :). Thank you for looking into this.

Thanks Edgar, I have tested logging and uploading myself and I encounter no issues. Maybe some caching in your browser is not correct. You can try to clear the browser cache first before logging in, maybe that helps.

Ok, will test the data and will get back to you.

Mabula

Thank you.