Old Friends

[HiloDon]

Hi All,

I was out last night viewing galaxies. It got pretty late and I noticed some old friends. So I put my Lodestar X2 and NB Ha filter in my 50mm mini scope and took some wide field images. The wide FOV gives a different perspective that I had not seen before. I really liked Lagoon. Trifid was a bit too small, but it was interesting coupled with M21. I included a screen shot because some have asked about the settings I use in LL.

Don

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Very nice collection. It can be great fun just trawling the skies visiting old friends.

[nytecam]

Superb results Don - see we shall have some competition from a much hyped new Mallicam with our 829 chip some day :-)

[AstroAdam]

Marvellous captures.  I've just got a Lodestar and really can't wait to get going on some viewing.  Looking at an Ha filter too, and the above just makes me want it more

[HiloDon]

Thanks, all, for the comments and likes.  

Nytecam, lot of speculation on the new MC.  We shall see.

Adam, I'm sure you will enjoy the LS.  The NB Ha filter does a great job with LP, too.

Don 

[aparker]

Don, those are beautiful captures.  Thanks for posting your software settings.  One thing I notice immediately is that you are using dark exposures, which I believe I'm going to need to do now that I have got polar alignment and guiding sorted out to the point that I can do 2+ minute exposures.  That's my next bit of Lodestar Live learning I guess.

Out of curiosity, are you guiding those 45 sec subs?  I'm guessing with the wide FOV you would not need to.  

I could do the same with my Orion mini guide scope, which sounds like the same scope roughly that you are using.  Unfortunately with my northern latitude coupled with the fact that my backyard is on the north side of the house, I can't see most of the nice emission nebulae you presented here.  I will probably be able to hit the Veil and the North America nebulae when they're near zenith.  Guess I need an Ha filter.  Although I already have a decent OIII filter I've used for visual observing of the Veil with good results - think that would be as useful as Ha?

Alex

[HiloDon]

Thanks, Alex.

I do use dark frames. It's really easy with LL. Just put a cap on the scope and take four or five exposures in Dark Frame acquisition. Then switch back to Image Acquisition and you're all set. You may have to adjust your exposure some with the black and white controls.

My scope is the Orion Mini. You should get a NB Ha filter if you want to get emission nebulae. I think the OIII filter will give some interesting views too, but not as good. Dom has done some work with using both in color and stacking them. He got some interesting results. I prefer mono for the NB Ha stuff. It's just a preference though. Dom has shown that NB Ha works well in color, too. You loose some detail but the color images are stunning.

I tried the NA nebula the other night and it's still to big to fit in the 162mm FL mini scope. The Pelican was nice though. Here's a nice reference on some popular emission nebulae. There are a lot out there.

http://bf-astro.com/nebulaeha.htm

Don

[Dave In Vermont]

Very nice images, Don. As always! I especially like the link. As a confirmed filter-nut, I'm always on the prowl for good data on these little goodies!

Say Aloha to Hawaii for me,

Dave

[Paul81]

Another set of amazing results Don - I am really enjoying these wide FoV shots. I agree that they paint the objects in a different light. M20 has always been one of my favourites and its great to see it in its full surroundings.

Paul