Craney

Nice job.     

I've yet to get into multi-day exposures.   I like to see a "result" the next day.      Three clear nights within a period of 2 weeks is rare.

This is a really vibrant example and may lead me over the divide.

Sean.

Thanks  @don4l  ,   but prior to midnight I noticed one the Azimuth bolts on the HEQ5 was a bit loose.   Further investigation revealed that the internal metal thread has slowly been stripped away.  ( The alloy used for the structure of the mount is not particularly robust).   Oh dear... there goes any possible accurate Polar alignment.    Unless I start to tap a new thread into the mount, without taking it off the pillar and in the dark ...... which seems ( fingers crossed) to have (sort of ) worked  !!!!......   I was so annoyed at detecting the issue on the stroke of twilight, and didn't want to lose a precious night of cloud free skies.

Desperate measures...

Using the very capable Orion Optics Mak 140  at a Focal length of  2000mm   I captured the edge-on galaxy  NGC891 last night.

Cloud cleared after Mid-night  and so I left the Atik 414ex mono and   EFW2  on automatic mode to blat away into the wee small hours.

Lum 32x2mins

RGB  35 x 1mins (bin2).    Stacked in DSS then a bit of digital massage in PS.

Lucky coincidence in orientation meant that I just got the full span of the dust lane across the frame.

Sean.

There is a 200p with dual axis driven EQ5 mount   on AstroB&S at the moment for £300.

A well looked after second hand scope can be great value and difficult to differentiate between a 'new' scope of the same model when in use.

EDIT: UPDATE:  In fact there is one for £250  as well.... 

Wow....  an explosive image..      It  seems to expand outwards and towards you as you look at it.

48 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

At least you weren't fleeced

🙂

 

At least  ewe  weren't fleeced ....        There,  fixed that one ....

Wow, that's  Sky and Telescope front cover material.   

I think the region is known as  Melotte 15.   

Don't forget....  "Planetary Nebula Killer"   as well .....

I have the Orion Optics (UK) Mak 140 with a micrometer focuser.    Took this last night LRGB with ATIK 414 mono.  (only a mere  2000mm FL   )

I think in principle you can rotate the camera by loosening them.    I would be wary of doing so without a good hold on the camera as there is not a massive amount of metal  tubing (camera end) inserted into the FW.

It would not take much of a slackening to release everything... (!)

I found this PDF which suggest both that the camera 'can' be rotated easily , and the screws are 'Locking'....  hmmm, both then.

http://www.manualsdir.com/manuals/581905/atik-cameras-efw2.html

Look in todays   'For Sale' .....   that'll get you started

Ever seen the remake of the  'The Thing'  ??.......  felt similar to  the scene when the head sprouts legs and walks off...!!!!

I had a hedgehog take up residence in my  Telegizmo's  scope cover as it was lying on the lawn.   

A bit disconcerting seeing the cover move across the grass by itself !!!

With reference to Dual saddles.  Check the weight of these. 

I own a short Vixen Dual  and a longer Losmandy Dual.  The weight difference is substantial.   In fact the Losmandy  Dual saddle feels heavier than my  100mm Bresser Guide scope.

Not a typical picture of a Pelican Crossing.......  

Well done.

I like the Dumbell,  such a big, bright and unmistakable target that it tells me straight away if the  Polar /Star alignment is playing up.

Even this week with forecast clear skies and promising myself I would go for the propellor Nebula.... I took time to snap up a few frames of M27.

Re. Combining channels.     I use  https://www.eprisephoto.com/astro-actions  ,  works from within PS as well so you don't need to export /import versions.  It has RGB  LRGB  Bi Colour and HST options.

Sean.

My neighbour has had his fourth consecutive barbeque  !!!!...

OK,  I could be concerned about the ash landing on my scope.... but its the appalling music (on repeat) the and conversational drivel that is beginning to grate..

19 minutes ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

What is starting EQmod ?  your planetarium software or something else ?  PHD2 and all other client software will re-use the EQMod service that is running, unless you've started in an isolated stand-alone mode.....

Ah..... good point.....    I'm  using the ASCOM Toolkit  icon to start EQMOD , to check the COM port and make sure the PC is talking to the mount..... ( i'm sure some on-line help guide tells you to do this.......)  

then I'm launching PHd2......

Do you think this is the cause ??

Sods law is that I've put the HEQ5 back on the pier because I assumed it might be a hardware issue with the NEQ6 and  rarest of rare things, a potential clear night beckons.

Well... I will get a imaging run going and have a tinker indoors.

I really hope it is as simple as that.

Cheers Guys....  I'll report back.

Sean.

19 minutes ago, tooth_dr said:

Have you connected phd to the mount via HEq5/EQ6 ascom sean?

Oh yes.... and a few other of the mount options as well....  just in case.   No luck.

Frustrating day all round.  I'm left a bit confused why certain things are not happening... but maybe I'm just thick.

Background : 

 Have a HEq5..   works fine with ST-4 guiding and PHD2. All good.   Since the Moon is disappearing I thought I would give my  NEq6 and the 10inch F4  a go at some DSO's.

Had no joy last night at all with ST-4 guiding with theNEQ6, using all the same gear from computer to leads to camera.   I suspect the Auto-guider connector on the mount has become  damaged in some way., it failed to get anywhere near calibration.....  not to worry, apparently there is another way to guide using PULSE-guiding and EQMOD.

Todays Work.  

Downloaded all the ASCOM and EQMOD stuff.    Managed to get the scope to slew in both axes and track the Sun etc....  excellent,  but then when loading up PHD2  into "Manual Guide" mode, to check that the mount is responding in a manner that would allow it to calibrate under the stars....it does not respond at all     (??!!)  So what's going on there then ?

How can it work with EQMOD and not with PHD2..... I thought they shared similar protocols and coding... ie allowing them to work together.

A bit of a head scratcher.  Maybe it's not the ST-4 port.

Any help appreciated ??    Go easy on me, I'm not that computer literate,  I just Press anywHere like a Dummy.

Sean.

With so much detail visible in a single shot...... you could go for a dramatic stop-frame animation of the rotation and shadow transit.

8 minutes ago, Star101 said:

...Met Office and clouds.

..Leave SGP running...

If it were easy, I would be bored and find a different hobby

Thanks.  It's a starting point at least.    As they say,  " a few more hours data on it will  Iook a lot better....."     There-in lies madness !!                                                   

It would be nice to get a Celestron 8HD or something of that size  hoovering up the photons......  #Wish_list.   I have recently acquired an RC6....   tempting to give that a go.... or maybe my 250mm F4 Newt...... oh no... here we go.

Yes, Met-Office.   I read somewhere that Pine cones  are only 25% less accurate at forecasting the weather !!   I think they must limit the accuracy of forecasts depending on how much you are prepared to pay.   They seem to have a mid-night cut off as well.  Notice how many times a clear sky ends or begins at mid-night.  Then as 12 o'clock approaches, it evolves again into another forecast.   Very frustrating.   I do think we get it bad in the UK.   Maybe Iceland and Norway have worse.

Aye, it aint easy.   I think I will thrash myself with Birch twigs and walk around bare footed on hot B-B-Q coals the next time  I do some imaging.  

sean.

10 minutes ago, tooth_dr said:

What a bubble Sean. I’ve yet to get but this is making me really really keen to get going. Superb

Thanks Adam.

Over the last week or so I have collected a real mish-mash of sub frames,  no set of which were really good enough to push through the complete processing arc.    I think  ( famous last words !!)  I will call it quits for now and select another target in the Cygnus area before that slips over the horizon.

With the Bubble you tend to get that bright sector of emission light dominating the image, so you have to be careful that you do not get it dominating the rest of the detail.

I don't think there is much going on with  SII,  which is probably a relief !!   

Go on have a go.   Use a nice decent focal length as well, otherwise it does look like a pimple rather than a globe.

Sean.

Is there such a  thing as a clear night these days ?? !!

For the past two weeks I have been 'out there' perched on the bench thinking ...." The Met office says it's a clear,  but that cloud is  actually coming in !!"

Well, last night promised 4 hours but in reality I had about 2 good ones with drifting cirrostratus and then a 80-90% Moon as well.

So here is the best I have so far of a close up Bubble Nebula.    (  Mak 140 with 0.67x reducer on HEQ5,  Phd2,  Focal length  1340mm )   ( 12x10mins Ha, 9x10mins OIII)

10min subs !!... just to get the star count up so DSS could stack them.     A bit of elongation on the stars which I think is PhD2 adjusting to passing cloud.

Sean.

Indeed, something like that from NorthFace / Arcterx / Patagucci    and you can triple that plus a bit.

Alpkit is good quality, well designed gear at more realistic prices.