tomato

Tonight Myself and @Tomatobro we’re trying to get first light imaging on the Esprit now in it’s permanent dome observatory. It took two hours to sort out a serial coms issue with the mount (another story) and in the process of moving around in a confined dark space my brother sliced his head open on the Telrad glass, and then myself, walking at a crouch to get out through the observatory door, walked straight into the horizontal counter weight bar. My head came off worst (more blood).🤕 We did image M33 briefly, only to discover that the filters were in the other filter wheel.😳 AP can hurt your head as well as your wallet.

Here in the UK with cooler temperatures (usually) and a damp climate, desiccant type dehumidifiers are often used in enclosed observatories to prevent damage to scopes/mount/electronics due to moisture. These will function at the low temperatures encountered in un-heated observatories.

That’s a great deal for what I would regard as a high end mount. I wouldn’t hesitate at that price, if I didn’t own one already.

That’s a great start! Object found, nicely framed and focussed, and good subs captured. My first digital image capture was of M27, it wasn’t half as good as yours.👍

That’s a nice image, I like the prominence of the nebulosity around the core stars. I hadn’t noticed the nebulosity/dust? surrounding the cluster before but I’ve looked at a couple of APODs of this object and it’s all there. Great job👍

Looking at the photos on the net I think older?newer? Altair piers came with 4 rods not 3. I take your point it looks a tad spindly in the photos but in the flesh it is pretty darn rigid, better than when the rig was on a portable steel pier. However, that was with one 150 on there, it might be a bit different when there is two up.

Finally getting on to the good bit... The refurbished Altair pier (purchased second handwith the dome) is now bolted into place, @Tomatobro machined up the Mesu adapter plate and sorted the 12V power distribution. Initial altitude adjustment completed with an inclinometer, a guidescope and camera attached directly to the main saddle will be used to carry out accurate polar alignment. A single Esprit will be on the mount for now, I will get back on the imaging saddle with this one before attempting set up of the dual rig. The dome drive will be high on the to do list however, at the moment I will have to set a reminder timer to go in there and nudge it round about every 40 minutes.😊

Superb image Steve. When Spring rolls around maybe you could do a comparison image with the Astrodons so I could see if it’s worth spending another chunk of my pension pot.😊

A wise purchase I’m sure, great to hear it will be going in an Observatory from the start. My Mk1 is finally getting a permanent home after 5 years, I’m hoping it will result in a step change improvement in my imaging.

+1 for this approach, if my newly erected (Matt green, thanks to rain spoiling the paint job) dome gets objections, a ROR will be duly constructed and the dome will go on the classifieds. And if they don’t like that, I’ll go back to setting up and taking down (with unnecessary noise) in my backyard.

Hmm, the rain has ruined the gloss finish on my newly painted dome, maybe a blessing in disguise?

BRG seemed the right colour, I was tempted to paint two white stripes down the shutter, but resisted.😊

Time for an update. As posted previously, Mrs Tomato didn’t like the white dome so it is now resplendent in British Racing Green. The weather has played havoc with the finish on the dome, how do outside painters make a living in the UK with the current weather? I only had this one job, could get on with it virtually any day of the week, and it still took nearly two weeks, dodging in between the rainy days. Anyway, it’s painted, and Mrs Tomato likes the colour, so it will stay like this until next summer, the ancient photons don’t care about the finish on the dome. Mains power from the warm room is all in, but this will only be used for maintenance, all the imaging gear will be 12V supplied from the warm room. And finally, we have now layed the interlocking rubber floor purchased from the Aldi centre aisle back in May What a nice psychological satisfying job that is, much better than painting.

They are both great images, I prefer the second, toned down version, but I agree you may have gone a tad too far on reducing the saturation? That is why I prefer image capture to image processing, the former is all black and white, if you see what I mean.

That’s a fine image, I prefer the second version, I think it has a much improved colour balance.

The previous posters have said it all, they are superb images. I too am hoping to get my integration times comfortably into double figures, thanks to retirement and a dual rig.

I hope I’m not contravening any copyright by doing this, but take a look at this image by the great Rob Hodgkinson, the filaments are beautifully displayed. I think the RC is still up for sale, I would love to own it, but blew my retirement scope budget on an Esprit 150, thanks to my take on the big reflector vs big refractor debate for imaging small galaxies...

I have found that they require several sessions in the microwave at partial power to return them to their anhydrous state. I have two large perforated containers which I can open and spread the beads onto a saucer, this speeds up the process significantly. It is a fun game though, getting them back into the containers afterwards, those beads can bounce!

Very nice indeed, you never know, I might have my rig back up and running by Galaxy Season...🙄

I am indeed, in collaboration with @Tomatobro a dual Esprit 150 rig will be put together in the not too distant future.😊

Wonderful image, from a dual Esprit rig, I like it.👍

Very impressive, your dedication has been well rewarded!👍

Another fine image, NGC 891 is my favourite ‘edge on’ galaxy.

These are truly excellent results for someone who is just 10 days in, you have clearly demonstrated that AP doesn’t have to take ages to get everything right.👍

Nice installation, very neat and tidy.👍