Unistellar eVscope: Photo Comparison - Poorer versus Better...

Introduction | Poorer and Better Examples... | Links

Introduction

One of the arguments in favor of the eVscope is that it allows observations even under bad sky conditions. This is certainly the case. However, after some time of use you will find that the quality of the photos taken is subject to certain, or even considerable, fluctuations. And even Unistellar emphasizes that an observation around full moon is not recommended. In the end, it also plays a role whether you just want to observe or take photos as well. For pure observation, a lower quality is sufficient - if the object is visible at all under the given conditions. There are quite a number of objects with which my eVscope has its problems under my "home" sky...

In addition to the moon light, there are also obstacles such as trees, especially for objects near the horizon that may disturb the images. And since the sky objects move during an observation session, you may once be able to photograph an object without any obstructions, while it is partially or even completely covered at other times. You cannot see it that well in the dark... Clouds and fog are also disturbing factors that can make sky objects appear fainter or not at all, although it is amazing under which conditions the eVscope can still detect something. In the meantime I learned that when the photos have a brownish tint, clouds were present even though I may not have noticed them at all.

In the following, I will present comparative photos of a number of deep sky objects under different sky conditions, which might show other eVscope owners what to expect. I write "worse" and "better" in the headline, because I have at least taken "poor" photos of many objects, but I do not know what room for improvement is still in my photos. I therefore do not write "good" photos...

In many cases, however, the differences can only be recognized after the photos were re post-processed. Moreover, the results strongly depend on how a photo was exposed and how it was post-processed, which varies a lot when I post-process images. Often, however, poorly exposed photos leave little room for post-processing.

Perhaps, I should add that I have, of course, much poorer photos. Typically, these were taken with shorter exposure times. So even with the "poor" photos I have chosen the ones that I think are best from a series.

Talking about "room for improvement": Of course, the time you spend in "Enhanced Vision" mode, i.e. how long you are exposing, also plays an important role in the image quality. I deal with this topic in my Tips & Tricks under the topic "How Long Should One Wait in "Enhanced Vision" Mode before Taking a Photo?" There I also deal with the topic "Full moon" under "Should I Refrain from Observing During a Full Moon?" But in the meantime I have learned that even a bright half moon can deteriorate the result considerably...

Poorer and Better Examples...

Open Star Clusters

When I only observed visually, the focus of my objects was on the open star clusters, because these are the easiest to observe, while I could only recognize the fewest nebulae and galaxies in the telescope. In the eVscope, open star clusters are also unproblematic objects, and at first I thought that the quality of the sky does not play a major role in their observations. Maybe that is the case, but there are objects, for example in the Milky Way region, where you can see significant differences.

M 11 (Wild Duck Cluster; Scutum)


M 11 - May 31, 2020, poor conditions	M 11 - Sep 7, 2020, disturbed	M 11 - May 29, 2020

M 11 - May 31, 2020, photo above processed	M 11 - Sep 7, 2020, photo above processed	M 11 - May 29, 2020, photo above processed

M 11 - Sep 30, 2020, slightly disturbed (clouds?)	M 11 - Sep 30, 2020, photo left processed	M 11 - Sep 30, 2020, photo left processed and sharpened

M 11 - Aug 23, 2020	M 11 - Aug 23, 2020, photo left processed	M 11 - 23.8.2020, photo left processed and sparpened

Here one can see on the one hand, how disturbances affect the photo, and on the other hand, how a dark sky "brings up" further stars.

M 26 (Scutum)


M 26 - May 29, 2020	M 26 - Jun 11, 2020	M 26 - Aug 23, 2020

M 26 - May 29, 2020, photo on top processed	M 26 - Jun 11, 2020, photo on top processed	M 26 - Aug 23, 2020, photo on top processed

Here you can see how a dark sky can significantly increase the contrast.

Globular Star Clusters

Globular clusters benefit from a dark sky in particular by increasing in size and detail.

M 13 (Hercules)


M 13 - May 16, 2020	M 13 - May 16, 2020, processed	M 13 - May 16, 2020, processed and sharpened

M 13 - May 16, 2020	M 13 - May 16, 2020, processed	M 13 - May 16, 2020, processed and sharpened

M 13 - May 29, 2020, somewhat disturbed	M 13 - May 29, 2020, processed	M 13 - May 29, 2020, processed and sharpened

M 13 - May 31, 2020, somewhat bright sky	M 13 - May 31, 2020, processed	M 13 - May 31, 2020, processed and sharpened

M 13 - Jun 11, 2020	M 13 - Jun 11, 2020, processed	M 13 - Jun 11, 2020, processed and sharpened

M 13 - Jul 3, 2020, sky too bright	M 13 - Jul 3, 2020, processed	M 13 - Jul 3, 2020, processed and sharpened

M 13 - Jul 9, 2020, disturbed	M 13 - Jul 9, 2020, processed	M 13 - Jul 9, 2020, processed and sharpened

M 13 - Aug 19, 2020	M 13 - Aug 19, 2020, processed	M 13 - Aug 19, 2020, processed and sharpened

M 13 - Aug 23, 2020, disturbed	M 13 - Aug 23, 2020, processed	M 13 - Aug 23, 2020, processed and sharpened

M 13 - Aug 25, 2020, sky too bright	M 13 - Aug 25, 2020, processed	M 13 - Aug 25, 2020, processed and sharpened

M 13 - Sep 15, 2020	M 13 - Sep 15, 2020, processed	M 13 - Sep 15, 2020, processed and sharpened

M 13 - Sep 28, 2020	M 13 - Sep 28, 2020, processed	M 13 - Sep 28, 2020, processed and sharpened

M 13 - Sep 30, 2020, slightly disturbed	M 13 - Sep 30, 2020, processed	M 13 - Sep 30, 2020, processed and sharpened

Here I show a bit too many variations, but you can see well how the size changes under different sky conditions.

M 92 (Hercules)


M 92 - May 16, 2020	M 92 -May 16, 2020, processed	M 92 - May 16, 2020, processed and sharpened

M 92 - Jun 11, 2020, sky somewhat bright	M 92 - Jun 11, 2020, processed	M 92 - Jun 11, 2020, processed and sharpened

M 92 - Aug 25, 2020, manual exposure	M 92 - Aug 25, 2020, processed	M 92 - Aug 25, 2020, processed and sharpened

M 92 - Sep 28, 2020, disturbed by clouds	M 92 - Sep 28, 2020, processed	M 92 - Sep 28, 2020, processed and sharpened

Here too, you can see how the size changes under different sky conditions.

Galaxies

Apart from a few exceptions, galaxies are typicall faint and thus, susceptible to disturbances or light pollution.

M 31 (Andromeda-Galaxy; Andromeda)


M 31 - Aug 24, 2020	M 31 - Sep 14, 2020	M 31 - Sep 18, 2020

M 31 - Aug 24, 2020, processed	M 31 - Sep 14, 2020, processed	M 31 - Sep 18, 2020, processed

Depending on the sky quality, M 31 appears in different sizes.

M 101 (Pinwheel Galaxy; Ursa Major)


M 101 - Jun 11, 2020	M 101 - Jun 12, 2020	M 101 - Jul 3, 2020, sky too bright

M 101 - Jun 11, 2020, photo on top processed	M 101 - Jun 12, 2020, photo on top processed	M 101 - Jul 3, 2020, photo on top processed

Depending on the sky quality, M 101 comes out very differently, often with too bright and bluish sky, because M 101 is quite faint.

M 65/66 (Leo)


M 65 & M 66 - Apr 22, 2020	M 65 & M 66 - Apr 23, 2020	M 65 & M 66 - May 16, 2020, sky too bright

M 65 & M 66 - Apr 22, 2020, photo above processed	M 65 & M 66 - Apr 23, 2020, photo above processed	M 65 & M 66 - May 16, 2020, photo on top processed

When the sky is too bright, the photos often turn out to have a brownish tint, particulary after post-processing.

Galactic Nebulae

Galactic nebulae can vary a lot in their appearance, which can make them very susceptible to disturbances and light pollution. Many are also too faint and/or too large for the eVscope.

M 8 (Lagoon Nebula; Sagittarius)


M 8 - May 31, 2020, disturbed	M 8 - Jun 1, 2020, strongly disturbed	M 8 - Jul 9, 2020

M 8 - May 31, 2020, photo on top processed	M 8 - Jun 1, 2020, photo on top processed	M 8 - Jul 9, 2020, photo on top processed

When the nebula M 8 is disturbed, this has a great effect on its appearance.

M 17 (Omega/Swan Nebula; Sagittarius)


M 17 - May 29, 2020	M 17 - Jun 11, 2020	M 17 - Aug 23, 2020

M 17 - May 29, 2020, photo on top processed	M 17 - Jun 11, 2020, photo on top processed	M 17 - Aug 23, 2020, photo on top processed

With the nebula M 17 it is not clear from the original image how the final result will look like...

M 20 (Trifid Nebula; Saguttarius)


M 20 - May 29, 2020	M 20 - Aug 23, 2020	M 20 - Jun 1, 2020, disturbed

M 18 - May 29, 2020, photo above processed	M 20 - Aug 23, 2020, photo above processed	M 20 - Jun 1, 2020, photo above processed

Very different photos of the nebula M 20

IC 5070 (Pelican Nebula; Cygnus)


IC 5070 - Aug 20, 2020	IC 5070 - Aug 23, 2020	IC 5070 - Sep 7, 2020

IC 5070 - Aug 20, 2020, photo on top processed	IC 5070 - Aug 23, 2020, photo on top processed	IC 5070 - Sep 7, 2020, photo on top processed

IC 5070 is already somewhat challenging for the eVscope, and the result may be over-processed...

NGC 6888 (Crescent Nebula; Cygnus)


NGC 6888 - Aug 20, 2020	NGC 6888 - Aug 23, 2020	NGC 6888 - Sep 7, 2020

NGC 6888 - Aug 20, 2020, photo on top processed	NGC 6888 - Aug 23, 2020, photo on top processed	NGC 6888 - Sep 7, 2020, photo on top processed

NGC 6888 is also a challenge for the eVscope, which can lead to very different results, also thanks to the post-processing.

Planetary Nebulae

Many planetary ones are only visible as often bright, small dots in the eVscope. The following examples are larger, fainter, and can appear quite different depending on the sky conditions.

M 27 (Dumbbell Nebula; Vulpecula)


M 27 - Jun 11, 2020	M 27 - Jun 11, 2020, disturbed	M 27 - Jul 9, 2020

M 27 - Jun 11, 2020, photo above processed	M 27 - Jun 12, 2020, photo above processed	M 27 - Jul 9, 2020, photo above processed

M 27 - Aug 9, 2020	M 27 - Aug 19, 2020	M 27 - Aug 20, 2020

M 27 - Aug 9, 2020, photo on top processed	M 27 - Aug 19, 2020, photo on top processed	M 27 - Aug 20, 2020, photo on top processed

M 27 can rarely be seen well without post-processing.

M 57 (Ring Nebula; Lyra)


M 57 - Aug 9, 2020	M 57 - Aug 24, 2020	M 57 - Aug 25, 2020

M 57 - Aug 9, 2020, photo on top processed	M 57 - Aug 24, 2020, photo on top processed	M 57 - Aug 25, 2020, photo on top processed

Different sky conditions provide different bright sky backgrounds, especially after post-processing.

M 97 (Owl Nebula; Ursa Major)


M 97 - May 5, 2020	M 97 - Jun 12, 2020	M 97 - Jul 18, 2020

M 97 - May 5, 2020, photo on top processed	M 97 - Jun 12, 2020, photo on top processed	M 97 - Jul 18, 2020, photo on top processed

A very faint object, which has to be "revealed" by the post-processing. Different sky conditions lead to different bright sky backgrounds and noise after post-processing.