First Light with WO FLT98 - M13

[steppenwolf]

I'm still waiting for an upgraded focuser for my new WO FLT98 refractor but a gap in the clouds was just what I needed to at least get a feel for what the optics were like. 20 X 120 sec. with my SXVF-H9 and an ATIK IR filter through a rather murky sky before the clouds once again closed in on me!

[Fenriz]

Nice image Steve.

[ollypenrice]

Looking very good, Steve. Nicely resolved into the core with shapely stars abounding. It has a great reputation, this scope, and I'm sure you'll love it.

The diff spikes - are they add ons or arising from some other source? They don't detract, I'm just curious. I sometimes get just two on my refractors, symmetrically each side of the star.

Olly

[Deneb]

Looks very Good Steve.

Nadeem.

[johninderby]

Nice job, and once you get the FT and have gotten used to the new scope I'm sure there's much more to come.

John

PS

It's not that I'm at all biased towards the FLT98, but......

[Whippy]

Nice work Steve , have to say I loved using my old FLT98 for imaging.

Tony..

[Coco]

Whoah!.... nice stars... great colour!

Good purchase... some body's smiling

Enjoy

[johnh]

Nicely resolved, diff spikes look natural not processed in other words.

John.

[steppenwolf]

The diff spikes - are they add ons or arising from some other source?

Part and part, Olly. To produce this image I blended a 'standard' version and a DDP processed version together and the DDP version had accentuated a tiny amount of diffraction that was on the original image, caused I suspect by the IR filter (see attached image). I decided that it was, therefore, fair game to overlay a more controlled set of diffraction spikes over the top of the image!

[Catanonia]

Nice shiney new toy and looks extremely promising. Great resolution and really looking forward to some cracking images from you on it.

[Psychobilly]

Ah so that was the other new scope .. nice setup Steve

[Grinde]

Nice! That's going to be an awesome setup, can't wait to see some colors!

Regarding the diffraction-spikes, I'm getting weak spikes from bright stars with my QSI583wsg, both using the 190MN & FSQ106EDX, always symmetrical with the imaging-sensor (up/down/left/right), which gets stronger when applying DDP. The spikes (in my case) are artifacts 'caused by the microlensing on the sensor, becoming more evident using fast focalratios

[steppenwolf]

The spikes (in my case) are artifacts 'caused by the microlensing on the sensor, becoming more evident using fast focalratios

That's a very interesting observation and one I'll follow up.

[RobH]

Nice general resolution Steve...looks like you're going to have fun with that scope.

Rob