M101 Atik 460ex

[johnrt]

Since I received my Atik 460ex I've been gradually tinkering with my set-up to get things spot on. First I found the chip to reducer spacing needed adjustment, the larger chip is nowhere near as tolerant as the small chip in the 314l+. I got this sorted to find the larger chip also picked up a light leak in my filterwheel which I could get away with in the old camera. So in came a new manual filterwheel. In the middle of all of this was a blazing full moon and an unfriendly (now departed) neighbour which put a temporary stop to getting to grips with the 460ex.

Now I have things in place and sorted out I combined my 3 sets of images in to a 10 hours luminance master to see what I'd got so far. My experience with the 460ex so far is nothing short of excellent, quietest and most responsive chip I've has the pleasure to work with yet, an absolute joy.

So here's the story to date, all imaged with my Altair 6" RC and 460ex, then poked and prodded in Pixinsight and Photoshop. Hoping to capture the colour data to complete this before the full moon comes back to spoil the fun.

Hope you like

[swag72]

Super John! Glad that you are getting on so well and that you are back on track.

[andyboy1970]

Cracking image, very detailed.

[red dwalf]

Looking very nice, I've only here good things about this camera

[Coco]

Very nice indeed...

[johnrt]

Thanks everyone, no work for a week from today, what do you reckon do I stand a chance of finishing this before it's back to the grindstone? It's good to be back in the imaging saddle again after a little break.

[robbie c]

Looking great John cant wait to see more will keep fingers crossed for you good luck 

[MikeD]

Excellent result so far, looking forward to more.

Mike.

[RikM]

Smashing 'L' john, look forward to the colour.

[GuillermoBarrancos]

Very nice!

[Martin-Devon]

Very nice image John - let's hope your week off provides some decent nights to get further data.

Martin

[ChrisLX200]

I really like that.  Mono images have their own appeal but that is so natural and detailed. The star forming regions stand out particularly well.

ChrisH

[johnrt]

Thank you all again. Just to make my imaging more awkward I got up this morning to a dead iMac hard drive. The computer itself is at this time unable to boot at all. I have copies of this data on my imaging laptop, but all my processing is done with the lovely big iMac screen. Not had much time to try fixing it yet as I've been spending most of today touring Oxford town centre looking for somewhere to park. Back home tomorrow after a trip to Bletchley.

[FranckiM06]

Wow, it is really wonderful image. Congratulations for this great shot.

[ollypenrice]

Loud applause. I think that these are the best images coming from this scope that I've ever seen. Well, I don't think it, I know it. Splendid.

Olly

[Fay]

Fantastic John, so crisp and clear

Fay

[kirkster501]

Great stuff John.  Glad you like the 460 ;-)  Looking forward to what more data will bring to your M101.  

[sologuitarist61]

Fantastic image, sharp and detailed - excellent!

[Barry-Wilson]

Very good luminance subs John: like everyone else, looking forward to the LRGB.

Barry

[x6gas]

You really do knock out some lovely stuff John and this is another example. Who needs colour when you can get such a stunning result in monochrome?