Jpr78

20 subs @ 180s/11 darks/50 bias. Stacked in DSS and PP in PS CC. Shot with Nikon D750 unmixed and an old Nikkor 200mm f4 prime at 5.6. Tracked on an LXD-55 mount. A 300-400mm probably would have yielded better results.

Milky Way shot from my local observatory at Darling Hill. Took 90x120s subs and only ended up with 30% being usable. The humidity was high and I was on the grass so I had to wipe dew off of my lens in between every exposure and fireflies kept flying overhead leaving green streaks in almost 50 percent of my data. All while getting eaten alive by mosquitoes and being scared half to death by an uncomfortably close pack of coyotes. I was at the Darling Hill Observatory in Tully. Jupiter and Saturn at the top left were an added bonus.

I notice that at infinity my stars are a bit soft. Removing the ICF stack caused me to need more back focus. I am currently trying to see if there is an adjustment in my 200mm prime. If not I will have to order the replacement optical glass to put in place of the stack.

Got back out tonight with my newly modded D7000. The waning gibbous really wreaked havoc on my naked sensor but I acquired useable data. Stacked in DSS and PP IN PS CC.

Regarding my recent full spectrum mod. Will I need a use a filter no matter the conditions or can I shoot the same as before?

Well I still have my D7000 in my bag that is no longer used. I went ahead and did a conversion this evening (pretty easy I might add). I successfully removed the ICF stack. I did not replace it with clear glass as I can live with the loss of focus through the viewfinder. I will be using this camera with backyard Nikon exclusively. AF and M focus are both tack sharp still using live view and my images are pleasantly red! Now of course the clouds have rolled in for the weekend here in Syracuse so I won’t get a chance to test it out. Hopefully this will give those nebula a run for their money.

10 lights at ISO400/120s, 5 darks @ the same. Stacked in DSS and PP in CC. Shot with Nikon D750 and a 200mm f4 Nikkor prime mounted on a GEM. I believe my skies are 6 on the Bortle scale but I also have a lot of bright LED lights in my area. A ton of stars showed up after stretching the data but barely any nebulosity. Is this a matter of Not using any filters or light pollution or a combination of both? Also I am a bit new to PS and all of the astronomy tools. I followed Trevor’s workflow from AB’s page (which btw created a whole new idea of what development workflow meant to me). I feel as if I pulled a lot more out of my data than any previous attempts on a target but perhaps I just didn’t have enough total exposure time. Being a member of S.A.S. I would normally go to our observatory but due to the pandemic it’s closed to the public as well as members. I also have 40 Lights taken at ISO1600/30s but I feel like that will yield the same results.

This was my first attempt at M-13. Meade LXD55 SN10 & Nikon D750 prime focus. 25 lights, 25 darks, 25 flats, 25 bias, 25 flat darks all at 30s ISO400. Stacked in DSS and Processed in Lightroom. No guidescope used. FCCA5D02-AA89-4AD6-995C-BA513C4BDFD7.tiff

I have a 200mm f4 prime , 14-24mm f2.8, and a 50mm f1.8. I also have a celestron C8 w/ SB coating I was thinking of deforking and getting a rail to use on the LXD55 GEM. Perhaps that is a better option for imaging? This is a not so great first attempt at M42 with the 200mm prime. I believe it consisted of 30 images stacked in registax and processed in LR. I have a lot of learning to do about processing and workflow. Also the lunar shot was shot bracketed (5 shots) then HDR merged and processed in LR.

I will have to rethink this whole plan. You have all contributed valuable knowledge and experience. Perhaps I’ll keep the sn10 for observing and place my money on something smaller and better suited to not throw disappointment my way. This Lunar shot was taken with the sn10 and a D750.

It does not have to be Meade.

I will assume something with at least 90lb payload? I am starting to think a whole new imaging setup (mount, refractor, filters etc. etc.) will still be much less expensive than just the mount to support the OTA I already have. Any recommendations for a mount for it? I looked at the LXD850 mount and 7k is a massive stretch.

Meade LXD55 SN10. Original GEM is far off from being able to support imaging. I am absolutely married to the idea of using this scope for imagine (can’t go wrong with all of that light gathering capability on top of being f4). So here is my dilemma, my budget is about $2500 and this GEM needs to be rock solid. I will be using a D750 for imaging, no guide scope (I’m a rebel).