Roy Foreman

Why image M31 with a 16" reflector ?  Because these days it seems weather windows are so short, that it is easier to use the instrument that is all set up in an observatory and ready to go in minutes - no 30-40 minute set up and take down time that my smaller, wider field instruments require.

It's the usual story for me - imaging through hazy skies in a limited time slot.  Nevertheless, I managed something and here it is.  60 x 60 sec at gain 360 with a ZWO ASI 6200 MC Pro full frame OSC.  Just a UV-IR cut filter used.

Hope it is of interest and thanks for looking.

Very Nice - I like it.

That is an impressive achievement - well done !

That's a good first result. Well done

A two pane mosaic taken with the 16" Reflector.  As has become the norm this year data collection was severely limited by lack of a clear dark sky, so never enough data to complete the task.  Even then, this image had to be done with a near full moon in the sky !  Nevertheless, here is what I was able to manage - 60 x 60 sec frames per panel through an Optolong L-Enhance dual narrowband filter - what a time saver this filter has become !

16" F/4.5 Reflector

ZWO ASI 6200 MC Pro

60 x 60 sec at gain 500

Optolong L-Enhance filter

2 pane Mosaic

Processed in DSS and PS

Thanks for looking.

Grabbed a few frames of M11 low down in the murk and between passing clouds. Have to take whatever small opportunity the weather yields these days !

16" F/4.5 Reflector

ZWO ASI 6200 MC Pro

UV-IR Cut Filter 

21 x 30 sec at gain 360

Sensor Temp -15

Stacked in Affinity Photo and Processed in Photoshop

Great image. Well done.

Like the colours and the framing. Nice image.

Love it. Well done.

That is a great wide field view of the north America nebula. Well done. I have a Nikon 135mm F2, and your image has inspired me to try some wide field imaging with it !

Well done. That is a very nice M31 image.

I've tried to image the double double many times. With a separation of around 2.5" between the individual stars it's barely above the average seeing level at my site.

With only four stars in the field DSS wont stack it, and I'm not sure lucky imaging would work any better either with so little data to work with.

So I did it the manual way - 82 individual frames and pick the best to work on.

At least the individual stars are visible, but I would like more clarity in it.

If anyone has tried this and got good results I would love to hear how you did it !

16" f/4.5 Reflector

ZWO ASI 6200 MC Pro

UV-IR Cut Filter

1/125 sec at gain 100

Processed in  Photoshop

I like this. Good control of contrast. Well done !

Very nice image and lots of detail.  So close in I almost didn't recognise this familiar object !

This is just 12 minutes of exposure time.  Lots of noise, but I'm amazed in came out as well as it did !

16" f/4.5 Reflector

ZWO ASI 6200 MC Pro

Optolong L-Enhance dual band filter

12 x 60 sec at gain 500

Processed in  DSS and PS

The Veil Nebula is such a popular imaging target that I hesitate to post yet another rendition of it.  But for those that never tire of seeing deep sky images, here it is.  A two pane mosaic of the eastern veil taken under clearer skies than I have had so far this year.  Time is always at a premium, especially when I start work at 6am, so I never seem to manage to gather as much data as I would like.

16" F/4.5 Reflector

ZWO ASI 6200 MC Pro

Optolong L-Enhance dual band filter

40 x 60 sec at gain 500

Processed in DSS and PS

SQM 20.5

Now I need to do a better job on the western half !

Hope you enjoy, and thanks for looking.

Lots of Veil Nebula images being posted lately, so here is my offering.  Using a 16" reflector I can only image small sections of it at a time.

It was supposed to be a two pane mosaic but conditions deteriorated, so only one pane got done, and even for that I was unable to get enough data for a clean image.

16" F/4.5 Reflector

ZWO ASI 6200 MC Pro

Optolong L-enhance Dual Band Filter

38 x 120 sec at Gain 500

Lots of mist and dew !

Very nice image. It definitely looks like a pelican, particularly in the first image, which I prefer. Well done

5 minutes ago, michael.h.f.wilkinson said:

Nice one! Also nice to see the galaxy in the background

Thank you.  I have to confess that I was unaware of galaxy IC 1296 nearby until I started processing the image.  It would be nice if I could get a better rendition of it as well, but that's for another day !

1 minute ago, Knighty2112 said:

Nice capture, along with the mag 14 spiral galaxy too. 👍🏻

Thank you very much !

16 minutes ago, Catanonia said:

Great attempt in challenging conditions.

Would love a link to an image of your mount.

Thank you !

Dont have any good images of the mount but here is a so-so one with wide angle lens distortions and a very untidy observatory !

29 minutes ago, peter shah said:

lovely scale...great job

Thank you Peter.  Planetary imagers have the luxury of lucky imaging for small objects, but with deep sky stuff we are at the mercy of the elements - especially in the UK !

21 minutes ago, bottletopburly said:

Small object mind so is that spiral Galaxy at 1 o’clock 

That galaxy is IC 1296. One day I'll try and tackle it !

20 minutes ago, Paul M said:

Very nice job.

What mount are you using for that beastly scope? Its doing a great job!

Thank you Paul,  glad you like the image !

I have been asked about the mount for my scope many times. I built it myself - apart from the 14" worm wheel sets, and the goto electronics which were supplied by AWR Technology.  The motors connect directly to the worm shafts, so no gears, no belts, and very little backlash !  It is very massive - I can lean against it and nothing moves !  The OTA is from a Skywatcher flextube Dobsonian.

Sadly these days my skies are never transparent enough to realise the full potential of the setup, although they are sufficiently dark (SQM 20.5) that I can image without filters.

Roy

Deep sky imaging has been a real challenge this year. On the rare occasions when the clouds do part, the skies are still hazy with moisture. At least in my neck of the woods they seem to be.

With this in mind, it was probably not a good idea for me to attempt to image an object that appears not much larger than Jupiter at opposition, but what the heck, I gave it a go.

16" F/4.5 Reflector

ZWO ASI 6200 MC Pro

UV/IR Cut Filter

15 x 30 sec at gain 360

14 x 60 sec at gain 300

Then the clouds rolled in !!!

Not the best rendition, but here it is anyway - thanks for looking.