For years now my imaging-night startup ritual has been: open Stellarium for
what's up, do sub-exposure math on a napkin, check framing in Telescopius,
hand-type the list into NINA. Got tired of it. Built one tool that does all
four. Single window, exports a .ninaTargetSet you double-click into NINA's
Sequencer. It's free, local, MIT-licensed.

Download it here:
https://github.com/LightbucketAstro/lightbucket-astro-planner/releases/tag/v1.0.0

#astrodon #astrophotography #astronomy

I've just released my Astro Planner application. This tool is designed for astrophotographers or anyone wanting to plan their evening sessions under the skies. Plan your targets based on rise/set times, visibility windows, and moon interference. Schedule the sequences of photos with recommended sub lengths based on your equipment. Export them all to a plan that can be printed, saved, or exported as a NINA targets file. All features work offline, so it can be used in the field with no Internet service. Astro Planner is currently in Beta release, and is FREE.

FEATURES:
*Sub-exposure recommendation — calculates an optimal sub length from your camera's read noise, the sky background at your Bortle class, and a configurable noise-ratio constant (the "C-constant").

*Tonight's imaging window — finds the usable window between astronomical twilight, moonrise/moonset, and per-target altitude constraints.

*Target Planner — searches the full NGC / IC catalog (downloaded on first run) and shows a live DSS thumbnail with a draggable sensor-frame overlay so you can frame the target before you go outside.

*Integration planner — turns a recommended sub length and an allocated number of hours into a concrete plan: sub count, total integration, start and end times.

*Tonight's Plan — a multi-target queue with a Gantt-style schedule and one-click export to NINA's .ninaTargetSet format. Multi-rig plans are split automatically into one file per telescope.

*Equipment inventory — stores your cameras, telescopes, and reducers so every new session starts with the right gear pre-filled.

*Session save / load — save a full evening's plan to JSON and reopen it later, with a prompt on close so nothing is lost by accident.

*Day / night theming — legible outdoors under a red torch as well as indoors at a desk.

Download it for windows or mac from my Github Site at: https://github.com/lightbucketastro/lightbucket-astro-planner/releases/latest

Feedback appreciated.
Lightbucket Astro

Here's a few pics I snapped on 3/8 and 3/9. M42 The Orion Nebula, and IC434 The Horsehead Nebula in Narrowband false-colors. Enjoy!

Ps8:3-4

I had an opportunity to grab a few hours of pictures during the nights of 2/17-18. My target was the Rosette Nebula, which is in a good position in the sky this time of year. Here's the results - the first in nautural color with a wide-angle scope, the second and third shots are in narrowband from my SCA260 scope (one in hubble SHO palette, one in Foraxx palette. Enjoy one of my favorites!

Ps8:3-4

We had clear skies on 11/22 so I managed to get a few shots of M45 (the Pleiades), and sh2-129 squid nebula. The first three shots are M45 with different cameras and scopes, the last two are of sh2-129 - you can start to see the oblong blue nebula which is the Squid shape. I didn't capture enough shots to truly bring out the full shape, but hopefully I can add more to it over time. Enjoy!

Ps19:1-4
#astrophotography #lightbucketastro #nebula #pleiades #m45

I managed to get a few shots of NGC7293, The Helix Nebula on 10/16. This is usually pretty low on my horizon so it's difficult to capture. Well worth the effort though...The first shot is natural color, the second and third are Hubble Palette and Foraxx Palette narrowband images. Thanks for looking. Ps8:3-4

#lightbucketastro #astrophotograpy #nebula #helixnebula #planewave

I had an opportunity to shoot IC5146 The Cocoon Nebula, and The area around the star cluster NGC6883 over the last couple nights. Attached are the results. One pic of the cocoon nebula, and then several views of NGC6883 in narrowband palettes and natural color. Enjoy!

Rom1:20
#lightbucketastro #nebula #planewave #astrophotography

Last night was clear and no moon, which makes for some good pictures. Attached are three shots of Sh2-171 / CED214. The first is in visible light, the second and third are narrowband images with different color palettes.

Ps8:3-4
#lightbucketastro #astrophotography #nebula #planewave

Gen50:20
Let REVIVAL begin...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8SbeHhNR9k&ab_channel=TomMacDonald