M81 & M82, Meade 8" LX

[Magnum]

Had another go on M81 & 82 last night, with 10 min subs total exposure

1hr 45min, with Canon 400D + CLS clip

Meade 8" LX @ f6.3 on Eq6 pro.

Guided with 50mm finder and toucam with PHD

Stacking and processing, DSS then CS3

10 min subs made a difference picking out the red nebulas in the spiral arms of M81,

so im quite pleased with this one.

Lee

[Darth Takahashi]

Keep going, its coming along nicely, great capture especially with a DSLR, its it modded?

Sorry I can see from your signature that it is indeed modded and that make a big difference of course.

[themos]

I am amazed you managed 10 min subs with the LX10. I've been using the same instrument and I am limited by mirror shift flexure to 4 minutes guided, except near the zenith when mirror shift settles down for a bit.

[Magnum]

I have been having the same problem, I have found this week that it helps to approach final focus anticlockwise so you are lafting the mirror.

I originally thought the drift was from bad guiding but I'm now convinced the mirror shift is the problem.

Not much else we can do about though.

Lee

[themos]

anticlockwise you say, interesting...

[Magnum]

Yes, this has also stopped the other related problem i was having, where the scope gradually goes out of focus over the course of the imaging session.

Its because the focuser rod has some backlash in it, and by always approaching final focus anticlockwise you are always lifting the mirror and removing the backlash.

Hope I have explained that clearly lol.

Lee

[ashworthacca]

Very nice detail in the galaxies.

I'm viewing from my works laptop which is not the best.....but can I see dark halo's around some of the stars?

[Magnum]

Yes I went a bit heavy with local contrast enhancement!

Lee

[pook]

Very nice detail in the galaxies.

I'm viewing from my works laptop which is not the best.....but can I see dark halo's around some of the stars?

If I load it up in PS and stretch it more there is some JPEG artifacting around the stars that gives a darker ring around them but it's very very faint as posted.