Nico Carver

Nebula Photos Sunday Chat #17 - Sunday Sept. 4, 18:00 UTC

Nebula Photos Sunday Chat #17 will take place this Sunday, September 4th, 2022 at 18:00 UTC (7pm UK, 2pm EDT, 11am PDT), and run for an hour.

This Sunday Chat will be an open Q&A and discussion with no set agenda. We will start with any beginner questions and questions from new members before getting in to more advanced questions and discussions.

The session will be recorded, and the recording will be posted here on Patreon within a day or two after the chat. Here is the Zoom ...

Video Premiere: Wednesday, August 31st, 12-12:15pm ET

I will be premiering my newest video tomorrow, Wednesday, August 31st at 12 noon ET (16:00 UTC, 5pm UK time, 9am PT). This video is about my favorite method for printing photographs of nebulae: backlit transparency!  I will cover the pros and cons, as well as a tutorial on making a DIY, wireless light-box frame. Hope to see some of you there! If you can't make it, the link will convert to a normal video at the conclusion of the premiere at 12:15pm: 2022-08-31 00:56:37 +0000 UTC View Post

Video Premiere: Friday, August 26th, 12-1pm ET

I will be premiering my newest video tomorrow, Friday, August 26th at 12 noon ET (16:00 UTC, 5pm UK time, 9am PT). This one is my newest 'start to finish' video without the use of a star tracker. I'm going after my most challenging object untracked yet: the Dumbbell Nebula. Hope to see some of you there! If you can't make it, the link will convert to a normal video at the conclusion of the premiere at 1pm: https://youtu.be/iQLa6...

Winner of the Svbony SV503 80ED + reducer/flattener

The winner of the Svbony Telescope competition was:

Harvey H.  from the USA

Thanks all for participating, and look out for the next competition in the first week of September.

A couple YouTube Channel updates:

Check out my recent review of seven wide-angle lenses for capturing the milky way here: https://youtu.be/i0iSD50AIbI This video also covers some basics of DSLR vs. Mirrorle...

Nebula Photos Sunday Chat #16 Recording

Here is the recording from today's chat on Zoom. Thanks all for bringing so many great questions and insights. Always a fun time. See you next month!

Nebula Photos Sunday Chat #16 - Sunday, August 7, 18:00 UTC

Nebula Photos Sunday Chat #16 will take place this Sunday, August 7th, 2022 at 18:00 UTC (7pm UK, 2pm EDT, 11am PDT), and run for an hour.

This Sunday Chat will be an open Q&A and discussion with no set agenda. We will start with any beginner questions and questions from new members before getting in to more advanced questions and discussions.

The session will be recorded, and the recording will be posted here on Patreon within a day or two after the chat. Here is the Zoom Lin...

Win a telescope - Svbony SV503 80ED

In my most recent video I compared three different 80mm telescopes for astrophotography. The Svbony SV503 80ED with reducer/flattener performed very well, but I have no future use for it. I will start offering these small competitions for gear I bought (or was given) for the channel fairly often, so keep an eye out for them, as you will only have a few days to enter. Please only enter this competition if you:

• Wil...
  2022-08-03 18:01:51 +0000 UTC View Post

Video Premiere: Friday July 22, 12pm ET - 80mm refractor reviews

I will be premiering a new video tomorrow, Friday July 22, at 12pm ET. This one is a review of three 80mm refractors at very different price points. I did a shootout with the three telescopes on the Iris Nebula to show some key differences. I will be in the chat answering questions. Here is the link: https://youtu.be/lsS6PrrWnhI

After the premiere, it will become a regular video at that same link.

Clear skies, Ni...

Winner of the Optolong L-eXtreme filter

The winner of the Optolong L-eXtreme filter competition was:

Jerry N.  from the USA

Thanks all for participating, and look out for the next one in the first week of August.

A couple quick YouTube Channel updates: 

I will be working on a spate of gear reviews in the coming weeks. First up (hopefully this Friday) will be a comparison of three 80mm refractors with prices ranging from $130 to $1,750. My ZWO AM5 mount is arriving Wednesday, so I h...

New video premiere: Friday July 15, 12pm ET

Sorry for the late notice, but I will launching a new video at 12pm ET tomorrow (Friday July 15th). This one is on the best way to download the public JWST data, and a bit on processing it. Hope to see some you there. Here is the link: https://youtu.be/DVuonz26P0w

After the premiere, it will become a regular video at that same link.

Cheers, Nico

Nebula Photos Sunday Chat #15

Recording from today's chat on Zoom. I started with a brief presentation and demon on Astro mosaics before the usual Q&A / Discussion. Thanks all for attending and the questions and conversation. See you next month!

Win an Optolong L-eXtreme 2" filter

Happy Friday!

I made a video comparing different 'multi band-pass filters' a few months back. The Optolong L-eXtreme performed very well, but I have no future use for it. I will start offering these small competitions for gear I bought (or was given) for the channel fairly often, so keep an eye out for them, a...

Nebula Photos Sunday Chat #15 - Sunday, July 10th, 18:00 UTC

Nebula Photos Sunday Chat #15 will take place this Sunday, July 10th, 2022 at 18:00 UTC (7pm UK, 2pm EDT, 11am PDT), and run for an hour.

I will give an informal presentation on different kinds of mosaics/ panoramas (deep sky, milky way, lunar) and introduce some of the tools most appropriate for each type. We will then jump in to our normal open Q&A / chat.

The session will be recorded, and the recording will be posted here on Patreon within a day or two after the chat. Here ...

Early Access: Single Shot Challenge Video, and Next Sunday Chat delayed one week

I finished editing my latest video a day early, so I am giving everyone here on Patreon a sneak peek before it goes live tomorrow. The data if you'd like to edit this single exposure of Rho Ophiuchi yourself is here: https://tinyurl.com/810a-Single

ALSO: We've been meeting the first Sunday of each month on Zoom, but I am going to DELAY the Sunday chat one week because it's a holiday weekend here in the US with our i...

Video Premiere Tomorrow (June 8th) and Vacation

Hi everyone,

Tomorrow at 17:00 UTC (6pm UK time, 1pm EDT, 10am PDT),  I will be premiering a new eleven minute video on my YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/6StRPyU2VjM 

I will be in the chat to answer any questions and discuss all things astro! Hope to see some of you there!

The video is a review of two 'weird' lenses I own: the Canon RF800mm f/11 IS STM, and the Funleader 18mm f/8 Caplens. ...

Nebula Photos Sunday Chat #14

Recording from today's chat on Zoom. Thanks all for attending and the questions and conversation. See you next month!

Nebula Photos Sunday Chat #14 - Sunday, June 5th, 18:00 UTC

Nebula Photos Sunday Chat #14 will take place this Sunday, June 5th, 2022 at 18:00 UTC (7pm UK, 2pm EDT, 11am PDT), and run for an hour.

This Sunday Chat will be an open Q&A and discussion with no set agenda. We will start with any beginner questions and questions from new members before getting in to more advanced questions and discussions.

The session will be recorded, and the recording will be posted here on Patreon within a day or two after the chat. Here is the Zoom Link ...

New video: I got to Interview Adam Block at AIC 2022!

One of the best parts for me of the Advanced Imaging Conference in San Jose, CA this past weekend was getting to meet and chat with Adam Block. He is an inspiration to me both as an astrophotographer, but also as an educator. His instructional videos are great at breaking down complex topics in astrophotography, especially after you have been in the hobby a few years and are looking to move beyond beginner topics in to really understanding some of the ins and outs of PixInsight. I tried to ke...

Nebula Photos Sunday Chat #13 Recording

Recording of today's live chat session. Thank you all for coming, and special thanks to those who presented on their M78 processing workflows. 

Nebula Photos Sunday Chat #13 - Sunday, May 8th, 18:00 UTC

Nebula Photos Sunday Chat #13 will take place this Sunday, May 8th, 2022 at 18:00 UTC (7pm UK, 2pm EDT, 11am PDT), and run for an hour.

Agenda:

-Quick intros for anyone new (5 minutes)

-Winter group project (M78) show and tell - we will view all the different interpretations of the data so far shared on Discord, and get a behind-the-scenes for a few processing workflows  (25 minutes)

-General Q&A / Discussion (30 minutes)

The session will be recorded, an...

Nebula Photos Sunday Chat #12

Here is the recording of the Sunday Chat from yesterday (April 10, 2022). This one covers:

-Creating a time-lapse in Photoshop

-Updates on the Group Projects

-General Q&A

Reminder: TODAY, April 10 - Nebula Photos Sunday Chat #12

Nebula Photos Sunday Chat #12 will take place today, Sunday, April 10th, 2022 at 18:00 UTC (7pm UK, 2pm EDT, 11am PDT), and run for an hour.

Agenda:

-Quick intros for anyone new (5 minutes)

-Capturing and processing a time-lapse of the stars (10 minutes)

-Next steps with current group project and discussion on the next group project (15 minutes)

-General Q&A / Discussion (30 minutes)

The session will be recorded, and the recording will be posted here on...

Nebula Photos Sunday Chat #12 - Sunday, April 10, 2022 - 18:00 UTC

Nebula Photos Sunday Chat #12 will take place this Sunday, April 10th, 2022 at 18:00 UTC (7pm UK, 2pm EDT, 11am PDT), and run for an hour. 

Agenda:

-Quick intros for anyone new (5 minutes)

-Capturing and processing a time-lapse of the stars (10 minutes)

-Next steps with current group project and discussion on the next group project (15 minutes)

-General Q&A / Discussion (30 minutes)

The session will be recorded, and the recording will be posted her...

Multi-night with Deep Sky Stacker - Exclusive Video + PDF

This video is a patreon-exclusive for hitting 500 patrons! The first one (when I hit 100 patrons) can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/48506949

I do plan to make some follow-up parts on multi-night pre-processing with other software: PixInsight, AstroPixelProcessor, and Siril. 

Sample data for this video is here if you'd like to follow along with my files : 2022-03-25 20:19:49 +0000 UTC View Post

Nebula Photos Sunday Chat #11

Here is the recording of the Sunday Chat from yesterday (March 6th, 2022). I didn't have a presentation for this one, so after a couple brief announcements, we went straight in to general discussion and Q&A on everything astrophotography. Thanks all for coming!

Nebula Photos Sunday Chat #11 - March 6th, 19:00 UTC

Nebula Photos Sunday Chat #11 will take place this Sunday, March 6th, 2022 at 19:00 UTC (7pm UK, 2pm EST, 11am PST), and run for about an hour. It will be recorded, and the recording will be posted here on Patreon within a day or two after the chat. Here is the Zoom Link for joining on Sunday:

https://smithsonian.zoom.us/j/88431400708?pwd=SWNJT1hxVGVBVkZnaG1waTJ1cEN5UT09 2022-03-03 18:22:26 +0000 UTC View Post

Video Premiere - Friday 2/25/22, 12pm ET

I have a new 38 minute video premiering tomorrow, Friday, 2/25/2022 at 12pm ET (9am PT, 17:00 UTC). This video is called "I Took 1.024 Photos of Orion Nebula!" and it covers the topic of image STACKING in depth, explaining the concept both theoretically and practically by comparing the image at 1, 4, 16, 64, 256, and 1024 sub-exposures stacked. 

For anyone that is unfamiliar with YouTube Premieres, it will play at noon tomorrow with a live chat box. I will be there, and hope you ca...

Nebula Photos Sunday Chat #10

Here is the recording of Sunday Chat yesterday. I shared a quick look at imaging targets in Monoceros, a preview of my upcoming videos, and then we moved into general Q&A/ discussion. 

Thanks all for attending and for your contributions! Next one will be on Sunday, March 6th at 19:00 UTC.

REMINDER: Today, Nebula Photos Sunday Chat #10

Nebula Photos Sunday Chat #10 will take place TODAY in about 45 minutes. February 13th, 2022 at 19:00 UTC (7pm UK, 2pm EST, 11am PST), and run for about an hour. It will be recorded, and the recording will be posted here on Patreon within a day or two after the chat. Here is the Zoom Link for joining on Sunday:

https://smithsonian.zoom.us/j/85399391942?pwd=QU5yWWRTK08wWUZ2Z...

Nebula Photos Sunday Chat #10 - Feb. 13th, 19:00 UTC

Nebula Photos Sunday Chat #10 will take place this Sunday, February 13th, 2022 at 19:00 UTC (7pm UK, 2pm EST, 11am PST), and run for about an hour. It will be recorded, and the recording will be posted here on Patreon within a day or two after the chat. Here is the Zoom Link for joining on Sunday:

https://smithsonian.zoom.us/j/85399391942?pwd=QU5yWWRTK08wWUZ2ZEYzQmVkTzRsQT0...