Hals

NGC 2175 The Monkey Head Nebula in the constellation of Orion.

Taken in the early hours of 1st Feb 2021, only 50 minutes of exposures due to offending trees for this image with an 84% Moon in the sky and a thin layer of high cloud so can't complain.

10 x 300 sec Ha

15 Dark, 20 flat, 20 Dark flat

ZWO ASI294MM & WO Star 71 ll

Cheers,

Pete

My first attempt at a bi-colour narrowband image.

I plan on adding more data to this as time goes on, certainly some Olll and perhaps adding RGB for the stars.

40x240 Ha, 20x240 Sll.

Gain 120, offset 30, temp -10°C, bin 2X2

ZWO ASI294MM with WO Star 71 II

Cheers

Pete

IC 405

SH2-157 widefield

27 minutes ago, MartinB said:

Hals, what optics were you using for this flat?

Using a WO Star 71 Quad, so has the built in flattener. Flats taken using a white screen app on my tablet. 

Regards,

Pete.

I'm using the 294MM and haven't noticed this on any of mine. Here's a stretched Ha flat circa 25000 ADUs. 

The sensor is clear with none of the surface staining as reported by some on CN (it's the first thing I checked when I opened the box!). Perhaps the staining was a batch that slipped through QC checks.

1 hour ago, FLO said:

Not us 😇

Thank goodness for FLO.  I've noticed the price increases elsewhere, particularly on one of our usually good value Teutonic friends websites.

I've had zero condensation in my ROR Obsy so far despite the very wet weather and chanegable temperature.

It's well ventilated, plus a tube heater and a desk fan running keeps the moisture at bay.

I agree with Stuart but if you have a dome they're naturally not so easy to well ventilate so can see the need for a dehumidifier.

So @iwols & @lockie's advice still stands.

A new one from FLO stickerwise for me ! ADM dovetail counterweight and adjuster inside.

I always take a look through my subs when checking them, anything close by could show up as a moving speck. Zippo so far though !

IC1805 Heart Nebula.

21x240 subs with 7nm Baader HA filter. 30x darks, 50x Flats & dark flats.

ZWO ASI294MM at 120 Gain, 30 Offset, -10°C.

WO Star 71 ll.

I'm happy with this as a first image.

Pete.

Vintage binoculars can be an excellent addition. I have a pair of vintage Japanese Telstar 7x50's which cost me a tenner! Optically they are superb and are my grab 'n' go choice.

ASI294MM & EFW-8 from FLO today. Sticker on the box said "Clear skies guaranteed" and they were right, clear as a bell tonight (for a couple of hours at least).

This is an unmodded Canon 80D image, stock camera. Is a modded camera needed, no of course not...but it is desirable. It all depends on what you want to get out of the hobby. Initially I was like you, happy to get anything. Now...not so much 😉🤣

Very nice, it makes a massive difference having an observatory.

Superb Mick. B&W astro images convey to me a real sense of being "out there".

Last image of 2020 for me was M45 using my unmodded DSLR. Looking forward to 2021 and imaging in mono for the first time.

On 02/01/2021 at 14:17, inFINNity Deck said:

Perhaps it is good to mention that the pier is bolted down to the concrete floor using 16 M12 threaded ends with nuts and washers below and above the base. So instead of trying to pull the threaded ends out of the concrete by bolting down the pier, the base of the pier is clamped between the nuts and washers to avoid stress building up in the chemical anchors that hold the threaded ends in the concrete (so the base hovers a few centimetres above the concrete). The holes in the base are as close as possible to and on either side of the gussets to avoid further flexure in the base.

Nicolàs

That's not a pier...it's the first stage of a Saturn V ! 😀

Easy to collimate, just a nibble on the primary and you're done !

2 hours ago, Moonshed said:

When I look through my telescope at the incredible beauty of countless stars twinkling against the darkness of the infinite universe, I am genuinely struck by the wonder of it all, by the sheer awesomeness of what I am seeing. I am looking at stars that were created within colossal clouds of gas and dust billions of years ago, some of which will no longer even exist, they will have come and gone in a blink of an eye compared to the cosmological time scale of the universe which is measured not in decades, centuries or even millennia, but in cycles of time beyond our human comprehension.

To be able to look through even the smallest of telescopes, or binoculars, or even just using the naked eye, enables us all to witness for ourselves these celestial marvels, these cosmological creations, there for all to see and experience. I feel that very often that first eagerly awaited look through a telescope, be it of our nearest neighbour the Moon, or a planet, star cluster, nebula or galaxy, can be so impactful as to create a lifelong memory, but even more incredibly it can connect us to the universe in some strange and powerful way that affects us for the rest of our lives, we become astronomers.

 

You've pretty much nailed it there Keith.

Be pretty boring if everyone was an astronomer. It's nice to be in a niche hobby. I'm sure everyone who has a hobby says the same thing, no matter what their interests are. My missus loves crafting for instance and I can't see the appeal of it personally but I can see how passionate she is about it. There you are.

I'd be very happy with that 👍

Excellent work there Glenn. I like these Keter type conversions.

Lee, the brake disc I got was from Ebay, specifically the PAGID LD10381 P. Only £16 for a pair (you can't get them singly). I don't know if they'll fit the EQ3-2, you'll need to measure the diameter of the recess on the tripod where the mount head sits. These were 60mm if I remember correctly. Drilling was easy, but I did it using the pillar drill at work with lubrication, using a hand drill would be do-able but a bit trickier.

Hope this helps,

Pete.

Finally got some paint on, and internally fitted a tube heater and a fan to keep the air moving. There's decent air flow in due to the roll off design but more moving air will help with condensation. Of which I have had only a little, on the mount metal. I keep everything covered on a cotton sheet too. So far so good, even after a few torrential downpours. Electrics are running off an outdoor extension lead to a dry box for now.

8 minutes ago, Jm1973 said:

I generally have a quick glance, just to make sure it's roughly there, then I don't look again.

Likewise. Been so long looking through the polarscope I find it hard to stop having a glance even after SharpCap shows excellent alignment figures!