gorann

that is a thought😉, but for now a bit too complex and exchausting since I usually run a second rig with two refractors and are costantly fighting with computers that don't do their jobs, like last night....

Yes Olly, I will make an ultimate blend with old data. I here just wanted to show what the RASA 8 could do in 8 hours (and soon there will be 12 hour nights up here😁). So I see this scope as a deep diver and not big resolutioner, and not a competitor of big mosaics. But, as I think you have said, images should be looked at the pixelscale they are presented at (although we image proessors are all by habitat pixel peepers). Back to dinner and a discussion about fish genomes (my wife is also a biologist).

Hi Olly, I am in the middle of the Friday night dinner so this is a short response. The 400 mm FL does not give super resolution to the Iris so I could allways add that later from old data I have. And seeing was not the best and the scope is not on my Mesu but on a NEQ6, so I was tempted to add old data to the Iris. But what I think is amazing is how deep you can ho with this sytem in just 8 hours. I really had to suppress some of the faint stuff not to overwhelm the image with dust - it could have been so much more dusty.

Hurry up Admiral - you have two month left to move to wherever you like in Europe😁

I saw the ad and was tempted but I have an Esprit 150 doing the same job, hopefully as good. But I am a sucker for buying telscopes (to the great distress of my limited wallet) so I was really tempted by this ad.... SO GO FOR IT BEFORE I CHANGE MY MIND!

Yes, I was extremely surprised how bright what supposedly should be dark nebulosity turned out. I think it may have to do with the amout of photons this scope is collecting in relation to the chip (24 x 18 mm) I am using. My 7.8 hours at f/2 corresponds theoretically to 95 hours at f/7! And yes, equally important, I have a Bortle 2 sky.

Thanks! Actually focussing on the RASA 8 is dead easy and it has so far kept it all night. No need whatsoever to buy any fancy Feather Touch for electronic focuser. I think that they put the system of the super expensive (15,000 GBP) RASA 14 into it and the mirror is not weighing that much so it was easily done. The problem child is the RASA 11 which at least in its original version had a very floppy mirrior design.

Thanks! You are in for a treat!

Thanks Pryce! Yes it is the Iris Nebula and it is always nice to see but also often imaged. So I am actually this time most proud of the other structures captured in this image. They are much fainter and relatively rarely imaged. To bring them out I had to selectively enhance them (in curves in PS) while protecting the Iris from being blown out.

Thans a lot Erling, you are too kind!

Thanks Noddy!

Thanks Mackie, much appreciated!

Thanks a lot Andrew! Yes I am pleased about how it turned out. Maybe it is the amount of photons the RASA collects (7.8 hours at f/2 corresponds theoretically to 96 hours af f/7) that makes the "dark" nebulosity look quite bright.

After being clouded in forever, it finally cleared and I got as much going as I could (barely) handle. So as I was shooting away on NGC6914 with my double Esprit rig in obsy 1 (posted earlier today), I got the RASA 8 up and running again on my old NEQ6 in obsy 3, aimed at some dark nebulosity near the Iris nebula. Had the ASI2600MC set at gain 100 and -10°C. Got 235 x 2 min so 7.8 hours, which is a lot of photons at f/2. Took a few hours to stack in PI. Most processing done in PS. I think there is same drama in the image where dark forces appear to head toward the loverly Iris. I believe that nasty bunch are also known as LDN1152, LDN1148, LDN1158 and LBN468

Enjoy the scenery and keep the coming John! Lovely image.

Thanks Dave! Yes, never heard, seen or read anyone complaining about an Esprit👌

Thanks Richard! Yes, I really did not want to spend this much on a new camera and like many others I was waiting for a APS-C CMOS mono to turn up. Then the combination of astro darkness coming back and TS suddenly having some ASI6200MM in stock (most Chinese cameras seem out of stock in these times) made me give up on an affordable APS-C mono and make a big hole in my wallet...... So I am paying dearly for all that extra real estate outside the 18 x 24 mm frame and fortunately the Esprit 150 managed to light it all up. Love that scope! I still have an Atik 460m for sale.......

NGC 6914 is a blue reflection nebula surrounded by a vast area of H-alpha nebulosity. About 6,000 light-years away in the constellation of Cygnus. I finally had a clear night so I could let my new ASI6200MM see first light. It was collecting lum data (230 x 2 min at gain 100, so 4 hours) with the Esprit 150 on a double rig next to the Esprit 100 with an ASI071 for RGB (58 x 5 min at gain 200, so 4.8 hours). Mount was Mesu 200. Totally 8.8 hours that took half the time to collect - the advantage of a double rig. This camera - scope combination gives about the same FOW (sligtly larger from the Esprit 100 so alignment is not that critical) but the RGB data from the ASI071 had to be upsampled 2.47 times before I aligned it to the massive lum layer from the ASI6200. I was pleasantly surprised by the absence of eggy stars in the corners, so no noticeable tilt on this 24 x 36 mm sensor. The Esprit 150 (with dedicated flattener) also did a good job at filling out the sensor with only the very corners being darker. The camera was attached to the EFW and OAG made specifically by ZWO for this camera. Only problem there is that I could not reach focus with the Lodestar X2 so I had to resort to my old QHY5-IIM for guiding. The ASICAP progam also have some issues. It has to be watched regularly as it may suddenly stop downloading subs without any warning. I was using a Baader UV/IR filter as the ASI6200MM has no built in IR filter (unlike the colour version). The image has been down sampled here. It was originally 9568 x 6336 pixels. The aligning and integration of 120 subs at 120 mb each took a few hours. No darks used as the sensor is really low noise (I had it at -10°C). No NR applied but I used Dust and Scratches in PS to remove a few hot pixels. Stacking done in PI and most of the rest in PS. Cheers, Göran

Impressive image! That is an interesting lens indeed. Had not heard about it. Seems to be up in the Samyang class of lenses. Would be a great travel companion whenever we can travel again🥴

Or an RASA 8 😉 so you do not need to rob the bank 💰🕵️‍♀️. An outstanding mosaic - you are clearly well equipped with both humour and stamina to pull that off!

Hi Ville My point with insulation is that you can then keep the inside warmer than the outside (with a small radiator inside) when you are not imaging so humidity is reduced and the equipment get a chance to dry up and do not corrode and your lenses and mirrors do not get moldy. 5 - 10 °C above the outside temperature is enough. You turn off the heating when you open up the roof one or two hours before it gets dark and everything will have equilibrated and seeing is not affected. Works even for my 14" SCT which really needs to cool down and have good seeing.

You have a great start Mick and if you spend a few more hours on it there is more to be found in this object - as allways😉, and if the weather collaborates.....

Clearly an object that stimulates imagination. I called it the Wild Boar Nebula since my version of it seemed to have tusks! https://www.astrobin.com/386831/D/

I thought so too first untill I realized that it is also known as Sh2-206 which I imaged about a year ago. Nice image Mick!

Agree with the rest. If I would be worried about something it would be the two extra surfaces for dust bunnies to sit on.