Datalord

Yeah, I looked at qhy for their cameras. Honestly, the 411 based cmos at 150mp looks like an amazing camera. Binned 2x2 it gives a full well of 320k and a huge sensor. Btw, the 0.7m scopes come in at $200k+, so the cameras are a drop in the ocean to compare. This actually looks very good. 🤔 And yes, that would indeed be barking mad. Seems like you would just waste a whole lot of telescope.

Adding fuel to the fire, what cameras are even available for such a monster? I saw the qhy6060 with an 80mm 10*10 sensor mentioned in the thread, but any other available?

Hmm, I'm actually surprised. I also have my 12" 2.4m RC, but I thought having a much larger scope like that would make more of a difference. Obviously acquisition time "should" be faster, with all the caveats of camera etc, but I really thought a tripple in FL would be bigger. On the flipside, that means a lot of the usual targets are still viable.

Damn, still looks small. I don't know that one, what's the size of it?

Yeah, everyone going for galaxies makes a ton of sense. I have a love for the ARP catalogue, so lots to spend time on there. 🤔

I'm curious what could be good targets for these huge systems if they are used for pretty pictures?

Impressive image! What camera did you use?

Fantastic image. Very well done.

Agreed. It's incredible. Over two years since I had my hands on my setup in Spain and it still just runs perfectly.

I've had the scope for a while now, but getting the camera delivered has been a right pita due to a hopeless company I shan't name. Yesterday I finally got it running on a beautiful day and messed about processing it. This is from yesterday, Lunt 152THa with a ZWO ASI 174. Roughly 1000 frames, stacked in Autostakkert and processed in PixInsight and Photoshop.

Had a look. Everything is out of stock, so that would have some long wait. And the faff would remain. I think I'll go the Lunt road. It seems like the easiest way for me to achieve what I want. If it goes pearshaped I can also easier sell it I think. Thanks everyone!

I looked more at the DayStar Quantum. Have to say that looks appealing if I can use it with a large refractor I plan to order. 10 min heating time seems like a very small price to pay compared to the 1-2 hours I usually have to cool my nighttime scope. If I went that route for an f/7 refractor, I would need: 1. DayStar Quantum SE 0.3A 2. Baader E-DRF rejection filter in the right size. 3. Rejection filter holder. 4. Barlow x4 or aperture reducer+barlow Is that correctly understood? While appealing, experience tells me this will be a whole lot of faff... The alternative is a Lunt LS152. Made for purpose and would cost the same as the above.

Thanks, that's a lot to consider. Being completely blind to the pitfalls, I am close to deciding on a second scope for home use, which would be a 140mm or 160mm refractor. Is it possible to get these external etalons in that size?

Yes, it's not for lack of choice. That's almost the problem. What I don't want to do is buy something I want to upgrade in 3 months time, so might as well go for proper gear. Interesting about coronado, I thought they were a premium brand. I'd prefer to get something purpose built instead of modding a different frac. Maybe I'm wrong?

I captured this data in December and life sort of kept me from doing something about it until recently. 13 hours of narrowband in 600s bin2 on my RC12. Ok, here it is without humanoids.

I've been pondering the virtues of solar observation for quite a while and I think I want to try it out. However, I don't want to do it half-assed, so I need some advice on what great gear combinations I should look at. I don't really have a budget, but I'd probably keep it below £10k. I will put it on my 10Micron GM2000 mount, so that's not a problem. Is there anything other than scope and camera I should consider?

Thank you! Here's Santa for you, on the 24th. A bit scary, very 2020.

This one took me months to finish due to a stressful time with lots of work and a move from UK to EU. Finally got some calm to sit down and process this data. I wanted to see what I could get if I trained the big RC on the core of M33 and due to a few factors it kinda just continued. This is the best data from a total of 30+ hours captured. One of my goals with this one was to see how much detail I could get with the Ha added to the mix. Having a peek into the star nurseries of another galaxy is super intriguing to me. I'm not sure I like the aesthetics of this image, but just looking at the details is fascinating. For example this one in the bottom left: I can't help but wonder what led to such a big ring shaped hydrogen cloud. And the stars in the center must be incredibly bright.

I'm going to be the dissenting voice here. A DSLR is indeed a great camera, I used a 6D myself, but don't underestimate the power of cooling. It is a whole different level of clear image you get from a - 40C sensor compared to a 30C heated by a 600 seconds shot.

Infinitely better. Very nice.

I think you went a bit overboard in stretching and contrast on this one. You've also lost some of the colour you had in the first image. 24h data vs 1½h? How will you ever compare those results?

It looks to me like you have some problems with focus. How did you focus for the various filters?

I for one love the stars in the images from fast newts, including the 180ED. My RC does a reasonable job of it, but it does take more effort in processing to get stars under control and they never get the crispness of yours. And my RASA doesn't even come close. Well done on that image.

It took them almost 1½ years to get a batch for me, so do whatever you can to get a hold of one! This is with the QHY247, so a CMOS color.

Not my usual time on a target, but some clouds messed up half the night, so 3 hours is what I had. It is one more to my collection of globular clusters with my RC.